Slow trek across the seas and an injured knee

Beautifully smooth seas today, some clouds in the sky and still cool (not cold) outside. We will pass the halfway point to Hawaii today - we get reports on sea floor mountain formations - kind of interested but the tops are still way below us (like 1000 feet).

Ginger candy was helpful last evening. We went to the comedian show, but we were both falling asleep. I think the Bonine still causes some drowsiness. The show wasn't all that great. Just a bit too rocky to feel great, so we went to bed pretty early.

I'm having issues with a very tight shoulder muscle (probably either from my backpack or lifting the other cases). May have to see the Spa ladies or see if my friend, Kim, knows someone in Honolulu.

Nice breakfast table-mates today (quite talkative so I didn't need to be :) - but it seems like most everyone is only going as far as Sydney or Auckland.

A bit concerned about my data usage on my phone -  supposed to have unlimited data in general, but got a text from T-Mobile about potentially high data charges. Have everything shut down now, but Words with Friends is big data user. Will have to wait until Hawaii to spend time chasing that down.

Tonight is our first formal night, reception with the captain and Cunard Ball. There are definitely dancers on this ship, so we won't really try the ballroom, but we'll still dress for the occasion - black and white isn't too hard to pull off.  It was fun watching the dancers - we did a short turn on the dance floor as well. Those of you who know us know how infrequently we dance :)

The mid-day report from the captain indicates rough seas ahead later tonight and tomorrow :(.  Nice respite today, though.

Last night we got dressed early for the captain's reception then realized it was tonight instead. We decided to basically do formal for dinner (but I wore my masquerade/Elizabethan dress) and wore the masks for the ball and pictures. Did the parade around but then had to do a dance down the dance floor with a stranger - that was a challenge :-).

Today's seas are a bit more rolling, but not as bad as a few days ago (at least so far). Mostly you have to be careful not to bump into people as we all lurch down the hallways :)

We've been going to most of the lectures - yesterday there was a good history program about Japan in the years leading up to WWII. It gave more of the background of Japan in general and it's relationships with neighboring countries and where Pearl Harbor fit into their aspirations.

We've had two good lectures on the seas - yesterday explaining waves and today's program was on whales, which we hope to see in Hawaii.

We've also gone to the port lectures, which are a mix of general information and tour promotion. Not super interesting, but as we get to unknown ports, they should be more helpful.

I've gone to the needlework group a couple of times - making necklaces with ladder ribbon yarn. We're using them as lanyards for our room key cards, and will give some as gifts.

Apparently the captain is doing a bit of maneuvering to keep us in calmer seas, but it means late arrival into Honolulu, so then we're staying a whole extra day and making up time on the way to Samoa. While we have a bit of cloudiness and rolling seas today (Thursday), the air temperatures are nice (70s, I would think). We're sitting in comfy chairs on the pool deck under the upper deck. The water in the pool is crashing from end to end - much noisier than the ocean.

Stan has done something to his right knee, so he's moving very slowly. He's waiting to see the doctor now, too see about a knee brace or a cane-  we'll see.. Those of you who know us, know that we take somewhat active vacations, so this has potential to slow us quite a bit - we'll figure it out.