A day at sea on our way towards the Canary Islands, found the temperature cooler at 75 degrees and the humidity of 67%. What we found really strange was the haziness in the air, which actually shrouded the horizon. The dull color of the sky blended with the ocean water as well. What we learned later was that the particles in the air was sand, carried on the winds from the Sahara Desert. While traveling on the other side of Africa on past cruises transiting the Suez Canal, we saw the same thing with smoggy-looking skies. All sand dusts. At times it can become overwhelming and obscure the air to the point one cannot see much more than a few feet ahead. There is a name for it which escapes us at the moment, and it begins with an "h".
For the first time ever, we had no yogurt for breakfast, since the ship has totally run out of it. We thought a close substitute would be cottage cheese, but when they brought a few ramekins, it turned out to be sour cream, which they insisted the container said creamy cottage cheese. Since this item and many other things never made it to the ship yesterday, we know it will be coming soon when we arrive to the Canary Islands. We do expect many other regular every day dishes will be missing such as green salads, a lot of fresh fruit, and entrees such as fish and assorted produce.
One job we had this morning was to pick up the passports on our designated decks by 10am. This will have us prepared for our ports in Morocco. Those folks that had booked the overland in Morocco did not have to collect them. They will more than likely have a face-to-face with Moroccan officials. There was absolutely no line at 9:45am. Easy.
After our morning walk, we went up to deck 10 for a little time in the sun. It was most comfortable up there, and now several other folks have discovered this quiet area. We were lucky to get two lounges at the railing. Going back to the room by noontime, we listened to Captain Frank's talk. Later in the afternoon, we received a letter from the Captain with an update on the health conditions onboard. The cases of the gastrointestinal illness had decreased, but they are still on the alert, and suggest keeping up the good work with our personal hand cleaning. The self-service areas in the Lido will return to normal very soon. It is funny….since the outbreak of this sickness, we have not heard the word "Covid" even mentioned. And we doubt that there are many, if any, cases onboard now.
The internet was terrible today as the connection went in and out all day long. It probably has something to do with sailing out to sea and far away from land. Hope it improves as we near the Canary Islands.
The biggest highlight of the day had to be spotting whales in the distance while sitting on our veranda. They appear to be humpback, so we looked it up on Google, and discovered they can be migrating this time of year. We had counted at least seven sightings with these whales partially surfacing and blowing their spouts. Although we never saw one dive, we did spot their fins as they rolled on their sides while eating. Then we also saw a pod or two of dolphins, but really far out. Too far for photos. We did capture some of the whales which looked like huge logs floating by, their telltale spouts giving them away. It was hard to tear ourselves away, but we had been invited to a cocktail gathering in The Retreat at 6:30pm. The theme of the party was "Out of Africa" with other invited travel friends, DJ Nyron, drinks and snacks. The suggested dress code tonight was "dressy", and the code here was African-ish dressy. What did other invited travel friends mean? Well it turned out to be a combo party with the President's Club members as well as the Neptune folks. In our humble opinion, it was way too crowded with up to 120 to 140 guests, who were joined by many officers as well as the Captain.
This time there were more stand-up tables, and we commandeered one. This worked well for us, since we do not like to sit in one spot. We were joined by people we had not met before, then one by one, some of the staff came along and introduced themselves. Shiv and Christel graced us with their company, and the party was complete. Bob and Martha stopped by to take some photos. Since it was African-ish clothing, more than a half dozen fellows wore tunics they purchased while in The Gambia. Some of them were twins, by accident. Made for great pictures and fun conversations. The party looked to be on-going when we left at 7:30pm, but we're sure the bar closed at that time.
Dinner for us was in the Pinnacle Grill, also at 7:30pm. Our table was waiting, a four top by the window set for two. We suspected that our favorite salad, the wedge, would not be available. And we were correct. So we ordered Caesar salads and were told we got the last ones. No more lettuce was available. It was grilled lamb chops and a shared baked potato for us. The halibut was not offered, but the substitute was sea bass. Desserts were one crème Brulé and two small scoops of the darkest red sorbet we have ever seen. Sure was tart. Chocolates were served, which we nibbled on. We enjoyed every bite as always.
Tonight the clocks went ahead one hour. That will put us on GMT plus 1, the correct time in the Canary Islands, as it is part of Spain. Now we will be current with the daylight savings time that occurred a few days ago in northern Europe.
Bill & Mary Ann
