April 26, 2001 (Day 50)

April 26, 2001 (Day 50): Regal Princess, Sea of Japan / Korea en route to Muroran, Japan  – 5pm

Health: improving. Head still draining.

Morale: good. Lazy day again. Even after getting an additional hour of sleep because of setting the clocks back and hour, we are still hard pressed to be awake before noon. I think this is an indication of how tired we are and that we are just starting to unwind.

Today’s main task is laundry, in preparation for the semi-formal dress tonight. Laundry was a popular activity today. It took a bit of wandering to find machines of the type needed when we needed them. I am a bit upset about the facilities here that left rust stains on my white shirt.

The seas are a bit more active today. I have still not succumbed to seasickness. I notice more people using wristbands and patches to cope and count my blessings that I am still doing fine. We ate in the dining room tonight and were joined by Amy and George, my Maltese grandparents. Amy is not really happy to be on the cruise. She misses her children and grandchildren, doesn’t like being at sea and is really not looking forward to five days at sea. I hope we have smooth seas, at least for her.

No trivia contests tonight so I have to revel in last night’s victory. My goal was not as much to win as to annoy the other teams – all with members much older than us – with my wealth of useless information. The teams were very large so, even if we didn’t win, I hoped to place well enough to raise the ire of a few. A trio of potential players wandered over to see if they could join. “Do you want to win?” I asked, faux-gravely. When they said “yes” our team of five was set.

It was one of those instances where my brain was able to cash the check my mouth wrote. We were a good team – everyone contributed answers. There were 25 questions worth a variety of points. The maximum possible score in the game was 35 points; we had 26. When we were asked our total score, it grew uncomfortably quiet in the audience. The next closest group had 22 points. I expected we would be ambushed on the way back to our cabin.

But, we won some nice carrier bags and had a chance to meet our teammates. Kay is a travel agent, representing a fair number of passengers on board. She is having a party for her clients in a couple days and invited us to come along. George and his wife, Pearl, are retired, probably in their late 60’s or early 70’s, and spend much of the year cruising. They are clients of Kay, who encouraged them to take this cruise. George and Pearl are great storytellers; they complement each other well. While sharing travel experiences, Pearl and George disparaged cruises in the New England area. “We’re old,” she said, “but we were the youngest ones on that cruise.”

Excerpts from Anna’s journal included

• ChasingFogg15
• Travel