It started in LA. The Panama Canal folks disembarked and on came the older generation, a LOT older! I think the average age is about 80, maybe higher. Not a bad thing, just interesting. I had been told that HAL has an older crowd and they were right!
Our second night at sea we decided to change tables for dinner. It's just too difficult trying to carry on a conversation with non-English speaking people. We saw Dorothy, one of our friends from the Cruise Critic meeting, and decided to join their table. It's a table for 8. Dorothy and George are from NJ I think. The other couple I'm not sure about. The 3rd night another couple joined us. They said the people at their table ignored them, so they asked to change. They are Yvonne and George. The average age at our table is 82. LOL But they are all very nice and a wealth of information. They have all done World Cruises before, so can tell us what to do at each port. That will help a lot.
We get gifts! After dinner on night 2 out of LA there were leather bound journals in our cabin. There is a small atlas at the back, very nice. Last night we received small card holders, also leather. They both have a map of the world on the leather. Wonder how often we'll get gifts and what they'll be in the future. I've heard that we'll get clocks, robes, tote bags and more.
Another thing I've noticed on the OWC (Official World Cruise) is that they don't recycle towels. For the Canal portion, we were told we could save energy and water by using our towels more than once. We usually used them a couple of times, hanging them up if we wanted to keep them, putting them on the floor when we were done. Now even if we hang them up, we get fresh ones. Too funny.
The flowers on the ship are gorgeous. I'll have to go around and take some pics of the bouquets. Fresh flowers everywhere is really nice. We even get a couple of carnations in a small vase in our room, replaced when necessary. The food has improved also. On Inauguration day, we supposedly had the same menu as the inauguration luncheon, pheasant stuffed with wild rice. It was delicious. The choices on the menu have gotten a lot better in general. Mel is really happy with all the lamb and duck. Last night I had caviar and escargot, lobster as an entree. The chocolate souffle wasn't as good as on Princess, but edible. :)
We have really gotten into a good routine on sea days. Good thing since we have so many coming up. Mel gets up at the awful hour of 6 or so. He takes his computer to the Lido and works for a couple of hrs before coming back to get me at 9. I am generally awake and ready to go by then, having exercised in the cabin. We go to "Coffee Chat" with the ship's hostess, Jackie. She interviews various people from the ship or celebrities who are on board for shows. The first celebrity was Rick Star. That poor man tried his hardest to get the audience to laugh. Pretty much bombed. Seems like a nice guy off the stage though.
There is usually a speaker at 10, then another at 11. Mel enjoys those, I go to a few. One lecturer worked for the BBC in London and met many of the old time stars. He talked about Gene Kelly one day, Bette Davis the next. He had met her 2 times, which made it interesting. There is also a lecturer on the history of Hawaii, our next port.
After lunch we try to walk the promenade deck a few times. Uses more leg muscles to try to balance with the ship rocking and rolling.
At 3 is dance class. I promised Mel, who loves to dance, that I would participate in that. The first class was extremely crowded, so not much room to move. The ship was also bouncing around, so hard to stand up, let alone try to dance. They've started to have 2 classes a day, so hopefully it won't be as crowded today.
The guest celebrity last night was Vicki Lawrence! It was fun seeing her in person. I used to watch her on the Carol Burnett Show all the time. She then had her own show, Mama's House. She did Mama for the last half of her show. It'll be great if they have more celebrities like that! Jackie said Vicki will most likely be interviewed by Bruce, the cruise director, than her in Coffee Chat. Too bad.
This is our last sea day, number 4. It's been pretty rocky out here in the Pacific, the ship in constant movement, sometimes a lot. I can't imagine getting sea sick. There's no place you can go to get away from the motion! It will be nice to be on land tomorrow, in beautiful Hawaii. Since I've never been, I'm really looking forward to it. Even our table mates said "You've never been to HI???!!!". I'll finally get there.
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