The day before Panama Canal

This morning the air is warm and humid, the seas are calm and the sunshine is bright. It is our second day at sea since Acapulco and tomorrow we are scheduled for our Panama Canal transit. I am sitting in the Boardroom, the space reserved for passengers on the full world cruise, watching dolphins and flying fish pass by. There have been a few birds as well, but too small and far away for me to identify. After my morning oatmeal and baked apple, I walked on the deck for a while. Well, I started to walk and then I met Veronica, then Judy, then Grace, so we did more talking than walking. Jerry stayed in bed longer this morning and we will meet again at the bridge lesson.

I am happy to say that the QE2 once again has soy cheese. We ran out a long time ago and it was a staple of our diet. We must have eaten their entire supply by ourselves. At any rate, I had not expected they would have any again before our disembarkation, so it was a pleasant surprise on top of our Greek salad when it was placed before us at dinner last night.

There was a woman injured during the boarding of the tenders in Acapulco in fairly calm seas. A swell appeared, catching everyone off guard, and the woman’s leg was trapped between the tender and the boarding pontoon. There was a lot of blood and people thought she had broken her leg. Today the story is that her leg was not broken, only cut. It just underscores the wisdom of canceling those tender ports when there were 50 foot waves.

Richard Dreyfuss has been onboard for a few days as a guest celebrity and lecturer. He has been walking around the decks like any other passenger, except that more people know who he is. “Jaws” was shown in the theater yesterday and then Mr. Dreyfuss talked about making the movie, his career and his plans for the future. Last night Jerry and I ran into him outside the Yacht Club. Jerry started a conversation with him and he was most gracious speaking to us for several minutes.

We expect to have a busy day at sea with two cocktails parties to attend at the same time tonight. And it is Cruise Critics’ cobalt blue gown parade.