DAY 46 - EN ROUTE TO NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA

Had A Wonderful Time At Prego Last Evening  ✔  Enjoyed Another Day At Sea ✔  


We were asked what time Keith wakes up in the morning and what we have for breakfast?  Like at home, Keith does wake up early.  During this voyage he has been waking up a little before 4:00 AM each morning.  Keep in mind that with the changes in time zone traveling East to West it makes it easier to wake up.  Our observation is that each person gets into a set routine.  For example, there are some who workout in the Fitness Center relatively early in the  morning or go by the Lido Cafe for an early morning coffee, while others keep to late schedules.  The same goes for where people spend time on the ship.  The challenge will be on the last leg of the cruise when we go from Japan over to Alaska and then over to Vancouver as we will be forwarding the clock several times.  We do want to mention that we both really sleep well on the ship and far better than at home.  We would call this "quality" sleep.


As to breakfast, we got into the habit on a long voyage to have the same type of breakfast we have at home.  As such, we have oatmeal each morning with a banana and Keith also has stewed prunes.


Before dinner last evening we listened to the World Cruise Chorus.  This is something done on each World Cruise where a chorus is formed comprised mainly of guests and some entertainers who get together during the course of each leg of the World Cruise and learn some songs which are performed for all of us.  In recent years, it has taken the chorus one or more legs of the World Cruise before they were ready to perform.  That was not the case with this chorus.  Last evening the chorus performed several songs including a couple of songs from Australia.  They did a number of songs where those in the chorus did Harmony.  They did an excellent job and they got a very loud round of applause at the end of their performance.  Some in the chorus are on the full World Cruise while others are on one or multiple legs of this voyage.

While we had dinner in Prego last evening these are the dinner menus from the Crystal Dining Room.

We had an excellent time in Prego last evening.  Surprisingly, since this was a night before a formal night there were very few guests dining there.  In fact, it might have been the fewest guests we have seen  on nights that we have been dining here since we boarded the ship on December 21.

Before our waiter took our order, the Prego Head Chef, Christian, who we know quite well from previous cruises came out to our table.  He asked us if in lieu of ordering the additional fish entree that we normally have (on most nights there are two entrees not on the menu of which fish is normally one of them) which is a fish fillet that he could prepare for us a whole fish which would serve two people.  He mentioned that when he went out with the Executive Chef the previous day to purchase local fish that when he saw this one he thought of us knowing that we would be in Prego the next night.  We were touched that he thought about us.  He said it would take an additional twenty minutes for our entree to be ready beyond the normal time and we said sure we would be happy to have this entree.   We can't remember the exact name but it is a Pacific Trout fish. It was delicious.  When the fish entree came out, the Heat Waiter of Prego along with our Waiter Costa prepared it table side for us as they needed to remove the bones and the Head Waiter remarked that the Pacific Fish that we were having has a good deal more bones than say a similar fish in another area of the world.

From Left To Right Headwaiter Mario and Waiter Costa preparing the entree for us table-side.

This is the fish we enjoyed.

We also enjoyed a nice French wine with the meal which we had purchased in port and we were pleased to learn from the Sommelier that we made a nice choice not only in the region the wine comes from but also in pairing it with our meal.  Honestly, other than the type of wine, we took a guess when we selected it.

After dinner, we went to see musical humorist Dale Gonyea.  He plays the piano while he tells a story and at times sings the story of funny things that have happened on the ship and in port.  He will make fun of some of those memorable ports where funny things happen.  For example, in one of the ports last year where we had to tender as the day progressed the seas got worse and worse.  On one of the last tenders of the day the seas got so bad that mid-way on the return the tender had to hold its position and both guests and crew said they had never experienced a tender ride so very rough.  While it was not funny at the time it is one of those events that a few days later Dale Gonyea could incorporate into his act.  The challenge for him was preparing an act that had only one day in port since he joined the ship in Hawaii.  A portion of his act was devoted to this one stop where the major memory of the day was the rain.  He also was able to make humor from each of our sea days with the use of visuals (photos).  As usual, he had the audience, including us,with tears streaming down our faces from laughter.

At 10:00 PM there was a Liars Club which featured Liar Liar, James Coughlan Manager of the Shore Excursion group, Comedic Liar Dale Gonyea, Rabinical Liar Rabby Morris Hershman and Celebrity Liar Bruce McGill.  Liars Club will be offered a few times on the World Cruise.  The key is having the right people on board who can be selected to be one of the four members of the Liars Club.

After a very full day of activities we slept very well last evening.  Keith awoke first and he was back up at the Fitness Center for his morning workout and a short while later was followed by Anne Marie.  The usual cast of characters was there. Actually, Brian arrived only ten minutes into Keith's workout and John arrived about an hour after Keith began which is John's normal time.  Keith watched Actor Bruce McGill's Question and Answer session from the other day.  He also had a similar session last year on board one of the legs of the World Cruise but of course the questions were not all the same.  It was fascinating to get a behind the scenes look if you will about Hollywood, motion movies and television and the contrast between movies and television and how he prepares for his roles.  He is in the movie Lincoln and it was interesting to learn about all of the detail that went into this filming of this movie including the costumes.

Once again, we enjoyed breakfast in our room while we watched the Daily Morning Show.  One of the special moments is when Cruise Director Rick Spath mentioned that on Saturday's at  the Spath family at home is a busy day filled with lots of activities for the kids.  He then called his wife on her cell phone and she put two of their four children on the phone; their daughter Anne-Marie and their third grade son Michael. Sure enough they each played basketball today and their respective teams won and Anne-Marie also had cheerleading today.  As he spoke with each of them they put their respective photos on the screen.  They also showed photos of Rick's two other boys.  Rick plans to do this again later in the cruise.  Three trivia questions were asked and thanks to our Anne Marie we correctly answered one of them.  We will be able to pick up a prize (free cruise - just kidding) later today.

Today featured three lectures on a diverse set of subject including Australian History , The Threat From Iran and, Australia of Today.  One of the movies featured in the afternoon was 61 which is about the home run chase of 1961 when both Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were chasing Babe Ruth's Home Run Record.  This is one of the many movies that Celebrity Lecturer Bruce McGill appeared in.

During the morning we also spoke with several guests and crew members and also stopped by the display of watercolor paintings by several guests who took the art classes.  There were some very impressive works of art by some guests who had never painted before.

We enjoyed a salad entree for lunch and then we had the final game of Team Trivia for this first leg of the World Cruise.  Our team ended up finishing in third place for this leg of the World Cruise.

We each had a Tuna Fish Salad Entree for lunch.

We also shared a bowl of Butter Lettuce.

In the afternoon, Keith played Paddle Tennis and also got together with friend Bob.  Anne Marie worked out for an additional hour and also took care of a few items around the ship.  The weather was nice although it was a little windy but Keith managed through that while playing tennis

This evening is a formal night so we plan to attend the Captain's Farewell Party.  We will be dining in Prego for the second consecutive night.  This time we will be with another couple; Mike and Sandy.


TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

“By the time you're eighty years old you've learned everything. You only have to remember it.” - George Burns

Keith and Anne Marie