May 15 - Another day in the Gulf of Aden

Here we are still in the Gulf of Aden.  Hot, sunny and muggy are the operative words today.  At noon we were about 55 miles off the coast of Yemen on our starboard side and a little further offshore from Somalia on our port.  When I look at the Marine Traffic website I can see that all the shipping is traveling in the same traffic lane with no one venturing closer to either shore.

Last night we had quite a lovely sunset.  The colors on the water and in the sky were beautiful!  Monet would have loved it.

Today we have the usual lectures, games and classes.  We may become a lot better educated after all these sea days.  Unfortunately our trivia team didn't fare so well.  We'll have to study harder in order to make up ground.  Scores are cumulative so there's still hope.

I wandered around the ship this morning taking some pictures of different public areas. It is really a beautiful ship and I think the lounges and restaurants are nicer than on the smaller Seabourn vessels.  Alice, these aren't the best photos but they should give you some sense of how Encore is different from the Quest.

Entrance to the main dining room

Main dining room

Seabourn Square where guest services, the shops, and the coffee bar are located

The coffee bar, a sort of Starbucks at sea where you can get coffees, wine, snacks and gelato all day and all included

The bar at the Thomas Keller Grill where a pianist plays in the evenings

The Thomas Keller Grill, one of the other dining venues.  There's also a sushi restaurant and the Colonnade, the informal restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner but they were both closed during my walkabout

Observation Bar at the top of the ship all the way forward.  There's live entertainment there at night too.