January 28 - At Sea - Leaving Antarctica

Believe that after leaving Antarctica, this quiet day at sea was really needed to rethink and savor the experience, to revel in the wonders of this continent, and to thank God for the opportunity to be a part of this expedition cruise.

So after lunch out on deck with Eric, fog swirling all 'round us, drinking hot mulled wine (YUM!), being unable to tune out the obstreperous, loud and obnoxious European cruise guest on the other side of the dining area (mentioned earlier in this blog) - yes, we managed yet another meal (though light), and laughed our way through another hour and a half!

This evening, we'd invited the Guest Services Manager, Nic Botha, (from South Africa) to have a meal with us.  Nic is a delightful young man, so competent in his job, but with a wicked sense of humor.   We began our evening in The Club for a cocktail before dinner.

Must tell you that this cruise has been darn near perfect!   Well . . . . except for one tiny thing.   Couldn't wait to give Nic a bad time about the robe in my room.  The robes on this deck are terry-lined with an outer silk-like shell in a peachy color.   They are very nice.   However, with repeated washings, the shoulder pads have become what appears to be, and feels like, a dried clump of paper mâché!   A really simple solution would be to slit the shoulder seam, take out the offending clump, sew it back up, and no one would be the wiser.   Perfect robe!

As I began to explain what could be done with these robes, of course, John couldn't help but make suggestions.   Nic suggested that they send up a different robe for me, but I demurred stating that this one made me giggle every time I wore it - there were lumps and bumps in the robe that were not the fault of my aging body!   John suggested that my robe should have epaulettes, perhaps some ribbons across the chest . . . once again we roared with laughter!

Off to dinner, where we laughed further as Nic related funny Seabourn tales.  After a quick after-dinner libation with Sandi and John, I retired to my suite.  Was pretty tired until I entered my bathroom to find my new robe hanging there.  More Laughter!!   Don't know how Nic managed this from the time we left him to the time I got to my room, but did tell you that he's good at his job!!


Does this mean the Captain now has to salute me???


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