December 20, 2023

We had another day at sea on our way to our first port of Gustavia, St. Barts. Norm and I had breakfast in the Terrace Cafe and it was pouring rain outside. It soon cleared up though and ended up being a very nice day. Later in the day it got quite choppy – more about that later.

I had another cooking class – Classic French Technique. We made French Onion Soup, Gratin Dauphinois, Bistro Steak and Tarte Tatin. Norm came after the class to do the tasting with me as we cannot take anything out of the culinary center. And he enjoyed it all, and I was happy that he ate the steak since I don’t eat meat. The class was really good and I would make all of these recipes at home. We get a recipe booklet with everything we cooked featured as well as several other recipes.

It was Mexican lunch today so we ate in the Terrace Cafe, then visited with Mark, Ramsay and Adam at their very comfortable spot on the pool deck!

I had another blackjack tournament. This time I came out on top of the two qualifying rounds, but sadly lost the final by 2 chips. There will only be one more tournament before the end of the cruise because we only have one more sea day and the casino is closed when the ship is in port.

We had trivia today and Leslie said there will be sessions even on sea days – two sessions tomorrow since we get into port late. We are the “Lounge Lizards”. We did finish third but got points for second in a Leslie twist. We need to listen to Adam and Mark as the two non family members of the team remind us. They are pretty sharp – we didn’t take their answers at least twice and they were right. Adam is a crackerjack on golf (among other categories) and Mark knows his US Presidents and flags for sure!

We had dinner in Toscana (the Italian restaurant) tonight and it was delicious as always.

We went to the show – “Into the Night” -which would be the first show by the entertainment team. It is new and this would be the first performance. It is choreographed by someone involved with Dancing With the Stars. We sat close to the front so we could really see the dancing. At the time for the show, Leslie came on stage and advised us that they had to cancel the show because of the “motion of the ocean”. It was bumpy and unsafe for the dancing. In addition, several members of the cast were seasick! I never remember that happening before with the cast. Occasionally it happens with a guest entertainer. We will see the show later in the cruise.

So, we had time to do other things, casino, bars, etc. Adam is especially enjoying trying many of the drinks. The ones made in the Founder’s Bar are unusual and delicious. Mark, Ramsay and I visited the library too. It is huge and very impressive. Some of the coffee table books are really something special.

Tomorrow will be our first port and we are hoping the weather is good since it is a tender port and if the waves and/or wind are too heavy, we cannot go ashore. Fingers crossed.