Monday Evening, 3 April 2017
Final Night of Passage to Madeira
I am enjoying my second dinner in Jacques, although seated at a large table with six other passengers. Tomorrow morning we dock in Funchal for a full day. I have been rather busy today with the usual lecture series followed by a deck-side "county fair," involving passengers and crew.
After a light lunch in Waves Grill, it is time for watching the latest Star Wars installment, Rogue One, a long, boring, movie with no clear plot lines and confusing characters. After the movie (I forego the popcorn on offer) I finally make the first high tea--although it is available every day. Then a very short rest before dinner at Jacques.
31 March-3 April 2017
More Highlights of Days at Sea
Food, of course, is everyone's main concern during extended days at sea. We have been moving the clock forward one hour each night at 2am as we proceed eastward. So the nights seem to be getting shorter and shorter. Holland America has adopted an interesting procedure for these time changes on transatlantic cruises: the clock is moved forward each day at 2 in the afternoon. When you have all day on board the ship, losing one hour in the afternoon is a better choice than losing one hour of sleep per night. I think I will suggest this to Oceania.
I have enjoyed one dinner in Red Ginger, the Riviera's fusion restaraunt. Each meal begins with an amuse bouche of edamame beans boiled in salted water. This is followed by my choices of baby back rib salad (the rib meat cut in bite-size pieces, but not very well cleaned of grit and pieces of bone), a lightly breaded vegetable tempura, and sea bass served wrapped in an exotic leaf. The sea bass is one of my favorites. For dessert is another of my favorites, Bounty cake, with creamy coconut and chocolate chunks wrapped in ladyfingers.
I have a second dinner in Toscana, this time sharing a table with a couple from Green Valley and Maine (each for half a year). She is a retired school teacher and he is a semi-retired geriatric physician. The meal begins with a wonderful risotto made with lobster broth and packed with chunks of lobster meat, followed by the usual Caesar salad and my second veal dish,
scallopine alla Marsala. Tiramus, served to look like a black-and-white cookies makes an excellent dessert.
I have also eaten in the Polo Grill and the Grand Dining Room, where the food and service is good, but I will skip the details for now.
The sun continues its fitful appearances as we sail between the two storms, being gently pushed by tailwinds behind us as the storm in front of us moves away at the same speed with which we follow. Maps show how bad the weather in the Azores is, where we would have landed on Monday, had the captain not chosen a more comfortable route.
I have been watching (in spurts of time in my suite), a very strange but interesting film, The Dressmaker, starring Kate Winslet and the Australian actor who plays Thor in several other movies. He is quite normal in this film, and quite beautiful as well.
I am now almost caught up to present time and the next blog entry will describe my wonderful day in Funchal, Madeira, and, hopefully, be loaded with photos.
Final Night of Passage to Madeira
I am enjoying my second dinner in Jacques, although seated at a large table with six other passengers. Tomorrow morning we dock in Funchal for a full day. I have been rather busy today with the usual lecture series followed by a deck-side "county fair," involving passengers and crew.
After a light lunch in Waves Grill, it is time for watching the latest Star Wars installment, Rogue One, a long, boring, movie with no clear plot lines and confusing characters. After the movie (I forego the popcorn on offer) I finally make the first high tea--although it is available every day. Then a very short rest before dinner at Jacques.
31 March-3 April 2017
More Highlights of Days at Sea
Food, of course, is everyone's main concern during extended days at sea. We have been moving the clock forward one hour each night at 2am as we proceed eastward. So the nights seem to be getting shorter and shorter. Holland America has adopted an interesting procedure for these time changes on transatlantic cruises: the clock is moved forward each day at 2 in the afternoon. When you have all day on board the ship, losing one hour in the afternoon is a better choice than losing one hour of sleep per night. I think I will suggest this to Oceania.
I have enjoyed one dinner in Red Ginger, the Riviera's fusion restaraunt. Each meal begins with an amuse bouche of edamame beans boiled in salted water. This is followed by my choices of baby back rib salad (the rib meat cut in bite-size pieces, but not very well cleaned of grit and pieces of bone), a lightly breaded vegetable tempura, and sea bass served wrapped in an exotic leaf. The sea bass is one of my favorites. For dessert is another of my favorites, Bounty cake, with creamy coconut and chocolate chunks wrapped in ladyfingers.
I have a second dinner in Toscana, this time sharing a table with a couple from Green Valley and Maine (each for half a year). She is a retired school teacher and he is a semi-retired geriatric physician. The meal begins with a wonderful risotto made with lobster broth and packed with chunks of lobster meat, followed by the usual Caesar salad and my second veal dish,
scallopine alla Marsala. Tiramus, served to look like a black-and-white cookies makes an excellent dessert.
I have also eaten in the Polo Grill and the Grand Dining Room, where the food and service is good, but I will skip the details for now.
The sun continues its fitful appearances as we sail between the two storms, being gently pushed by tailwinds behind us as the storm in front of us moves away at the same speed with which we follow. Maps show how bad the weather in the Azores is, where we would have landed on Monday, had the captain not chosen a more comfortable route.
I have been watching (in spurts of time in my suite), a very strange but interesting film, The Dressmaker, starring Kate Winslet and the Australian actor who plays Thor in several other movies. He is quite normal in this film, and quite beautiful as well.
I am now almost caught up to present time and the next blog entry will describe my wonderful day in Funchal, Madeira, and, hopefully, be loaded with photos.
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