At Sea in the North Atlantic

 A very lazy day.  Nino, the Restaurant Manager, knows it's my birthday so he made sure to sing to me (quietly) when we saw him at breakfast.  While we were out, the cabin stewards decorated.

And while at after-breakfast coffee, a video call came in from Daniel via the Alexa app.  It was amazingly good quality.  In fact, it was better than 2 calls I got later via Duo.  Interesting.

I attended the lecture by Diana Preston titled: Cold, Cannibalism and the Fatal Quest for the Northwest Passage.  Lots of info on explorers.  The cannibalism reference is to Franklin from England whose expedition disappeared in the mid 1800's.  I joined Jack, Mary, Jim and Marvin for trivia and I must have brought good luck because it was the first time they won (13/16) and I actually helped.  Michael went to the fitness center. 

After a delicious lunch at Compass Rose, we went to another lecture by Angela Schneider called: Rotted Shark? Really? The Fascinating Story of Iceland's Cuisine.  Of course we all asked "Does Iceland have a cuisine?"  The answer is yes.  It's true they are no longer eating rotted shark or pickled sheep testicles, except where they can convince naive tourists to try them.  But fish and lamb are still major parts of their cuisine and are prepared in wonderful ways.  Perhaps we'll get to try some when we're there.

It's been rather foggy again (that ship's fog horn is really getting a workout) and with a bit of movement.  The Captain said this movement was part of the bad weather coming down from Iceland. I was following some others into the trivia lounge when we all automatically stopped when we had to walk "uphill" and started up again on the "downhill" side.  It was quite comical. My watch says I have done 8 floors.  Not really, but I'll take it.  Our cabin is on Deck 6 which is very convenient to everything.  This deck has the reception area, the Coffee Connection and the lounge right outside the theatre.  We go up one for casino or shopping, neither of which we've done, or down one to the main restaurant, Compass Rose.  The pool and buffet restaurant are on 10.  Michael has been taking the stairs, but sometimes my knee does a little hitch, so I've generally been taking the elevator if it's more than a deck or two.

Tonight was a Regent Seven Seas Party where they recognize all the long-time cruisers.  Then we had an invitation to have dinner with the Cruise Director Ray Solaire and another couple, Rainey and Ed Sadler from Virginia.  Ray had some most amusing stories about his 50 years of entertaining.  We were able to try the famous miso glazed sea bass and it certainly lived up to the hype. And of course there was the birthday cake and singing by the waiters.  It was very sweet since we have come to know many of them.

Finally, when we returned to our cabin we found this.  All in all, it was a delightful birthday.