We are getting closer to the Caribbean. On Monday we will be in Barbados ... and I will be snorkelling.
The Windsor sisters and I had our breakfast Saturday on the deck at the stern of the ship and it was wonderful. The air is beginning to have that humid island feel to it.
The weather on the Atlantic has been spectacular - around 23C and mostly sunny every day. That means the pool deck has been a really popular place. I have spent some time there myself, reading and playing rummy, and lying in the sun.
I have never before in my life been able to look in every direction and see water. The mind plays tricks on you and you think you can see land on the horizon. But there is really nothing but blue.
At dinner on Wednesday, my throat started getting a bit sore. And by time of the show ... which was great, by the way, even if I hate this song with a passion ... I knew I was coming down with something.
I have not been sick with anything since before COVID (my hermit life) so I was immediately afraid that I had contracted the pandemic virus. I did not socialize with anyone for a day and a half and stuck mostly to my room. But three negative tests over two days convinced me it is just a mild head cold so I ended my self-imposed isolation and joined the sisters on the deck.
I have also decided that I can't spend my dinners doing translation work between French and English. It is just too stressful. Plus Pierre, the Frenchman at whose table I was placed by the ship, confided that he is a Trump supporter and ... well ... I find it hard, in good conscience, to break bread with supporters of that criminal. So the Windsor sisters and I have asked to be seated at a table of English speakers.
In the mean time, the buffet offers us a great range of options and a lot more vegetables than we were given at the sit-down meal. Too bad the bread is the best part .. because I don't need it but can't resist it.
And the main show was Friday night superb as usual. It was the opera troupe and I can't believe how beautiful their voices are. John the Irishman kept saying he couldn't understand a thing they were singing. 😄 but I got it all ... and I don't speak the language.
As expected, Internet quality in the middle of the ocean has been spotty. But I was prepared for that. So there are times when I can access the web and times I can't. It's a good exercise in breaking free from constantly being on my phone.
I have lots of books to read and there are many many scheduled activities on sea days on this ship. I have not participated in many of them, in part because just staring at the ocean is such a novelty for me!
Another kind of astounding thing about this ship is just how many of the staff speak all five languages - English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. And they just go back and forth like it's no big deal. I have yet to meet a staff member who does not speak English even though they come from all over the world.
My next post will come after Barbados and my catamaran sailing followed by a plunge in the sea.
Ha! Nobody in that family that I am aware of … and the Windsor sisters are definitely not of that ilk … no discussion of Happy whatsoever so far.
I don't want to add tension to your new dinner table, but are the Windsor sisters any relation to you know who? And what do they think of Harry and Meghan? But, as I said, you probably don't want to initiate a bun fight!