Both of us are enjoying books we've gotten from the library here on the ship as well as completing the daily puzzles that are put out for us to take and challenge our brains. I especially like the sudokou puzzles and Ken prefers the other type that challenge you to remember what women goes with what man, or what word ending with "ert" means....... I have signed up for the "book club" designated book, The Painted Girls, that will be discussed on our last sea day so am enjoying reading it.
So we start off just enjoying a leisurely breakfast in the buffet which is on the nineth floor of the ship with huge floor to ceiling windows so you can enjoy just looking out at the sea while you linger over a cup of tea and chat.
Both days there were enrichment lectures given by Harold Tinberg who is an expert on forensics and the use of DNA to solve a variety of cases. One was about solving some cold murder cases that actually ended up in the arrests of several different serial killers. It is fascinating what they are able to figure out and how they go about doing it. The other one was about the Russian Romanovs and what happened to them. One woman here in the US, Anna Anderson, has claimed she is the long lost Anastasia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. So they set out to discover if that was true. DNA testing quickly proved she was not but then they continued to work so as to discover just what happened to them. It turns out they were all gathered into a room and killed. The orders were to make them unrecognizable so they were cut apart and burned.
Then the remains were secretly buried in a woods. The hope was to make it even more difficult by burying some in a separate grave. That is where Anastasia's bones were found but at a much later date. To identify for sure that they were the Romanov's, DNA was taken from bones of a brother of Nicholas who had died earlier and from Prince Charles who was of the same royal line as his wife. Markers then can show beyond a shadow of a doubt who the bones fragments belong to.
In the afternoon one of the days there was a lecture about the two ports we would be visiting in Norway. It is always interesting to get some advance information about them so we're better prepared for our excursions.
Ken enjoyed attending a full length movie, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" while I just enjoyed quiet reading time in our room. We've got a lovely view out the sliding glass doors and a very nice sofa to relax on to do that. It was just too cold to be out on the balcony for that kind of an activity although we both enjoy spending short periods out there just smelling the fresh sea air. Short of the many oil rig platforms and shipping activity to and from them as we drew closer to Norway, there wasn't much else to really see though.
We had a fascinating discussion with lunch table mates one of the days. We were sitting with a couple from London and an American diplomat and his wife. The chat covered political problems both in the British Isles and US as well as some Middle Eastern countries. This ship is filled with people who have traveled extensively so we overhear lots of interesting stuff.
The first of these two nights was a "formal night" which means getting all dressed up and participating in extra events such as a Captain's Circle Party. He greets each and every person who comes with an invitation and then while everyone is enjoying cocktails and special hors'd'ors the most widely Princess Cruises travelers on this ship are announced. The winner on this cruise was a doctor from Highland Park, Michigan who has sailed on 98 cruises for a total of 1113 days!!!!!! We have heard that he boarded this ship back in February and has been on it ever since. Guess he really enjoys cruising!! These people enjoy special opportunities including lunch with the Captain sometime during the cruise.
We were given an 8 X 10 frame and one free 8 X 10 formal shot so of course we took time while we were dressed up to do some posing. This was the shot we selected:
Mario, our dinner waiter, who is from Portugal has made our dinners a delight with his special care, little jokes and encouragement to try things. We've had wonderful table companions too. All of them have done far more traveling than we have and are full of stories. Howard and Judy will be celebrating their 50th next year and have already booked an Alaskan cruise for their 18 family members. He is a lawyer in Chicago and obviously done quite well. One of their daughter's went to Harvard with Obama and was later hired by a Chicago firm where Michelle Obama was her mentor. Another daughter is a neonatalist doctor. Joe and Judy are considering the same type of celebration in two years. He was a phamacist with the US public health service and lived in several Indian communities in Alaska as well as in New Mexico though now he is in Utah. His wife has directed several community musical shows and they both have acted in them as well. Don and Cheryl just were assigned to our table a couple of days ago so we're still getting to know them. They are from Queensland, Australia and will be continuing on to the net cruise on this ship after we leave.
We enjoyed a couple of fantastic shows following our dinners: one was a full production show based on Motor City music and the other was a violinist from the British Isles who could switch from Bach to theme songs from James Bond to famous tango music with ease.
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