I was awakened to the sound of the Capt. over the PA system advising us about the weather. Gale force 8 winds, 10-12’ seas. He was closing off the open decks on the port side. Because of “Olga” we were taking a different route on the northern side of the Bahamas in order to cut down on the strong wind blowing across the bow of the ship. I was tickled that my little midship cabin was bouncing around quite nicely, thank you very much. I made myself get up at 9:30. Went to the Bistro (coffee shop) for cappuccino. They have a light breakfast buffet from which I had smoked salmon, croissants, tomatoes/cottage cheese & some fruit. Quite healthy, don’t you think? They have these tiny jars of jellies, amongst which I found “chocolate spread”. Thought it was worth a try. Put some butter & this spread on a croissant, divine!
I then rushed off to team trivia. Only 3 teams participated; & we came in last. Pretty sad. From there I attended a lecture by former FBI criminal profiler/hostage negotiator, Clint Van Zandt. Very interesting. After that there was an informal get together of fellow passengers that hang out on the Cruise Critic message boards. This was up in the observation lounge, top deck all the way forward. I think a lot of people are a little sea sick because only 5 out of the 22 of us showed up. We chatted for a while listening to a few bottles fall off the bar & crash on the floor. It was really rough up there. Except for a few brief showers the skies were partly cloudy.
A bunch of my C.C. friends & Leslie & Larry had lunch together in the D.R. (There was an Asian buffet out on the pool deck & it leaves a little to be desired.) I had a fabulous crispy vegetable spring roll w/ spicy chili sauce to dip it in, followed by some delicious cream of broccoli soup topped w/ toasted almond slivers. For my main course I had hot pastrami sandwich (which I was craving) w/ a side of coleslaw. It was a little disappointing. A simply divine coconut sherbet for dessert. The good thing about having early sitting dinner, is if you have a disappointing lunch, it’s not long til you eat again!
I spent the afternoon in the cabin on the computer (internet as always is quite slow) & started a trashy chick novel. I laid down for a while; but the rough sea was keeping me from falling asleep.
Tonight was formal night; & Leslie decided that we would cancel our reservations in the Asian restaurant & go the main D.R. instead. So, I start primping about 5 (dinner at 6:15). In a little while Leslie calls to say she didn’t want to eat a big meal w/ the seas so rough; so they were going to order room service. We are assigned a table for 8 w/ only the 3 of us sitting there. So, I went to the D.R. looking for a table to join. I asked if my friend, Harvey’s table had an empty seat; & it did. So, I go sit w/ 7 really strange people. Harvey didn’t show up for dinner. Oh, well. But I did have an interesting meal. I started out w/ wild forest mushroom soup “cappuccino style” (which means they had a cream fraise froth on the top) followed by the Capt’s salad (exotic greens w/ mushrooms, bean sprouts & potato straws w/ a raspberry vinaigrette). Also on the menu, but not of interest to me, was Claire oysters, which I’m told is the crème de la crème of oysters. My entrée was the lobster tails (I asked for 2) w/ steamed asparagus (which are too thick & too crisp), champagne-honey braised cabbage (awesome) & the most divine truffle oil/leek risotto. Dessert was passion fruit/champagne sherbet (another winner). I was full; but not stuffed. It feels weird leaving the D.R. at 8 pm.
But what I wanted to do most was come back to the cabin & read. My stewardess, Paula, a darling young lady from Romania stopped me in the hall & wanted to chat. She saw my (Oceania Cruise Lines) travel coffee mug on my desk; & she wanted to tell me that she used to work for Oceania. We stood there & talked for at least half an hour, until such time as my evening clothes were becoming cumbersome. So, here it is 9:25; & I’m ready to tuck myself in bed, read & rock myself to sleep.
We’ve been advised that due to the winds, rough seas & change in our routing; we will be 2 hrs. late getting into Grand Turk in the morning. My friend, Dorn, is going to fly over from Providenciales (weather permitting). I must e-mail & tell him we’re going to be late. Also heard that it’s supposed to be raining in the morning; but clearing up a bit by afternoon. So, another day ends in the Crystal world. More tomorrow.
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