Day 69 Mar 22 - Caribbean Sea

Neither Maria nor I tend to pay much attention to the various social and recreational functions that take place on the ship each day we are at sea.

We tend not to go to the 10.00 pm show that takes place after dinner in the Queen's Lounge either as most of the entertainment is, we perceive, to be average or below.

Although this is just in our humble opinions the view is often shared by comments we hear from other passengers. In any case one of us is usually too tired to sit there attentively until 11 o'clock.

However, on board there is a Cruise Director (CD) who is responsible for all the ship's entertainment and social activities. He has a small team of assistants.

They work hard and are no doubt an essential part of a cruise for many people.

It should be appreciated that there are events going on every day all day round the ship for the duration of the cruise and they have to all be organised and even supervised in many instances.

On our ship the CD is a very nice guy called Thom Faulkner who is always very visible around the ship with an extremely cheery disposition.

He is a lucky man because travelling with him is his lovely wife Tina, who in addition to being his wife is also the Future Cruise Consultant for those wishing to book a future cruise with HAL.

Thom and Tina are a very sociable couple of people and we have enjoyed their company when we have engaged with them.

There is a fair amount of comment round the ship about people just wanting to get off now. Ahead of us we have two 'slow' sea days while we await disembarkation on Wednesday morning in Fort Lauderdale.

On top of that tonight we have scheduled our last 'formal' night. I wonder how many people will give that a miss having already packed away their posh gear?

Did you know that it is possible for the gentlemen to hire the whole thing while on the ship? Pants, dinner jackets in black or white, dress shirts, cummerbunds and everything else, all available for hire on board.

While I sorted out our FedEx labels for the free shipping service of our baggage to Naples, Maria seems to have repacked a few bags. I suppose she knows what she is doing and I just don't interfere.

She can't finish the whole operation until after tonight's dinner is over and the white jacket, black trousers, dress shirt and black formal shoes can be put to rest.

What a beautiful day with a lively force 7 blowing but not affecting the stability of the ship. It is definitely a chance to relax in the sun for a while to show that you have been away on vacation!

After a sushi and soup lunch for me and something very light for Maria we went down to the Front Desk to retrieve our passports.

We handed these over to the booking-in staff in Fort Lauderdale nearly two and a half months ago and we haven't seen them since.

All entry procedures where passports were required to be shown were handled directly by the Pursers Office and we didn't have to personally get involve.

On inspecting our returned passports I see entry and exit stamps for most of the countries and islands we visited. Even the dear old Falkland Islands has a big stamp showing we were there.

After dressing in appro-priate attire I visited my usual pre-dinner bar while Maria attended to her own dress needs.

I have my regular seat at the bar which I usually occupy while awaiting the arrival of my wife.

I do enjoy my own quiet time in the Crow's Nest prior to Maria and the other regulars arriving.

The usual staff were on duty and happy to pose for a picture if it would appear in tonight's blog!

Here we have Annabel, Charles, Giovan and Gil who always perform their tasks with enthusiasm, wit and courtesy.

They are a great team and a credit to the Beverage Department.

Also at the bar tonight were two lovely ladies that grace the bar stools most evenings and with whom we have become friendly.

They are Gail and Brenda. Both have wonderful senses of humour and we have shared some really funny moments together over the months.

It was a beautiful evening and Maria managed to capture the setting and the eerily calm seas, through the windows of the Crow's Nest Bar, as the sun slowly vanished from view.

At 8.00 o'clock it was time for our last formal dinner.

All of us at table 305 made it to the dining room suitably attired.

As it was a formal night we were expecting an officer (or equivalent) to grace our table and were fortunate to find that Frank Buckingham was so allocated.

The meal was special with the main dish being Surf and Turf, although I had some lovely veal instead.

The picture shows Maria's inviting dinner plate.

The conversations flowed following which we all posed for final photos as we sat here in our finest.

After dinner it was time to de-robe to allow Maria some more packing time and me time to completed today's blog ready for posting.