DAY 14: At Sea

At Sea: I will start again with Tales From Last Night, before I had to shut-down communications in Columbia due to lack of Wi-Fi. The Bliss did not sail at 5p. The Ruby Princess left before us (and they had a few late-comers), but our ship had stragglers as well and we did not sail until 6p. When the last two passengers pulled-up in a car (driving 50 mph down the dock) the port side balcony staterooms clapped and cheered for the poor embarrassed two late-arrivers.

We were on our way.

Dave and I were so hungry after not eating since breakfast. After a shower and a cocktail (and thankfully bar snacks) we went to the Manhattan Room for dinner. We both ordered the smoked duck appetizer and were so happy with this choice. Just three thin slices of the smoked duck breast - with an oddly-paired slaw and arugula - really added-up to one of the nicest things we have tried in a while. Remind me to find smoked duck, okay?

I had the lamb curry for my main, and DT had two other appetizers for his meal. He had a Caesar (like he does several nights a week at home), and also had a corn salad with goat cheese.

When we returned to our cabin after dinner, the seas were the stormiest we have had on this cruise. Still not wicked, but enough we will not be sleeping with the slider open tonight. A lot of rocking on the sea tonight.

So exciting about the World Cup game today – which we sadly missed. We will be home for France v Argentina, and I can’t even imagine who will win this prize. I didn’t think France could get by the amazing Moroccan goalie! What do I know?

So on to my update for today (Thursday): Overnight the seas became stormier and the swells grew to 15 feet. We were rocking! The seas were so rough, and the winds were so strong, our entire balcony (on Deck 14) was soaked with sea spray, and the sliding glass door was dripping. Crazy weather.

A long at-sea day. After our usual morning routine, with coffee & fruit delivered to our room, we waited for lunch until the advertised Mexican buffet. The food aboard this ship has been most excellent, but the “Mexican” buffet was seriously lacking. We found tortilla chips and all the fixings, fajitas, quesadillas, rice, and beans. None of the Mexican food seemed very Mexican to us. Nothing was spicy. We may be spoiled living in SoCal? Happily, the buffet still offer burgers, hot dogs, Indian food, Asian food, Ramen bar, salads, sandwiches, chicken fingers, Ramen, pizza, fruits, salads, breads, sliced roasted meats, well… basically anything you could possibly imagine and if they don’t have it, they will make it for you. This cruise ship also has (don’t even read this Leo and Lucile) a self-serve soft-serve ice cream machine. We have not yet tried the soft serve, but it does look intriguing – plus the soft serve is pumped into an old-school cake cone. Strawberry. Chocolate. Vanilla.

We spent the afternoon in the Observation Lounge (no, not drinking) stitching and reading. I had a steady stream of women approaching to see what I was stitching. (No one inquired about DT’s book.) My canvas has four different and unique portions. Today the third was finished and the fourth was 1/3 completed! A waiter hovered behind me, asking about my work, and then told me there was another woman stitching on the other side of the ship with a massive magnifying glass over her canvas. This will be me one day, but for now, I can still stitch with my readers. (I do have a massive magnifier at home though.)

The afternoon was quite stormy. About every 15 minutes the ship lurched so violently and dropped down so hard. The sound was deafening, and it seemed as if the Norwegian Bliss had been hit by a torpedo (like I know what what if feels like to be hit by a torpedo???). CRASH! So scary. The wind was howling and so many passengers were in their rooms not feeling well. All afternoon, it was difficult to walk due to the high seas.

At 5:30p, we were dressed for the evening and were back to the Observation Lounge for a cocktail (not reading/stitching). 45 minutes later, we decided to risk a seat at the 6:30p Broadway production of Jersey Boys (story of the Four Seasons), and were lucky to snag great seats. Jersey Boys was just a great show. We so enjoyed it, and though the songs were before our time, we knew the words to every song. The cast of Jersey Boys have just returned to the ship in Panama City, and the show has not been performed much since then, so we were lucky to have caught the show when we did. The cast had another performance tonight at 9:30p. They must be exhausted.

After the show, we went to the Taste dining room for dinner. I had the Caesar Salad and the Veal Scaloppine. My Driver had the spicy fish soup (it was spicy) and a sirloin strip. Did I mention we are going on a vegan diet after our return to La Quinta (not counting Hanukkah latkes)? Just kidding, but there are a lot of salads in our future.

After trying to walk around the ship all day like drunk sailors – with all the swaying and bumping – tonight the seas have calmed and the jostling has quieted at bit. The ship creaking continues.

As I type this report tonight – late Thursday – our ship is on a course to pass between Cuba and Haiti. We have sailed  ~4000 miles from Los Angeles, and have ~600 miles to go before we reach Miami. Not anticipating an easy night overnight, as the Captain has told us to expect rough seas ahead.

Until my next update, of another dull day at sea, I remain, your swaying correspondent.

LINKS:
Norwegian Bliss
Real-time ship tracking

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