Day 9 Saturday 27th October in the Sargasso Sea
Out on our balcony I could hear our now normal chanting from above us. The sky was cloudy and did not look as promising as yesterday‘s weather forecast. At 8:30 am we even had a rain shower.
Breakfast in the Oriental was livened up by a fellow passenger telling us that his wedding was taking place the very next day. Every sea day had had weddings or renewal of vowels. His wedding was to be the last one before St. Maarten. They had also been a scattering of ashes a day or so before!
While we ate the sun broke through all the clouds. Then the conversation turned to more important matters. Someone asked if anyone else had seen the couple dressed as Beauty and the Beast? The couple apparently are huge fans of the movie and like to dress up in costume. It seems we’d all seen them earlier in the week around the decks having their picture taken by the ship’s photographer.
After breakfast we hit the Promenade deck again for our 3 mile walk. The deck was very busy especially as all the walkers and runners were having to dodge their way past all the chairs on the deck.
The side of the ship in the sun was by then hot in contrast to the side in the shade. I had expected to be seeing flying fish by now especially when we were at the bow. Over the last few days others had said they’d seen them earlier but we had as yet to see any.
Once the 3 miles were finished we went straight to the Glasshouse to have a pint of draft Peroni.
This restaurant was surprisingly empty at this time.
In the noon navigation update we were told that the tropical depression that we had skirted so far had now been upgraded. The storm had been named Oscar and was heading North for the coast of the United States.
Lunch and afternoon on the balcony
Our lunch was in the Peninsular and I had a chicken Caesar salad as a main followed by a Kiwi meringue. Our table companions all joined in discussions about cruises, the planes that we were expecting to fly home on and what to do in our upcoming destinations. One of the couples shared my interests and have been both to RIAT and the Farnborough airshows earlier in the year.
The afternoon was spent having restful balcony time of reading and wave watching.
Planet Bar and dinner
The Planet Bar has now a whole gin menu and I ordered a perfect serve Silent Pool gin. This came as a double with Mediterranean Fever Tree tonic. The drink was supposed to have had Fever Tree elderflower tonic and limes. But it still taste good!
The Everglow Duo were in the bar and the volume was again cranked up to 11.
Our dinner was the Caribbean menu which was excellent but you did have to beware of the chilli in the salads.
Tropical party on deck
Afterwards we went up to the top decks for the tropical party with music from the guest band Accent.
We watched the moon over the sea from our balcony.
And another clock change …
From the Captain’s Log
At Sea (Noon Posn: 24° 59.5’N, 053° 00.8’W)
Saturday saw the Azura enter into the Sargasso Sea. This is the only sea in the world which is completely without land borders. Located within the centre of the North Atlantic gyre, only the great ocean currents of the Gulf Stream, North
Atlantic Current, Canary Current and the North Atlantic Equatorial Current delineate its limits. The sea can be easily identified by crew and guests by the presence of Sargassum, a seaweed indigenous to this region which floats along the surface of the sea. Despite being located in the North Atlantic the waters are renowned for their clarity with underwater visibility extending to 200 ft.Weather: Initially overcast, clouds dissipated throughout the day, dry conditions
Temperature: 27°C
Wind: Northerly, Force 5