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| The four of us, enjoying one last night together on the ship. |
“Sightings from the Veranda while Cruising”
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| Container contents are getting ready to be unloaded onto the ship. |
The first 15 nights of the cruise ended today as we begin the second half of the back-to-back for the additional 15 nights. The transition process was pretty easy, requiring us to get new SeaPass cards and new photos taken this morning.
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| The room was filled with rows and rows of exceptional wines. |
Later today, we’ll be required to attend the muster drill and the new boarding approximately 1800 or so new passengers.
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| Last night, Tom was having a great time, dining in the private “wine room” in the Tuscan Grill with Lisa and Barry. |
As typical for “sail away” day, there won’t be a Captain’s Club happy hour in the Constellation Lounge. However, today at noon, there will be a special luncheon for the 273 back-to-back passengers in the main dining room, which we plan to attend.
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| An antipasto board was served to each couple. |
As I prepare the vocabulary for today’s post, the ship’s Internet is down during the change over as departing passengers leave the ship. The Wi-Fi will be back on at 11:00 am, when we can upload photos and the post, hopefully before lunch.
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| One of the great wines we enjoyed last night. |
Last night was exceptional. Lisa and Barry had invited us as their guests to dine in the specialty restaurant, the Tuscan Grill. We had no idea that we’d be eating in the private “wine room” surrounded by temperature-controlled hundreds of bottles of exceptional wines, several of which Lisa and Barry had purchased to share.
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| Tom’s minestrone. |
Not only was the food over-the-top, but the wine pairings were as well. It was a luxury setting we’d never anticipated as mid-range cruisers. And, of course, the four of us, as usual, had an extraordinary experience.
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| Lisa’s salad. |
Now, we’re anticipating Lisa and Barry will visit us in South Africa. How exciting this will be! Barry is an airline pilot, and they’ll figure out a good time to come based on his schedule.
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| My filet mignon, cooked rare, was exceptional. |
Today will be a low-key day. We familiarize ourselves with some of the newly boarding passengers and continue with many relationships we’d begun to cultivate with passengers staying on like us.
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| Tom’s ribeye steak was also cooked to perfection. |
We’re content, comfortable with our same cabin, and looking forward to the upcoming 15-nights aboard ship.
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| Tom’s dessert of homemade doughnuts, cherries, and vanilla ice cream. |
May YOU have a day of contentment.
Photo from one year ago today, December 8, 2016:
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| Upon entering the Penguin Surf Club, we knew we were in for a treat seeing all the local craft makers. For more photos, please click here. |