Report # 98 Day at Sea Friday - March 25, 2022 Mostly sunny & 78 degrees

Today was one that was full of events.  Some expected, and some not.  Club Orange breakfast had to be cut short, since we had an appointment for another Covid test from 9 to 9:30am in a different room on deck one.  Assuming the amount of in transit guests was smaller, we were surprised to learn that there were 260 going forward.  More or less. 

Once again, we lined up in the lower atrium right behind a single lady.  She turned around and asked us to save her place, then went up to the officer placing hand stickers on the folks.  After a brief exchange, she walked past us saying she was sent to her room, and would be tested there.  We found out why, when she left the room coughing deeply.  Oh boy, our suggestion for each other was DON'T BREATHE, as we were standing in her spot.  We sure hope she was just coming down with a cold, and not Covid.  And to top this off, we had been warned to wear masks here, but many were not complying.  One of the staff members had to pass out masks to these folks waiting in line.  The antigen test was done quickly, and the whole process only took ½ hour.

Back to our room, we waited for a call that never came. Passed again, thank goodness.  Then we headed out to another Mariner Recognition Event held in the Billboard Onboard  at 11am.  Howard joined us as we sipped mimosas, orange juice, and soda.  We did notice that one guest had ordered a Bloody Mary, but paid for it.  Just a few years ago, we were allowed to order whatever we wished.  No more sadly.  There were 30 guests at the most at this event.  Some were getting medallions, and the rest of the crowd were announced with no mention of their days.  Everyone was invited to have their photo taken with the Captain and Hotel Director.  Somewhere in the middle of the awards, our group was announced, and we went up for photos.  Today Jonah handed the mike to Otto, who will be taking her place after April 17th.  He did things a bit differently, which was fine.  Howard was first, then we went next. 

During this event, a lady sitting near us was coughing so much, she had to leave her seat.  More than likely, she will be going home in two days.  We are not saying she could be ill with the virus, but if she was….it was possibly being transmitted to everyone around her.  We would not be surprised if the virus has re-appeared once again. 

Back in our room, we had two more Delft tiles gifted.  Hope our luggage is not going to be overweight.  Since we had a lot of catching up to do on the computer, we stayed "home" until it was time for lunch at 2:30pm.  The salads were good as always, but we skipped the sandwiches.  Trying to cut back.  One of us would have loved an ice cream cone, but they have not had the sugar cones available.    Like the cone as much as the ice cream.  And we do have biscotti cookies in our room, so that's what we did.  Cookies and soda on the veranda…..perfect.  It was plenty warm outside today, as we are heading in a northwest direction at a speed of 19 knots.  At one point, we passed the Turks and Caicos on the horizon.  They are almost flat as a pancake. 

We received another letter for in transit details on Sunday.  Same as always, we will need to leave the ship by 9:15am.  It will be our last chance to do some shopping, since we will have to spend four to five hours in town before returning to the ship.  We think the majority of the in transit folks choose to stay onboard for the day.  They are escorted as a group to Customs and Borders controls, processed, and returned to the ship.  That might take 2 hours or less if they are lucky.

Around 7pm, the Captain came on the speakers with a message.  In a nutshell, the message was an update of onboard mask wearing.  Due to the discovery of some positive Covid cases with the guests and crew members, all passengers will be required to wear masks in all indoor spaces.  The exception is while eating and drinking actively, or in our staterooms.  If we needed more masks, we could ask our room stewards.  Finally, everyone was requested to report any symptoms of illness to the Medical staff.   In addition, we think we heard that some healthy guests had to vacate their cabins to make room for more isolation cabins.  That way, the ones infected could be kept together behind the closed fire doors.  Bet this group of healthy passengers were not happy campers with that request to pack everything and move. 

Tonight's dress was gala attire, the final one for this trip.  We did notice that in the dining room on deck three, many more fellows were wearing either suits or jackets.  There may have been a few more tuxes as well.  The ladies were looking good too.  Our meal consisted of shrimp cocktails, Caesar salad, and the filet with grilled shrimp entrees.  The steaks were tender and tasty, but sliced half the size of a steak in the Pinnacle Grill.  Our waiter added an extra prawn to each of our plates, saying in his opinion, the steaks were too small.  Truthfully, we like the smaller portions, as we can always ask for more.  If they had rocky road ice cream, we might have ordered dessert.  Our waiter said they did not, so we bid our farewell for the evening, thanking him for such quick service.  Compared to the first gala evening a week or so ago, this one was not as crowded.  Many people like to dine in the specialty restaurants on these dress-up nights.  We always prefer to go there on casual nights…far less crowded. 

Presty stopped by and said we would be moving back down to our old table on deck two.  That's fine with us, as we prefer a larger size table to the ones that seat only two. 

Now the big question is…….what about the port of Half Moon Cay tomorrow?  Will we go, or will we be denied by the Bahamian government?  Time will tell………..

Bill & Mary Ann    

NO Pictures