20231125 AAAA Trip - Sea Day in the Arafura Sea

2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip 
Day 70/105 - Sailing the Arafura Sea

Today is a sea day and that means relaxing.  Of course, we had Baggo and trivia.  The officers once again pounded the guests in Baggo. It was fun anyway as the Cruise Director, Arann, mixed things up.  The first round required throwing the bags using a champagne bucket. 

The second round was from halfway up the staircase but required throwing with your non-dominant hand. The final round was from the top of the staircase with side-by-side boards and a champagne bucket. Bonus points for landing in the bucket (nobody did) and you gave away points for landing on the wrong board. Everyone was cheering and laughing and as always, we had fun.

Regarding trivia, we hit our sweet spot once again with 12/15, just missing a tie for the win at 13/15.  Our misses:

• True or false - The Philippines are divided into three major island groups
• We guessed false and of course, it was true
• What Latin American country is credited for inventing the Cha Cha Cha dance?
• We guessed Brazil but it was Cuba
• Which country holds the most Eurovision song competition wins, Ireland, Sweden, Austria
• We guessed Sweden but Ireland holds the record with seven wins

Today included veranda time. 

We spotted flying fish as a few schools of jumping fish, or they were at least splashing the surface violently. Both were gone too quickly for photos. Arlona walked a 5K while I rested my knee.  We watched the port talk for tomorrow's destination, Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia. After that, we headed up to the Explorers' Bar for a little dinner pre-gaming.

It was a Tito's lemon drop kind of night - straight up for me and on the rocks for Arlona

We went to Manfredi's with our Villages friends Trish & Sue for dinner tonight.

Garry, Arlona, Trish, Sue

Manfredi's rarely disappoints, and tonight was no exception.  They have changed the menu slightly. The calamari appetizer is gone, replaced with a combination of calamari and shrimp. I'll call that a win.  The Bistecca Fiorentina has changed. It is still on the menu but is now a basic ribeye steak.  According to our server, there was a call from the guests for a ribeye without all the seasoning that the Bistecca Fiorentina was known for.  The dish that was formerly known as Bistecca Fiorentina is now called the Viking Bistecca and it is just as good as ever. There are other slight tweaks and different desserts, but everything is still excellent.

Between the four of us, we destroyed a Bistecca Fiorentina, a Viking Bistecca, a couple of black pork chops, various appetizers, sides, and desserts.  We all waddled out, happily stuffed.

We are done with time changes for a while, which is nice. We have one more hour to lose before we hit Sydney, but that won't happen for at least a week.  Ahh, time stability. We're scheduled to reach Thursday Island around noon tomorrow.