Good morning. It looks like we have another cold, wet, foggy day as we complete our trek across the Atlantic Ocean.

Here is a look at today’s Fun Times.

Here is a look at some of the sweets they have in the coffee shop that I haven’t been showing.

I got a mocha.

I’m going to be very interested to see how they handle football season on this ship. I remember Panorama’s Hero’s bar being packed. And they had the Pig & Anchor showing games. There is no Pig & Anchor here. I think they need to make that big TV by Frizzante that just says Frizzante show games.

My last cruise was a Super Bowl cruise. When I think that through, I watched the first half from water works. You can’t do that here. The screen is low and facing the wrong direction and the the retractable roof would be in the way.

There is a lot of seating on deck 10 and 11 but most of them you can’t see the screen from because of the fancy walls and over hangs and the bar. 

The 3rd quarter of the Super Bowl I watched in the theater which would be fine here. The 4th quarter I walked past a full casino bar (You don’t have here) to the Red Frog Pub (You don’t have that here) which is where I watched the 4th quarter. For the Super Bowl they have to make the Fizzante TV a Super Bowl TV and the screen in the Punchliner a Super Bowl TV to satisfy the masses.

I headed down to the atrium bar to get some drinks from Valentina.

Americano with extra cardboard.

I’ll take that one and this second screwdriver to breakfast.

I get up to the dining room and I’m pleased to find a nice orderly line. Then just as I get to the front of the line a big group gets off of the elevator. Do they get in line behind me? No they stand next to me. Trying to get seated before me. It’s so annoying

 

They got seated across the aisle from me. When the waiter asked if they wanted coffee one lady said “oh yes it’s so horrible up on lido.” She’s in for a big surprise. It’s day 13 and she hasn’t figured out dining room coffee is just as bad as the lido coffee?

Now one of them is watching videos at the table. No headphones. Just on the speaker so everyone can hear it. I need to start carrying my headphones more so I can tune this stuff out.

Pancakes.

Broken egg sandwich and bacon.

After breakfast I headed back to the atrium bar for a bloody mary.

I forgot to put out the “snoozin” sign out and the Steward cleaned my room while I was at breakfast. I don’t like that. I had my safe open. I had stuff I didn’t want him touching out. He was still in my room when I walked up and left a dirty towel behind.

I duck taped my snoozin sign to the door so I won’t forget it. Maybe I’ll just leave it there for the rest of the cruise.

The Wave morning show.

They’re talking about the best and worst fast food places. This crowd has Chick Fil A, In-N-Out and Whataburger as the top three. For worst fast food place it’s White Castle.

MarQ is getting texts on the subject. He says his boss is voting Chipotle…and his boss is from Mexico which is weird. But the consensus here is that places like Five Guys and Chipotle aren’t fast food. 

One guy in the audience screams out that Royal Caribbean has White Castle on their ships. I don’t think that’s right. Johnny Rockets is the only one I’m aware of.

Next up is a Q&A session.

Of course they do this before bingo so half of the people in here don’t care and are talking. I switched seats twice then moved to the bar away from people.

Then some rug rat comes up and is talking to the lady next to me at the bar. Maybe I should do upstairs next time.

Some fun food facts.

It looks nice but don’t let that fool you, it’s cold out there.

To me it feels 40’s with this wind.

Groove for St Jude is happening on lido deck.

There will be a polar plunge if the goal is reached. MarQ, Mike, the captain, and a couple others will participate. 

I grabbed a pina colada.

I believe they’re auctioning off MarQ’s shirt

They are also auctioning off this hand woven coat.

The jersey went for $250. I think the coat went while I was in the bathroom. It started at $100 and must not have gone much higher.

These are the current conditions.

Today they had an Asian lunch in the main dining room. It was supposed to end at 1:30. I requested a table at 1pm. The table was assigned at 1:51.

 

 

 

I really need to remember to bring headphones to the MDR. When they sit me next to people I really have no option but to listen to whatever it is they have to say. I tried not to. It’s really hard.

They sat me next to a man and woman. Clearly they just met. The woman is that crazy Astrology speaker from the other day. The guy is trying to impress her with what a big shot he is. He tells her he’s a lawyer and owns a catering business. He says he has three nice houses and movie producers as friends. 

They were clearly annoyed that my order was taken before theirs even though theirs was right after mine. Then they were annoyed that the food took so long. It really wasn’t that long. I was in and out in 45 minutes and he left before me. She left before both of us. 

He told the waiter she was in a hurry and they needed to make her food quick. Twice she tried to leave and he kept her there by calling the waiter over and asking to check on the order because the lady was in a hurry. 

He tells the waiter she ordered tea 30 minutes ago. That’s a total lie unless they were seated 20 minutes before me. Then three minutes later he told the waiter she ordered it 45 minutes ago. That’s definitely a lie.

I was just hoping my food came out before theirs so I could see the reaction. It did, but not by much.

He told her he was removing all gratuities because the lunch service was so slow. I wanted to say something but I held back.

She ended up staying to eat but left before dessert. After she left he grabbed something off of her plate ate it and said “awful.”

When the waiter came over to ask about the her dessert he told him she had to leave. “We told you she had to leave.” 

The waiter explained the issue with the orders being backed up. The guy says “well what you need to do is tell them you need this one order quick.”

It just ticks me off that this guy thinks his order is more important than everyone else. I so wanted to tell him that fast Asian food was available on the lido deck. But I held back again. And when he walked out and I saw his Sail & Sign card fall out of his pocket, I said nothing.

I wasn’t going to order dessert but since the table took so long I figured I better because other options may be closed.

 

Spring rolls.

Pork meatballs.

Mandarin Honey Crunch Salad.

Kung Pao Chicken.

Mango Sago Pudding.

This was on tap for 3:30 so I wanted to check it out.

Hey look it’s my lunch neighbor

I stuck around for 20 minutes and left. It’s the history of photography. It’s not anything that’s going to help you take better pictures like the thing says. These are all just a misleading pile of baloney sandwiches 

I played off my free play. I said I’d quit at $50. I hit this bonus that got me to 48.

Then down to 9 and this other bonus got me up to 47.

It looks like the streams are back in business so I just need to find some beers or something.

I started out in a spot I like on deck 11 right by the bar.

Come to find out the bar was closing so I went to plan b.

 That popcorn smells good.

It’s almost as expensive as the real theater but it’s selling like hotcakes.

They’re on their second popcorn machine and the movie isn’t close to starting yet.

I need to move this this the room to get ready for the evening. MarQ made an announcement about a medical evacuation so I’ll keep an eye out for helicopters on the balcony.

Looks like horse racing is on in the Hero’s bar.

Caroline Picard. Only one showing of this show due to the photography class that was in here earlier.

I requested a table for dinner.

 

Tarongia.

Minestra D’Orzo.

 

Torta Di Pistacchi

I had a treat at dinner. They seated a British family next to me. I got to sit next to a 7 year old. The parents used foul language like it was just normal. Then at one point the kid asked a question about babies being born so I had listen to graphic talk about all of that while eating. 

I wish they would give us a little breathing room instead of seating us in each other’s laps. There was plenty of space available in the dining room. They just weren’t using it.

It looks like they’re going to have hockey on.

I talked to the steward before dinner. He said I need to take my Canada form to Guest Services. I also had him give me some laundry bags and forms. I’m going to send out my last laundry tomorrow and he hadn’t replaced any the bags I’ve used this cruise.

This is what it looks like outside. I talked to a guy earlier who said he was on a transatlantic over and he had five straight days of fog on that one.

Color my world is the Playlist Productions show tonight. This one was new on Celebration last year.

Adult comedy.

Comedy host Buzz.

Merl Hobbs.

Hockey is on in the Hero’s bar.

The Silent Party is happening on lido deck.

I found this on the way to the room. I’m off to bed. Tomorrow we’re in Halifax.