November 5 - We are the Champions!

We’re several hundred miles from Cape Verde on a SSW course today.  We’re still more than 11 ° north of the Equator so I think it will be Thursday before we cross.  We have pretty calm seas and partly cloudy skies.  It’s warm (84 °) and very humid out on deck.

This morning we slept in and had a leisurely breakfast outside at the Colonnade.  Each day I say I won’t have any, but the donuts and pastries keep calling me.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to resist.  At noon we had the final round of the first Trivia match.  Our team tied for first place.  They play differently here than on our previous cruises.  There’s no tiebreaker so both teams were awarded prizes.  Each of us received a leatherette case with a corkscrew, pourer, bottle stopper and drip preventer.  It’s really very nice! Much nicer than a luggage tag or lanyard.  They did something interesting then.  All the other teams had the opportunity to gamble points on a final question.  They could gamble all, some or none of their accumulated points on a four part question.  Clearly this can cause some controversy among teams about how much to gamble.  The winning team after that got the same prize as we did.  To celebrate, the 10 of us went to lunch in the dining room.  It was a lot of fun.  We decided the team would stay together for the next round of cumulative trivia beginning tomorrow.  We have a very nice group!

The Nitwit Team Banquet in the Dining Room

This afternoon we were invited to a bridge tour.  While smaller than the other bridges we’ve visited, this one has all the state of the art electronics.  There were only 4  of us on the tour and the First Officer explained the electronics and navigational systems.  The Captain came out on the bridge and he told me to have a seat in one of the chairs behind the controls because  we might be a while listening to the explanations of the systems on board.  I took him up on his offer and I felt as if I was in charge of the ship sitting in this commanding chair.

Tonight was supposed to be “Dessert under the stars” with some entertainment to go along with it.  Unfortunately we’ve sailed into a little rainstorm so the crew had to quickly move everything inside.  I have to say, the crew and staff on this ship are absolutely fantastic! 

Internet service has been out most of the day including tonight.  Hopefully we’ll have it  back tomorrow.