Subject: Report #115 Sailing Towards Ft. Lauderdale, Florida April 24, 2016 Sunday Partly cloudy & 71 degrees
Green around the gills…….that's the way quite a few folks ended up today after some rather rough seas that left the ship pitching and listing from side to side most all day long. Despite the efforts of Captain Mercer to sail away from the swells, we still hit them later in the morning. Since we have dropped south somewhat, the temperatures are not cold. Only the spray that comes off of the waves kept most people off of one side of the promenade today.
The motion of the ship kept the Filipino crew from performing their show this afternoon. We do hope they will be able to reschedule it before the week is over.
The normal activities continued with Ann Schwartz talking about Columbus' exploration of the new world. Milestone events of the 60's was the subject for Mike Raick this afternoon. We have enjoyed all of his lectures.
There will be a guest talent show tomorrow, because there were sign-ups today. Everyone was invited to sign up to sing, dance, tell a clean joke, or a short story. All acts can only run up to three minutes. Definitely, not a show to miss at 3pm tomorrow.
A new message was printed in the daily newsletter today saying that unless you used a cane, walker, wheelchair, or scooter during this entire voyage, you could not request mobility assistant service to debark the ship. We have seen this practice many times on past trips, where some "special" people demand to be taken off in wheelchairs etc. in order to beat the crowd. First time ever to see this warning in print.
Our big job of the day was to look into a possible tour in Ft. Lauderdale. As continuing guests, we will need to go through customs and immigrations, to clear the ship, but will not be allowed back on until the entire ship has been cleared of passengers. That could take some time. Yesterday, we got a flyer offering a choice of two tours….one to a boat trip to see the homes and yachts of the inner waterways, or an airboat ride in the everglades. We decided to try for the airboat, because we have done it once before, and it was a hoot. Now we hope more folks sign up for it, or else it will be cancelled. One thing we heard from the shore excursion manager was that they will be combining passengers from other cruise ships in port to fill this tour.
We had a really nice lunch in the dining room with Barb, Maureen, Ellen, and Aart this afternoon. Some of the appetizers and entrees were better than what was offered at night. We both had sweet and sour chicken……excellent. Dessert was mis-identified. What they called Jamaican cake was really the mud pie we really like. Only a few of us ordered it, so we asked to have it for dinner tonight as well. The waiters said it was OK.
It was a two movie afternoon….one of which was the new Star Wars movie. As we watched it, we could see sheets of white spray flying past our window from the waves. So far, nothing had gotten better with the sea conditions. It would remain that way for the rest of the evening.
All but two were at dinner tonight. As a joke, Barb threw each one of us a seasick bag she had picked up in the elevator lobby on the way in to the dining room. Leslie, who was the only one feeling the effects of the motion, actually took a couple of the bags with her tonight after dinner. Yep, green around the gills. It does help to take the seasick pills, but you have to do it when you are feeling fine. Waiting until you feel queasy is too late.
There was a comedian performer this evening by the name of Buzz Sutherland. He has performed in 47 countries in the past year. Judging from the few people who showed up for dinner tonight, we doubt the showlouge will be filled. But we may be wrong.
Also, the clocks went back another hour tonight. Usually, we like the time change back, but so many nights in a row is not exactly great.
Bill & Mary Ann
PS By the way, thanks for the info on those fish we saw in Funchal, as we have never heard of espada before.
