Sunday, October 29 – Wasted Efforts

Another sea day started in fog, according to the captain, but the sky was only a bit cloudy and the sun was bright enough that the MDR curtains were still drawn on our side of the ship when we went for breakfast.  The Atlantic was so smooth that the only motion we could detect was the Veendam’s wake.  It was as if we were standing still.

When we returned to the cabin after breakfast, we found that the stewards had not cleaned it for the day, so we took our tablets and the NYT puzzle in search of a place to work.  After several false starts, we ended up in the Explorer’s Lounge, a space frequently used for concerts by a piano-violin duo.  This morning, it was empty when we got there but became busier when a group traveling with Cruise Specialists used it for a meet-and-mingle.  MA didn’t even notice their presence, and we worked on our respective copies of the puzzle until we were bleary-eyed.  Once again, the room had not been made up when we returned.

After lunch and trivia [another unproductive effort] ,we tried unsuccessfully to Skype with both Jon and Emily but had bad connections.  In fact, we had no connection at all with Emily.  We each showed the other as ‘off line’ and agreed via FB Messenger to try again Wednesday morning.  Likewise, we will try to talk to Carter and Caiden before they head off to school that morning.  After a night of trick-or-treating, they should still be on a sugar high.  Harper acts as if she is all the time.

So we spent lots of internet time getting nothing accomplished today.  We bought a 1000 minute package and may have used as much as an hour’s worth trying to get through.  We are hoping there is WiFi in the Lisbon terminal Wednesday.

TOMORROW – More nothing at sea