Day 39 - At Sea

February 17 - Awoke to beautiful sun streaming in (even though Laura Sunshine, the morning weather girl, said we would have a cloudy day with a chance of rain later) so I rolled over and slept for another half hour.  Watched the morning show, got dressed, and headed for the Lido for a glass of pineapple juice.

Sitting in the Lido I was eavesdropping on the tables on either side of me.  The gentleman on one side was saying he liked Holland America better for the entertainment.  He also was complaining that your bar bill had a 15% service fee (tip) and a line for an extra gratuity.  I think this is fairly common among the mainstream cruise lines but he is Australian where tipping is not done and the price on an item is the price you pay (taxes, etc. are already added in).  Then he was complaining about having to wear a jacket to dinner (didn't he read the dress code before he booked?).

On the other side they were discussing the complimentary bar in Queen's Grill which (according to them) Princess Grill does not have.  They then moved on to how much they enjoyed "Anytime Dining" on other ships which is not available in the MDR on Cunard (only in the Grills or Britannia Club).  Finally, it was the old refrain of how standards are so different since Carnival  Corporation bought Cunard and nothing is like the old QE2.

Had a small salad and then went to meet with the CC people that are going on a tour in Tonga together.  We made plans on where and when to meet on Thursday.  Then I tried an egg mayonnaise sandwich (egg salad).  Unfortunately, the bread had sat out for some time and was dry.  I ate the egg mixture and left the bread.

As predicted, the skies turned cloudy before 2 pm and there were a few showers.  The humidity is terrible and few people were spending any time on the open decks (still too hot and humid to sit on the balcony).

Today there was a session of "Scrapbooking at Sea".  It was a real waste of time.  The Social Hostess brought along a few things that the bookstore had for sale.  Four people showed up and  of course, none of us had brought Scrapbooking supplies on board.  Unless you are going on a Scrapbook Cruise, how many people do?

The Social Hostess and I were the first to arrive Needlework/Knitting group and we talked for a bit about it.  It sounded like the suggestion had been made to have a Scrapbooking group (perhaps from passenger comment cards) but unless the cruise line provides some supplies and/or instruction (like on some RCI ships), I don't think it will ever become a workable idea.

Tea time after Needlework/Knitting group.  I tried to make my own iced tea but it was not very good.  Read my Bill Bryson book for some time then back to get ready for dinner.

I was ready early so I went to Cafe Carinthia and had a Singapore Sling.  Pat came by and we sat and talked until dinner time.  Another hot humid evening so my after dinner balcony time was cut short.

We set our clocks back another hour tonight.