Again, I slept pretty well, although I woke up a few times. This time, though, I slept until 7:30, which was 8:30 since we crossed a time zone! I had placed a room service card for breakfast on my door the previous night, and it was supposed to arrive between 6:30 & 7:00. I suspected that something had gone wrong earlier, because it was gone about 2 minutes after I put it there. As I was leaving to get breakfast at the buffet, I noticed that it had somehow fallen into a cubby by my door. Oh well, I think I actually made better choices at the buffet. I had an odd assortment of granola, muesli, yogurt, and fruit. I took it back to my room, along with a small pack of Nutella. This, along with coffee from my Nespresso machine and an apple, made for a lovely breakfast on my sofa. I then did my typical, full yoga routine, which my body thanked me for. It was nice to have time time and space to do it, accompanied by piano tunes on one of the tv channels, which featured such favorites as the theme from “Ice Castles.”
I thought it was kind of cold outside, so I finally ventured out to my balcony, where I discovered that the temperature was pretty nice. Over to the left, I saw a ship, along with what looked like some windmills, in the distance.
It was time for the hot tub. I’m not normally a huge fan, but with the cooler weather, it sounded perfect. It was quite nice, and the pool deck was beginning to fill up with people fully dressed and sun bathing. After I got out of the hot tub and sat in a chair, I was a bit cold, so I decided to go play $10 budget bingo, which was scheduled for 11:00. Of course, they tried to sell me the $30 package with more cards, but I stuck with $10. At 11, they announced that the game was canceled because there weren’t enough people there. They were giving everyone more cards, though, and we could play at the 4:00 game, which would have a larger jackpot.
Oh well. I took my cards to my room and discovered that there would be a bouillabaisse demonstration in the atrium at 11:30. Bouillabaisse, shower, lunch, more hot tub/sun, sounded like a good itinerary for the near future.
I wasn’t sure which place to try for lunch, but I thought I’d try the same place as yesterday since I liked the server. Unfortunately, they had the exact same menu, so I decided to try the main dining room. I wasn’t too excited about their entrees, so I ordered two salads: the crab salad and the arugula and shrimp salad.
My thinking was that I would then check the systems and see if I’d like to have a main course in another restaurant. I got the NY Strip with Parmesan truffle fries on my mind that I had seen on the menu at Cagney’s, so that’s what I did. It was great, but I only ate half of it.
Just a side note about the music that was playing. It was lovely and non-intrusive, but I really have a problem with instrumental arrangements of vocal music, unless it’s something like a Liszt arrangement of a Schumann song. They were playing a piano version of “Tell me on a Sunday” by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I was probably the only person who noticed, but I did. It didn’t actually bother me so much, but if I put on Pandora and ask for classical piano music, that is not what I want. Just give me some Chopin!
After Cagney’s I went up to the buffet/pool deck to check out desserts. I found a small serving of apple strudel and had it with a small bit of vanilla ice cream and warm caramel sauce. Yum. I then returned to my room and had a 10 minute nap on my left side in the sun on the balcony. Now, that, followed by an espresso, was heavenly.
Post-nap, sun and hot tub seemed appropriate. The breeze on the pool deck was stronger and colder than on my balcony, but as I stayed in the sun, I got warmer. I stayed in the sun for about 30 minutes and then got in the hot tub, which was great after the dry, chilly wind. It was so relaxing. I roamed the ship a bit and went back to my room, where I found a lovely cheese plate waiting for me.
Too bad they didn’t include a glass of wine with that! Well, I went out and found my own. I brought it back to the room and had some of it and some of the cheese on my balcony. It was so nice, I stayed for a bit more time in the sun, which sort of doubled as another nap. Yes!
It was then time for the 4:00 bingo game, which I found out was also canceled. However, this time, they were going to refund the cost of the cards and play one game for a prize. That was about 20 minutes of unbridled fun until someone won! 😜
I went back to the room, showered again, and slowly made my way to dinner by about 5:30. I went to Alizar, which is the other main dining room on the ship. It is smaller, and it is also the one where you can wear shorts instead having to wear pants. Interestingly, I had a better experience in Alizar. In the past, I’ve had better experiences in the dining room that was more formal. Oh well! The server and other staff were friendlier, and the meal was generally paced better. Everything was very good, from the spring roll and papaya salad, the butternut squash soup (odd combination, I know), and the seafood hot pot entree.
Just to clarify, I generally think cruise ship is good, but would not say it is anything to write home about. I’m sure that will change for me if/when I’m able to go on a fancier cruise line.
jonpilk 