Day 02 - 10/08/23 - At Sea to George Town, Grand Cayman

 The seas were calm and flat overnight and all day today so we made good progress in making up the time caused by the delay in our departure.  We learned in the noon announcement that the reason for the longer delay was due to a medical emergency requiring an evacuation after the gangway had been removed.  I also learned that the evacuees were part of our. Cruise Critic group and that was sad to learn.


Until wake-up to about 3pm it was a flurry of activity on this first sea day.  We started with our customary LIDO breakfast, and then we attended the interdenominational service in the Wajang Theater.  It was led by a seafarer's chaolain from Canada, John, and he was very good. He'll be doing all if the interdenominational services first the 73 days of our voyage.


The Shore Excursions Manager then gave a presentation about the excursions on the next few upcoming ports of call. Tom Golz, guest lecturer then gave an interesting talk on Spanish Galleon Treasures: then and now.  It was really interesting and had some new facts and individuals that we had not heard of previously.  He'll be doing a number of lectures for the next month.


We took a short break for lunch in the LIDO before I led the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet in the Crow's Nest.  We had over 50 people in attendance and a highlight was a random give away put together by Evie Foster who wasn't able to come on the cruise due to a medical event with her husband.  I also donated a book for the Grand Prize, NONE WERE LOST by Steven Cochran. There was a lot of interaction and I think a good time was had by all.  I announced that since I had so many excursions that I had responsibility for I would be available for questions every sea day at 4pm in the Ocean Bar.  There was also some discussion about the wisdom in getting off of the ship in Ecuador due to civil unrest.  We'll see how HAL responds to this situation. Again kudos to all who helped make the Meet & Greet a success. 


I then scurried off to first surrender our passports  for te voyage and then to a 2pm wine tasting in the Main Dining room.  It was okay , but I think I've had better ones.  


Just before 4pm came, a person came up to me in the Ocean Bar to reimburse me for an excursion, so my 4pm announcement worked.


For the first time we have ever been on a cruise, the ship held a "Block Party" when we met our neighbors in the hallway near our staterooms (this happened simultaneously throughout the ship), enjoyed a snack and some wine.  Various officers came around an mingled with us.  Most noteworthy was our Croatian Staff Chief Engineer.  Our section of hallway has guests from Canada, Norway, & the USA.  It was a fun event and I wish it was done on more cruise ships.


Dinner was in the LIDO as is our custom.  But we booked some pop up specialty dinners including two Tamarind Dinners in the Pinnacle Grill and a Seafood boil in the LIDO.  



The evening entertainer was Ashton York a very good singer from England.  She performed a wide variety of music ranging pop songs on a guitar to Opera in several languages.  She could belt it out. We ended up sitting next to the Chaplain John and I had a great conversation with him and his wife while Angela got to know Pam who is another person we have traveled with on other cruises.



All day long we have been sailing around the north and west coast of Cuba although we could never see land.  There were a number of birds following the ship and going after flying fish.


We're starting to get into the rhythm of ship life and we really like it.  We still haven't heard about the possibility of an upgrade as the decision has to come from the Seattle office since we are doing the entire voyage and there is a break in Buenos Aires.  Hopefully we'll hear something tomorrow, but we are totally satisfied to stay where we are.


Before I stop writing for the day, I should note that yesterday in Ft. Lauderdale, there were only 2 cruise ships in port which is the fewest we have ever seen there.  We also learned for the next two ports, we'll be the only cruise ship in those ports.

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