Day 12 – At Sea

I realized this morning that several times I have referred to being "at sea", when really we have been in the St Lawrence river. I suppose I was accurate if you interpret being "at sea" as meaning underway as opposed to being in a port.

We have been at near maximum speed all night, sometimes running as fast as 24 knots. At about 11 AM this morning when we entered the reduced speed zone, our speed dropped to under 10 knots. Our speed is restricted to protect migrating whales in this area. The seas were light and the wind below 20 knots most of the night. During the day the seas and wind have increased. It is doubtful that the high temperatures today will reach 50, but the sky remains mostly clear. With the temperature and the wind, you definitely need a winter coat to be outside. Doesn't stop the lifeguards though, bundled in heavy jackets they man their post at the side of the pools. The Solarium pool is indoors, and two or three guests take advantage of the pool and hot tubs.

The medical team is earning their pay so far on this cruise, there were two alpha calls before dinner time yesterday and another this morning. The manifest of passengers is very similar to last week. Very few passengers under 50, and so far only a handful that appear to be under 25. I doubt the kids program staff will have have any guests this cruise. I imagine they are assigned other duties.

Even though this is a 12 day cruise, the singers and dancers only do two shows. The other nights are filled with guest performers, called "headliner entertainment" by Royal, and movies played in the theater. Last night's headliner was the same comedian we had last week, Don Gavin. His routine didn't deviate at all, but there are only 121 of us that knew that. Our new cruise director is Steve Davis. I have seen him before, I think it was on the Radiance in Alaska, but I don't remember and it is not important enough to try and look it up.

As is to be expected we have many Canadians on board, about 450, Of course the most passengers are from the US with Florida, Texas, and California strongly represented. I don't know the numbers yet, but the entire Viking Crown Lounge was filled with overflow from the Concierge Lounge last night, and most of the Some Enchanted Evening Lounge was filled with the overflow of the Diamond Lounge. Over 70% of the passengers are Crown & Anchor members. Only 2 guests in the theater last night acknowledged that this was their first cruise ever.

I have come to realize that the battery in my laptop must be getting old. It only lasts about an hour or so, whereas when it was new It would last for 6 or 8 hours. Just adds to the challenge of juggling all the things that need to be kept charged with the one outlet in the cabin. Computer, phone, camera, toothbrush, and hair clippers. I have a multi outlet adapter but didn't bring it. Several other passengers have told me that for some reason they are often confiscated during luggage inspection.

Our headliner entertainer for tonight was singer Elsia Furr. The theater was full but not over full as it often was last week. Her show was a "Tribute to Celine Dion", a show she has performed in Vegas for a number of years.

Tonight we move our clocks ahead 30 minutes. Tomorrow we will dock in Corner Brook, the first of 8 straight port days.

As I retire for the evening we are still cruising at 9.5 knots, once we are past the speed restricted area we will again resume near maximum cruising speed.