November 28 - At Sea

This morning we left the Mediterranean Sea and entered the Atlantic Ocean.  We sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar at about 9am.  We had a good vantage point from our balcony to view the famous Rock of Gibraltar as we sailed by.  Unfortunately it was very cloudy, so what else is new, and the rock was somewhat covered in a light fog.  We could make out the coast of Morocco but it to was shrouded in a heavy mist.   

While we were viewing the Rock of Gibraltar a school for dolphins passed our ship.  This is the first of what we hope will be many sightings of marine wildlife as we cross the ocean.

There are eight hot tubs on board.  Four are outdoors and the other four are in an enclosed area where they are protected from the weather.  I’ve been in the hot tubs every day that we’ve been at sea.  The swimming pools are not very large but because of the cool weather that we have been having they are not too crowded.  One of the pools is a therapeutic pool but the waves in that pool are too powerful when the seas are rough and it is quite dangerous to be in that pool at that time.

We are getting along very well with our dining room partners.  They are a very diverse group of people. There is couple from Ketchikan Alaska.  Keith, who is a lawyer, and his wife Gillian are very interesting.  She has an autoimmune disease that has caused her to have trouble with her motor skills, but despite her difficulties she is always smiling.  Keith is also an avid sailor who has taken boats from Alaska to Hawaii.  Felice and Norman are from Florida, formerly Rochester NY.  He is the class clown, who always has a quick funny remark for most situations. He is also a very caring person. He is one of those rare Americans that I have meet that doesn't believe that caring about the disadvantaged of this world is a sign of weakness.  Terry and Mary Anne are from Hamilton.   He is very proud of his Scottish heritage and goes to most of the highland games in Ontario in full Celtic warrior custom. This includes chainmail vests, helmets and kilts.  He wouldn’t look out of place in Braveheart.  Gary and Sherri are from LA.  He is a retired lawyer who has gone into acting and appeared in many plays in the LA area.  Sherry was a senior executive with several American companies and a cancer survivor.  Both Felice and Sherry are big time football fans.

This afternoon we played in a trivia contest with our new found friends.  The questions were extremely hard and we only scored 10 out of 20.

Today is American Thanksgiving, so of course we had turkey for supper.  Unfortunately the evening was spoiled for a couple of moments when a group of Americans started singing “God Bless America” in the middle of the meal.  You could tell most Americans in the restaurant were embarrassed this uncalled for display of patriotism.

After the meal the lawyers started playing word games to test each other’s oratory skills.  It was fun to watch them battle it out.

It is also Chanukah and our American friends went to a service to celebrate with other passengers of the Jewish faith.

The evening show in the theater was a music and dance show based on Hollywood movies.  It was fun and the singers were quite talented.