Day 40 - Friday, February 14, 2025 – At Sea

There was another time change last night. We moved our clocks back another hour period that means we had to set our phones back. Because we are not near as specific city in the time zone we are in, you have to jury rig the phones a little bit. They show the correct time for here, but they do not show the correct time for Chicago, for example. It's not a big deal. It will get straightened out in Sydney. I was trying to figure out how many hours we are ahead of home or Central time zone. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this time change stuff.

We went to the casino by 915. We put our names in for the 1:00 tournament period from there we went to breakfast by 930. Both of us had something different today. I went back to my salmon on a bagel with cream cheese. Mary had a fruit plate times 2 and a bagel. I had tomato juice. The restaurant manager, Romeo, leaves in Sydney. We're going to get a new restaurant manager. That's one thing that is interesting. There are staff that leave at every port. You get to know them and they disappear. We came back upstairs after breakfast. Mary read her book. She's only got like 60 pages left. That'll be her second full book this trip. I did some work on the log. Mary had an acupuncture appointment at 11:30. We both have to be out of here by about 12:30 to play cards at 1:00.

It is Valentine's Day. The crew specialist team gave us a nice card and a box of chocolate truffles. They won't last long around here. We tried to get into one of the fancy restaurants for dinner tonight. We were too late period they were probably booked weeks ago already. But we tried. We will go to the main the dining room. I looked at the menu, but it didn't seem to be anything special. We will see.

Mary made it back from her acupuncture appointment with a few minutes to spare. We made it down to six at the casino a little before 1:00. The cards did not work out for either of us. She got knocked out about eighth. I got knocked out at 7th. While I was still playing, Mary played the slot machines and made $200. That's good for the team. We decided to come upstairs. Mary is itching to finish her book. I played cards on poker stars. I took a nap. Before long it was time to go to dinner. It's a formal night so I had to get into a shirt and tie. I have not gained that much weight. The neck on my shirt still fits. That's a good sign. On our way to dinner, we found three pictures taking spots. Add another 15 to 20 pictures to our list. Mary looked good in her white flower dress. I will be interested to see how these turn out. Because it was Valentine's Day, many of the backgrounds were heart related or similar.

I had a different Sauvignon Blanc. I could have eaten every one of the appetizers. Instead, I went with fried tofu, tuna and salmon tartar and wedge salad. They all look so good. And they were all good except for the fried tofu. That was kind of gross. Because it was Valentine's Day, they had a steak and lobster thing. We both ordered it. I took Mary's lobster. The waiter brought us an extra piece of meat so could extra meat. The fillets were pretty good. They weren't what we were expecting a real restaurant, but they were good. The lobster tails were probably 5 oz each. I'm not complaining. They were pretty tasty. For dessert they had a Baked Alaska which we shared. I had a Mandarin sorbet period Mary had her chocolate Vegan ice cream. As always, the dinner was very good. On the way back to the cabin, we stopped and picked up a double drambuie. We brought it to the room. Mary finished her Book. I played cards for a little while at poker stars. Then I worked on this blog. It's actually hard to do because the ship is rocking so badly. I feel like I'm chasing the keyboard. With that, I'm going to wrap it up for tonight. The captain said it should be less rocky tomorrow.