Report #5 Sept 22-At Sea

Sept 22 – At Sea.  Today is the first of 8 days at sea.  There are 9 calendar days between now and our arrival at Kushiro on the Island of Hokkaido in Japan but we lose 24 hours when we cross the International Dateline so we only experience 8 of the days.  I don't know how often I'll post during the eight days because most of my sea days follow a set routine.  So unless something unusual happens or something ticks me off and I get into an italics sort of mood I won't bore you with the days activities. 

My typical day at sea starts with breakfast at 7AM followed by Tai Chi at 8AM and then the Protestant Bible study, if they have one, around 9AM.  Our travel host from CSI, Tom Mullen, will have an informal 'chat time' (read that as gripe and whine time) at 11AM and I usually stop by just to give him a break for a few minutes.  Then it's lunch and the afternoon I spend reading or visiting with other passengers. 

The ship is not full, a little less than 900 on a ship that holds 1,400) so things are pretty laid back in all the venues.  I was somewhat skeptical of Tai Chi because it's being done by one of the 'lifestyle' people on board rather than a full time Tai Chi instructor.  My skepticism proved to be unwarranted as she was very good indeed.  Robert, the Master from Australia, is the only instructor that was better.  Her name is Daniela and she's from Portugal, which gave me a chance to use what little Portuguese I learned mostly from visiting Brazil.

I may do some things in the afternoon and while they may vary they're usually not interesting enough to send any details.  I will comment on the entertainment in the evenings mainly so I record their names and my thoughts for when they perform in the future.

This evening, in true HAL fashion, we were reassigned to a table upstairs in the dining room, way at the front and a long way from any service prep areas.  It was perfect for Diana and therefore made us very happy.  I had a huge pork chop with veggies.  Delicious!

Tonight's performers were J. Neal and Liane, a magician and his assistant.  I should warn those of you who don't know that I am not a big fan of jugglers, mimes or magicians on cruise ships.  Comedy magicians are sometimes great and often good but serious magic for showrooms, not close-up style illusions, requires more elaborate equipment than one can reasonably expect to get to and on the ship.  That's where magicians fall short.  Jugglers and mimes I don't care for because jugglers suffer from serious space restrictions and mimes, well lets just say, leave it to the French to invent the world's most irritating art form.  That being said, J. Neal was watchable but uninspired.