2 Days at Sea

          Saturday, 22 Feb 2020 – Since we had made appointments for Swedish massages in the Insignia Spa for 9:45 AM, we went to breakfast earlier than usual.  We usually walk back to our stateroom through the open deck to check the temperature of the pool water, but since it had been raining, we stayed inside.

We had received two complimentary Canyon Ranch spa treatments, worth $150.00 each, as benefits of being Oceania Gold Club members.  The vouchers could be used for any of the services provided by the spa/beauty salon, including haircuts, manicures, pedicures, facials, massages, etc.  Anyway, we decided on two Swedish massages for $139.00 each.  Sally’s therapist was Ni Luh and Jesse’s was Tara.  Sally really enjoyed her massage and is eager to return for a second one; however, Jesse thought the massage was wasted on him, although he did find it very relaxing and had a nice nap.   We still had $11.00 each left on our vouchers.

Sally napped until lunch, intending to swim afterwards.  However, the deck was still wet and the wind was blowing so hard that it was difficult to open the door.  So we decided to skip the swimming.  Sally worked on her Henry genealogy book for the remainder of the afternoon, while Jesse watched a couple of movies on the stateroom TV.  When he noticed the time, it was too late for dancing.  After dinner, we watched the results of the Nevada primary on the stateroom TV.  At 9:30 PM, Jesse went up to the Insignia Lounge and watched a few minutes of a Variety Show.  The ship’s Currents newsletter had announced that the dancers, Airi and Oliver, and the cruise director, Leslie Jon, would be performing.  According to Leslie’s biography, he had a career performing on stage before becoming Oceania Cruise Line’s very first cruise director.  The show started with a couple of singers, but Jesse returned to the stateroom before our friends got on stage.  We stayed up late to watch the results of the Nevada caucuses.

Sunday, 23 Feb 2020 – Since it was raining pretty hard outside, swimming was out of the question.  After breakfast, Sally lay down for a nap and Jesse went to the fitness center for the first time.  The other passengers in the center were busy with their exercise routines and showed little interest in conversation.   Anyway, after 10 minutes or so, Jesse gave up trying to figure out how to work the machines and returned to the stateroom. 

Although the Terrace Café was very crowded at lunch, we were able to find a table for four, where we were joined by Julie who was there alone; Canute was lying down in their stateroom.  She and Canute had attended the Variety Show Saturday night, and Julie told us about it.   Apparently, our cruise director, Leslie, was quite a hit!  She and Canute had also been invited to a reception dinner in the Toscana Restaurant tonight to celebrate the General Manager Damien’s return to the ship.

At 3:00 PM, Jesse went to Social Foxtrot dance class with Airi & Oliver.  Although his usual dance partner, Juanita, wasn’t there, he did find another dance partner, Amelia, whom we remembered from the 2018 cruise.   She is good friends with Cliff & Angela from the UK, and will be cruising to Buenos Aires.  Jesse learned a variation of the Foxtrot.  He had sometimes tried doing the variation after watching others, but had never really been taught the proper technique.  This time, he learned something that he will use!

Another Catholic service was scheduled for 6:00 PM.  Although it was very well attended, most of the Spanish-speaking guests left as soon as we got started.  Most likely, they misunderstood the announcement and were disappointed after learning it would be only a “Catholic service,” with no Mass.

We then walked to the Horizons and danced until 7:00 PM.  Among the dancers were Tom and Ruth, with whom we had eaten lunch during our excursion to the Mayan ruins in Guatemala.  They invited us to go with them to the Grand Dining Room for dinner, where we enjoyed interesting conversations.  We learned that they are both widowed and live together, but are not married.  On this first cruise together, they will be cruising around the world!  Since Ruth is in better health than Tom, she went on the excursion to Machu Picchu, but Tom did not; however, they will both be going on the excursion to Iguazu Falls.  Ruth expressed concern about the continually changing itinerary for the world cruise, as the ship attempts to avoid areas where the coronavirus is prevalent. 

After dinner, we stopped by one of the shops and purchased Sally a new Citizen watch because her old watch stopped working soon after we boarded the ship.  Although we had brought along a spare, she has trouble reading it.  The new watch does not need batteries, has a 5-year warranty, and has a dial that is very easy to read.