Last night there were two entertainment choices. The "Showtime" presentation was a duet that did all of the standard dutes you are familiar with. We skipped it and instead wast to a late night comedy show
The late night entertainment was Tom Briscoe who put on an adult comedy show. It was billed as separate from the regular shows. He was very funny and the lounge was full. He did a lot of husband and wife humor and there was something funny for everyone.
After we left Kusadasi we turned west to sail back towards the Suez Canal. We gained back an hour on the clock. At some point we will turn south towards Egypt and the canal.
Today the sea is calm and the sky is blue. It is around 8am and it is warm outside. Evelyn and I are going to the gym for some excise, thou we have been doing a lot of walking on tours.
There are a number of lecturers on board and I will attend the lecture on the Suez Canal this morning. We will play bridge this afternoon.
At 4pm there is an Anti Piracy Drill. We have received a set of instruction on precautions that will be in effect while we are in a "high alert status". More later.
I finished my workout and stepped on the scale, so I'm eating fruit for breakfast this morning. With unlimited food available you need to be careful and selective. As Scarlet said "tomorrow is another day" and there will be more food. The last two dinner I didn't have desert.
I took a walk around the ship, which given it's size doesn't take too long. The Ocean Princess weights 30,000 tons, which is about 1/3 the size of Princess' other ship. It only carries 680 passengers and a crew of about 350. There is one dinning room, with two seatings, a buffet which is open for breakfast and lunch, the dinning room is also open for lunch as open seating. The buffet changes to the Bistro in the evening for causal dinning. There is a grill on the pool deck which makes hamburgers and hot dogs and a pizza station that is open until 11pm. The are two specialty resturant, a steakhouse and an Italian ( they seem to alternate days). There is a charge ($20 and $25) per person for the specialty resturants.
There is a large pool and two whirlpools, a gym, and a spa. A nice size library, a card room and an Internet area (wireless is available though out the ship) with 10 computer stations. There is a charge for using the Internet with a number of packages (based on the number of minutes you purchase) available. Because we have platinum status we get 500 minutes free each.
Our cabin is a mini-suite which is a lot wider then the regular balcony cabin. We have lots of storage space, a bigger than queen bed, a 6 foot sofa, with a small coffee table and two arm chairs. The balcony has two chairs, two lounges and a table. As Don and Myrna are next to us we will open the door between the two balconies at some point.
Evelyn is happy because there are two coffee stations, one at each end of the ship, on different decks, where she can get her specialty coffee drinks. She purchased a coffee card which provides a discount. You can always get free coffee and tea, both hot and cold for free, but not the fancy "Starbucks" drinks or even espresso. There are two lounges in the front of the ship, one on deck 5 which is used for the nightly entertainment and one on deck 9 which has different attractions daily. The one on deck 9 has a wonderful view from the front of the ship. We must remember that we eat in the back of the ship and are entertained in the front of the ship. Our cabins are right in the middle on deck 8. There are a total of 11 decks, of which deck 4 to 11 are for passengers.
There is lots to do during the day and in the evening, trivia, pool games and demonstrations by the cruise staff and each bar area has a singer or group, in addition to the main evening show. There are also lots of places to just sit and do nothing if you want.
The lecture on the Suez Canal was well attended. It will be interesting going thru. The canal is 190 km long. Traffic is one way at a time. There are two southbound convoys and one northbound convoy each day. Somewhere in the middle they pass each other.
After lunch (I tried the hot dog from the grill - a one-time event - not that good) we play bridge and did much better this session. We are still only good beginner in bridge.
As we were finishing up at bridge the Anti Piracy Drill began. We had to go to our cabins and leave the door open so they could be sure where everyone was. The Captain came over the speakers and explain that this was a simulation of an attack and what action the ship would take. The lasted about 20 minutes.
After we all decided (Myrna and Evelyn) that we should walk a mile around the track which is on deck 10, about the pool area.
We are getting ready for cocktails, we have continued to receive a large plate of appetizer each evening. Myrna tried to get them to stop, but must not have communicated well (Don is happy they are still being sent).
Sent from my iPad
Hal
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