2 Days at Sea

            Friday, 23 Feb 2018 – Today we were extremely tired, and so we stayed in bed until after 10:00 AM.  A few days ago, we had received an invitation inviting us to “An Exclusive Lunch in the Grand Dining Room” for the Grand Voyage cruisers.  Since we have heard from other passengers that they have been attending various functions for the “Round the World” cruisers, apparently the ship’s staff didn’t want the rest of us to feel ignored.

So, at noon we went to dining room, where we were seated at a table with three other couples and one Insignia staff member:  Noah and Lynn, from Milwaukee, WI; Amelia and Don from Palm Beach, FL (but originally from NJ); and Dennis and Barbara from San Diego, CA; and Insignia staff member Connie, from Germany.  Between the noise coming from the ship and from surrounding tables, it’s very difficult for even someone with good hearing to hear what is said by people across a big table; for Sally, much of that was impossible.  Dennis and Barbara are both retired judges, Don is a retired electronics engineer, and Noah, the man sitting next to Sally was somewhat of a jokester, and we’ve talked with him previously.  Noah had numerous careers ranging from project engineer to hospice nurse.  Although he and Lynn have cruised extensively (much more than us!), they choose different activities on sea days and only meet for meals!  (They each receive a copy of the daily Insignia newsletter and mark it up to indicate where the other will be.)

The food was excellent (of course), and free wine was served.  (Only Lynn, Janice, and Sally didn’t drink the wine.)   After almost two hours of sitting at that table (something that Sally really detests about the large dining rooms), as we were leaving, we saw Helma and Rich.  We stopped at their table to talk with them for 20 minutes or more.

Although Sally wanted to swim in the late afternoon, we waited a little too late.  By the time we plunged into the pool, the sun had already set and soon it was dark.  In fact, the Insignia had no lights above the deck (we’re in possible pirate territory).  Of course, the two big lights under the water at each end of the pool shone brightly.  Apparently we have sailed farther east today (which is why the sun set slightly earlier) – and tonight we were told to set our clocks ahead one hour again.  (Now we are 10 hours ahead of Central Standard Time.)

Saturday, 24 Feb 2018 – Just our usual activities of eating, swimming, dancing today.   We met two other couples in the hot tub:  Judy and Gene, from Sidney, Australia, and Rich and Jane from St. Paul, MN.  Judy and Jane both worked in the airline industry and have been friends for several years.  At dinner, we formally met Gary and Carol from Washington, DC.  We have been conversing with them almost daily since we boarded the ship in Miami.  They both have heavy southern accents, but have lived other places, including Rockford, IL.  Carol is a retired psychologist.