Doings on the Sun
January & February 2019, various days, various locations — I haven’t reported much of the on-board doings, so here’s a run-down of what we get up to when we’re not gallivanting off the ship.
First, since FOOD is topmost on most people’s minds most days... I had Cooking School (‘Journey to Brazil’) the day of the first huge brunch. Chef Wayan took us on a field trip from the Kitchen Table up to Deck 7 to see the display, which was sumptuous...
Don’t remember what’s underneath, but that’s caviar on top.
Last week’s South American luncheon feast on the Pool Deck, featuring ‘planked’ ribs...
Raw shellfish (to be grilled to order) and gorgeous vegetables...
On Uruguayan Day at Cooking School, we made a Hake Escabeche, which is Spanish for céviche (fish cooked with citrus juice, not heat). It was very good. So at the Restaurant, I took the plunge and ordered Conger Eel Escabeche. Eel always sounds like a fat snake to me and I hate snakes. But it was good!
I’ve enjoyed three wine tastings. Here Bosnian sommelier Andrej shows us how to open a bottle of champagne: Remove the foil and the metal twisty. Left thumb on top of the cork, fingers wrapped around the neck, grasp the bottle with your right hand and turn it slowly. Voilà: No gush, no waste.
‘Wines of the world’ (below). I also did a ‘food and wine pairing’ event and yesterday a ‘vertical’ sauvignon blanc tasting... I liked the French Sancerre best.
There’s entertainment all over the ship starting late afternoon, with a string duo, a pianist, a guitar/ukulele-ist, then the main event at night in the theatre. Here’s pianist Jason Lyle Black who, besides being a pianistic gymnast, was a damn good piano player.
Our Cruise Director Heather and the Assistant Cruise Director Brian performing ‘The Prayer.’ They are both terrific performers, in addition to all their administrative duties.
One of the Viking Vocalists, the permanent 4-singer group who perform singly and together a couple times a week. This is Joshua, aka Bojangles, in his solo show. The Vocalists, who are all in their 20s, hang out with the ‘solo travelers’ at our nightly pre-dinner soirée in the bar at the top of the ship, so we know them well.
The Chilean ‘destination performance’ included this Easter Island dance. Wanted to give the Chilean men equal time with the Brazilian fan dancer...
Remember ‘The Dating Game’? Bob Ray (right) was the producer. Today he’s a professional photographer and he did a series of very interesting photo presentations, sometimes using guests’ photos. His lecture on ‘street photography’ featured this Indian woman and her son. If it looks familiar, check my Home page.
A different sort of entertainment: Dozens of us hung over the railings watching a marine pas de deux. A woman had fallen several days before and hit her head. When she didn’t rebound after a couple days, the ship’s doctor decided to have her evacuated by helicopter. We were warned that our pilates class (shown taking place amid the setup for that day’s massive luncheon buffet)...
...would be interrupted by a chopper descending over the upper deck to drop a stretcher. But the chopper had mechanical problems, so the Sun called in the Chilean Coast Guard. After numerous failed attempts, the handover —getting the stretcher from the Sun onto the tender then onto the patrol vessel — was accomplished away from the ship. No word on how she’s doing.
There has been a death: An older and medically compromised man was taken off the ship back in Montevideo, Uruguay, and died in the hospital there. He had tempted fate: He had been on last year’s world cruise... and had been taken off the ship in Oman and sent home.
The average passenger age on the ship is around 72, meaning there are many who are older and enough who are younger to come up with 72.
You may remember, last year I told you I had been warned that, on a cruise with 900 passengers of a certain age (and above), we could expect 6 to 8 deaths. I have no idea who told me that or the source of the calculation.
Last year there were only two that I know of: a man in his 50s died in the sauna, and a 32-year-old crew member died of a heart attack. But a man in his 60s had a heart attack onboard and his heart stopped. He was defibrillated and stabilized, then taken off the ship and temporarily hospitalized in Costa Rica before being sent home to Houston to recuperate. Six weeks later, he was back on the ship to finish the cruise!
A ship is a microcosm of real life... #
