Very few of our "breakfast club" showed up early for breakfast this morning. We're guessing that since we have four days at sea now, many people slept in or stayed up late last night. Now you would think that those of us that were dining there would have the wait staff's undivided attention, but that wasn't the case. Once our breakfast was served (missing the ham) the waiters seem to disappear. One of us gets a carafe of coffee, but the other has decaf…one cup at a time. But no one was pouring it this morning. Another waiter made a sweep with the pastry tray one time only. Even one of our buddies had to get up and go help himself from the tray on a side table. We were happy to see someone spotted that and came running. We are the only ones that get the sugar-free packets….the rest of the tables have none. This has been occurring for the last month, leading us to think they are running short. Anyway, we will survive, but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Unlike our dinner waiters, we do not have a designated waiter for breakfast.
We spent some of the morning catching up on yesterday's photos and labeling. We took our morning walk with pleasant temperatures and a little wind. So far, it is still on the warm side, but we don't expect it to last long. One thing for sure, we are enjoying watching the hundreds of flying fish scatter when the bow breaks the surface. Their only worries are what is underneath them in the sea, but not overhead, since the birds are not here.
Spending an hour at the Seaview Pool, we found it was plenty warm. Our regular deck waiters were not there today, and the ones that took their places never came around with ice water. It appears the jobs have been changing as we get closer to the end of the trip. Deep cleaning has continued in every restaurant as we get closer to that inspection in San Juan.
We packed more luggage today, finding some clothes that were left in a side pocket of a duffel. One of us knew some things were missing, but figured they were left behind while unpacking from the Tales of the South Pacific and re-packing for the world cruise. At least one of us has some new dinner clothes for the final week here.
We received several invites. One of them was for our travel group gathering at the Sunday Brunch tomorrow in the dining room. Since we do not care for the brunch menu, we will not be there. Another invitation arrived for a Mariner Society Lunch in the dining room on the 7th at 11am. It was by special invite from Captain Friso and Henk, our hotel director. Chances are they will not be hosting tables as they have done in the past. This year it appears that the officers have not been hosting tables on formal evenings either. There may be a few of them that were invited directly, but not many.
The most important note came to everyone regarding the use of requested wheelchairs for disembarking in Ft. Lauderdale. It was made perfectly clear that the service is limited and it applies to guests who have used mobility devices from day one. Or perhaps if someone was injured onboard and needed assistance ever since, they would qualify for help. Otherwise, it is not an alternative for luggage/package/carry-on transportation options. You would be surprised how many folks did this years ago in order to be taken off first. No more.
At 5pm, there was a requested two minutes of silence for Dutch Remembrance Day or Dodenherdenking in Dutch. It is similar to our Memorial Day and we're certain it was honored by all in the public areas. Tomorrow is dubbed Bevrijdingsdag which might stand for Cinco de Mayo??? We sure don't know.
We received a full size photo taken with us and the Captain and Henk at the Mariner Recognition Event a couple of days ago. It was a lot more casual that the posed pictures we normally took, and probably better. Thinking back on that afternoon, we feel bad for the folks that had gotten their 5 star level medallions. Each of them should have been recognized since it took a lot of days to get to that level. At least they were invited to take a picture with the officers before leaving the party.
It was "dressy" for dinner, although many of the guests chose not to be that dressy. We know that everyone is in the packing mode and use that as an excuse not to dress up. There is one more formal evening, and we are really sure many will not follow the suggestion. It's not like the formal night will be on the last evening, as it will be on Monday with plenty of time to pack it up. Dinner time found us ordering smoked chicken slices with a raisin aioli sauce. It was really good as was the crab fritter. Following our salads was the rib steak dinner, the chef's recommendation for the night. We did not expect the meat to be as good as in the Pinnacle Grill, but it was pretty close. There was room for a tiny scoop of Neapolitan ice cream for dessert.
The entertainment tonight was another performance of the The Flyrights. They promised a sensational show – different from their last one. We shall see.
Bill & Mary Ann
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