We are finally out of the African part of the Indian Ocean, the fire hoses are stored, the blinds are open at night, and the security is back to normal.
Monday night we took two crew members to dinner in the main restaurant, "Compass Rose".  We had won this opportunity at an auction that benefits the crew welfare fund. Both Rambo and Jo had been on the Mariner when we did the "Circle South America" cruise in 2012.  We also had a short cocktail party with 16  passengers on board that had also been with us on the South America cruise.
We have had several incidents that have caused the rumors to fly around the ship.  One is that two couples were put off the ship in Colombo, Sri Lanka, one supposedly for hitting another passenger in an argument over a seat in the theater, and another for hitting another passenger in an altercation in the laundry room.  (We remember the laundry room wars!  It sure is nice to have free laundry service now!). We also learned that a passenger had a heart attack and died on Monday night.  The ship personnel is very tight lipped, however, the passengers manage to get little bits and pieces but  we are not always sure of the facts.

Our "Circle South America" reunion cocktail party

Crew member Jo and Rambo with Tom

Our special dinner with crew members Jo and Rambo along with friends Donna and Roland