Day 04 - Tuesday, 11/12/24 - Day 3 At Sea

 Fortunately today was free of the drama of yesterday.  Angela's leg is slowly getting better.  There's no pain while walking, it's just tough to walk and she is using trekking poles.


After the morning devotional time with Pastor Dan at 8am, we attended Nick's coffee chat with Ron, Food & Beverage Director who we have sailed with previously.  Among the things he shared was all of the changes that occurred in his department in the 3 week drydock.  Those changes included replacement of the entire LIDO market buffet tables following a complete rebuild of the supporting structure.  Those buffet tables didn't arrive at the drydock until a week before we boarded the ship!  Other changes included major rebuilds of both swimming pools, moving the library to where the Queen's Room was, adding a new game room, installation of ADA compliant equipment throughout the ship, refurbishment of the aft 5th floor ladies bathroom.  Tomorrow the Staff Captain is the guest and I'll inquire about the items that changed in areas he has responsibility for.


Today is the Volendam's 25 anniversary of its inaugural voyage which was out of Port Everglades. Chris Evert, tennis pro, was the godmother.  There were several mentions of this important event throughout the day.  Over the years this ship has had many improvements (some very major including adding additional staterooms).  The ship is in excellent shape and as I have previously noted, I believe these changes are being made for the two major upcoming long cruises:  Pole to Pole in 2025 and the World Cruise in 2026.  


First voyage commemorative plaque

Michael Sullivan led off the day with his fantastic presentation about Francis Davis Millet: Forgotten Titan, Writer, Artist, Adventurer.  He should be giving a Master class in how to present to the other two speakers.  He's engaging, moves around the stage, and speaks very extemporaneously (with some notes he carries).  We really like him and his material so far.


He was followed by Nick's port profile presentation on Casablanca which was very good also.  


After lunch, Kate Ross presented on China's Influence in Europe.  Her material is good, but she really needs to get out from behind her PC and not read her presentation.  We've been hearing this type of presentation for about 10 years and it's pretty scary.


Brian Beck presented a talk on the Armada about Spain's attempt to invade England.  He, too, drones on reading a prepared script from behind a PC.  We followed that up watching a chick flick movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" that was actually pretty good with lots of nice Tuscan scenery.


At dinner we sat with a couple from Cranbrook, British Columbia who had sailed with us on the Grand South America (GSA) cruise.  It was good to catch up and share our comparisons. Prime rib was the entree and it was very good.


The evening entertainment was Camila Andrade, a singer from Brazil that we've seen before on the GSA.  She's quite good and well worth watching and listening to.  Her performance tonight included Brazilian songs, jazz, bossa nova and pop songs.

Since I've not been getting enough sleep, we came back to the stateroom to try to get to bed earlier.  We lose another hour tonight.  And now we are half way through the crossing and there's a storm up ahead that's likely to bring some significant "motion to the ocean".  

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