he main event for today was the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet held in the Crow’s Nest at 10 am.

We had about 200 people attend – a great turnout.  Big Thanks to

• Kathi – Scrapnana – Roll Call Co-Leader
• Rich and Kathy – Photo Book
• Ellen – ZOOM Briefer
• Judi  – ZOOM Briefer
• Natalie – ZOOM Briefer
• Su – Name Tags

Judy skipped the Meet and Greet and went directly to the Ocean Bar to join Marty and Gail with the Linus Project.  More about Project Linus-Home.  There was a HUGE turnout for the first day  – off to a great start.

The creative writing class was filled to overflowing – so I didn’t hang around.   Maybe they will find a bigger space in the future.

Judy went to the first Arts and Crafts class in the Lido.  They will run two sections: A and B – so your group will have a project every other sea day.  A list of all the projects is HERE.  They passed out a set of tools that you can keep for the cruise – but you have to turn them in before you leave.  Having the tools in advance will help speed up the classes by not having to pass out tools every time.

The ship sponsored a ‘Block Party, at 4:30 on all decks.  This was a great idea, as on other cruises, you may never meet your neighbors for weeks.  Waiters went up and down the halls with snacks and pouring wine and champagne.   Capt Friso speed-walked down the hallways with a couple of bottles of champagne.  He was moving fast and didn’t stop long as he was determined to hit every deck in an hour…not sure if he made it.

We wandered in our immediate area for a bit – then we ventured further down the block in each direction to meet more people a little further away.

Dinner was fine, and I generally won’t spend much time commenting on food unless something extra special takes place.

Presty, a veteran of many World Cruises, is back as the Maître d’- it was nice to see him again.  Always full of energy, he doesn’t stay in one place too long.

Some people have remarked on the smaller portion sizes, and portions are a bit smaller, but they are probably a better size for your waistline, and they will always bring you seconds.

The Lincoln Center, a mainstay on many HAL ships over the years, is now performing concerts as guest entertainers.  They put on a nice show and closed by performing a cruise ship classic – Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.  We’ll see how many different renditions of this Queen hit we will hear this cruise.

On the way back to our cabin, we stopped by the Dueling Pianos (tonight only a single piano as the other player was not feeling well).  We only heard two songs, and he finished with a nice rendition of Don’t Stop Believing.

Tomorrow we will be in Falmouth, Jamaica.