Round The World In 28 Days

I like both of your gowns and the new jewelry set matched perfectly!

Thanks.

Was the dough ball like cornbread?

No, it was more like choux pastry.

If so, it was a hush puppy.

I have had those before and absolutely loved them.

The jewellery and the gown look great together!

Thanks.

I think you did a smart decision to eat where you liked the food and where it was comfortable and then just get dressed for the picks!

I think the change of pace in terms of dining did both of us good.

I am amazed at the amount of trivia there was and how much trivia you did!

I don't think I have ever seen so much trivia on a cruise.

I know you enjoy it, but not that you loved it tha much! :goodvibes

I did not know it prior to this cruise either. I think I did more trivia on this cruise than on the previous 18 cruises put together.

but the non-speaking character would that have been Wall-E?

No, Wall-E and Eve speak in a way.

I have no clue about Ariel's sisters nor do I know who the character who didn't speak, but Magdalene may have something with Wall-E.

That makes me feel better.

Based on this, I am guessing Dumbo :

An your guess is absolutely correct. For some reason I thought it was Bambi.

Corinna
 
Day 16

We had a bit of a slow start that morning. We woke up around 9 and quickly got up and ready. We headed up to the Windjammer and had a quick bite to eat. Graham had poached eggs on toast and some porridge and I had poached eggs and toasted English muffin with peanut butter. After breakfast, we got some coffee each and headed down to the Schooner Bar for morning trivia, where we scored our traditional 11 out of 15.



I had seen that there was a birthstone seminar in the Star Lounge at 11:00. That sounded interesting. So I headed up there after morning trivia. Unfortunately there were a couple of people outside the Star Lounge telling people that this had been postponed until the next day due to a clash in scheduling. I never worked out what the issue was as there was nothing else going on at the Star Lounge. Anyway, I found Graham on the helipad, told him of the change of plan and then I went to retrieve my iPad. I then headed up to the solarium.

All the loungers by the window had gone, but I got a lounger in the middle and settled down with my book. At some stage Graham joined me for a while. I decided that I fancied a non-alcoholic cocktail. The Solarium Bar was closed, but the bar by the main pool was open and I ended up with a Virgin Mango Daiquiri, which was delicious. After a while, Graham decided to get some sunshine. I stayed where I was. I quite enjoyed that spot and I did not move again until it was time for the Equator Crossing Ceremony.

The pool deck was absolutely packed when I got there, but I got a decent enough spot in the second row. I did wonder if I should pass, but then I figured that I would live to regret this as likely this was the only chance that I would ever get to experience this. It was very silly and very messy involving cooked spaghetti, flour, raw eggs and marinara sauce. For all the silliness, it was quite moving. After the ceremony, King Neptune and his companion stayed around for photos and there was a ship photographer present. So I stayed behind to get a photo.















I wanted to get some lunch. I headed for the Windjammer, but that was a complete zoo. It looked like the whole ship headed there after the ceremony. So I went off to find Graham. As I crossed the Royal Promenade, the food station caught my eye. They had tandoori chicken and grilled vegetables that day. This was served with mini sub rolls, which was a little strange. I also had my first experience of Lamington, which is sponge cake covered in chocolate and coconut. I found Graham as soon as I had my food. He was sitting outside the pub. I joined him while I had my food and then I headed off to the Star Lounge for progressive trivia.



I did enjoy progressive trivia again. I stayed for Battle of the Sexes. That was a different proposition entirely. For some reason a clique had developed within the female team and they did not really let anybody else get a look in. It was not too much of an issue during the first round I suppose because the spokesperson was part of that clique anyway. During the quick fire round, Joe had the control on who to pick to answer the question so it was not really a problem during this either. However, the final round really got my back up. The topic was the plays of Shakespeare and as a literature graduate, I know a thing or two about this. So I went up to the front to help out. They would not let me anywhere near the person writing down the answers. After this, I was done with Battle of the Sexes. Life is too short for nonsense like this.

I went back to find Graham. I had told him earlier about the afternoon snacks at the Windjammer. He suggested we should go up to check this out. So we headed up there and Graham put together a plate of nachos for himself and I got the chilli cheese fries. They definitely hit the spot. Then we headed down to the Schooner Bar. They were scoring the scavenger hunt when we got there and I was kind of sad we had missed this. This was actually a proper Scavenger hunt unlikely the silly photo event we did on the Transatlantic cruise. Next up were charades and I had quite a lot of fun watching this, but was too shy to join in. I did however realize that there was a group sitting behind us that were also from Manchester. There were hardly any people from the UK on this cruise so this was kind of strange.





One of the bartenders came round to offer drinks. Graham had a glass of wine and I asked for a virgin cocktail and ended up with a Virgin Mudslide, which was very lovely, but so rich that I could not have drunk a second one. So when we were offered a second drink, I asked for something fruity and ended up with another Virgin Mango Daiquiri. While I was still enjoying this, the event that we had come for had started. It was caller Where In The World Am I? The host specified if it was a city or a country he was looking for and then gave three clues. We actually got 14 out of 15, but so did quite a few others. We fell afoul of the tie-breaker, which I should have known. This was the year Explorer of the Seas went into service and I was out by one year.

After the trivia, we went back to the cabin to get changed into our swimming gear. Graham fancied a swim and the hot tub was calling me. We headed up to the solarium, but Graham decided that he fancied the main pool. This turned out to be a very good choice indeed. When we got there, the film that they were showing that night was just starting. It was called A Monster Calls and had not really appealed to either of us. Indeed, the opening scenes did not seem to be very promising either. I found that the large hot tub closest to the screen was empty so that is where I headed. I found that I was really getting into the film. Occasionally I saw Graham swim past, but suddenly I could no longer see him. He was standing at the front of the swimming pool watching the film as well. I convinced him that he would have a better view and be more comfortable in the hot tub. So he came to join me. We stayed there until the film was finished. This was a very civilized way of watching a film.

Once the film was over, we dried off as much as we could and then headed back to the cabin. We took turns getting showered and got changed and then we headed up to the Windjammer for something to eat. That evening the theme of the menu was the Australian Gold Coast, which was very heavily seafood based. I still found some food that I enjoyed. We both had some beef strip loin and potato wedges. Graham also had some fish and vegetables. I had fried shrimp, chicken and cheesy potato skins. We both had a glass of Chardonnay with dinner. I had a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Graham did not fancy dessert.







I took a quick photo of the angel statue that is suspended from the ceiling in the aft elevator lobby and then we headed downstairs to make the rounds of the photo opportunities. Once we had taken care of those, we went to the R Bar where Graham had a glass of Merlot and I had a glass of Chardonnay. We then headed back to the cabin to read for a while before heading to bed.









 
Lovely day!

Your floral dress is so cute and that shade of blue in the floral dress suits you!

You would think that grown-up wouldn't be so clique-ish...
 


Day 17

We woke up around 9:30 that morning. We must have needed it. It was Star Wars Day. May the 4th Be With You indeed! It turned out that in the not so distance future I could do with all the force I could get. When we got up, all was well in the world. We got up and ready and it looked like a beautiful day. It was too late to get a proper breakfast if we wanted to make morning trivia. So we picked up some pastries from Cafe Promenade and Graham got a cup of coffee and I got a cup of mint tea and we took those to the Star Lounge. We ended up with a couple of team mates that morning. We were joined by another couple. We had to laugh at one stage. One of the questions was when the Panama Canal celebrated its 100th anniversary. Graham was wearing his Panama Canal Cruise t-shirt from 2014 that morning. We got our usual 11 out of 15.



After the trivia had finished, we went back to the cabin to get our assorted gadgets. I had to bite the bullet and pay for an internet package for a couple of days as I owed my work some blog posts after I did not manage to get online in Fiji. With my Crown and Anchor Society discount, I paid pretty much the same for 72 hours than I would have done for 24 hours. So this was not a hard decision to make. We had gone up to the solarium and it took me a little while to get connected. I ended up sitting on a bench near the door to the peekaboo bridge and the signal there was OK.

As soon as I went online, I saw an alert that I had a Facebook message from the spouse of my dear friend Polly. Jo and I were most certainly aware of each other, but up to that point our grand total of communication had been a like on Facebook now and again or a comment on Facebook even more infrequently. Suddenly having a message from her alarmed me. I figured that the news was probably not good. I practiced my best ostrich tactic and decided to ignore this for now and take care of what I needed to do for work first. I posted an update and scheduled another for later. With this taken care of, I decided that it was time to see why Jo had sent me a message. Of course, just as I was trying to connect to Messenger, the internet connection dropped and it took me ages to reconnect. As soon as I could get back online, I opened Messenger. I had not been wrong with the assumption that the news would not be good. In fact it was the worst possible news I could have expected. Pretty much as soon as we had got on the ship, Polly had been admitted to hospital and had sadly passed away a couple of days later. As long as we had known each other, Polly has had multiple and severe health issues. Even though she has always been very open about this, it was kind of easy to forget as she may well have been the funniest, kindest and most positive person I ever had the pleasure to know.

I went on to check my emails and what had been happening on Facebook while I was processing the news and then I replied to Jo’s message. As soon as I had sent this, the internet played up again and I went back to the cabin to put the iPhone away and got my iPad so that I could read. I found myself a lounger and did just this until Graham came over to ask if I fancied some lunch.

We decided to head down to the dining room. When we arrived, we bumped into one of my team mates from progressive trivia. She was seated ahead of us, but we ended up on the same table. We placed our order. Graham had the open-faced steak sandwich with fried egg and crispy onions. I had yakitori chicken with sticky rice. Once we had placed our order, I went to get a Tutti salad. The food was great as was the company. Nothing on the dessert menu appealed. Graham had some cheese and crackers and I got some mini cupcakes from a display opposite the salad bar for us to share. They were really lovely.











After lunch, I headed off to progressive trivia. There were some wild and wonderful questions that day, but we did quite well. I came to the conclusion that watching The Big Bang Theory is educational. I only knew the answer to do of the questions because I remember the topic being featured in the The Big Bang Theory.

I did not bother hanging around for Battle of the Sexes and nobody else from our team did either. I went to check in with Graham, who was on the helipad. I then went to find myself a lounger on deck 4 and read. Graham came to join me at some stage. Afternoon trivia that evening was Star Wars trivia. As this is not an area of expertise for either of us, we sat this one out. At some stage, I went to check the menu for the evening, which again did not thrill me. I then went to check the theme for dinner at the Windjammer. This was Chinese, which sounded good to us. We headed back to the cabin just before 6 to drop off our stuff and I got changed. Then we headed upstairs to the Windjammer.

When we got there, the doors were still closed. There were quite a few people waiting as well. They opened the doors about 5 minutes after 6. We found a table near the windows and took turns to get some food. I had some spring rolls, egg fried rice, chicken schnitzel, sweet and sour chicken and beef in black bean sauce. The chicken schnitzel was lovely, but the Chinese food tasted nothing like those dishes normally taste. Graham had egg fried rice, chicken curry and black bean sauce. I also had some pork dish, which was as tough as old boots. The best part of dinner was actually dessert. Graham had some berry moose with a sugar cookie. I had some chocolate ice cream with toasted coconut and a brownie. We agreed that we would return back to the main dining room the following day.











Even though we had not done well at all at the music trivia a few days ago, we did enjoy this. The theme for music trivia that night was Movies and we figured we would have at least a chance with this. So we decided to check it out. A short snippet was played twice and you had to guess the name of the film and the name of the song. We did a little better with this and at least made it into double figures with 11 out of 30 points. This was a lot of fun. After trivia, we did the rounds of the photo opportunities and then retired to our cabin. We had another towel animal. We read for a while and then settled down for the night.









 
Such a sad day when Polly passed. She truly was a light in the world.

I'm glad you had a good day in spite of the sad news.

Jill in CO
 


Such a sad day when Polly passed. She truly was a light in the world.

It was indeed. I miss her so much. I have to admit that as much as I am looking forward to my upcoming trip to Disneyland Paris, I am also slightly nervous about this. When I went for the Halloween season last year, Polly and I were constantly chatting away on messenger while I was there. It was almost like she was there with me. I will miss chatting to her this year.

Corinna
 
You and Graham take such cute pics together!:lovestruc

It must have been very difficult for you to hear about Polly while away. I only knew her on the DIS, but I admired her positive attitude and sense of humor. Every time I saw that little beaded Minnie bag in a shop, I would tell my husband about how much fun she had on her trip with her bling!
 
A nice couple days at sea! I got very behind on life with Pam in town visiting.

You certainly get in a lot of trivia! Shame about those cliquey women. It doesn't supreme me that the Battle of the Sexes competition brought out the worst in folks.

I've never actually watched a movie from the hot tub, sounds intriguing. Can you hear the sounds very well?

The pictures with King Triton cracked me up because his beard was so whacky. I'm guessing it was a little windy on deck and they couldn't keep it under control. :laughing:

That meat you had for dinner looks absolutely delicious! I like the casual pictures of the two of you.

Sorry you had to receive the sad news about Polly while on the ship. I know that Pam had warned me that Jo was afraid that the news could come any day back in March, but it still hit me like a punch in the stomach. She was very dear and I still miss her so. I'm glad that you did go ahead with this TR. She would have wanted you to do it.
 
You and Graham take such cute pics together!:lovestruc

Thanks.

It must have been very difficult for you to hear about Polly while away. I only knew her on the DIS, but I admired her positive attitude and sense of humor. Every time I saw that little beaded Minnie bag in a shop, I would tell my husband about how much fun she had on her trip with her bling!

It definitely was. It is funny how you react to news like this. She had a cruise booked on the sister ship to the one I was on and I kept looking at stuff and doing stuff and thinking "Polly will never get to see this now."

She was a very special person and I am very privileged to have known her.

A nice couple days at sea! I got very behind on life with Pam in town visiting.

I was wondering if she was in California now.

You certainly get in a lot of trivia!

This became a bit of an obsession on this cruise.

Shame about those cliquey women. It doesn't supreme me that the Battle of the Sexes competition brought out the worst in folks.

Well, this meant that I had more reading time.

Can you hear the sounds very well?

I had no issue in the hot tub. When we tried to watch Sully from a lounger a few days earlier, we did struggle with sound though.

The pictures with King Triton cracked me up because his beard was so whacky. I'm guessing it was a little windy on deck and they couldn't keep it under control. :laughing:

I had not realized this before, but I just went back and he did look quite windswept. It was very windy that day.

I know that Pam had warned me that Jo was afraid that the news could come any day back in March, but it still hit me like a punch in the stomach.

I had no idea. A punch in the stomach describes it pretty accurately.

She was very dear and I still miss her so.

I feel the same.

I'm glad that you did go ahead with this TR.

I do sometimes query the wisdom of this. I figured it would get easier once I was past this point, but at the moment I just can't bring myself to work on this. I still have one installment in hand and I just may step away from this for a week and then start afresh. There is land in sight. The next three installments that I need to type up are from Hawaii.

She would have wanted you to do it.

I know that and this is the reason why I decided to push on with this. This is also why I am going to persist with this.

Corinna
 
Day 18

We woke up shortly before 9:00 and got up and ready. Graham fancied a clean eating day so we headed up to the Windjammer to get some fruit. Graham had apples and a banana and I had some pears. I also had some skimmed milk. We then got some hot drinks from Cafe Promenade. Graham had a coffee and I had a mint tea. Then it was time to head down to the Schooner Bar for morning trivia. We got our usual 11 out of 15. After the trivia we collected our assorted gadgets and found ourselves a quiet lounger on deck 4. I spent a lovely relaxing morning reading while Graham looked out for any passing wildlife.





We lost another hour that day. As soon as the dining room was due to open, we headed there for some lunch. Graham continued the clean eating regime. He was brave enough to try the Tutti salad this time. When I suggested this the first time, he took a quick look and said that this is too involved. Once he realized how it worked, he was fine. For his main course, he had a taco salad, which looked delicious although there were no tacos in sight, but there were some tortilla chips on the plate. I had a steak sandwich with bacon and crispy onions. This came with a side Caesar salad, but for some reason Graham thought the salad was his and started eating it. I did not mind as I had plenty of said with my Tutti salad. I did however use this as an excuse for having dessert. I had the chocolate hazelnut torte, which may have been the best dessert I ever had on a ship and most certainly the best dessert I had on this cruise.











Service that lunchtime was slow, which I am sure was at least partly because we ended up sitting with a couple of know it alls that had the serving team hopping. I have to admit I had to bite my tongue a few times, as they were spouting so much misinformation and were trying to “educate” everybody on the table. I figured it was not worth the energy trying to engage with them. So I just minded my own business as much as possible. Unfortunately by the time we made it out of the dining room, I was a little late for progressive trivia. I got there just as the third question was asked. We did OK again.

After progressive trivia, I went up to the helipad to get Graham. We had planned an afternoon of trivia. First up was the Spelling Bee. I felt quietly confident about this one as I am normally pretty good at spelling. We were joined by one of the couples from progressive trivia. This was quite an interesting experience. They were taking a "My Way or the Highway" approach, which they never did during progressive trivia. I also surprised about myself and just how much I was second guessing my answers. We did not do particularly well.

They left after this, but Graham and I stayed behind for the rest of the activities. Next up was a Sudoku race. We had a maximum of 15 minutes to fill out the sheet which consisted of 5 different Sudoku grids that were linked at the corners. I had two completely filled and one about halfway when the first person finished. Graham had got further, but he was still a way off.

The final activity in for our trivia afternoon was the normal afternoon trivia. The topic for this was The Year 2016 in Review. This was actually quite tricky considering how recent this was. We did OK and were a couple of points away from a winning score. After this, we went to get changed. I could not believe my eyes. For some reason Graham had packed a Christmas tie and decided to wear it that evening, I was decidedly less than impressed. We headed down for dinner and stopped for photos. Some of the photographers got a real kick out of Graham’s tie.













Then it was time for dinner. I did not fancy any of the starters that evening and asked if I could have a half portion of the Orecchiette pasta with beef rags instead. This was not problem. Graham had the crab cake. For his main course, he had the Chicken Cordon Bleu with rice pilaf and mixed vegetables. I had the duo of beef with grits. This was absolutely amazing. Graham passed on dessert, but I had the Cherries Jubilee again. The topic that night was Broadway Tunes. I love my musicals and this time we comfortably made it into double figures. We managed 23 out of 30. We had a couple of glasses of wine each. When the evening entertainment started, we decided it was time to retire to our cabin. The entertainment was a pianist and although she was very gifted on the piano, the same could not be said about her singing.











We took turns checking out the Daily Compass for the next day and getting ready for bed. We then read for a while before settling down for the night.
 
Graham's Christmas tie is cracking me up! Sounds like another lovely day of cruising!

Jill in CO
 
Graham's Christmas tie is cracking me up! Sounds like another lovely day of cruising!

Jill in CO

I was decidedly less than impressed with this tie. Graham said that when he packed this, he just looked at the colour and had not realised that it was a Christmas tie and then he decided to wear it as it matched his outfit.

Corinna
 
I was many many many days behind but finally caught up.

Lovely and relaxing sea days.

Shame about the unpleasantness with the Battle of the Sexes. People can be so unpleasant sometimes.

Love the green gown.

The pool area looks very nice.

Glad you were able to enjoy some movies on deck. That's one of our favorite things.

I understand being an ostrich with the message from Jo. Sunday would have been her birthday. She was a great light on this earth. I'm glad you're doing this TR, she would have loved reading about your adventures.
 
Looks like another fun and relaxing day at sea. Ahhhhh I miss cruising. (((((Sigh)))))

What is a "clean eating day?"

I can't believe that Graham packed a Christmas tie, and actually wore it in May!

I think we have another thing lost in translation. You said you had Oriccheitte pasta with beef rags? Not exactly sure what sort of beef that is. :confused3
 
:rotfl2:On the Christmas tie! He definitely displayed it very proudly in the pictures!

Do you think the other couple's attitude in the spelling contest might have anything to do with the fact that they knew that English was not your mother tongue?

Another lovely and relaxing day for you! How many sea days were there? Was this a record number for you or did you have another cruise that was as sea day heavy?
 
I was many many many days behind but finally caught up.

Welcome back back. In the meantime, I got terribly behind.

Shame about the unpleasantness with the Battle of the Sexes. People can be so unpleasant sometimes.

I really do not get this kind of thing. I can be pretty competitive, but never to the exclusion of others.

Love the green gown.

Thanks. This has become a firm favourite.

The pool area looks very nice.

I really like the pool areas on the Royal Caribbean ships.

Glad you were able to enjoy some movies on deck. That's one of our favorite things.

This was a first for us, but I am hoping to repeat the experience in the not too distant future.

Sunday would have been her birthday.

Yes, I know. I did think a lot about her over that weekend.

She was a great light on this earth.

She definitely was.

Ahhhhh I miss cruising. (((((Sigh)))))

Me, too. Nearly 6 months since the last cruise is far too long.

What is a "clean eating day?"

Essentially loads of fruit and vegetables and no processed or fried food.

I can't believe that Graham packed a Christmas tie, and actually wore it in May!

I could not believe it either.

I think we have another thing lost in translation. You said you had Oriccheitte pasta with beef rags?

That is a common typo. It should have read beef ragu.

He definitely displayed it very proudly in the pictures!

Oh yes, he did.

Do you think the other couple's attitude in the spelling contest might have anything to do with the fact that they knew that English was not your mother tongue?

That is an interesting thought and I would say that I think you may be onto something there, but they had the same attitude towards Graham and English is definitely his first language.

How many sea days were there?

We had 15 sea days.

Was this a record number for you or did you have another cruise that was as sea day heavy?

This was definitely a record both in terms of sea days and in the total length of the cruise. My longest cruise prior to this was "only" 16 days total.

Corinna
 
Day 19

We were up a little earlier around 8:30 this morning and had another relaxing day ahead of us. We got up and ready and headed for the Windjammer. They had steak that morning so I had a piece of steak with grilled mushrooms and onions. Graham had some porridge and a pastry. After breakfast, we went to Cafe Promenade to get some coffee. Then we headed to the Star Lounge for morning trivia. We were joined by one of my team mates for progressive trivia and her friend and had a nice time chatting before the trivia. We actually broke our streak and got 13 out of 15. We all stayed behind for the next activity, which was airline visual trivia. In between, we carried on chatting. I had been hoping all cruise that there would be airline trivia at some stage. Anything to do with aviation has always been a passion for me and up to recently, this had been a career, too. We did well, but I have never managed to get my head around the various Chinese airlines and got this one wrong and I also got confused by the old Continental and United tails. Somebody else managed to get full points.





We headed back to the cabin and found two of the dreaded green immigration forms. At least this time we had them ahead of time. They have grown as well. They are now A4 size and were asking all the same questions as the new ESTA form. We decided that we would fill them in later. We then headed up to the solarium. I read and Graham watched the world go by. After the Captain’s noon announcement, we headed to the dining room for some lunch. We both had a Tutti salad. Graham then went for the Moroccan lamb rolls and I had beef strip loin with cheesy potatoes and a red wine reduction. This was meant to come with spinach, but I asked for this to be left off. This was delicious. For dessert I had a polenta and almond cake, which was definitely one of the better desserts I had that cruise.











After lunch, I went to the Star Lounge for progressive trivia. This was our last session with the original team line up. We had one couple from Hawaii and they were disembarking in Honolulu. Graham would join us for the rest of the cruise as would a friend of somebody else. We had a good session and then we said goodbye.



I went to find Graham and then we went up to the solarium. I spent a while reading and then we decided that we fancied some hot tub time. We had decided to sit out afternoon trivia that day. The topic that day was TV, which is not an area of expertise for either of us. So we had plenty of time. We had a lovely relaxed afternoon.

Once we had enough hot tub time, we headed back to the cabin to get showered and changed. I had ended up packing too many gowns as I had been told by a Royal Caribbean representative that there would be at least 5 formal nights. Up to that point, we had two. So I decided to wear a gown that evening. Once we were ready, we headed for dinner.

Dinner was nice again. Graham had a salad with asparagus and beef and I had a chilled pineapple and lychee soup. For his main course, Graham had mahi-mahi with rice and vegetables. I had roasted pork loin with mashed potatoes, apple sauce and vegetables. For his dessert, Graham had panna cotta and I had a chocolate cake.













After dinner, we did the rounds of the photo opportunities and then we headed back to the cabin. We both still had to fill out our green forms. We packed what we would need for the next day, set the alarm and then read for a bit before getting an early night.













 
What a perfectly lovely and relaxing day.

Is the black gown the same as the green? I love it!

Graham is too cute lounging on that sofa.

Great towel turkey.
 

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