After so many days of going ashore and seeing the sights, this was a day to rest and to enjoy life on board the Veendam again. Although the sort of resting depends upon what you want to do while on board. The cruise director packs the sea day full with activities and that means that there is not much rest for the guest, if the guest decides to partake in everything on offer.
Tomorrow we are in the morning in Koper and in the early evening arrive in Venice during sunset, so what ever the guest still wanted to do on board, it had to be done today.

This is also the last sea day and that means that we have a get-to-gether with the guests to say good bye. The disembarkation procedure is explained and about 200 crew come on stage for a farewell song. This is always much appreciated by the guests and some of them find it a very emotional affair. Following the farewwell party is the Gathering of the Society of Holland America Mariners (for details see 17 April) and then it is already lunch time.

The celebrity chef was cooking Greek food in the afternoon and those who had seen or eaten too much food in the past week could attend a lecture with our environmental officer or gain some in depth knowledge with our Exploration Series speaker about how the Mediterranean was geologically formed. Formal night finished the evening off and the evening dinner also featured the parade of the baked Alaska and the line up of the chefs of the kitchen. I have on formal nights a table in the dining room. People are always curious about how you end up at the captains table. There are basically three options: one, the office sends a recommendation to the ship, two, I know myself guests from previous cruises, three the Dining room manager selects 8 guests who might enjoy the experience. It is not always easy for the dining room manager to do this, as he/she has to find the right mix of people who are comfortable enough with the experience and who will enjoy good conversation as much as the food served. The menu at the captains table is different from the entries of the dining room menu and the guests receive a copy as a souvenir, the next morning, after I have signed it.

The sea was flat calm during the whole day, while we sailed by Brindisi and into Croatian waters on our way to Slovenia. My navigators prefer a bit of wind at sea, as it keeps the fishing boats away from the shipping lanes but no such luck. So for most of the day, the ship was zig zagging all over the place in order to avoid them all. In the evening we had a spectacular blood-red sun set which promised another beautiful day tomorrow.