As I write, it is 4:30 p.m. on Friday. We are moving south, heading for a brief stop several hours from now at Victoria, on Vancouver Island, before a final stop in Seattle at 7 a.m. and a scheduled 9 a.m. disembarkation. We then will head to downtown Seattle where our confirmed rental car will hopefully be waiting, and we will drive to our cousin Cindy’s house in Bellevue, where we will enjoy lunch and meet up with Hannah’s husband Andrew and son Izzy, who have been visiting Andrew’s cousins and camping in Olympia National Park. More about all of that tomorrow.

We have been on the ship all day, starting with their last day Alaskan brunch instead of breakfast at 9. Even though it was early, I opted for the Alaska cod benny with creamed cabbage, Yukon potatoes, and an egg, along with some fresh berries. Now, cod benny is supposed to be a variation on eggs benedict (I looked that up), but this really wasn’t. The cabbage was delicious, as was the egg, and I  guess the fish was as well, but it was just too early for a big piece of baked cod. My sushi lunch was lighter and simpler, and it was topped off at the cake buffet that only happens once per cruise.

I had a piece of red velvet cake and didn’t finish it, but some people came away with three or four pieces.

This morning we went to a 45 minute program on how a ship like this operates, from its construction in Italy, near Venice, onward. I found  extraordinarily interesting how to run a ship with over 3000 passengers and crew members on board. How its many diesel engines generate power. How the ship is propelled and controlled, both from the engine room and the control room, with its many screens, alarms (5000 alarms), gauges, buttons and other devices. How the ship is provisioned with food and drink, how they rarely run out of anything and use up 90% or more of what comes aboard. How they vary how much and what type of food and drink comes on ship dependent on the characteristics of the passenger load. How the food is prepared by the ship’s 140 chefs. How all baked goods are baked on the ship at night (using one ton of flour each day) so that it is ready to be sent to the various restaurants by 5 a.m. How 180  tons of food is cooked on a one week trip, and how the waste is handled. How the water saving toilets work and what happens to the urine and feces. How the ship desalinates all the water it uses from the sea for all purposes and how it returns water to the sea. How the laundry operates, and the tailor shop. How the internet works on board the ship.

They covered a lot, but not  security. They did not talk about how they handle fires, or criminal activity. They also did not discuss medical facilities or personel, or if they have an on board morgue, which I assume they do. They didn’t talk about the shops, the promotions, the entertainment and athletic facilities, the children’s programs, or really even how the remarkable housekeeping works.

But it is all quite mindboggling when you think about it.

There are various promotions on board and today Michelle and I went to the art auction, presented by a Southfield MI gallery and its fast talking spokesman. We did not trust anything about it.

Edie and I then instead went to see the 2027 film Murder on the Orient Express, which was shown in one of the lounges. Watching that film was the worst experience of the trip for me by far. I thought we were going to watch the 1974 Albert Finney version, which I remember liking.

Tonight, our final dinner.

I am posting this earlier than usual because I am planning on a different post early in the morning with general thoughts about this, our first cruise.