Days 94 and 95 - At sea

Monday, April 14

Slept late and then watched the morning show and spent some time on the balcony.  Returned my finished book to the library and started on my new one before an early lunch in the Lido.  The Captain announced that the Norovirus is decreasing but to remain vigilant about hygiene.

Went to the 12:15 lecture about the Titanic (today is the 102nd anniversary of her hitting the iceberg).  Came out sleepy (something about the Royal Court Theatre makes me sleepy - and I am not the only one) so I went out on my balcony and took a little snooze.

Then to Needlework/Knitting group.  I finally got to meet Glenda through Phyllis, one of our regulars (and to their children - thanks for reading!). During our meeting the Captain made an announcement asking for anyone with A positive blood to call the medical centre as they were in need of a blood donor.

Hard trivia at 4:15 with only eight correct ("What was the name of the robot in Buck Rogers?" and "What was the subtitle of the second Star Wars movie?" were just two that stumped me.).

After an ice cream I decided to sit on my balcony for awhile before getting ready for dinner tonight.  In a few minutes I had seen a couple of dozen flying fish.  The Captain had announced that they were common in these warm waters (the water temperature and air temperature were the same today - 84F/29C).  I took a number of pictures but was only able to capture one (and not very well).

Tonight is a formal night with the "Night of the Raj Ball".  Before dinner there was a World Voyage cocktail party with the Captain.  He announced that we would be making a quick stop at Muscat to disembark the person who needed the blood transfusion.  We will also arrive Wednesday night instead of Thursday morning in Abu Dhabi because we have put on speed to get to Muscat.

At dinner the server, who normally works in The Verandah (the French restaurant onboard), said he hoped that the Code Red restrictions would be lifted on Wednesday.  I had the best beef tenderloin I think I have ever had tonight for dinner

I locked my keycard in my room as I was hurrying off to the cocktail party so I had to go get another one (I am sure they are tired of seeing me at the Purser's Office).  I stopped to look at those who had dressed for the Raj Ball.  There were some beautiful outfits.  Picked up my orange juice and decided to make it another early night.  When I returned to my stateroom we had another World Voyage gift.  Ladies received a silk scarf and men had a silk tie.   We set our our clocks back half an hour tonight.

flying fish (bottom right quadrant of picture)

World Voyage ice sculpture (the chefs are cooking very tasty bite size steak pieces)

World Voyage ice sculpture

part of the display

World Voyage display 

Tuesday, April 15

Slept late again and then watched the morning show and sat on the balcony for awhile.  Another early lunch and then more time on my balcony with a short nap thrown in.  The captain announced that we would get to Muscat around 5:30 and we had two ill passengers to disembark.  He also said the number of people with Norovirus continued to decline.

To Needlework/Knitting group (only about 6 present) and then to early afternoon trivia. I had 11 out of 20 correct.

Then out on deck to watch the coast of Oman appear.  It looked like something out of a storybook in part because of the haze.  One ill passenger was disembarked in a wheel chair and then another on a gurney.

Early evening trivia was easier than some of the others and I had 14 correct (there was only one sports question which helped).

We had seven for dinner.  Afterwards there was a "Dance Under the Stars" on deck nine aft (open deck by the Lido pool).  I'm not sure why that was held when the lights were supposed to be out.  There were more people dancing to the "International Party Band, Nexus" (as they are always introduced) on deck nine than I have ever seen.

We get another hour's sleep tonight with setting back our clocks.

View of Oman

close up shot

the little boat that took the ill into Muscat

Smooth sailing until next time!