The southern Caribbean is as flat as glass as we head north. The skies are clear, the sun bright. With an air temperature of 80, it is impossible to ask for better weather.
There is a new twist to the egg drop contest. First contestant's drop their contraptions from deck 6, then from deck 10.
All but 2 of the eggs survive. Judging is done by 5 or 6 random observers instead of by the entire audience with the activities director spending an hour calling out random scores and then just making his own decision. A much better process.
"Balloon man" was the audience favorite. A four foot high human shaped balloon constructed of dozens of small balloons. Being large and light it slowly tumbled to the stage, delicately carrying its cargo of a fresh egg to a safe landing.
Formal night, with lobster being served, the dining rooms are busy. Tonight we not only have yet another wait staff, but are seated at a table in the dining room on deck 4 instead of deck 5.
Of course no lobster for me, the three cheese tortellini with blue cheese sauce is a new twist on an old favorite. The new sauce is excellent, the blue cheese adds a delightful tangy flavor.
In years past, Royal would change out the entire menu periodically. Now the approach is to continually make small adjustments. A much safer approach.
Throughout the night the seas remain very calm. Some of you may wonder, but the earthquake near Jamaica has no effect on us at sea. Even if there were a tsunami, there wasn't, it would not be felt on a ship in the open ocean.
Of bigger concern for world travellers this week is the outbreak of a new strain of flu in China which is proving to be quite deadly. With an unusually long incubation period, it is spreading panic, if not the actual virus, worldwide. A Costa ship with about 7000 people aboard is being quarantined in Civitavecchia as I write. Air flights are being cancelled, and borders being closed in a futile attempt to contain the outbreak.
The seas remain very calm our entire last day at sea. The temperatures are ideal at about 80. Yes, more baked sunbathers today. Most often those passengers from the cold north that don't respect the power of the Caribbean sun, or just don't care.
For most passengers it is time to pack the suitcases, verify boarding passes and say goodbyes. The ship will dock before sunrise, and passengers will begin disembarkation about 7:00 am.
One of the benefits of being Pinnacle is that we are escorted directlly to our luggage before all the other passengers that have luggage to claim.
For those of you that read my last post, you probably noticed it was filled with a tremendous number of typos. A product of my big fingers trying to type on my phone. Usually I use a keyboard, but wasn't yesterday. The worst part was that it was posted in error when I accidently touched the send button. No easy way to fix it from here, so you just have to live with me.
Tomorrow is turn around day day for the crew, their busiest day of any cruise.
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