Dear Friends and Family,
Happy Hanukkah to all our Jewish friends,
Forgot to tell you about the entertainment last night. It was a full-blown production with all the singers and dancers, entitled: “What a swell party”. The dancers are wonderful; I don’t know how they remember all those steps and songs. With the boat rocking, it must be very difficult to stay on your feet and find your “marks” on the floor.
There are eight dancers and four main singers, but they all contribute to the various songs and routines. Can’t say enough about their talent and enthusiasm.
It’s another beautiful sunshine-filled day, with not a cloud in the sky, light breezes out of the south, three to four foot waves lapping against the side of our steel chariot as we cruise on across the Atlantic toward South America and the Amazon River.
We spent the morning after breakfast walking on the 10th deck with a host of other passengers, attempting to rid ourselves of some of the extra pounds we may have put on with the sour cream apple pie alamode with Carmel drizzled over it as desert last night after dinner.
Then we took part in Trivia again, and lost, again. Afterward, we met with some of the people attempting to assist me in finishing my eighth novel, “The Don’s Stimulus Package” – the fourth in a trilogy of lighthearted crime stories.
I’m enlisting their help in completing the novel and have had a few good suggestions so far. Perhaps we’ll have more people join us as the days go by. Carol and I are being noticed by many of the passengers and we have fun talking with them all.
This afternoon, after hamburgers and fries for lunch, we sat on deck 5 in lounge chairs and watched the sea go by. No ships have been sighted since we began our trip to the Amazon, so we must be alone in the world.
After that, we took part in “The Marriage Game” – a take off on
“The Dating Game”. Carol and I tied for second with 3 correct out of 7 questions. We came home to our room with bags full of Princess Cruise Line products – passport wallets, luggage tags, (perhaps they will find our luggage easier the next time with THEIR luggage tags attached), caps, and the bags themselves.
We’re having a great time, taking part in every activity we can to make the cruise one of fun and memories. We are meeting lots of new people; people are asking about me and for me, (as Karl Boyd), at the Pursers’ desk, and they are purchasing my novels in the shop, so all is well.
I will hold my next book signing up on deck 10 by the Barbeque place and near the pool tomorrow. It appears everyone is a sun-worshipper and the area around the pool is always busy. Hamburgers, hotdogs and chicken sandwiches fly out of the BBQ area, so let’s hope we do well. It can’t hurt to try.
Tonight is another “Smart Casual” night in the dining room, so we’ll dress appropriately. Looks like we brought along the Christmas sweatshirts for nothing. It will be too hot to wear them, even on Christmas day, although we might try for the early morning time.
Our inside cabin is smaller than the balcony cabins we usually take, but very adequate for us, as we don’t spend much time here.
I love the darkness at night so I can sleep better. I understand it may get lighter earlier and stay that way until late, as we draw closer to the equator, so I’m not complaining.
Our clothes fit into the closets, (just barely), and we’ve managed to establish a routine for showering, dressing and getting ready to go to the next activity or place to eat (again).
Time to check the “Pitter Patter” again for what’s going on that we can take part in. They do keep us busy, if we want to be that way. It’s Trivia time again at 4:30, then just time to change for dinner.
Entertainment was a comedian/magician, who was very good. I got selected to assist him in one of his magic tricks. We tried late night trivia, but continue to score 13 out of 20. 13 is our favorite number, but it doesn’t do us any good in this case!
So, it’s off to bed so we can rise early and be ready to sell lots of books tomorrow.
Until then, Via con Dias, Karl & Carol
