Sabin’s on the Sea 2023 - Day # 6 and #7 Days at Sea
by Nina Sabin - Travel Blog
The two days at see have been constant fog. It is so thick that every two minutes the horn blows to alert other ships of our path.
Ships blow their horn every two minutes also as to signal to each other. do they know who is in what path. It’s an old approach that is still used even with the introduction of radar.
The other tricky part about the sea from Newfoundland to Greenland is possibilities of storms. There was a storm heading right for our path. We have been over 770 Nautical Miles since Canada.
The captain made an announcement that he plans to get the ship ahead of the storm as much as possible. With picking up to eighteen knots and taking an alternate route as we could through the Labrador Sea, we were able to get ahead of the strongest part of the storm. Even with those precautions, you could still feel the boat rocking. We started out with six to seven foot waves but the increased to over twelve foot waves. The wind speed has been gale force, 35+ miles per hour.
At around 6:00 pm while we were in our room and many passengers were in the dining room, there was a rouge wave that was over 20 feet which covered the dining room window on the second floor and splashed onto our balcony on the fifth floor. It is quite a site. Glad there was only one!
With the stabilizers on, there was only rocking instead of passengers and staff thrashing around the ship.
We have been told stories from some of the passengers we have met, that they have experienced thirty plus foot waves.
One of our table mate loves the rocking boat. He told us of one cruise that everyone was green but them. When they went to the dining room for dinner it was just him, his wife, and the dining room staff.
This was our chance to test our sea legs. I didn’t want to take any chances of feeling see sick, so as soon as I felt the boat rocking I put on my anti-nausea wrist bands and my non-drowsy ginger motion sickness medicine. It really helped and I didn’t feel sick all day; neither did John, which really surprised us as we definitely could feel the motion of the waves.
As we mentioned before, we met a lovely Australia couple. They invited us to dinner. On Thursday, we alternated our routine of eating with our table mates to join them. Our table mates were very understanding as from time to time each of us have not come every night to dinner at our table.
Last cruise we ate at open seating and ate with different people every night. This cruise we have been enjoying having a set table with the same dinner companions and wait staff.
It is easier for me especially, since they get used my dietary needs and already have the drinks we like and my gluten free bread on the table.
We like routine and on sea days we tend to be creatures of habit with a few variations.
Our day starts with waking up around 8 am, give or take a half hour. Work out in the gym for 45 minutes or so. Then grabbing a quick breakfast at the Lido Deck. There are so many options. I tend to like to get a piece of Canadian bacon, hash browns, like the ones at McDonald’s, a tiny bit of baked beans, and fruit. Sort of like an English Breakfast that you will commonly find in the European breakfast.
John likes a more leisurely start. He still gets a workout in and breakfast. Then enjoys reading and relaxing at the indoor pool while I go to my beginning and intermediate bridge lesson.
My goal is to get a good handle on how to play bridge so I can start a group when I am back home.
We tend to get in at least one or two movies in, a nap, dinner, and the evening entertainment.
Sea days are great you can do as much or as little as you like. We like that we have so many options of things to do and try.
As we headed for bed tonight, it didn’t get dark until 11:30. It was already getting light again at 3am. Good we have blackout curtains to keep the light out and I have eye shades too.
The seas were much calmer as we arrived in Pammiut, Greenland- a tiny village on the central coast. This is the furthest north either of us has ever been.