Coast Guard Inspection
During Captain Abhi's pre-departure PA yesterday when about to leave San Juan, he reported that the crew passed the safety inspection with "flying colors". I had no doubt they would not pass. Their training is relentless. Congratulations to the Officers and Crew!!
Our position is shown by the arrow. Can hardly make out Turks & Caicos but is to left of the arrow.
This is a photo from Google Maps showing Turks & Caicos islands and we are passing about 120 miles to the north of them.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT CAPTAIN RICK
Back in December 1992 the American Airlines Boeing 727 Fleet Manager assigned me to be the 727 Captain on American's inaugural flight from Miami to Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos. It was a very big deal for the islands and we were met by the Governor and several other dignitaries all dressed up in black suits. As Captain, I went down and shook hands with them for their official greeting. There was also a small band. This was the first jet service to the islands. Back then there were only a hand full of resort hotels. We were laying over and the hotel manager met us at the plane and took us to his hotel on the beach. That evening we were treated to drinks and dinner on the beach. All on the house!
The Turks & Caicos is an archipelago of 40 low lying islands and a British Overseas Territory. The capital is on the island of Grand Turk. Population of the islands is over 60,000 now. Providenciales (Provo as it's called) has blossomed into a huge tourist destination with many luxury resort hotels, shops, and restaurants. Scuba diving sites include a 14 mile barrier reef, one of the longest in the world. White sandy beaches are plentiful and is why tourism is the dominate economic driver. Now nearly 2 million tourists visit here annually. Several celebrities have owned homes here and include: Dick Clark, Ben Affleck, and Bruce Willis. Unfortunately, there is no deep water port for cruise ships here.
LAST EVENING
After a couple Grey Goose martinis and some pigs-in-a-blanket in the Mariner Lounge, we headed to our corner window (quiet area) in Compass Rose for dinner. I had ordered another bottle of Rombauer chardonnay so Kadek is presenting it. Love that chardonnay!
I started with the deviled eggs. If I had a blindfold on I would have never guessed the were deviled eggs. Not good and did not eat them. I had some seafood gumbo to follow and it was very good.
I enjoyed the fried chicken sitting on mashed potatoes. Not much potatoes so ordered more. The gravy was terrible. The biscuit was also not good.
Rebecca had the shrimp and grits as her entree. She reported it to be very good.
This is "hummingbird cake". Mostly icing but good as I scraped the icing off.
Had to wait over an hour in the suite before going down for the show. We did end up sitting on the front row. Yaniv is an Israeli but has lived in Ft Lauderdale for years. In my opinion he did too much singing in some of the 32 languages he speaks. Others loved his show. He said his next show will be in English only. He did have a nice voice.
TODAY
Another night and day of smooth sailing in the Atlantic Ocean now. We can hardly tell we are on a ship. This cruise has been one of our smoother ones. Ocean swells have been less than 5 feet the whole time.
This morning I went down to the computer area to print some puzzles from today's Dallas Morning News. The very nice library is next door.
Above couple photos are of the Coffee Connection where I get our Americano coffees every morning.
At 11am we went down to the theater for a presentation by the Editor-in-Chief of Southern Living Magazine, Sid Evans. This is the 60th anniversary year of Southern Living. Rebecca has subscribed to the magazine for many years. Sid's presentation was basically the history of the magazine and what it is about.
After the presentation, Amelia, our cruise director, joined him for a Q&A with her and the audience.
It was not quite noon so we returned to the suite and found our new stewardess, Amina, hard at work
They were having an Indian themed lunch on the buffet line today. I do not care at all for Indian foods so I ordered this hot dog from the pool grill. Got some potato salad again today.
Passing a sail boat this afternoon.
Looks like we'll be trying the chef special: Southern style fried chicken steak. I think it is miss represented. I think it is actually "chicken fried STEAK". Deon, our Exec Chef, is from South Africa NOT South Carolina! I talked with Chef Deon at noon in La Veranda and told him his fried chicken gravy last night was not good. I then explained to him how I make it. He did not know to use milk. Maybe I can get a job here as a "technical advisor" to the chefs.
Tonight is Tenna Torres second show at 9:30. We definitely will be on the front row as she is a very talented singer.
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