Day at Sea

First of all let me say that the internet does not appear to be my friend on this trip! It took me yesterday and all day today to even get connected, and the iPad has presented it's own set of challenges when it comes to the blog. Now that I have that said, today has been otherwise a wonderful day. We actually woke up at 7:30 - yes, shocking for those who know us, but it was a nice change. We had breakfast in our room and noticed that the seas were so calm that we didn't even feel like we were moving. Most of my morning was spent trying to get online as well as going to a seminar on Aruba. We will not arrive there until Friday, so we are spending two days at sea. We were on our balcony, but it was in the shade and a bit breezy. We ventured up to the Grills deck where we found our spot for the next few hours. They have the most comfortable lounge chairs and we were able to get out of the direct wind. Not much can be said for this afternoon other than we thoroughly enjoyed lounging in the sun. We had planned to get a bite of lunch, but I thought maybe just a sandwich. Within less than a minute a steward appeared with a selection of sandwiches for us. It was like he read my mind! A little later in the afternoon they came by with some ice cream to cool us off. We couldn't ask for better service. At one point we looked out over the sea and there was a perfect rainbow that started and ended in the water. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me. We stayed out until we realized we were turning pink (which turned out to be closer to red after a shower). At long last I was able to connect to the internet, but I think everyone else must have been on as well because I couldn't get the photos uploaded. I soon gave up as it was time for our "cocktails and crosswords". I think this became a tradition on our very first crossing on the QM2, but we now look forward to it. Mom has already gone through about 6 crosswords in just 2 days. We enjoyed our bloody marys and canapés while we dressed for dinner. 

Tonight was our first semi-formal occasion. We managed to get upstairs to dinner about 7:45 PM and as we walked in we saw a very familiar face. I will have to find out her name, but she and her husband we on the trip last year from NY to Dubai on the QM2. We didn't officially meet them until the very end, but we recognized them nonetheless. Mom and I copied each other on dinner tonight, a lovely seared salmon and blackened shrimp. The shrimp were too spicy for our palettes, but everything else was perfect. We topped it all off with a rhubarb tart and creme anglais. After dinner we wandered around and found the string quartet playing in the midship lounge. We've noticed a lot more movement on the ship this evening, so we've had to watch our step. From there we had to take a walk down to the Queens Room where we could watch all of the dancers, or those who were at least giving it a try. Tonight we have to spring forward an hour, a occurrence that Mom has been complaining about all day - I guess since I was all exciting about only heading west. Maybe I should look at the map more closely next time!