November 16: 🚢 Cruising the Arabian Sea
That's the end of those four little sea days in a row and it has been fun. Funny how quickly we become creatures of habit and happily find ourselves just doing what we know and love.
Predictably:
- more food with breakfast (La Veranda, Coffee Connection), lunch (Pool Deck), afternoon tea (Meridian Lounge - English treats and a second Nelson for @Mac) and dinner (Golden Rose with @Jonathon) - although I did skip breakfast for a very good reason
- the Speaker Series - back to its normal format in the Constellation Theatre with the Professor, entitled "From Oman to Rome"
- Art for @Loraine and Embroidery Nook for me and @Richard pounded out 2 sessions at the gym and announced he has even upped the incline while @Mac had business to attend to in his alternate reality
- movie today was Top Gun - Maverick so popcorn accompanied by an adrenaline rush were definites
There were a few changes to the morning. Most notably was that I slept in! First one of the cruise. I got up at 7.30 (remember there was a time change last night so really 6.30) but that was a straight run of seven and a half hours. Went out onto the deck and rearranged the furniture which has become a thing of late. I like to angle it up for the prevailing breeze and sunlight of the morning. Crept back indoors and started the water in the tub while I was prepping the washing bag (no laundry visits for me.) Had a delightful 40-minute soak and then tumbled back into bed at 8.30 and promptly fell into a deep sleep. @Mac was up and ready to hit the lecture series for his 9.50 am departure and literally had to shake me awake. That was another 90 minutes and took my grand total for the night to just on the 9 hours. A PB of zzzzzzs. Still had trouble waking up though and had to get him to open all the curtains and turn on the lights before he left. So no breakfast and no lecture for me.
The second variation to the day was on the pool deck. What a hoot. The crew had cleared all the outdoor furniture last night and this morning, ready for an 11 am start, a country fair had been set up. Yep, repeating myself, what a hoot this was. All the departments of the ship's crew were represented. A series of gaming booths had been set up. Lots of printed pages blutac-ed up announcing the department and the activity. Human ring toss, towel folding, shake your bootie, spin the wheel, water balloon targets, games of skill and games of chance. It was pandemonium out there.
The idea was to make your way through the games and collect "tickets" for the raffle of prizes at the end. There was chanting and hollering, squeals and screeches, clapping and cheering as loads of people flooded the deck and joined in the revelry. There were head-to-head challenges (@Loraine beat me at the Spa Team's towel folding challenge - neatness counts), plenty of skill, strength, balance and accuracy games (we of course excelled at them all) and even a couple of downright ludicrous (the put the pen suspended in the neck of the bottle by the bar staff produced visuals that I will take a while to recover from - but so very funny.)
There were queues and competition - a scramble for tickets - and many "if at first you don't succeed" re-tries and even some queue jumping and jockeying for position, but no blood was spilled on the open deck and no lives were lost today in the melee of the Country Fair.
The best part of the whole thing was the staff. They were so into it - really encouraging and cheering. laughing and even adding a little bit of personal assistance (think kind-hearted, best of intentions, to save some guests the embarrassment of non-completion "helping hand" here - like me with the "bootie swing") And can I just say that the Housekeeping contingent was my favourite - Regent should really get them out of the hallways and suites and into the light of the pool deck more often. They really know how to party and our @Mary Joy was dancing and singing up a storm.
Wonderful, wonderful morning's entertainment and although we didn't win a prize in the lucky draw at the end did feel we were winners because we had a prime table in pole position ready for lunch. Can't get a better prize than that.
@Mac excelled himself after lunch and made a visit to boutique and after our lack of prizes at the Country Fair this morning, secured me a "lucky loser treat. I am now the proud owner of a beaded Mary Frances over the should phone and coin carrier. A little bit more up market than my little cotton number that we bought from the ladies who chased us around the village in the mountains of Sapa in Vietnam. We have not been tempted by the Casino on this ship (been too busy) - but the motif on the bag is an excellent alternate.
I know that I have been a little flippant about the "pirate thing" and must reaffirm that we are extremely grateful for the precautions and drills that are in place. @Captain Luca included another warning in the lunch time update today and requested that we continue our vigilance in relation to lights, curtains and balcony access. We rocked up for a later d dinner tonight and were surprised to find that all outdoor dining options had been closed off. No outside Italian at La Veranda and no Pool Deck casual. Apparently, they had been closed down at short notice to darken those areas. Think once we reach Oman tomorrow, that is the end of it.
We didn't go to the "Love and Marriage Game Show" tonight - we ran our own little version of it over dinner and got ourselves a few laughs. Actually, think that @Richard and @Mac could have entered themselves as a couple - they were actually a little "uncanny" in their knowledge of each other.
PS The World jigsaw is finished! Big congratulations to the dedicated gentleman who was there for what seemed like hours, day and night for encouraging everyone on this big project. @Loraine now getting her jigsaw fix with a small one borrowed from the games room.
Weather: 27 and breezy again. Plenty of sunshine after a cloudy start
Steps: 5834 - the running (hyperbol employed here - there is definitely no running) between decks chasing food favourites helped today
#RegentSevenSeasExplorer #RegentSevenSeas #RegentCruise
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