Friday 8 April 2016
Another Day At Sea

I haven't spoken much about the food for fear of boring you and condemning myself with all the bad (and wonderful) things I've eaten. There are multiple dining venues on board:  The Grand Dining Room opens for three meals a day and is the most formal, offering a wide selection of classic and nouvelle cuisine; I’ve enjoyed several private breakfasts here, but only two dinners: one on a rather bumpy night at the start of the cruise.  My lunches are divided between the Terrace Café, a buffet-type restaurant (although the food is actually served to you), and the Waves Grill, outdoors on a covered part of the pool deck.  There is always an immense selection of appetizers, salads, desserts, main courses, and beverages in the Cafe.  At the Grill my favorite sandwich is a lobster and strip-steak open-faced sandwich on buttered bread.

The two specialty restaurants are Toscana (Italian) and Polo Grill (a traditional steak and seafood house ).  On my three nights at the latter I am given the same table, with a wide view of other diners, and served by an excellent young woman, Victoria, from Belorusse.  The Toscana (twice) is a little pretentious in service (24 different kinds of olive oils!), but could pay more attention to the food itself.

On the whole, without exception, the service in all parts of the ship is friendly and excellent.


Thursday Evening 7 April 2016
At Sea with a Real Star

I had fortuitously set a 6:30 reservation in the Polo Grill (rack of lamb) for tonight, so I was able to have a leisurely dinner and still get to the Neptune Lounge early enough to procure a good seat for the wonderful 45-minute performance by Christine Andreas and her husband, composer and orchestra leader, Martin Silvestri.

Ms Andreas has starred in a number of important musicals over the past 30 years, including Broadway revivals of both Oklahoma! and My Fair Lady.  I was fortunate enough to see her in the original cast of The Scarlet Pimpernel, perhaps the only artistically successful of Frank Wildhorn's many "pop-music" musicals.  She (and other cast members) brought a welcome touch of class to the material.  In my vast collection of musical CDs, I have these recordings as well as her performance in the London run of her husband's neglected but worthy The Fields of Ambrosia (with lyrics by Joel Higgins).  This show played in the US, but not on Broadway (I think it was at the Music Center of NJ), where it earned good reveiws.  But for some reason the usually-astute London critics attacked everything about the show with vitriolic glee reserved only for Americans.  In the recent past Ms Andreas has partially retired from theatre to devote her time to travel and concerts with her husband, but mostly to raise her autistic son, whose success and independence she talks about with pride.

But of course the most important thing to report is that her voice is in full flower.  She sang a selection of songs from Broadway, the American Songbook, and from her husband's upcoming musical, The Countess of Storybook.  It was a great joy to listen to her intelligent interpretation of songs by Rodgers and Hart as well as a country-inflected love song by Clint Black.  Her voice is both powerful and supple, and the audience is always aware of a keen sense of humor and intelligence behind the always on-pitch high notes.  No, I am not sending this posting to her--but I did have the added pleasure of a brief chat with the couple after dinner on Friday night.  They are as warm and charming as they are talented.


Friday 8 April 2016
Another Day At Sea
I'm back again on Friday evening.  The highlight of today's activites is a British-style County Fun Fair, spread across the public spaces on Deck 5.  Members of the crew are present at contests of skill and knowledge:  pillow-case loading, balancing eggs into bottles, eating whipped-cream blindfolded, guessing where crew members spent their childhoods, and other essential skills.  A lot of silly fun, but after three days at sea all the passengers are ready to join in and participate.

Test Your Navigation Skills

Identify the Spices

 

My Stateroom Attendant:  Venson

Everybody's a Winner:  Destinations Staff Member, Rene

My Touring Friends:  Two Charming Ladies from British Columbia
(I finally know someone in an Owner's Suite!)

Tomorrow morning we land in Cochin, our first port in India.  I will soon be leaving the Nautica for the second part of my trip when we arrive in Mumbai on Monday.  The 18 days of the cruise have passed very quickly and I look forward to being in India for the first time.