The "crossing" has begun with rough seas and high winds which kept up through the evening. It continued through the rest of the day. This is not unusual, as we seem to always have the same conditions going back to the USA. So it was a good time to catch up online with pictures and reports. There has been so much going on with the last two ports, it is hard to keep up with it.
One of us made a visit to the luggage service rep to add one piece of extra luggage to be shipped home. Taking a number, I ended up waiting for 1 ½ hour before being seen. Of course, this fellow will be at his spot for a few more days and I could have made a later appointment. I figured people would sleep late and would wait to do this. And if you did not have to add more bags, then you didn't need to do anything. An envelope had been delivered with the 8 tags and zip ties already. When the rep looked up our booking number, he had all the information about our lost bags last year. He was more than interested on what happened, and apologizing profusely. It's done and over, but we sure hope history doesn't repeat itself.
The rep did add that there is a chance the two missing pieces of luggage will surface, however, after talking with our local UPS delivery fellow at home, he said we can kiss those bags goodbye. In addition, the rep also said that the money paid for the damaged bags, the late bags, and also the missing ones is ours to keep in the event they did re-appear.
We had been invited to a laundry room tour with our travel group, but it was the same time as our appointment, so we passed on it. Been there….done that more than once.
The usual activities continued with lectures, arts and crafts, trivia, bingo and poker, as well as dance sessions, and golf putting, ping pong, and cornhole tournaments to name a few.
For the second time this whole trip, we ordered room service for lunch. Within minutes, two club sandwiches were delivered and they were excellent. Stacked high and cut in half, they were served with coleslaw and potato chips. By staying away from the Lido, we are not tempted with the extras, such as ice cream cones.
Captain Frank hoped everyone was not grumpy due to the motion of the ocean due to the rough conditions. One member of our "breakfast club" mentioned that her drawers were opening and closing all night long. Perhaps using some duct tape would help with that, if you remembered to bring some. We also heard things falling, and they weren't even in our room. At the moment we were sailing near the Azores at a speed of 20 knots. Despite the stabilizers out, we were rolling, pitching, and holding on to everything. The sea swells were 11 ½ feet, and we still have 2494 nautical miles to reach the pilot station at San Juan, Puerto Rico. The skies were heavily overcast with wind a gale force of 35 knots. Captain Frank expected the swells to increase to 16 ½ feet at worst, then subside to 7 feet later in the day. Taking a northern route, he said he was avoiding the worst of the system causing this rough sailing. Tomorrow will be better, he promised. I made sure I had enough seasick pills by going down to the front desk to ask for some. I was informed they were charging for them, where in the past, they were free. When I asked for some packets in the beginning of this cruise, they were free. Anyway, better to have them and not get sick, so I didn't mind paying for them. By the way….they work well.
This afternoon was a good time to start cleaning out the extra papers and flyers we have collected along the way. You would be surprised how much this unneeded stuff weighs. A convenient luggage scale has shown up in the center elevator lobby as well. That's such a good idea, although we have brought our own battery-operated hand-held scale with us to use. Today would not have been a good one to use it, due to the high seas and rolling of the ship.
Dinner had some good appetizers, but the Thai beef salad had beef that was raw and mostly inedible. It was one of those few times we sent something back. Our waiter noticed it was raw, but sometimes it looks that way and it is really marinated and tender….almost cooked. One of us had the chicken noodle soup with extra spaghetti (still not noodles). I give up. One of us had breaded veal without the polenta and the other had a small portion of pasta with andouille sausage. Watermelon was the only dessert we ordered.
The entertainment was supposed to be the singers and dancers, but under the circumstances, we think it had been cancelled and another act substituted. And so much for day one at sea. Six more to go. And by the way, there was no clock change yet.
Bill & Mary Ann
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