Sunday, 12 March 2017

March 12, 2017



   This is Sea Day #7 in the Tasman Sea. This morning the ship is about one third of the distance from Picton, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia. 
    We could feel the ship rocking even in our mid ship Deck 3 interior stateroom.  It is a gray morning with some fog and a rolling sea with waves about 3 meters, but no white caps and the surface was almost glasslike with little ripples over all the waves troughs and valleys.  The ship’s stabilizers are functioning. The wind is so strong, that when we walked our circuits on Deck 5 in the fine mist, we did not include the 150 meters around the bow.  The temperature was about 16 C.  During the morning the ship sailed in and out of thin fog banks and light rain.
    Royal Caribbean has a loyalty rewards program called Crown and Anchor Society.  After any cruise between three nights and a total of 29 nights you are eligible for benefits at the Gold level, once you have a total of between 30 and 55 nights more benefits are added and you are at the Platinum level.  Today we received lapel pins for the official Platinum level.  We were treated as Platinum level passengers since Sydney, due to our standing with Celebrity Cruises, a sister company and now have earned the level with this 33 day cruise.
    We spent the morning reading in the Champagne Bar’s comfortable arm chairs; the bar is not open until noon.  We met Maureen and Bob when we attended Dr. Peter Dingle’s talk about Diabetes and Dementia and how nutritious eating habits, physical activity, water, probiotics and less stress can reverse Diabetes and reduce the onslaught of Dementia and other diseases.  Some points of his talk were: arteries are not clogged with cholesterol, but with calcium.  Take vitamin K and D to assist the body to absorb the calcium into your bones.
    The captain’s announcement at noon advised the passengers that the winds were bordering on gale force, the temperature was 17 C and there might be sunny breaks during the afternoon.
    After lunch in the Windjammer, we ordered cappuccinos, read and watched the Cha Cha lesson before returning to the stateroom to get ready for the last Formal dress evening of the voyage.  Before dinner, we climbed up to the Deck 6 Colony Club for hosted ballroom dancing to recorded ballroom dance music.
     The ship’s five or six professional photographers had stations set up for formal photos.  They also roamed the dining room asking people if they wanted their picture taken.  So far this cruise, we have only had our picture taken twice.  Dinner choices tonight were House Salad and Crab Cocktail for appetizers and the main course was Thai Chicken Breast with rice, peas, carrots and edamame.  Desserts picked were Ivory Chocolate Mousse and Angel Food Cake.
    We decided to get a 24 hour Internet package in order to post the past few days blogs. Entertainment this evening was Contempo, an Australian male duo singing classic hits and Broadway favourites.  They had great voices and gave a wonderful performance.  The casino was not a busy place this evening.

   Steps 12,431                    Flights of stairs  147

No comments:

Post a Comment