At Sea!

The sail-away out of New York harbor lived up to my expectations.  It helped to have perfect weather:  Sunny and 70 degrees as we backed out into the Hudson river.  We sailed past the Manhattan skyline on the port side, and then Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty very close on the starboard side.  Then a left turn and sail under the Verazanno-Narrows bridge.  I moved to the Windows Café which has an outdoor deck and bar at the rear of the ship.  I had a glass of wine I watched the bridge and NY move further into the distance.  

I met a nice couple from Scotland there who were doing this cruise to mark her retirement as an occupational therapist.  We were having a nice chat when they decided they were going to go for dinner and invited me to join them.  It was very nice of them so a gladly accepted.  As we left this nice setting, part of me was thinking that it was disappointing to leave the view of New York.  Luckily the main dining room is also in the rear of the ship and didn’t we get a table at the back, with views of the sunset and then the lights of New York in the distance.  Add good food, and nice complimentary wine and it made for a very nice evening. 

After that I went to the Captain’s welcome cocktail party.  The Captain is British, probably 45 or so, with officers from UK, US, Greece mainly.  He informed us that the weather will be very nice for the first few days but then they are showing some rather “severe” weather on the other side!  He’s trying to avoid it by sailing a bit further south hoping it will pass before heading north.  Well that could be interesting.  As I woke this morning, the ship was rolling noticeably.  It’s not enough to get sick from but I was quite surprised to see the seas calm out my balcony.  Not sure how it will feel in severe weather!

I then won $22 at the casino, so the day was a definite success!

This morning the seas are calm and it’s sunny.  It’s a gorgeous day.  As I mentioned, you can feel the motion despite the calm seas, but it’s quite gentle.  The temperature was 65 when I got up but now only 50, though it seems warmer now than earlier.  Can’t quite figure that out.  Saw my first dolphins jumping a few hundred metres from the ship.  There are mini binoculars in each stateroom.  By the time I got them out I couldn’t see the dolphins anymore.  Hope it won’t be the last sighting.

More to come!