DAY 53-AT SEA

 Our position at noon today.  27 miles off the coast of Brazil.  800 miles left to our next port at Recife, Brazil.  Mostly sunny skies and 82F.  25 knot winds out of the north causing 7 foot waves but still getting a pretty good ride.  We passed by some offshore drilling ships and tankers earlier this morning.  Deep drilling as ocean depth is 5000 feet here.

        Our emergency life boat drill ended at sailing time, 6:00 pm yesterday (our scheduled sailing time).  At that time the Captain announced that we would be delayed until 9:00 pm "awaiting parts".  I discovered at noon we waited for nothing as Brazilian Customs would not let the parts come on the ship.  We could not enjoy the beautiful sail out from Rio as it was now dark.  Add that to list of things we have not been able to enjoy on our cruise.  So frustrating!

What We Did Last Night:

 This group of us dined in Sette Mari, the Italian restaurant during evenings but La Veranda for breakfast and lunch buffets.  I had ordered 6 veal parmesans as did not know there would be 8 of us.
Going from clockwise starting with Rebecca: Joe & Judy (from Wisconsin, Dan & Laurie (from Canada), and Eddie & Lyn (from Florida).  We were among first to arrive at 7pm and last to leave at 10pm.  Basically, non-stop laughter.  Great group!

Ricky is the new chef in La Veranda/Sette Mari.  He came out and said the Chef Michael would be coming up to show him just how I liked it prepared.  It was great!  A lot thicker piece of veal than is normal.  As you can see it was huge and could really easily feed two.

What We Did Today:

                Winds of 25 to 30 knows causing some white caps and 5 to 8 foot waves.

                               Our suite steward brought us a nice, fresh flower bouquet.

        They only fixed 2 of the 5 pieces of inoperative fitness machines yesterday.  No parts was the excuse but really was poor planning.  Once again we had to wait until around 11:30 to go do our workout.  We had a lovely lunch down in Compass Rose.  The lunch buffet up by pool just outside of La Veranda featured a "Greek BBQ".  One side of La Veranda buffet is closed now due to the emergency generator is located on deck 12 above it.  They had to mess that side of La Veranda up in order to secure it to the ship.  So now only half the space available for folks to have breakfast and lunch.
        This afternoon we are just relaxing in the suite.  After finishing this posting, I may watch a movie.  We have a great selection of movies available on our inter-active tv OR maybe a nap.  On a long cruise like this you lose track of what day of the week it is.  Good thing we have a calendar!
        This evening is a formal optional dress night.  We did not have any last segment as it has to be over 13 nights long before they will have them.  So I can wear my tux this evening.  At 6:00 pm is the Captain's Welcome Aboard Reception in the theater.  She will be introducing the senior officers at it while cocktails are served.  Probably will not attend as we already know the officers.  After dinner we plan on going to tonight's show featuring Dima Belinski, a Romanian entertainer. Tomorrow is another day at sea.
                                               HAVE A NICE WEEKEND