Wednesday, February 5, 2025
I could feel that the waves had picked up as soon as I got up. I tried to go out onto the balcony and had a hard time opening the door. I knew that meant it was very windy too. I took a Bonine tablet just to be on the safe side.
When I walked to the Grand Dutch Cafe, I noticed they had the doors roped off to the promenade with signs telling people not to go outside. There are always a lot of people who like to walk laps around the ship on the promenade. Not today.
I also noticed when I got to the GDC that all the creamers and sugars had been taken off the counter and if you wanted any, the server behind the counter would put it in your coffee for you.
Since I know that not having these condiments on the self-serve counter slows down the overall service and it is not the norm, I knew that they were putting in health protocols. It either meant the ship had a number of cases of COVID or a number of cases of NORO – enough cases of either one that it triggered these protocols. Sigh.
When asked about the change, the servers would just smile and say – “we’re happy to be helping our guests.” Good non-answer. Sigh.
Once I finished my latte, I decided to go to the Coffee Chat hosted by the Cruise Director Jayme. Chuck opted to stay in and continue enjoying his coffee and reading.
Jayme was interviewing members of the ship’s Food and Beverage Management Team today. It was an interesting presentation about who they were and what they did. The F&B department is the second largest on the ship – employs 485 people. Housekeeping is the largest.
I noticed that Jayme was not allowing anyone in the audience to hold the microphone when they asked a question. He held it for them. I took it as another sign extra-health protocols are in place.
After the presentation, Chuck and I went to the Sea Day brunch. No salt and pepper shakers on the tables. Sigh – strike 3. I had a Cuban sandwich, and Chuck tried the biscuits and gravy again. The last time he had it, he said the biscuits were too hard and the gravy thin. He got the same result this time.
I enjoyed my sandwich and fries. We also enjoyed the dessert – Hummingbird Cake. It is a spiced pineapple-banana cake with cream cheese icing topped with pecans. I only had crumbs on the fork before I remembered I wanted to take a photo. Below is one from Google –
During the Captain’s daily noon announcements, he confirmed that a number of guests and crew had reported to the ship’s medical office for “gastrointestinal distress.” Okay – so now we know it is the Norovirus.
He said we would see extra health precautions around the ship and that we could help if we would be extra vigilant in washing our hands often. Embarrassing that the Captain would have to tell adults to wash their hands but that is where we are.
At 2:00, Chuck went to the Casino, and I went to the Future Cruise presentation to see if any interesting itineraries would pop up. We had already received a flyer about the 2026-2027 Legendary Voyages HAL was offering. We have a deposit on the Alaska Legendary Voyage in 2026. I didn’t see any cruises I wasn’t already aware of so there is no need to make an appointment with him this cruise.
We went to another specialty restaurant for dinner tonight – the Pinnacle Grill. We both had the crab cakes and split the candied bacon. I had the yellow tail snapper. Chuck had the ribeye. For dessert, I had the key lime pie and Chuck had the chocolate cobbler which tasted like a chocolate lava cake.
After the meal, we went to one set of the Rolling Stone Lounge band and then went to the main stage to watch Doc Dixon – comedian/magician. We really enjoyed his show.
After the show, I went to the last set of the BB King band and Chuck went to the casino to play some cards.
Tomorrow – Aruba
