Sea Day with Line Dancing and Dean's Anniversary Dinner

 Tuesday, November 11, 2025, Veterans' Day

Another lazy morning with no alarms to be heard.  Time for yoga and leisurely coffee and fruit (you do not see that donut!).  Eventually we really need to venture forth and go exploring. The coolest place to sit is in Central Park where you can forget that you're on a ship!  There are lots and lots of real plants and you can hear birds singing.  I even think I see one!!

Robin thinks she sees my soulmate!

                                            Today's specialty drink.  This is by the larger pool.

                                                             Our restaurant the other night

                            It disturbs me that this diver actually has angel wings!!  Is that an omen?

                                                                  So much greenery!!

After much discussion, Robin and I go up to Deck 15 for the line-dancing class.  It is only thirty minutes and that's perfect.  Maureen and Ma are already downstairs in the Windjammer, waiting patiently for the breakfast offerings to disappear and lunch to spring forth!  We have to go in the other entrance which means we pass all the goodies on the other side where lunch is already available, so we get a preview. Maureen and Ma have gotten us water and that is greatly appreciated!  Robin and I are too heated and sweaty to want lunch right away;  but time passes and the hungry wolf in the belly must be fed!

Today is Veterans' Day and there was a huge American flag hanging in the promenade.  Apparently while Robin and I were getting our workout, there was a celebration saluting the veterans on the ship.  There was even a cake!  I remember the one a couple of years ago and it was very impressive.  Better dancing than cake, though!

                                                                     Our dance instructor

Our sweet and sour chicken isn't on offer today!  But there is a huge roasted turkey at the carving station and so many goodies that I've never tried, that I take samples of lots of things and when that plate is empty I can't think of getting anything else.  Okay, I lied, there's still dessert!! But at least we don't get today's specialty cocktail that is being brought around to all the tables!!

                         It's the first ship we've seen since we left port!!  It's really pretty far away!

There's music everywhere!

After lunch we stop to gaze down at the water volleyball game and look for a place to sit that isn't quite in the direct sun.  It's hard to remember that there is a frost warning at home tonight!! Soon it's time to go back to the room for a bit.  I'm going to stay and blog while Maureen goes to sunbath.  After a bit I get a text that the girls are having frozen margaritas and are passing on the kids' show "Up and Away".  That sounds like a good trade to me and I go up and join them.  Lots of laughs and memories and then it's time to get ready for Dean's anniversary dinner at 150 Central Park.  I've researched Lobster Thermidor, since all the other offerings seem to be some kind of meat, and oh that's definitely something that I'd never make myself!! If it's not delicious, what's the point!

You just never know what you're gonna see!

Always more to see!

And in the mean time Ben has been keeping the family updated on Ginger's surgery and I've been passing the word along to my family, the Yucatan group, and our Coven!  The latest word is that she is out of surgery and in recovery, groggy but conversational!  The doctor said that everything went well and she should be able to put weight on it almost immediately!  She should expect some soreness (Duh!) There will be 6-8 weeks for rehab and full recovery will take about six months.  What an incredible relief!! That's part of why I get the frozen margarita!!  Celebration!!

There's lots of time to go back to the room, rest a bit, and freshen up for dinner.  We'll be careful not to be late!  Maureen is going down to the Shore Excursions desk to find out how the tour tomorrow works.  Will there be a tram from the ship to the bus?  How far is it to the bus?  Etc.  Luckily we found out that our tickets for the next day were in the same envelope as Robin's so we didn't make fools of ourselves complaining about them not being delivered!!

We are a few minutes early and Dean is already there, waiting to be seated. Dean has brought a special bottle of wine for us all to share.  It is from his and Tobi's favorite winery in Oregon and is quite lovely.  He also orders the special cheese platter for the table and we all have small samples of the deliciousness. Even the bread here is special!  For dinner I choose the Roasted Organic Beet Salad with herbed goat cheese, crispy prosciutto and candied walnuts.  My entree is Lobster Thermidor with fondant potato and organic vegetables (OMG OMG). And for dessert I follow our waiter's suggestion of the fried cheesecake with Nutella, whipped cream and caramel popcorn!  (sounds like something you'd find at the state fair!)

The dessert is a little strange but everything else is amazing!!  Especially the lobster!

Ma tells us again how she got Tobi and Dean hooked on cruising!  And why Robin can't go back to Mexico.  But at 97 I think she's allowed to repeat any story she wants to!!  Even if robin threatens to walk the plank rather than hear either one again!

After dinner Dean is going to the cigar-smoking place and we plan to listen to the pianist in the Schooner Bar.  It's a little early for him, but we can get great seats now!  It also means that we really need to order something, so Maureen and I both get a glass of wine.  Turns out wine is on special?!  My eight dollar prosecco is only four something!

This is the floating bar that goes up and comes back down once an hour.

Giggle!

The pianist is due to start at 8:30 but shortly after that a woman announces that he has a medical issue and the orchestra's pianist will be filling in at 9:30.  No way can we last that long.  We've already paid our tabs and it is just a matter of finishing our wine, or not, and leaving.  Of course we can't get to our rooms from these elevators so we have to go up or down and cross to the other end of the ship.  We opt for up, but with the challenge of fitting all of us and Ma's walker on the already crowded elevator, no one presses 8.  So we get off at 9, go back down to 8, and trek forward.  Then it's down to 7 and home.  We've decided to go to breakfast tomorrow, since the excursion is almost four hours long and begins at 10:30.  We'll need more than coffee and fruit to last until after two! We're pretty sure we've got all our bases covered and head to bed.  Ben has sent more info about what Ginger's doctor did and it's amazing, involving not just the femur and the knee but also either the tibia or fibula (Ben wasn't sure which)!  Wow!  I'm sure we'll learn more in the coming days.  In the mean time, good night!