First Sea Day

First Sea Day,

We slept like babies even though our room was cool. For some reason the heat would not begin no matter where we set the thermostat it blew cool air.

We awoke around seven which was eight ship’s time because of the clocks being set ahead.

We decided to go to the dining room for breakfast. We were sat at a table for eight and six people were assigned, all six were Canadians. 1 couple from north of Toronto, one from Tawassin, one , us , from Abbotsford. We laughed and visited and had a great time.

I headed straight to the theatre where they were having a culinary demonstration as part of the chocolate Journey. Three items were made and we were given the recipes. There were techniques I had not seen done before and I learned a few things. The chocolate moose with red fruit compote  looked amazing, not at all something for a calorie reduced diet.

. Ken did his own thing and after the lecture I checked out the sale,( bought nothing) and I reported our problem with the heat,

I came back to the stateroom and met Ken for lunch. We decided that we didn’t need much so we got a coffee and a Quiche and a cookie from the International Café. The heat problem had been fixed.

We almost missed the lecture that we wanted to attend because we were having a late lunch. We were able to find seats in spite of being late. The lecturers were Joan and Diane Stockham. They were speaking about out ports of call and the whales of the area. It was very informative and well done.

We checked out our pictures that have been taken so far. The embarkation one is not bad but the one with the pirates after dinner last night is definitely not a keep. My smile is so wide that I could swallow a whale. We asked about making a folder and it appears as if they do not do that any more.

 I attended the Gemstones  Around the World seminar and then went to a shop bought anniversary pins for Ken and I. They are kept in place with magnets instead of actual pins. I guess that saves clothes from being full of little holes.

I checked out the makeover and the martini demonstrations that took place in the piazza.

Then it was back to the stateroom to relax and sit on the balcony and get some sun before formal night.

We dress in our formal duds and had a glass of wine and enjoyed our chocolate covered strawberries.

When we got to the dining room we discovered that Juan Carlos is our assistant waiter , not our waiter. The sixth person arrived at our table. His name is Benny and you can’t imagine our surprise when we learned that he is from Carriage Lane. Carriage Lane is a housing complex in Abbotsford and Ken and I sang with the Carriage Lane Choristers for a few years.

We were even more surprised when our dinner companions had a gift for us. We had told them the story of our romance and that we were celebrating nine years of marriage. During the previous  evening there had been a chat between Linda and I about magnets and using them on our stateroom walls to hold papers and help us keep track of them and to keep the desk a bit tidy. The gift was 2 magnets, one of the Grand Princess and the other was a ceramic Mexican sombrero.

On the first night Juan Carlos told us about a wine that was selling at half price because they are removing it from the wine list. We really are enjoying it . All we knew was the fact that it is a French wine so last evening I asked Juan to write down the name so we could get it at another time. On the paper was written the words Gewurtztraminer by Michel  Leon. So we still don’t know what kind of wine it is.

 Dinner tonight was a very special menu in honor of the anniversary. The dessert was one of the Norman Love creations and it was out of this world. We were given a special copy of the menu in honor of the creation.

On the way from the dining room we saw a little boy about 3 years old and he was dressed in a suit and tie. I just had to stop and talk to little Lucas. After taking a picture of him and his dad we had a chat and discovered much to our surprise that they were from Chilliwack. Looking at the age of the father Ken just may have taught the mother who grew up in Chilliwack.

After dinner we went to the middle where the champagne waterfall was taking place. We picked up a glass of champagne. I was going to take some photos but the battery in my camera was dead. So we continued on to the theatre for the production show. Tonight’s show was Do You Wanna Dance?

We have seen it many times but we always go back because it is so lively and so much fun to watch. They do dances from many cultures from Asian to Irish to Spanish to Gypsy to rock and roll. The show is performed 3 times and the theatre was full with standing room only.

Usually as Elite members we get special extra toiletries but up until this evening they had not arrived. I was beginning to believe that was the victim of another cost cut but to my pleasure and surprise our packet was in our bathroom when we came back from dinner this evening.

At the end of the show we returned to our room and decided to stay here and relax for the rest of the evening. My ankle is swollen. ( I can’t imagine why. It is not as if I did anything today)J