December 18, 2008 – Ft Lauderdale and Home

Captain John had hoped to pick up a pilot early but Ft Lauderdale doesn’t work that way. We waited off shore almost until sunrise and then began our slow sail into Port Everglades and docked shortly after 7:00. On the other side of the dock was the RSSC Voyager, fresh from drydock and ready to sail through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles where she’ll begin her World Cruise in a couple of weeks. We waited for Customs & Immigration to come on board, and waited, and waited and finally they arrived. Those of us who were over our exemption amount waited in line to declare our purchases and the customs officers were quite inconsistent in applying duty or exempting it for Brazilian jewelry. Fortunately our tab came to only $23.00. We then waited a lot longer for all the luggage to get offloaded and were finally able to debark around 10:15. Full cruisers were given private car or van transfers to the airport and we went with Wolf & Cheryl and all of our luggage to Hertz in the airport to rent a van. Wolf & Cheryl are long time cruise friends from California who were leaving for a holiday cruise 2 days later so we invited them to stay with us in Naples for that time. We arrived in Naples 1 ½ hour later, stopped for lunch and got home to relax and unwind from a wonderful cruise.

THE END

December 17, 2008 – At Sea

This was our final day of the cruise and it was a full sea day with the main activity being packing our stuff to debark the next morning in Ft. Lauderdale. Throughout the day the ship was being decorated for Christmas and the holiday cruises. Our trivia team, with spouses, had a special lunch in the Compass Rose with the main course being Dover sole. We finished the majority of our packing before trivia and one of our team members brought a bottle of champagne to trivia to celebrate our overall successes. The final trivia was quite a battle with 5 teams tying for the win. On the 1st tie breaker 3 teams answered wrong and dropped out and on the 2nd tie breaker the other team answered wrong and dropped out leaving us the final winner. Before dinner we watched the finale of the Navigator Idol with 3 singers competing for the prize. Before the contest began last year’s winner sang his winning song and a new headline singer who had boarded for the next cruise sang “Oh Holy Night” to put us all in a festive mood. All 3 contestants sang beautifully however Seth, a waiter in Compass Rose, was far superior. While the votes were counted we saw the Krew Kapers which has changed for the better with more singing from the cast members and less canned music. When Seth was announced as the winner we were told thar Mandhi & Reynoldo had tied for 2nd which we all appreciated because they were equal. We were invited to General Manager Giuseppe’s table for dinner and we had a very lively time. There was no show but there was an English Pub evening in the Stars Lounge. We went back to our suite to put out our luggage and also had some boxes we agreed to ship to California for friends which doubled the number of pieces outside our door. We also received donations of 3 bottles of champagne and 2 of wine from friends who had to fly home.

December 16, 2008 – Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos, BWI

There was plenty of wind and the ship had rolled around all night but we slept comfortably through it all. The wind kept up all day and it made deck walking difficult. We arrived at Grand Turk at 2:00pm and had a difficult time docking because a 30+ knot wind blew the ship sideways into the pier before we were far enough forward and it took several minutes of working the thrusters to position us properly. There is a new docking pier and shopping complex there that was built by Carnival Cruise Lines and it had a lot of the typical Caribbean shops. The wind kept the temperatures in the low 70s but the sun was shining and it was pleasant. After wandering around the shops we joined another couple and walked a couple of miles down the road to Governor’s Beach and spent over an hour there. A hurricane had hit the island in September and the damage was still in evidence. There were several buildings with blue tarp roofs and the power station had some portable diesel generator trailers alongside the building. We didn’t sail until 10:00pm and there was a pool deck BBQ for dinner with a huge spread of choices and after the meal the orchestra played with Regent singers singing rock songs for dancing on the deck. The music was too loud so several of us went to Galileo’s where the duo was playing quietly enough that we could talk.

December 15, 2008 – San Juan, Puerto Rico

We went to the bridge to enjoy the sail in to San Juan on a partly cloudy morning with temperatures in the mid 70s and we docked right at the edge of Old town. The docking was a bit rough because there was a 20 to 25 knot wind blowing us away from the dock and for awhile there was nobody on the dock to put the ropes around the bollards, but we finally made it. Everyone had to go to the show lounge, collect passports and parade by US Immigration officers before getting off the ship. We were in no rush since we had been here several times before and only planned to walk around the old town and have lunch. It was a pleasant day and we found a local restaurant on Calle Fortaleza and had a delicious lunch. We walked back to the ship to get a couple of items and there was a full scale U.S. coast Guard safety inspection in process. They even went through an “Abandon Ship” procedure. We headed back into town to wander around some more and returned around 4:00.

The evening dress code was formal and a surprise special event was put on for full cruisers. We went to the upper level of the show lounge at 6:15 for cocktails and the entire theater was decorated. The lower level was re made into an elegant restaurant with tables for 4 and everyone facing the stage (one seat on each end and 2 on one side.) the orchestra was playing and we were served several courses:

Caviar Surprise
Cherry Flavored Essenz of Pheasant
Gateau of goat Cheese and Fig Chutney
Sauteed Tiger Prawns with Curry and Fresh Green Asparagus
Champagne Lemon Sorbet

Choice of
Beef Tenderloin Stuffed with Foie Gras and Truffle
Or
Pan Fried Herb Marinated Fresh Red Snapper Fillet

Tropical Mouse Duo

The meal was excellent and all of the cooking was done with a portable kitchen set up in the Stars lounge. Between courses we had entertainment including officers playing instruments and singing. It was a very special evening that was enjoyed by all. When we were done the crew had only 35 minutes to convert it back to a theater for the evening show.

December 14, 2008 – Dominica

We sailed into the beautiful garden island of Dominica under partly cloudy skies and mild temperatures for a 4 hour stay. Five of us had privately booked a tubing on the river trip but when we met our guide on shore he informed us that recent heavy rains had swollen the river and it was closed to tubing. We were offered an alternative tour which we gladly accepted. As we drove the guide gave us history and information about the island. Before independence it had been controlled by both France and England and influences from both countries show up in both architecture and names of streets. The French tended to name things after locations, plants geologic formations etc and the English tended to name things after royals, Sirs & Ladies and admirals & generals. We drove up into the mountains on narrow pothole filled roads through alternating rain & sunshine (it is a rainforest after all.) We came to the twin Trafalgar waterfalls where we walked along a narrow rocky path to a sheltered platform where we could view and photograph the falls and surrounding mountains. The island is 95% volcanic and 5% limestone so the flora is quite lush with lots of fruit trees. All of their produce is organic because they don’t need fertilizer. We then walked down a rocky slope past a “Proceed past this point at your own risk” sign. We passed lots of land crabs, fern trees flowering plants and lots of rocks down to the base of the falls. It was a strenuous walk both ways but worth it for the views. We drove on and saw thermal pools, streams & rivers and forest as we winded our way up and down the mountainsides. The views were exceptional. We made a stop at Screws sulfur ponds that isn’t visited by the regular tours because it’s too small to handle a crowd. There are 5 separate natural sulfur water ponds at different temperatures and we spent ½ hour soaking in them and it felt great. After our soaking we were treated to fresh local fruits and had a sample of “bush rum”, a homemade rum with herbs & spices. It had quite a kick and a very tasty flavor. We continued back down the mountainside, through the botanical garden where we saw a school bus crushed under a baobob tree (victim of Hurricane David) and into the new town. We finally made it back to the old town and the pier and got back on the ship.

We sailed at 12:30 and had pre arranged a steak tartare lunch for 12 people to replace the one cancelled 2 days previously. The Cruise Director and Doctor & girlfriend were unable to attend but the Captain did as soon as we cleared the port and we had a wonderful lunch lasting for 2 hours. After a short power nap we made it to tea time and won trivia again. Before dinner there was the semi final for Navigator Idol where the 6 crew with the most votes competed for the 3 final slots. They were all incredible and it was difficult to pick the best 3. We had dinner with friends and started to watch the show which was the magician from a previous evening. He was even worse than before so we left quickly and went to bed.

December 13, 2008 – Barbados

It was a partly cloudy morning with temperatures in the low 80’s as we sailed into Bridgetown, Barbados. Already at the dock were Sea Princess, Seabourn Pride and a 5 Royal Clipper. The clouds soon disappeared and it became a typical hot & humid day. We had been here numerous times before so we took the 20 minute walk into town, wandered around for awhile and walked back to the ship. A special event for all cruisers, a polo match, had been scheduled but was cancelled due to recent rains turning the polo field into a mud patch. The replacement event, a high tea, was also cancelled due to the residence hosting it had another event take precedence and event number 3 was a visit to the Concorde museum which has an actual Concorde SST to look through. Going to that with 300 other people didn’t spike our interest so we spent the afternoon on the pool deck reading our books until it was time to go win trivia at tea time again. For dinner Jan & Harry Hufford invited us and 2 other couples to join them to celebrate their wedding anniversary and we had a grand time. After dinner we watched a classical pianist show.

December 12, 2008 – At Sea

It was cloudy, windy and raining when we awoke so the deck walk was avoided. We went to a lecture on the history of coffee with a tasting of 4 coffees to learn some differences in flavor. At the end of the talk there were two code blues within 5 minutes and fortunately one was just a fall with no injuries. The ship was rolling around quite a bit due to the weather. We had scheduled a steak tartare lunch for 12 people including Capt John, Doctor Claus and Cruise Director Paul but shortly after we sat Neils, the Executive Chef, came to the table and reported that the galley had lost its water supply and they were unable to clean the grinder to grind the beef so we had to order from the menu. Without complaint we all agreed to try for another day and everyone stayed and we had a great time. After lunch there the semi finals for Navigator Idol were held where 12 crew members sang and we are to vote for the best 6. 3 were easy to dismiss but selecting 6 of the following 9 was a challenge. We had a pleasant dinner with a friend whose husband was sick, saw a so so magician at the show and Pat won $500.00 at the blackjack table.

December 11, 2008 – At Sea

It was another beautiful day and we took it easy in the morning going to a bridge lesson, catching the last half of Terry Breen’s lecture about Mayan writing, calendars and mathematics. It is interesting that the Mayans used the concept of zero centuries before the Arabs developed it. Following that was a lecture about the history of sugar and rum and included a tasting of 4 different sipping rums. Following that we joined 7 other full cruise guests for lunch with Captain John who felt that we had helped him acclimate to and enjoy his first extended cruise. Following lunch there was another King Neptune Equator Crossing ceremony and it was equal to the last one as we went south. Just as the ceremony began a whale was seen jumping out of the water off the port side. It made multiple jumps coming completely out of the water. The ceremony was just as creative as the first one and the entire cast ended up in the pool and had a lot of fun. The evening’s dress code was formal and the Seven Seas Society party was held before dinner. We joined friends for dinner which featured escargot and rack of lamb. We skipped the show which was a repeat and later went to Liar’s Club and had some god laughs. The clocks were turned back one hour before going to sleep putting us 1 hour ahead of the Eastern time zone.

December 10, 2008 – Belem, Para, Brazil

It was another warm humid day as we anchored off Belem which is in Brazil’s largest state, Para, and is located on an estuary about 60 miles inland from the mouth of the Amazon River. Belem is across from Marajo Island, an island which is in the center of the mouth of the Amazon and is larger than Switzerland. The mouth is approximately 200 miles wide and pours water at the rate of 7,100,000 cubic feet per second. It’s not the longest river in the world (the Nile is about 40 miles longer) but it is by far the largest in volume with over 2000 tributaries, 10 larger than the Mississippi. Belem originated in the early 1600s and was an important port during the rubber boom up until WWI and now has a population of over 2 million. We took the tender to shore and caught the shuttle bus into the city, about 25 miles away and a 1 hour drive due to traffic. We were deposited at the Hilton hotel and the main attraction was a market about a 20 minute walk away. We walked around a bit and decided not to go to the market since rain looked imminent. There wasn’t anything of interest in the area so we took the shuttle back. The rain began almost immediately as we drove through the city with an eclectic mix of old world Portuguese and new world high rise architecture. There were numerous apartment complexes with guarded and gated entries. The rain was still pouring down when we got back to the dock so we tendered back to the ship for lunch. After lunch the sun returned so we tendered back to shore and explored the town there and found that there were numerous waterfront restaurants that would have been interesting if it weren’t raining. It was our first visit to Belem and the tours didn’t seem too appealing (people on most tours were drenched) and, in hindsight, we would either take a tour or wander around the port town if we visit again. We got back on board in time to join our trivia team and win again and then went to the bridge to watch the sail away. In the Galileo’s Lounge we sat with 2 women we know and ended up joining them for dinner. We were tired and decided to skip the show and go to the room to read before falling asleep early. The ship crossed the Equator into the Northern hemisphere a few seconds before midnight but we were asleep and didn’t even feel the bump.

December 09, 2008 – At Sea

It was another sunny day with smooth seas and the deck walk was hot & humid. In the afternoon there was the first run of “Navigator Idol” a singing competition among crew members. There were 19 contestants and we had to vote for 12. 3 or 4 were definite winners and 4 were definite NO votes and it took some thinking to choose the other 3 NO votes. There is some wonderful talent among the crew and contestants ranged from bar & restaurant staff to housekeeping to below decks maintenance workers. It was very entertaining and the semis & finals well be well attended. We joined 2 other couples for a lively dinner in the Compass Rose and finished in time to go to the show. The night’s entertainer was Brett Cave who had performed a couple of nights previously. Word had gotten out that his show was excellent and the theater was packed. He is a British vocal pianist and his performance caused a loud standing ovation with demands for more. He played 3 additional pieces without the orchestra accompaniment because he hadn’t rehearsed an encore, but the music was terrific. It’s quite rare for such an audience response and it was well deserved. Afterwards we went to the Navigator Lounge for “Name That Tune” and then to bed.

December 08, 2008 – At Sea

As we’re nearing the Equator the mornings are getting much hotter and more humid. As we were making our morning deck walk we saw a lot of masked boobies flying around the ship and diving for fish. The ship scares up flying fish which scoot over the waves and occasionally a boobie would catch a fish in flight. The day went along quietly with bridge lessons and Pooch games. At around 3:00 we stopped off shore at Fortaleza to pick up Brazilian immigration officers who will clear the ship when we depart from Belem. The boat that brought the Brazilians to the ship also took 2 crew members to shore. It seems the two guys got in a fist fight the night before in the crew bar and there is a no tolerance policy about that. They get their final pay minus the airfare for the flight home and are out of a job. At 5:00 there was a caipirinha party on the pool deck with the drinks made by Terry Breen and served by ship’s officers, including the Captain. We had dinner with 2 couples we’ve known from the LCT board and were again late for the show so we retired to the Navigator lounge for after dinner drinks and conversation.

December 07, 2008 – At Sea

We woke up before 6:00am because there was dead silence and no sense of motion and when we looked outside we were dead in the water. There was no electricity or water and we opened the curtains for light so we dressed and went up to deck 11 where several others were loitering around. Fortunately the water was smooth as glass, the sun was shining and the temperature was mild. Capt John came over to us on his way back to the bridge and said it was a power failure of unknown causes but he wouldn’t make any announcement that early with most guests still asleep. The emergency generator on deck 11 was running to provide emergency lighting and essential communication but the propulsion engines were shut down because, without electricity, hydraulic pumps to operate rudders etc were out of commission. We were in sight of land but hadn’t yet dropped anchor. We used the time for a deck walk and around and after about an hour of stillness the generators came back on line, the main engines started up and we were on our way. We’ll find out later if the delay will affect our planned stop in Fortaleza tomorrow. The outage had actually started at 5:00am and lasted for nearly 2 hours. There were two additional partial outages later in the morning. Unfortunately the air conditioning and toilets don’t work when there’s no power (the toilets are on a vacuum system like you see in airliners.) Captain John later reported that there is a single water cooling system for the main generators and that was what had failed. Due to the delays, we will bypass Fortaleza; however there isn’t much to do there with only a 4 hour stop so it was the best port to have to miss.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful; we played Pooch and won trivia in the afternoon. For dinner we had a table for 6 in Portofino’s which had a Brazilian churrascaria menu. There was a large buffet of appetizers (enough to be a whole meal) and, following the appetizers, waiters came around with meat grilled on the back deck. The meat was skewered on swords and served onto your plate if you wanted it. There was chicken, lobster, prawn, sausage swordfish and several varieties of beef. Desert was also on a buffet for those who had room. It was all delicious and overly filling. We were the last to leave the restaurant, missed the show (which was a repeat) and ended the evening conversing with friends in the Navigator lounge.

December 06, 2008 – Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

We were scheduled to dock at 11:00 but had favorable winds and good working engines so we approached the harbor at 9:30 and were cleared to leave the ship by 10:30. I used the morning free time to work on my photo site http://bittl2008discoverycruise.shutterfly.com which for some reason didn’t upload the new albums from the work page. I finally got that worked out, but Shutterfly ignored my instructions to arrange albums with newest first and instead arranged them alphabetically. It looks as if the new additions will be at the front of the group. Anyway, the safari pictures and all the other ports are now available for viewing.

Salvador was the first capital of Brazil from the 1500’s until Rio replaced it in the 1700’s. It was the closest port to Western Africa and therefore was the hub for the slave trade from the 16th until mid 18th centuries. It’s Brazil’s 3rd largest city and the most African influenced which is evidenced by the clothing, music, dance and food. The city is built on 2 levels with the original slave market at sea level now being a market, Mercado Modelo, at the base of an elevator which goes to the upper level. Approaching the harbor we could see a lot of modern buildings & skyscrapers on the lower level. The upper level is a UNESCO designated site and is filled with Portuguese architecture dating from the 1500’s. It is said that Salvador has 360 churches, one for each day of the year. The old city is quite interesting to explore with narrow cobblestone streets going up and down. We did quite a lot of walking around before stopping at my favorite restaurant here Da Da. The Bahian food is unique and quite tasty and we had the sea crab stew that is made with a type of palm oil and some other ingredients that I can’t pronounce or spell and is served with rice. I had told several other people about Da Da and all said it was one of the best off ship meals of the cruise. We walked around the city some more, took the elevator back down to the market level and had a caipirinha (Brazil’s national drink) and walked back to the ship. We sailed at 4:00, heading for Fortaleza with a sea day in between. The after dinner show was an English piano vocalist who put on a very spirited show that kept the audience awake.

December 05, 2008 – At Sea

The clocks had been turned back 1 hour before going to sleep last night. It was cloudy & windy with mild swells in the ocean and we quit our walk after only 40 minutes. Shortly before lunch time Captain John made an announcement that there was a “lazy whale” on the port side. The whale was head down in the water and his tail was sticking up out of the water, but it wasn’t moving. It stayed there for about 15 minutes as we sailed by. A bit later as we were eating lunch in the Compass Rose we saw several whales jumping out of the water off the starboard side, but they were too far away to get good photo shots. After lunch we had a couple of rounds of Pooch with 2 new people joining us. The overcast windy skies continued throughout the day and rain came in during trivia (which we won again.) During trivia we saw another whale with its tail sticking out of the water. The evening’s dress code was formal and we were invited to Cruise Director Paul Reynolds’ table for dinner with Mark, the Guest Relations Mgr and 2 other couples who are friends of ours. The show was singer Elaine Delmar who has been on Regent several times before. And then we went to bed.

December 04, 2008 - Rio de Janerio, Brazil

The previous day’s rain washed away all the usual air pollution the sun was shining brightly and it was a glorious day with the temperature hovering in the low 80’s all day. This was the day that one segment ended and another began so many guests were leaving the ship to go home and a new batch came on in the afternoon. We joined 2 other couples to again tour around with Saban and we began by visiting the Christ the Redeemer statue on top of Corcovado Mountain at an altitude of 2,300 feet. The statue is 30 meters tall, made of soapstone, faces the Christ statue in Lisbon and can be reached either by road or by cog wheel train. We opted for the train and caught the first one of the day to avoid the heavy crowds that would be inevitable on such a clear day. The statue is often surrounded by clouds blocking the view but today there were no clouds or pollution so the 360 degree view of Rio and her beaches was magnificent. We then went back to the Saban store for us to pick up a bracelet purchased yesterday that had to be shortened and for the others to decide on additional purchases. We went to a nearby restaurant with covered outdoor seating for a light lunch and then the others headed off to visit sugar Loaf Mountain. We had visited Sugar Loaf last year so we opted to explore on foot. We left Pat’s purse and camera at Saban’s for safe keeping and walked several of the street around the area, buying a few trinkets for grandchildren. Saban is on Copacabana Beach (actually the street runs between the store and the beach) so we walked on the beach for a few blocks. A lot of people were enjoying the sun and there were several women in bikinis that seem to be nothing more than dental floss. The temperature was really pleasant so we enjoyed our walking around for a couple of hours. We returned to Saban where we enjoyed a drink and conversation with the owners before returning to the ship.

The new Segmenters were on board and after they had their mandatory safety drill we joined about a dozen others whom Captain John had invited to the bridge for the sail away from Rio. The bridge is an ideal viewing point because you can easily go to either side for a view and not fight the crowds on the upper deck. Since we were docked in the old town part of Rio we sailed past that, around Sugar Loaf Mountain with Corcovado in the background, past Copacabana, Ipanema & Leblon beaches and finally out into the South Atlantic Ocean, making our way north to Salvador in Bahia state. Captain John had Pat push the button to give three blasts of the horn as we left the city. We got back to our suite in time for the Block Party where we met the new guests on our floor and then went to dinner. We made it an early night.

December 03, 2008 – Rio de Janerio, Brazil

It was overcast and looking like rain when we awoke. We had a quick breakfast and went to the bridge where Captain John had invited us to view the sailing into Rio harbor. The fog was fairly heavy making the viewing difficult until we came close to Copacabana Beach, however it then began to rain and it was pouring as we docked at 10:00am. 5 of us had arranged with our friend Gabriel Hazan from Saban jewelers to be taken around the city so we waited for the initial rush to get off the ship and met our driver & guide at 11:30 when the rain had stopped. People usually tour first and finish at the jewelry stores but we opted to begin at the store for an hour and then went to lunch at a local Brazilian restaurant which has waiters coming around constantly with different meats on a skewer and they cut off slices for you to eat. It’s nonstop until you say “no more.” It was much better than the larger restaurants of this type that cater to tourists (and the cost was about 1/3 less as well.) Following a leisurely lunch we visited the City of Samba where the floats for Carnival are made by the various Samba Schools. The schools are from the various shanty towns or Favellas as they are called, and the competition is fierce. Each school builds a series of floats, usually 6 to 8, and has a theme that tells a story with the floats and costumes. They parade through the competition area with the floats and 4000 members over a several hour period. The floats were in early stages of construction but we could determine the general theme on many of them. They are huge, elaborate and use massive amounts of welded steel, plywood and Styrofoam. We had eaten so much at lunch that we returned to the ship feeling like we couldn’t eat any more for 2 days however six of us met Gabriel and his wife Patricia for dinner in the Compass Rose and then had drinks & conversation with friends until after midnight.

December 02, 2008 – At Sea

The weather gal’s prediction was wrong and we awoke to clear skies but the wind was still there which made our walk a bit harder than usual. We had a fairly standard sea day with the only real excitement being a whale breaching during trivia which put a halt to trivia questions for a few minutes while we watched the whale jump out of the water several times. We had dinner with friends in Portofino’s and went to the show. This evening’s show was the final of the “Dancing With The Navigator Stars” with 5 couples vying for the prizes. The dancing was spectacular and enjoyed by all. While ballots were being counted some of the professionals entertained. Following that we met and chatted in the lounge until bedtime.

December 01, 2008- At Sea

Our third full day at sea across the South Atlantic began under cloudy & windy skies with some whitecaps on the waves. Our deck walk was cut a bit short due to light rain starting up. While having coffee in the Navigator Lounge we heard about the attempted pirate attack on the Oceania Nautica in the Gulf of Aden. We not only passed through the Gulf of Aden recently but also stopped in Aden to drop off a medical emergency guest. The Nautica is essentially the same size as the Navigator. We were also in Mumbai and at the Taj Mahal Hotel before the terrorist attacks. The terrorists came ashore at the Taj on zodiac boats and we had been docked along the waterfront within walking distance of the Taj. Would the terrorists considered a cruise ship full of Brits & Americans a prime target? Everyone on board had to have a yellow fever vaccination certificate or get inoculated on board before arriving in Richards Bay because we had been in an area that had a yellow fever outbreak. We’ve really been dodging bullets on this trip. In a couple of months we’re supposed to have an overnight in Bangkok on the Mariner and we hope the situation there is settled well in advance.

During Terry Breen’s talk on Brazil before lunch the ship got caught in a swell from the side causing it to lean about 10 degrees to starboard and sending glassware and plates on to the floor. We played Pooch after lunch on what was otherwise a relatively uneventful day. We joined friends in their suite for cocktails and then all 10 of us went to the Compass Rose for lobster & filet dinner. We had a boys table and a girls table and the girls made more noise. One couple had a bottle of home made lemoncello from Cape Town that we all shared after dinner. Since we had seen the Motown show twice before we spent time chatting with friends in the lounge.

November 30, 2008 – At Sea

It was another warm sunny day with smooth seas and we enjoyed our 1 hour deck walk before 9:00. For lunch our group of 8, who have beef tartare prepared for lunch on a sea day each segment, were joined by Captain John and the ship’s doctor Claus and the tartare was prepared at the table by Executive Chef Neils Raftert. The meal was accompanied by South African shiraz and pinotage wines and great conversation. This was the best tasting tartare so far and we all had second helpings. Before dinner we watched the semi finals of the “Dancing With The Navigator Stars”, a dance contest pairing guests with the professional dancers & singers on board. 9 pairs competed, 3 experts commented on each performance and the audience received ballots to vote for 5 couples to compete for the championship in two night’s time. We joined another couple for dinner with lecturer Terry Breen, watched some of the after dinner show and chatted with friends in Stars Lounge for an hour or so before retiring. We turned the clocks back one hour to be 3 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.