We’re at sea all day today, having finished all three ports of call on this cruise.

We had a normal breakfast, i.e. food like what we would have eaten at home including an English muffin, fruit, and cottage cheese, and were joined by Ron and Kaden. It was the first time we’ve eaten with Kaden, or even spent time with him, since Monday evening—too many “distractions” for him, if you know what I mean.

We changed into swimming suits and spent the rest of the morning lounging in the shade on the crowded deck with Ron—enough sun for us already—and watched, or rather listened, to the “International” Men’s Belly Flop Competition. The ship’s passengers are mostly Arkansans, and the Arkansas entries received loud ovations, and even a hog call once; the Italian cruise director had no idea what was happening, but was duly impressed.

Dinner tonight was formal, and included a wonderful seafood salad, lobster tail, and baked Alaska! And then the waiter brought two more plates of lobster tail we shared with the other family at our table; Ron devoured our extra one! And then to top it off, the head waiter and waiter brought plates of flourless chocolate cake—the best chocolate I’ve ever eaten. We had this previously on Monday evening and commented about how good it was. The staff had set this up for Tuesday evening but no one at our table showed up for the formal dinner.  We’ve always made it a point to befriend the staff and they always reciprocate, and since our waiter is Turkish, and Ron speaks conversational Turkish, really solidifies the relationship. We’ve changed our opinion of Royal Caribbean, particularly about the quality of food on Royal Caribbean as compared to the other cruise companies we’ve used; it is the best we’ve had on any cruise, in our opinion, though not by a significant margin. And we especially liked the fact that there is more American-style food—meats and vegetables we’re used to eating.

After the formal dinner, I changed into more casual attire—shorts and island shirt—and we enjoyed an evening of watching ballroom style dancing and music, “Ballroom Fever”. The show was very well choreographed. All the dancers were good, but the featured dancers, Olga and Dmitry, a Russian couple, were really good.

As the evening progressed, Kay began to feel stuffy, and though she never complains, it’s obvious to those of us who know her realize she’s not feeling well.  She hopes the saltwater air tomorrow will help.