1/5/08 - Sea Day

From: SHERMAN ROOTBERG

Date: Jan 5, 2008 11:23 PM

Subject: 1/5/08

1/5/2008

Today was a sea day. The big event was getting jackets. I would like to believe my complaining about the mismanagement of handing out the jackets on the last world cruise had something to with the way it was handled this time. Those of us taking the full cruise were given notes to come to the Horizon lounge. Once there, there were many staff members to take care of the people. They had a list of those entitled to get the jackets and we were crossed off as we were given them. There was a table with the different sizes lined up in piles. We were able to try them on and make sure we got the right size. Everything went very smoothly and we even had a good time joking and talking with others.

They were really rain jackets. They are made of some kind of rubbery material and inside they are lined so they don’t stick to you. They are ¾ length and have hoods. Obviously they are expecting a lot of rain and/or leaking ceilings. I am going to try to send a picture Bobbi took of people trying the jackets on.

This evening we were invited to dinner with the staff captain. He is the second in command. There was also a lady that had been a dancer and then an instructor and another couple, originally from Egypt, that had been on the last two world cruises with us. It was a very good dinner and we all shared some very interesting information.

The entertainment this evening was ballroom dancing. Besides the ship’s dancing company, they had a Russian couple that had won some world competition. The theater was mostly filled so I am guessing most thought it was good. Personally I thought it was good to sleep through which I did until Bobbi said I was snoring too loud. She woke me and steered me back to the room from where I am now writing you in my underwear. It was formal tonight and she would not let me sit and type in my tux.

The only other excitement today was when the ship speed went down to about 4 knots. It was that way for about an hour. The staff captain told us it was because an electrical cable had gone bad and someone had to climb down into the propeller pod to replace it. They are hoping to make up the lost time tonight so they can get to Grand Cayman on time tomorrow.