at Sea

Today was our first day at sea as we begin our crossing of the Atlantic towards Iceland. The seas have been very calm and the ship just has a gentle roll.

Air Canada sent an e-mail that they are delivering my bag to the ship on Tuesday. The email sounds so nice and apologetic. There are no phone numbers. There is no one to talk to. Air Canada has a phone number but they will not talk to anyone about baggage. Fill out the form and wait your turn. I never received any response to my emails. The front desk called today and said that they have been notified by Air Canada that the bag will be arriving on Tuesday. They must be reading my emails. The ship is always very responsive, even more so than Holland America. I have learned that the ship and the corporation operate semi independently. The only issue with the ship is that you have to be on board. There is no way to contact the ship while you are off of it. The ship gave us a bottle of champagne and a refund of the days we missed on the ship. They included a nice apology letter on something they clearly had no responsibility for. This is one of the reasons that people choose to live on this ship or any of the HAL ships. They know how to take care of their passengers.

Breakfast begins at 7 am on days at sea. 6:30 am when in port. Today we went to the gym after breakfast. The gym is always right above the bridge and has a great view of where we are heading. We expected a smaller gym on this ship but it didn’t disappoint. Less area for services that the ship tries to sell. Orthotics are always a big item or sessions with a trainer.

After lunch we met up with our team at trivia. If you would like to play follow the link. You need to log in with an account for spam. Fill in the answers and hit submit. The scores are reported only to you. I have no idea if you have taken it or what score you have received. They are difficult. Phone a friend would be very helpful. It maybe fun if you shared your results in a comment. There are times when the person who created the trivia test gives the incorrect answer. That is just the way it goes here. Trivia here

This ship has a movie theater. The larger ships have turned the theaters in places where they have cooking classes or lectures. Who wants to cook? I like watching a movie on the big screen with popcorn in seats that don’t recline nor have a hole in the arm rest for the half gallon soda complete with a section of garden hose as a straw. I like the sounds effects created by the movie production company not those created by those devouring drinks. Maybe tomorrow we will check out a movie. This theater reminds me of when I was a child and I remember patrons dressed in their finest hanging up coats in the lobby. The theater manager introducing the movie before it began. A bugs bunny cartoon or a three stooges short would start the show. I don’t remember endless previews of movies I’m not interested in.

The dining room is always at the back of the ship. We have a table next to the window. The dress code keeps slipping year after year. It’s hard to enforce a dress code on people that are paying to be here. People show up in heavily worn jeans and t shirts and sit across from others in suits and dresses. It’s all about respecting others in my opinion. The clothes you wear show the respect you have you the lack of it you have for others.

The evening entertainment was a magician. His act wasn’t bad but it didn’t do much to keep us awake either. We both kept nodding off during the performance. I gave it a 3.

We listened to the ocean bar band after the show. They were alright but sounded like they haven’t played together much. The guitarist struggled with a few licks here and there. The drummer was solid as was the bassist. The very young female vocalist had a nice voice but a very strong personality that didn’t match her ability level. Her attempt at three part harmony didn’t happen. 5 in my opinion. We did hear a band the night before that I gave a 10. We will track them down tomorrow. I heard a piano trio on our way to dinner today. The violinist and cellist were not together at all. Quite awful as was the music selection. This did not appear to be a group that completed a merit based or blind audition. I’ll give them a second listen tomorrow.