It was breakfast as usual for us in the Pinnacle Grill. There has been a small group of us that arrive early and we have dubbed it the "Breakfast Club". We have gotten to know each other after all of these months, and we can say that it has been the nicest way to start the day. Then during the times of 7:30 to 9am, many of our buddies trickle in a few at a time.
We did notice there was no brunch as they have had on most Sundays at sea. However, there was an 11am Mariner Society lunch for all of the guests leaving in Ft. Lauderdale. We had received an invitation to attend but decided not to go this time. Normally, they do these lunches in two or three days, but with so few people on this voyage, it may have been just this morning. And for that matter, perhaps not everyone was included.
We used this fairly nice morning to continue with the packing. Today was concentrated on bagging up the small stuff such as whatever toiletries were left over, costume jewelry, and assorted necessities you may need just in case. We do have the amounts we bring down to a science, and that way we have some space for the souvenirs we had bought and the gifts we received along the way both from HAL and our travel group.
When Captain Frank came on with his talk, he said he hoped we were having a relaxing day at sea. Was he kidding? He must realize people are doing the same as us and tackling the job of packing. We are glad that the seas have calmed down somewhat although we still have 7.5-foot seas that has the ship rolling. The morning began with a nice sunrise followed by blue skies, then the clouds arrived. It did rain off and on, but it did help keep the temperatures down to 76 degrees with 27 knot winds. The humidity has been increasing every day now, and it is beginning to feel like the Caribbean.
Then he went into a description of the Great Atlantic Sargasso Sea, where we are sailing at the moment. He says the theory is that this sea area is increasing with the distribution of algae or seaweed, among other things, and that has become problematic. We have noticed that clumps of this seaweed have been floating by the last three days, so now we know what we were looking at. Captain Frank also said that periodically this algae has covered beaches on the east coast and it is a stinky mess. Some are concerned it may contain bad bacteria and could cause illness. Anyway, we learned something new today.
Lastly, the clocks will go back one more hour this evening. Now we will have one hour left to go back tomorrow, and will be on Eastern Standard Time.
Lunch for us was the same as yesterday – Lido sandwiches, which we enjoyed in our room while watching a good movie. The Lido did have a traditional Shawarma buffet with slow-roasted marinated meats, shaved fresh off a rotisserie grill. They served beef or chicken with all of the garnishings in a warm pita pocket. Sounds appetizing.
This evening was the final formal night, and Kimberly repeated her description of what that means at her 5pm talk. This includes suits, tuxedos, dresses, and other forms of cultural formal attire. And at the entrance to the upper dining room where we eat, there were a couple of dark jackets hanging near the reception kiosk just in case a guest gentleman needs one.
Our dinners started with the everyday shrimp cocktails, followed by one salad and one bowl of chicken noodle soup, not on the menu. Our mains were the same – steak Diane with the best cheesy potatoes and some asparagus. It came with a tasty mushroom gravy. Instead of dessert, we opted for drinks of amaretto liqueur. Sure was good and we wished we had thought of it sooner in the voyage.
And as always with the final formal night, we had gifts. Perhaps the final gift of this voyage. They were the expected Commemorative Authentic Delft Plate by Royal Goedewaagen. Truthfully, the title was bigger than the actual plate. Gone are the days when we received 14 inch platters with the entire itinerary printed on the map. Not that we don't appreciate the thought behind the gift, but with the reduction in size from a platter to the size of a saucer, it leaves us feeling the company is suffering money-wise. Sure hope we are wrong.
And so ended day five at sea. One more to go……
Bill & Mary Ann
