An entire day "At Sea." We are up and showered by 8:30. Time for a day of eating, napping, reading and general vacation leisure with nowhere to go. After breakfast, we pick up our reading material and head up to a lounge for some quality reading time. The down side to a day at sea is that every passenger is trying to claim a primo spot in a lounge. The good reading chairs go first, followed by the window seats to stare at the ocean. The interior seats surrounding tables are next to fill up, and finally the chairs and tables nearest the variety of stage areas where games and contests are played. The frustrating thing is to look for a comfortable reading chair and find people sleeping in them. These prime spots are few and far between, and to my knowledge, everyone on board is assigned a bed - go use it!
Just prior to noon, the Captain comes over the speaker systems to give our location off the SW coast of Iceland, headed East Southeast. Seas are swelling and moderately rough, winds are gale force 7 (25-30 knots per hour) and we are sailing over 4,000 feet of water.
After lunch, we head to the shops on board as Deb's wristwatch has quit working. We pay 20% off of a probably overpriced Citizen Eco-Drive with a band that she doesn't care for. The band is easily changed when we get home and she can pick one she likes from the Internet. Back down to Reception (front desk) to check on our passports. As we are not EU citizens, they are holding our passports to present each time we enter another country. We are concerned that we will need them prior to our departure on Saturday morning; although the ship docks at 2:30 AM, there is a concern that we won't be able to have early disembarkation. Our train leaves Dundee at 6:30 AM, which is well before normal disembarkation. As usual, the correct and knowledgeable person is not at the desk so we explain our concern and plight on the promise that someone will contact us.
We then trek back to cabin #7153 to drop some material and relieve ourselves. Back up to a lounge for the continuing quest for better seating. This afternoon, a rousing game of scategories followed by bingo.
Another formal attire dinner, which means I put on my dress slacks, clean shirt and blue blazer. I again toyed with purchasing a tie for this last dinner and decided I need not add to my collection for a bunch of people I will never see again. Deb fashionably tries something in black. Our table mates are again out of action. We are beginning to worry that something is seriously wrong.
Dinner meal is tenderloin or tagliatelle with salmon, followed by the obligatory march of Baked Alaska in from the kitchen by the wait staff to the sound of music. At least they weren't flaming as they marched in - flame is a definite no-no on board ship.
We finished the night with a few minutes above deck to cool down, followed by a cocktail and a time of piano music. In to bed by 10:00 - a truly strenuous day of sailing behind us.
