Wednesday-Thursday, 9-10 April 2025

Crossing the Atlantic

Most sea days as the ship sails across the Atlantic have a comforting sameness, so I'll be combining my blogging as I enjoy the calm.

The weather continues very pleasant, with highs in the mid-60s. The early mornings start out cloudy, but by the time I finish breakfast the skies have turned to blue, with high white clouds. The sailing is very smooth, without need for any movement assistance (wrist bands or Rx patches). Let's hope this all continues for the next six days until we reach the next port, Falmouth, UK. 

I try to have breakfast in the dining room as many days as I can. On Wednesday I start the day with orange juice and coffee. Low-fat Greek yogurt with fresh berries (strawberry, blueberry, blackberry) follows. I am then presented a huge omelet (below left)--no shortage of eggs here--stuffed with smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives, with sides of mediocre home-fried potatoes, and a croissant with raspberry jam and sweet butter.

I have been craving a pizza for days and the NY Deli & Pizza stand is the place to placate my hunger. The Deli is on a mezzanine over-looking the Lido pool and is always very busy at lunch. There is often a long wait for orders, but my pepperoni pizza (above right), is quite good. I find an empty large table, at which I am joined by another retirement-aged couple. I happen to be wearing my t-shirt from Tucson's Tohono Chul, a privately-owned botanical garden very close to where we live. They ask if I live in Tucson and they tell me they live there as well, very close to where our good friend Anita lives at Tangerine Crossing. Small world indeed, but I very often meet fellow Tucsonans as I travel.

I spend some time walking the different decks and then having a nap.  There are many organized activities for passengers, some requiring extra payment (e.g. wine tastings, beer tastings, whisky tastings--there seems to be a theme here), others offering the chance to win prizes (games, physical contests, etc).

Tonight's dining room menu does not look very interesting (daily menus for all the restaurants are available on the television in every stateroom), so I make a reservation for 7:30pm at Canaletto, the specialty Italian restaurant. There are additional cover charges for all the specialty restaurants, but my 4-star Mariner status gets me two free dinners and 50% off the charges at other times.

I start my pre-dinner evening with a campari and soda at the Rolling Stone bar--quiet at this time before the loud entertainment begins. I carry my drink to Canaletto, where the hostess immediately recognizes that I am beginning my evening in a proper Italian way. While not quite as good as the Italian restaurant on Oceania's ships, and with a much smaller menu, Canaletto still offers a more individually focused experience than the dining room.

As soon as I am seated, a platter of ripe-olive bread with small plates of four different dipping accompaniments arrives (below left). 

The first course is a small pot with lively veal and sage meatballs covered with marinara sauce and fresh Parmesan cheese (above right). 

Sticking with the Parmesan theme I enjoy chicken breast Parmesan with fingerling potatoes, green beans, and breaded zucchini. I order tiramisu for dessert, but the waiter brings Italian cheesecake instead. It looks to good that I decide not to protest--and I enjoy it very much. All this food is accompanied by glasses of Pinot Grigio and sparkling water.

After dinner there is a Family Fun Fair at the Lido pool. There is a large crowd having a very good time and gorging on lots of finger food being walked around by servers. Of course, I just finished a very large dinner, so I forego all the extra free food.

I will add that in some of my free time I have been watching The Brutalist on my large-screen television. It is almost three hours long, so I divided it into separate viewings based on its three-act structure (with prologue and epilogue). It is an extraordinarily fine film and deserves multiple viewings to fully comprehend. The acting all around is breathtaking, especially Adrian Brody (best actor Oscar award), and Guy Pearce (best supporting actor nomination), Other performers do their best as well, including Joe Alwyn, Taylor Swift's boyfriend before she met Travis Kelce.

Well, I haven't gotten beyond Wednesday in this blog entry. Perhaps I can combine Thursday and Friday in the next one.