It was Friday, September and I had no trouble finding J.P.  His office is right next to the Front Desk and he pops in and out of it all the time.  A quick glance at the ship’s schedule told me when to haunt the area.  He’s a very approachable guy and was very willing to facilitate my requests.  Next thing I knew, I was writing Newsletter 3, which follows today.   I had a great entertainer coming to dinner one night and the Cruise Director himself on another.  I had Engine Control Room tours on offer, too.  We had six days at sea.  You do what you can do.  The Cocktail party was a bit of a bust with only eight people attending but there were twelve for dinner with Douglas Ladnier and that was a great success.  I was at the table he wasn’t at, but the guests got along so famously, it didn’t matter.  Best of all, he agreed to come to our next dinner, so they could have time with him.  It’s all good, as was our after-dinner entertainer, Antonio Salci.

Another day at sea on September and office hour has been sparsely attended, mostly just chit chat and not too much of that.  Today, I had Serge Rand join me and we settled on what flights the Rands would want for their 37-day Panama Canal cruise, Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver.  Then, since SilverSea were doing the air, I begged a free phone call to SilverSky and booked the flights from Silver Nova’s reception desk. 

The ship did something curious today.  They scheduled a production show before dinner and a Headline entertainer afterwards.  I wouldn’t have done that, but I suppose it had its merits.  It gave the people who go to bed early a chance to actually see a show.  No one but Serge and Barbara came to our Happy Hour, so we all left at 6:30 to see the production show, which was very good, as usual.  Then we had a nice dinner in the main dining room and went to see Nathan Samuelson at 9:30pm.  I was glad we did.  The attendance was embarrassing.  We felt so sorry for Nathan, who actually put on a very good show.  He’s Canadian, too, grew up in Edmonton. 

It was Sunday, September 22, so time for something a bit special.  SilverSea charges way too much for its specialty dining.  It was $80pp at Kaiseki, their Japanese restaurant, for dinner.  I still wanted to try it, and after what Andrea paid for her $10,000 cruise, which was nothing at all, she was willing to spring for it, for both of us.  Then I offered to pay for the Rands, since they are clients, and the Canadian government would partner with me in paying for it.  Off we went, for our special dinner.  The service was way too slow, considering there were only two tables of four in the entire restaurant.  I’m sure they would blame it on Barbara’s foie gras, but that isn’t fair, as the other restaurants have no trouble supplying it in a timely manner.  We finally had to tell them we wanted to go to the 9:30pm show and would they please get us out by then.  They did, but we had to skip dessert, which, luckily, is never the best part of a Japanese dinner.  But the edamame and chawanmushi were delicious, as were the sashimi and tempura.  Our main course was wagyu beef and lobster tail, and there was nothing to fault there either. 

We had to get to the show, because it was Douglas Ladnier again and we wouldn’t miss him for the world.

Monday, September 23, we crossed the International Dateline and the day did not exist for us, but we sure have been enjoying the extra hour of sleep every night. 

So the next day was Tuesday, September 24 and we were still at sea.  We had two Engine Control Room Tours today, eight guests each, and we have another tomorrow.  I sent the first eight off alone because we see a lot of them every day.  I accompanied the afternoon group.  It was interesting and informative, but, despite the fact that I have a degree in Chemistry, it was over my head.  It’s a new ship and almost completely powered by electricity, which the ship makes from liquid natural gas.  Google LNG to get your own lesson.

This was the second “Formal Optional” evening on board, and we had been invited to the Guest Relations Manager and Staff Engineer’s table at the Venetian Society dinner.  We didn’t know how we rated.  One of my couples had been invited to the Captain’s table and that was easy to explain.  They are in a suite the size of my apartment, but us? 

We cleaned up as best we could.  I had brought along the April Cornell soutane that I bought in Montreal about 30 years ago.  It’s the dress Ulla Brown wants, when I am done with it.  She’ll have to outlive me to get it. It’s one of the most useful pieces of clothing I own.  Thanks to the clergy, it never goes out of style.  Add a nice bright scarf and I’m done.  This one was fake Versace, silk with imitation gold thread. 

There were only six people at the table and, lo and behold, the other two were the Rands.  It was a delightful meal in La Terrazza, washed down with Sicilian wine, from the vintner, Colosi, a very good white and a delightful Nero d’Avola.  I couldn’t resist asking how the four of us got invited and it had everything to do with the Rands’ number of days at sea with SilverSea.  Andrea and I were only added to the table, because we eat with the Rands pretty much every night, and SilverSea knew their valued Venetian Society members would be comfortable with us.  Wow.

There was no show that night, just a big party in the Panorama Lounge, with the singers and dancers.  I am told it went on past one in the morning and we didn’t even go.  We were well sated, as we were. 

On Wednesday, September 25, still at sea, it was time for another Cocktail Pary, and another Newsletter.   I wanted to drive traffic to the cocktail party.  Sixteen people came to the party, which had been moved to Dolce Vita.

 We all had to chase it a bit because I had misunderstood a conversation I had had with the Bar manager a few days ago.  We had been chatting informally about moving our cocktail party for variety, but I didn’t realize it had been done.  No one seemed to mind the extra little walk, Douglas Ladnier joined us, and it all went very smoothly.  The eight people who had originally signed up for dinner in La Terrazza were treated to the affable presence of our favorite singer aboard, and it was a very nice evening. 

To give the entertainers a rest, after last-night’s blowout, they had “Liars’ Club” on the main stage, and it was hysterical, due largely to the unlikely addition of one of the dance hosts.  You had to be there to hear what he did with “hornito”.  You can google that, too, and guess.  Clue: he was right.