If we ever appreciated a day at sea, this was one of them. After such a long stay in Barcelona, we needed a full day to relax. Most of the morning after breakfast was spent catching up on reports and pictures from yesterday. It’s always wise for us to keep up with as much as we can right away, because the memory tends to fade if we let too much time pass by. The next few weeks will be a test to see how we can handle several ports in a row with few sea days in between. Brings back many memories of times we took shorter cruises with intensive ports. When we returned home, we needed a vacation to recover.
A few days ago, Bill received a gift certificate from the hotel director for a $50 spa treatment, but it was only good until the 20th. The only thing he could think to get was another haircut..…really more of a trim since he had one about three weeks ago. It is interesting how this coupon works. Whatever treatment you choose, the coupon will only cover that amount, but not the 15% gratuity. He would have gladly given the balance of the $25 men’s cut as a tip to Cherrie, one of the hair cutters. However, the gratuity cannot come out of the coupon amount. It has to be put on your shipboard account. For us, it is no big deal since we have plenty of credit still to spend. But for those folks that are running up a hefty tab, well, they resent it. In addition, these coupons are not transferable to a spouse. We have heard stories of folks ripping up the coupon in front of the spa receptionist, saying thanks, but no thanks. In the end, he ended up with a perfect cut that should last now until we get back home.
Meeting up with Barb for lunch was fun as always. Seems that the trivia questions of late have been getting harder for all of the groups to answer correctly. Scores have been low, and that is probably on purpose. Many times Barb will bring a hard question to us to answer, and sometimes we get it….most times we don’t. It still is the most played game on the ship.
Sometime today we need to watch the lecture all about what to see and do in Lisbon, Portugal as described by EXC guide Ian. Lisbon has been a one-stop port for us, but we landed there on a Sunday. Many sites were closed, so we took a tour out of town for the day. This time we plan to spend the day in town, even though it will be Easter Sunday, and perhaps everything will be closed.
Two new guests are onboard now. One for the test kitchen, Erik Malmsten, who will more than likely prepare foods for the country we are visiting next….Portugal. And guest speaker, Brian Stoddart, gave a lecture on the Spanish world, which will be appropriate for one more port.
Since today is Good Friday, a Catholic service was held in the Mainstage. And a Seder Dinner was celebrated in one side of the Lido as they always do. Our tablemates, Greg and Heo, attended this affair tonight, but they had to reserve their places a week ago in order to attend.
So it was just the three of us at dinner, and two of us were happy to see Empire chicken on the menu. It is the Kosher chicken that is served upon request here for anyone that orders it ahead of time. Well, it was a huge disappointment when our meals arrived, and the chicken was served with two pieces of dried up chicken with gravy. Sure was not the good juicy and tender half chicken we would have gotten. Bet the fellows will have a different story when we ask what they had for dinner. Oh well, you can’t win all of the time, and Slam made up for it with two plates of biscotti cookies.
The Spanish Rumba Kings did a show based on the Gipsy Kings of old. Sorry we missed it, because with a title like that, we were most curious what it could be. Instead we went outside to catch the last of the sunset, and the beginning of the moon rising. Both pretty neat sights this evening.
By the way, we went past Gibraltar tonight, but not until after midnight, unfortunately. We have made two stops in Gibraltar, a small place of only 3 acres and a population of 28 thousand English-speaking people. It is strategically situated guarding the Straits of Gibraltar, the narrow entrance to the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. The “Rock” as it is locally known, has an interesting relationship between the British and Spanish. The Spanish want it back, and the British may be happy to give it back. The citizens love their curious corner of England, especially the upper rock with spectacular views and a colony of naughty Barbary macaques. They are Europe’s only primates. If we had been able to stay up that late, and were located on the starboard side of the ship, we may have seen the “Rock” lit up as we sailed on by. Would have loved having a stop here, but we seldom do on a world cruise. But all was not lost, because we did see the north part of Africa….Tangiers, Morocco. It was lit up and sparkling like gold as we sailed through the strait.
Bill & Mary Ann
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Report #91 Day at Sea April 19, 2019 Friday Partly sunny & 64 degrees
