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Thursday, Day 7

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Today’s post will be brief, as we were busy wrapping up the trip and packing for disembarkation tomorrow morning. We did add a British couple to our trivia team, and they supplied three answers we wouldn’t have known. The trivia hosts seem to have a thing for the periodic table, Michael Jackson, and British sit-coms. We checked out the photos the ship photographers took and bought three.  Alas, they revealed that I should stick to long sleeves henceforth!  Oh, well. They’re on a thumb drive, and we’re traveling with only iPads, so I can’t post them now. Here’s where the ship was this morning, but now we’re in the English Channel. For lunch, we both started with a very tasty (yet non-photogenic) corn and chicken soup. Then I tried the chicken quesadillas, which were very good, and a little taste of Texas. Charlie opted for the monkfish, which he enjoyed. Skipping ahead to dinner, I enjoyed a starter of roasted carrots with carrot hummus. A bit different and delicious. Charlie w...
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Wednesday, Day 6

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Our morning went according to our shipboard routine—coffee and the internet, the gym, and Morning Trivia.  Today there were TWO soccer/football questions, which made us wish for Rob or Thomas. And do you know the only country named for a woman? We didn’t. Luckily, our scores won’t be on our Permanent Records. We are getting closer to our destination! Today we went to Lunch and Learn, an extra event to learn about wines.  It was held in the Verandah, the steakhouse on board.  Various sommeliers from different restaurants told us about each pair of wines.  Here’s the menu: The French wines were our favorites, but a couple of the others were also very good.  Here are the four courses: Gin and tonic salmon Grilled lemon sole Grilled beef tenderloin  Cheese course with date chutney  I was surprised to discover that the Swiss cheese (hiding behind the Brie), combined with the French wine, tasted like dark chocolate. Very tasty! After trying all those wines I...
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Tuesday, Day 5

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There’s no time change today, so we’re still four hours ahead of Houston Time.  We slept until 7:00, late for us!   I didn’t get to the gym today, but Mr. Dutiful did.  Morning Trivia was fun, though we didn’t do especially well.  Our team didn’t know which country has the most pyramids, nor Queen Victoria’s first name at birth (among other questions). We did know the word for a sailor who hasn’t yet crossed the equator! I’ve been meaning to post about the amazing floral arrangements that are everywhere on the ship. The video gives you a quick glimpse of the amazing peacock arrangement that greeted us as we boarded the ship, and the next photo shows the arrangement that replaced it.   This one was at the entrance to the Princess Grill where we have our meals. All of the two-tops have sprigs of white orchids, and the round tables for six have centerpieces with multiple blooms. I wish they offered a tour of their conservatory or flower workshop! I also learned yes...
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Monday, Day 4

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The sun is rising very early now, so we’ve begun closing our curtains at bedtime so we can sleep a bit later.  We went to the gym, which was much less busy than on the first day.  To continue our apparent routine, we met Al and Carol for Morning Trivia and enjoyed that, though we didn’t win. We really need a Brit and an Aussie on our team, as the questions always include some only they’d know. Charlie showed me the small casino on Deck 2, where the waves look much fiercer than on Deck 10. Then we went to check out the photos taken on the first night aboard and on Gala Night. There are a couple of good ones, so I’m sure we’ll buy some after the next Gala Night. Lunch was pretty good, starting with cheese grits-stuffed jalapenos.  I thought that was a clever pairing! Delicious! We each had a fairly pedestrian salad, but we needed some greenery.  Charlie had roast lamb with potatoes and Thai mint sauce, which he said was flavorful but not very tender.  I opted for ...
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Sunday, Day 3

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We had a leisurely morning before Charlie dutifully headed to the gym.  I opted to skip exercise to finish the blog post for yesterday. (You’re welcome.). At 10:00 we returned to the Carinthia Lounge for Morning Trivia, again joining Al and Carol.  They told us they were both retired middle school teachers, bless them.  And their granddaughter is also in a biomedical engineering masters program, at Georgia Tech!  We didn’t do as well today, and we wished we could have phoned Rob for the name of the tenth Doctor.   Just before noon (and another time change), the captain announced we’ve traveled 550 nautical miles with about 2200 to go. He also noted that we’ll pass the resting place of the Titanic at 10:30 p.m. tonight, while assuring us that we’re staying well south of any icebergs.  For lunch in the Princess Grill, I started with a vegetable antipasti that included some really good mozzarella, with mushrooms, olives, and peppers. Charlie had sweet potato-c...
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Saturday, Day 2

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As of noon today, we are two hours ahead of Central time. The ship is really moving at 23 knots. The outside temperature is 51, but with the wind, it feels a lot colder. Here’s a pic (of random strangers) showing the wind’s impact.  This morning, after wrestling with the coffee machine in our stateroom and being disappointed with the results, Charlie went to the buffet and brought back some coffee. It was hot, if much weaker than we prefer. We then went to the gym to exercise before getting ready for the day.  We went to Morning Trivia, where a nice couple invited us to team up. Carol and Al are living in Florida, but formerly lived in Houston. We made a good team, with each of us contributing answers, though we didn’t win. Still, 14 out of 20 wasn’t bad. They want us to meet again tomorrow. They are Cunard veterans and were on an 111-day cruise when the pandemic hit. Only one passenger contracted Covid, though it was before anyone knew what it was. In Perth, many people got o...
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