Off the coast of Haiti

We’ve spent another day at sea today, cruising the Caribbean and continuing to make our way south towards Curacao.  I’ve had a quiet day catching up with my journal and enjoying the luxury of “simply being”, however, on a ship like this, that often equates to “focusing on food”.

Hmm.

We began with breakfast in our favourite place, out on the deck at the stern of the ship.  Whilst my hero tucked into his eggs, sunny side up with corned beef hash and all the trimmings, I did my best to struggle through a crisp, freshly made croissant and a bowl of Birchermuesli.  I know that, sooner or later I’m going to succumb to the pancakes, the waffles and other such indulgences but for now, I’m doing my best to resist!

At lunchtime, we enjoyed the Caribbean themed buffet on the pool deck, though a stiff breeze meant that there was a storm brewing in the hot tub and clouds of foam were blowing in the wind.  We held on tightly to our plates and glasses and watched as one of the crew did a little demonstration of carving fruit.  I tried hard to catch a picture before he left with the masterpieces he’d created but sadly, was too slow.  You’ll have to believe me when I say they’d grace any table :-)

An afternoon in the theatre followed, then, to hear firstly about the politics of the USA and then to learn about the Panama Canal, because the next few days are going to be pretty busy and before we know it, we’re going to be making the transit.  Sadly, we didn’t repeat our trivia triumph today, but hey ho, it’s good to share the spoils, isn’t it?

Around 6.30 this evening, the official ship’s cocktail bell rang and we all grabbed a glass and stepped outside for the traditional Block Party.  This is such a great tradition and a super way to get to know the neighbours – in our case, delightful people from all over the place with interesting stories to tell.  Zahid did the honours and kept our glasses topped up as the Captain and officers came through to shake hands and meet everyone.

We lingered rather longer than usual with our interesting and very sociable neighbours, finding ourselves with not very long to sort out a couple of things and get ourselves down to the bar, where we were meeting friends for drinks before enjoying dinner in Prime 7, one of the speciality restaurants.  With the most delightful and attentive service, our dinner was simply perfect – my filet mignon cooked to perfection and those truffle fries are one of my all time favourites.

I’m sorry, but I ate my Key Lime Pie before I remembered to get my camera out!  You’ll have to believe me that it was delicious too.

It was so delicious that there was no way I was going to be able to manage one of these small, dark chocolate and raisin delicacies, offered as petits fours.  Any other time and I’d have savoured such a yummy offering, but for now, sad to say, they remained on the table as we left the restaurant.

Oh my goodness, it’ll soon be time for breakfast…