128 Days Around the World

January 6, 2020

At Sea

We lost an hour of sleep last night so I slept to the new 9:45. On the last world cruise a group of us got together in the Crow’s Nest at 10 for knitting, crocheting, etc. We had not set up anything this time but I knew I needed to go to the “Sit, Knit, Needlework, Project Linus, and More” in the Explorer’s Lounge at 10:30. I had made six blankets for Project Linus at home and wanted to turn them in. Lots of yarn is donated each year and a few hundred blankets are made onboard. These are given to children in need in hospitals, shelters, etc. Holland America partners with the Project Linus organization and sends the yarn to the ship and the finished blankets to the organization. I picked up some yarn that I will work on in my cabin to make another blanket.

I met the three Judys from 2018 (I knew two were on the cruise but did not know the third one was – she was the lady who taught me how to knit socks). We all agreed that unless you had a window seat, the light in the Explorer’s Lounge was not good and we will start meeting in the Crow’s Nest tomorrow.

Trivia was at 11:45. I forgot to mention yesterday that there are no prizes for trivia anymore. When I first started cruising with Holland America, the prizes were usually HAL pins from different regions (Panama Canal, Pacific, Alaska, etc.) or sometimes a free drink for each person in the group. Then they went to vouchers that could be turned in for Amazon gift cards for everyone who participated. Now they say they have stopped the vouchers to save paper. We are playing just for fun.

We only had five players (Margaret did not come today). We once again had 9 out of 15 correct with the winners having 11 correct.

1.How many eggs is a Queen Bee capable of laying each day – 200, 1000, or 2000?

2.What type of bird is on the flag of Dominica?

3.What was the first city to reach a population of 1 million?

4.What is the top selling brand of cookie in the US?

5.English artist Andy Brown created a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with what?

6.Which side of a book are the even pages usually on?

I returned to my cabin and started on my Project Linus blanket before heading to lunch. Sat after lunch reading while waiting for Arts & Crafts. Today we made a lanyard pouch.

Afternoon trivia was at 4 pm. Our standard five were present. Once again, we won with 14.5 out of 17.

1.How many states are in Australia?

2.Which Kevin Costner opus was the most expensive movie ever made until Titanic?

3.What island off the coast of Venezuela has the world’s largest asphalt lake? (we missed this one)

4.What was the first Arnold Schwarzenegger movie to win four Academy Awards?

5.What river were Lewis and Clark hoping the Missouri would connect with?

6.What company developed the Pentium processor for computers?

After trivia I rushed back to my cabin to change for the first “Gala” night. The Captain’s Welcome Aboard Reception started at 4:30 but he did not actually introduce the officers until 5pm so I made it with time to spare. I had decided to eat at Sherita’s early sitting table (much like I had my "other table" in 2019) since the couple I will be eating with were not going to be in the dining room tonight and I did not wish to eat alone again. I had a margarita at the reception and then grabbed another one as I was leaving to take to dinner.

Gala Night meals are usually very good and tonight was no exception. I had a jumbo shrimp cocktail (although the shrimp were more “large” than “jumbo”), a cold three berry minestrone (not sure why it was called minestrone) soup, surf and turf, and a raspberry tart for dessert.

Went to the show after dinner. The performer was John Bressler a pianist, composer, and comedian. It was a good show. After usually going to the late show, with very few in attendance, it was amazing to see most seats filled in The Mainstage.

One more sea day before our first port – Roseau, Dominica.

Morning trivia

1.2000

2.parrot

3.Rome

4.Oreos

5.tea bags

6.left

Afternoon trivia

1.6

2.Waterworld

3.Trinidad

4.Terminator 2

5.Columbia (Rodney, the Australian, knew this one)

6.Intel