Halifax off the menu

Sunday 19th
Although it was sunny outside from some ridiculous hour (I assume) we didn't wake until 8ish and made do with a cup of tea. Skipped breakfast and had coffee and croissant on deck 5 before Vivian's bridge at 11.00 today, as they have wine tasting this afternoon in the venue.  Lunch was a "pub" lunch in MDR and then a rest.  All in all a quiet day.  The weather has been good, although once again the Captain warned of deteriorating conditions coming up - along with the possibility of icebergs. No kidding.

Monday 20th
Cruise Critic group lunch today,102 turned up, which was great.  Prior to that we had a late in-room breakfast ('cause we slept in!). Usual (in)activities on a quiet sea day.  The sea is calm but grey looking and the temperature is hovering around 10.  Seems funny that 2 weeks ago we were complaining about the heat. Ah well we are at least heading in the right direction. It is Ash's birthday today, so another opportunity to practice our singing skills tonight.

Tuesday 21st
Thankfully we got another hour's sleep today, which is just as well as we arranged to meet Maureen & Wyn for breakfast before the girls go off to Mah Jong at 9.00.  Wyn & I did 4x around the deck before retreating for a coffee/ hot chocolate.  While it was chilly outside it was bearable, about 13 degrees. 

The Captain announced that we have to skirt further from land due to icebergs ahead. To make matters worse, we are entering the emissions control area where we have to change our fuel to higher grade (but makes us go slower).  The end result is that our 8.00am arrival in Halifax on Thursday is now likely to be 4.00pm.  Hardly seems worth it for a couple of hours 😣  Still, this is what ocean cruising is all about.  I heard a number of people grumbling and saying that they'll never sail Princess again.  Good I say, we don't need people with that attitude!

On a positive note, there is apparently a lot of marine life about - dolphins, orca & whales, so we'll keep an eye out.  However as the sea temperature has dropped while the air temperature is relatively high, we are running into patches of fog from time to time, with the possibility of showers this evening. 

Tonight is yet another formal night, which initially caused me some concern as my dinner shirt is in the ship's laundry (long story, don't ask).  Registered my concern with Customer Services and when I went back to the cabin I was greeted by the deck supervisor who effectively told me that I wouldn't get it back today.  But, he can lend me one - turns out they have about 100 shirts, shoes, trousers etc!  Yeah, Murray will go to the ball!!! - well at least the Captain's Cocktail Party.

Had a pizza for lunch as we weren't very hungry and then bridge as usual.  Over the afternoon the weather had deteriorated as expected and that darned foghorn is back!  We skipped the cocktail party but went down about 7.35 and it was pretty well what we expected. However on the way we were captured by the ship's photographer and have another set of posed photos to look at tomorrow - plus the chance to win one.  Oh joy, we gain yet another hour tonight, so no rush in the morning.

Wednesday 22nd
The foghorn played it's familiar tune all night and when we woke up we could see why.  Actually that is incorrect as we couldn't see a thing, barely made out the sea below our cabin on deck 10. Probably the heaviest fog I've seen.  However we are still powering along at just on 20kts. Our course has changed and we have sailed well down below Newfoundland and over the last 3 or 4 hours have taken a more westerly heading towards New York.  Yes, you read that right.  We appear to be skipping Halifax and heading straight to the Big Apple.  The course we are on seems to avoid the iceberg area and also lets us use the heavy oil for longer (& cheaper?).

The ship is exercising staff emergency procedures this morning, so pretty well everything will be closed from 9.45 to 11.00.  Ahhhhhh how are we going to survive without our morning coffee? 

Well the drill didn't happen, possibly because of the fog. The Captain has announced the obvious that we are not going to Halifax.  The good news is that we'll sail into New York on Friday evening, so we get a bit more time there.  We just hope that Homeland Security will process us on arrival, rather than making us wait. As we are now coming from a (more) foreign port, rather than Canada, they may be more picky.

While it is still a bit foggy & overcast, it is quite humid, with temperature about 20 degrees.  Apparently we can look forward to 28+ in New York.  We had morning coffee with Maureen & Wyn and a catch up lunch with Christine & Mark 2.  So tiring, perhaps a little nap after I post this and before dinner. Such a hard life at sea I say!!!