Today we were determined to accomplish a little more than we did yesterday. (Well, I guess that goes mainly for me, since I’m the one who slept yesterday afternoon away!) We planned to hit up the next session of the Dale Erhart lecture series and a trivia competition this morning, then catch some sun and hit the gym in the afternoon. Goal accomplished!
This morning’s lecture (title: Top Gun – Was it Real?) gave a little history on the creation of the “top gun” academies across different countries, why they were needed, and what their future might look like going forward. I mostly just like to go for the anecdotes that Captain Dale tells about his former students, colleagues, and experiences. The audience today seemed bigger than yesterday, so I think word got out. There’s no lecture tomorrow because we’ll be docked in Pago Pago, but I think we are both looking forward to coming back to these on our later sea days.
Next up was trivia. Now, we’ve been hearing about these cutthroat trivia competitions since we boarded the ship. The “experienced” cruisers have their teams all organized and trade bragging rights over who won what or who got what prizes. It’s a little extreme. Dan and I decided that we needed to check it out today, but my only condition was that I didn’t want to join another team – we had to hang out in the back and hope we got at least one question right. Well, it turns out that we’re not too shabby. We got more than half of the questions right! We weren’t the top team, but we also weren’t the worst, and I think we got a little bit of respect from some of the older players when I knew which famous dancer was killed when her scarf got caught under the wheels of her car. If all my years in the ballet studio taught me anything, it’s that I know my famous dancers! (P.S. It’s Isadora Duncan.)
There was a themed option for lunch today, so we dined on English pub fare and Dan enjoyed a Boddington’s beer. We both had fish and chips, and then I went out to lay by the pool for a bit while Dan hit the gym. Let me say, now I know why Mimi and Robert go sit by the pool at 8am. It was H-O-T at 1:30pm and I was only able to sit there for about 30 minutes. I’m pretty tolerant of heat, and I love being toasty warm, but something about being pregnant in the hot sun just didn’t sit right today. I called it quits and hung out in our air-conditioned stateroom for a bit before I went up to visit the gym as well.
Post-gym, it was time for my daily afternoon nap while Dan read on our balcony for a bit. Then we went to dinner, where we got to hear more tales from Mimi and Robert. (Mostly from Mimi – Robert doesn’t talk as much as she does.) Dan asked how they got into traveling, and we heard all kinds of things. We heard about Mimi’s first airplane flight, which she took to Venezuela and got so tipsy that she didn’t get concerned when her plane was struck by lightning. We heard about her trip to Cuba where it rained so much that all she could do was go to the beach bar. (My favorite quote: “It cost $13, but I tried all of the rums.”) We heard about her return trip from Cuba, where she forgot that she was bringing back a whole box of contraband cigars and thankfully was able to talk the customs agent out of searching her bag. She has had such an interesting life. We had originally requested a table for two for all of our dinners, but I’m glad that they weren’t able to accommodate that request. It has been such a hoot to talk to Mimi and Robert, and I look forward to seeing what else they have to say in the coming weeks.
Tonight’s after-dinner show was an Australian comedian, who I am sorry to say was terribly unfunny. He actually cut his set short, since his jokes were flopping so badly. We felt so bad for him at the end, but what can you do? On the way out of the theater, we stopped to chat with a couple of the cruise dancers/entertainers who were incredibly nice and friendly. They mentioned that we must be the youngest people on the cruise, and I didn’t have the heart to point out that they were probably younger than we are. They were from the UK originally, and like everyone else who works on the ship, they got really excited to hear that we were from New York. I think a lot of times we really take for granted that we live in one of the most amazing cities in the world, that other people dream of visiting, and it’s nice to step back and remember that from time to time.
Tomorrow we’ll be in port in Pago Pago, American Samoa. I’m excited for a beach day, and Dan is excited to be spending that beach day at a resort with free wi-fi. J A little something for everyone!