Day 31 - At Sea

Chief Engineer, Captain, Hotel Dir, Environ Officer

Today is Thursday. and it's another beautiful day on the Atlantic Ocean.  We were up for another lovely sunrise this morning.  The waves are a little higher today, but it's still pretty smooth sailing.  We went to a Q&A session this morning with the captain, chief engineer, hotel director, chief environmental officer, and the cruise director.  If you remember, I said we hit some heafty winds between Toulon, France and Barcelona, Spain.  These were the mistral winds that come up with very little warning.  We had heard that the winds were about 80 MPH that noght, but the captain told us today that they got up to 110-120 MPH, or what he referred to as Force 12.  No wonder the ship was shaking. 

Black Forest Cake made at Demo

Other than that one night, the weather has been wonderful.  We really couldn't ask for better.  The captain said we may get some rain tomorrow as we encounter the outer edges of Hurricane Thomas, but it shouldn't be much to worry about.  The worst of it may be the last night as we come into Fort Lauderdale.  Considering that all the other ships repositioning now are running into very bad weather on a more northern route, we are very happy with the course our captain choose. 

By the way, we have been saying the captain looks like a little boy and now we know he really is one.  Someone in the audience asked him about his education and how old he is.  He is only 35, the youngest captain in Royal Caribbean's fleet and he has been a captain since 2007. 

Before the officer's Q&A, I went to a cake decorating demo with the head chef, David from New Zealand.   Chef David instructed and narated while one of the cooks, Rossario, the cruise director Paul, and a woman from the audience each put together a Black Forest cake.   The woman was from Florida, but I know she had to be originally from New Jersey.  Rossario jokingly said something to her in Italian at the beginning and she answered in Italian.  This started everything off on the right note as Paul commented that they were having a Sicilian party of their own.   

There were lots of jokes about that and a bet that Paul is about to loose.  I think I mentioned in a previous note that Royal Caribbean is trying to raise money for the Make a Wish Foundation during this crossing.  Their goal was $15,000, but Paul said, if they raised $20,000 he would dress up like a woman on the last day of the cruise.  Well, the tally was about $18,000 this morning, so there were lots of jokes about him having to shave his legs and wear an outfit the costume manager is preparing for him.   All together, this cake decorating demonstration was a fun event and we got to sample the cake at the end.  The woman from the audience must have experience s a cook because she did an excellent job.  The cake she made will go to her dinner table tonight.

This one's for Rose

We ordered room service for lunch and actually got better food than we usually find on the buffet.  After lunch I went on my own walking tour of some of the art around the ship.  I concentrated on the stairwells, but also went across the promenade and into a few of the lounges.  I got back to the room just as the clocks changed back an hour for the last time, so I have an hour to have a cup of tea and rest now before heading to Bingo.