5 Days at Sea

            Tuesday, 23 Jan 2018 – Before retiring last night, we set our clocks forward by one hour, for the third time since Miami.  As of today, we are 4 hours later than in Iowa, now on our way eastward across the Atlantic Ocean toward Africa.
            After breakfast, we swam – and watched each other to make sure we didn’t hit our heads on the side because of the strong “current.”
            We ate dinner in the Grand Dining Room for the fourth time, to eat and talk with dancers Christina & Spiro, and want-to-be dancers, Jalynn & Mike. “Jay” (as she calls herself) wanted to hear how the others of us learned to dance.  Christina & Spiro learned on cruises; although they dance in pretty much the same style to any type of music (by speeding up or slowing down), they look good on the dance floor.  Although Christina grew up mostly in Georgia and they live in Augusta, she’s “not a Dixie girl,” she said.  Her father was military.  Spiro, from Greece, has a heavy accent; he has also lived and worked in other places in the world.  Jay & Mike live in Maryland, near Washington, DC.  We also discussed genealogy, research methods, DNA genealogy, etc.
            Wednesday, 24 Jan 2018 – This morning at breakfast we sat with Jack & Kathie.  In talking about travels, it came out that he was also in Vietnam, a year before Jesse.  However, Jack was a medic.  He decided he liked the military and stayed in and retired after 42 years.  The rest of the day fell into our usual routine: swimming for a half hour, lunch, dancing for a half hour, and dinner at the café (when Sally had lobster for the 12th time!).
            Thursday, 25 Jan 2018 – As we were walking back to our cabin this morning at 10:00, the ship’s captain announced that we would have training at 10:15.  Although this had been announced previously, we had not been given a time for it.  The first part of the training was for pirates.  (We had this training previously on a ship cruising at the mouth of the Red Sea.  Apparently, pirates also might operate on the west coast of Africa.)  In case we hear the alarm (6 short blasts & one long one), our drapes are pulled shut if we are in the cabin; also lights would be out.  We are to go into the hallway outside our room, as we did for this drill.  After this, we received a review of the emergency drill (while standing in place, without going to the Insignia Lounge or lifeboats).

Crossing Ceremony

            After the drill, we swam for a half hour.  (Sally was glad that we hadn’t put on our swimsuits yet before the drill was called!)  Soon it was time for lunch… and then for dinner.  There was no dancing tonight. 

Crossing Certificate

              Friday, 26 Jan 2018 – At 11:00 AM the “crossing ceremony” was held on deck by the pool.  When we have attended these previously on other ships, we never found a place to sit – although Jesse can take some photos by holding up his camera above the heads of most people (because of his long arms).  Therefore, he went alone today for that purpose, for just a short time.  We crossed the equator previously in December 2011, September 2012, and March 2015.  Also, we had already crossed it on this cruise, not long before reaching Recife.  The first time crossing, one graduates from a polliwog to a shellback.  We and other passengers received certificates.
            Since that ceremony took place poolside, we didn’t start our half hour of swimming until about noon.  In the hot tub, we sat and talked for quite a while with Sharon from Wisconsin, who now lives in Tucson with her husband Barry.  Then we hurried to eat lunch before the café closed.  At lunch, we talked with Tim, whom we had met earlier.
            In the evening we attended (along with about half of the passengers – the other half attended last night) a “private cocktail party” for Oceania Club members.  This affair was almost exactly like one we attended a few nights after boarding the ship.  Again, we were served free drinks (rum punch for us), and we danced to the orchestra.  During that time, we made arrangements to eat dinner with Christina & Spiro in the Grand Dining Room.  Spiro, though Greek, grew up in Tanzania; he attended secondary [boarding] school in Greece, and studied architecture in England.  Christina’s father was in the U.S. military, and she was born in Munich.  She and Spiro were married in a civil ceremony in the U.S., but the marriage was not recognized by the Greek Orthodox Church – until they were remarried by the Church!  They moved to the U.S. primarily so that their child (Christina was pregnant) would not have to attend boarding school.
             A little later, we danced again from 8:45 to 9:15   Tonight before bed we set our clocks forward again, making us 6 hours ahead (later) of CST at home.
           Saturday, 27 Jan 2018 – When Sally awoke, she thought it might be 5:00 AM or so – but it was 9:00 AM.  After donning clothes, we hurried to the café before they finished serving breakfast at 10:00!  Then we went swimming for a half hour; the water was even calmer than yesterday, which meant more people came into the pool while we were there.  (Usually they don’t stay very long because they aren’t wearing swim goggles, and salt water burns their eyes.  But one woman did “swim” for a half hour yesterday without getting her head wet!)
            At lunch time, we found out that the café had set up a separate buffet line with breakfast items for passengers with confused brains that hadn’t adjusted well to the clock changes!   We danced in the Horizons Lounge from 6:30 to 7:00, and joined Christina and Spiro for dinner in the Terrace Café.