Our passage across the gulf is uneventful. Seas remain slight, the weather cloudy and cool with a high of about 55. Needless to say there are lots of chairs available around the pools.
The ship is very clean, and in excellent repair. carpets are fresh, seating good, and shipwide I must say some of the most comfortable seating I have encountered in a long time. The carpets look brand new and show no sign of wear anywhere.
The corridors are bright. The big deficiency is in heat. The public spaces are very cold throughout the ship. In all my ship travels to Alaska, Europe, the North Atlantic and around the world, this is the coldest I have ever found a ship. Not a mechanical failure, but a management decision to put profit way in front of passenger comfort.
When we return to the cabin, just before lunch there is a note on the door advising us of our new 6:00 PM dinner time in the main dining room. Our contingency plan was to have a good lunch in the dining room if we could not get earlier seating for dinner. We go to the dining room anyway even though our contingency plan is no longer needed. Lunch is decent. I have a cheeseburger and fries. Being a sea day and only a dozen people outside by the pools, the dining room is packed, not something the staff appears prepared for.
The afternoon is filled with several trips to hide ducks, and a "beyond the podium" presentation by David Fantle, a professor from Marquette university relating experiences of interviewing 200 entertainment greats over a 50 year career. A very entertaining program with unknown details about the likes of Bob Hope, Gene Kelly, Judy , George Burns and many other great Hollywood film and stage stars.
The 5:00 to 7:00 cocktail hour starts at 4:30 compliments of our server. While in the lounge we watch the line grow for the my time dining room from a few dozen people to a line stretching from the dining room entrance through the elevator lobby, completely thru the Rendezvous Lounge and beyond. Many wait 45 minutes to just get through the lounge.
Our dining room on deck 5 is much better organized. We arrive 2 minutes before 6:00, are immediately greeted and taken to our table. A table for 6, seated with passengers that were able to switch from late dining to early. Not surprising, all are from Florida.
Dinner takes 2 hours, not unexpected. The food is good and they do a good job dealing with the two passengers with special dietary needs.
The main show tonight is Jared Freiburg and the Vagabonds. A high energy piano, bass, and drums in the style of Jerry Lee Lewis. Excellent.
Our speed has been in the neighborhood of 12 knots as we journey towards New Orleans. It is appproximately a 8 hour journey up the river from the gulf. Not a passage for the inexperienced at night. We expect to be docked by about 9:00 am.
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