Saturday

Oceania Cruises "Regatta", Entry #4; Apr. '07


Well, all good things must come to an end; & I’m ready to come home. Our trivia team luck has definitely run out. We lost the last 3 games. Even lost again at “Buzzword”. Maybe our brains got fried during the last half of the cruise. Those Big “O” points that I earned don’t buy very much. I wanted a thermos travel coffee mug; so I was able to beg, borrow & steal 8 more points in order to “buy” it.

We ran out of luck w/ the weather as well. Tues. was a drizzly, chilly day in Cadiz. I am so glad I had cancelled my tour that day. But I will always wonder what I missed by not going into Seville. That evening a local flamenco troupe came onboard. They were colorful; & that’s about as much good as I can say about their performance. I find the music & “whoopin” tedious.

I wallowed in the bed & read til noon. I finally figured out that the best sleep I get is just after dawn (which makes it about midnight at home). Finished my 3rd book; & started my 4th. The seas have been so calm, it hardly feels like we’re moving since we left Cadiz. We went through the Straits of Gibralter about 1 am Wed. morning. Even though there was a full moon, it was too dark to see “the rock”. What a shame it couldn’t have been a daylight transit. Our last sea day was cloudy w/ spotty showers. This morning’s arrival into Barcelona was rainy, mid 50’s. Glad again that I didn’t have to leave the ship. I started packing; & then had my final massage at noontime.


Let’s see now, what have I been eating??? Had some delicious split pea & proscuitto soup & sweet corn chowder. The poached Chilean sea bass w/ sautéed spinach was fabulous. Spinach & ricotta gnocchi pomodoro was so-so. Had a lunch in the D.R. Enjoyed a wonderful wedge of fried camembert served over a bed of carrot salad, cream of cauliflower soup, penne pasta w/ bell peppers eggplant & tomato sauce. Had dinner w/ the cruise director again last night in the Terrace Café. Didn’t exactly enjoy the squid & garlic salad (rubbery & too much garlic, if that is possible). There was a spicy shrimp casserole appetizer, shrimp bisque (that was too fishy) & corkscrew pasta w/ endive & pancetta in a roasted garlic sauce.


I don’t expect anything earthshaking to be on tonight’s menu. And tomorrow’s travel day may or may not be eventful. There is one thing that has cast a shadow over the last 3 days of the cruise. Even though they promised me 3 weeks ago that there would be no drydock work started while we were still onboard, they LIED! A few workmen came onboard in Cadiz & started tearing up the flooring up on sun deck. There was a lot of jackhammer noises. They also started working in the air conditioning ductwork which lead to “stuff” falling out of the vents. Some varnishing smells on certain decks. Today they have closed off access to the pool deck. They used a crane to lift & stack a lot of construction supplies out there. They must think because the weather is bad that it’s not causing us any inconvenience. Leaves a bad taste at the end of the cruise.

My apologies; I know this cruise’s travel logs were a little lackluster. That is exactly how I felt about the vacation. It had nothing really to do w/the ship experience. It was in my head. My body was able to relax. But I left home w/ my mind focused elsewhere; & the feeling never left. It’s a shame; I feel like I wasted this cruise. God willing.....there will be plenty more……

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