Sea Day, July 25, 2023

Today we’re at sea. We awakened late, had oatmeal for breakfast at the buffet. We then went to trivia with our team and then an enrichment lecture on comedians. We watched clips of Abbott and Costello and others…they were hilarious. Next is lunch and then I’m going to color my roots. It’s a big day around here. As tonight is the last night for many who are getting off in Dover tomorrow, (500) or 1/4 of the passengers; there is a champagne gala following dinner. Also there is a singer tonight who sings with the present day Hollies. I think he has also toured as Roy Orbison and with the Who…Peter Howorth. So if I can stay up that late, we will go see his show after dinner.

Now for a picture I really like.

Edi, Rommel, me, JoeMarie, and Darma These are our waiters at dinner. Roscoe posted this picture on Facebook But I’m just getting to it. While we have My Time dining, which means we select the time we go to dinner and with whom we sit, we choose to eat alone and we eat fairly early, around 5:30. So we have the same team waiting on us each night at the same table. While Darma, from Indonesia and Joemarie, from the Phillipines, are our main assistant waiter and waiter, Edi and Rommel, help out. Rommel drew a picture of Roscoe and I have it on the wall. He has been waiting tables on cruise ships for 30 years. He has a 6 year old daughter, Romella and a wife in the Philippines, as does JoeMarie. All of them are exceptional. Dinner is always fun and well served.

The caricature Rommel drew of Roscoe, obviously not a busy night

This is a picture I just had to post. It’s not real sharp but it’s of Dorothy, on the left and Barbara on the right. They are our dinner “companions”. By that I mean, we don’t sit at the same table but we sit near each other every night. Some nights we or they don’t make it to dinner and that’s allowed. When we eat, we talk across the table and discuss our days. They both are avid bridge players and also play mah jong. This is not Dorothy’s first world cruise. I’m sure she’s in her 80’s, but she’s fairly spry, funny, and full of great stories. Barbara is so thoughtful and caring. She is just extremely kind. They remind me of Phyllis and Jean. With Barbara being Jean. These are the relationships that make cruising so much fun.