Day at Sea

Monday, 4 Dec 2023 – We slept late, as usual, and went to the Terrace Café, which closes for breakfast at 10:00 AM; we made it there at 9:30.  We split an omelet, with mushrooms, spinach, and bacon bits, and we both had grapefruit, bacon, coffee, and grapefruit juice.  After breakfast, Sally napped while Jesse went to the Destination Services and reserved a couple of excursions that we had selected previously.  He also went to the Beauty Salon/Spa and scheduled himself for a pedicure (first ever) that his daughters told him that he needed badly.  After Sally finished her nap, we went swimming for 30 minutes and sat in the hot tub for a few minutes afterwards.  The pool is 5 ft 5 inches deep, which is a little too deep for Sally to stand.  Sally was a little annoyed with several other passengers standing around in the pool talking, but they reluctantly moved out of our way and allowed us to swim laps.  Sally thought the water was a little too cold.  Also, she broke her googles on the first day!  Luckily, Jesse brought along a couple of extra pairs!

At 5:30 PM, we went to the Horizons on Deck 15 for the Captain’s Cocktail Celebration for senior officer introductions and free drinks.  The doors didn’t open until 5:45, so we stood in line for about 15 minutes.  Several passengers tired from standing in line and left for other bars on the ship, all of which were serving free drinks from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.  We sat with another couple, Keith & Carol, from Wisconsin, both around 80.  He is a retired college professor with a degree from Harvard.  While we enjoyed three rum punches, Sally and Carol talked quite a bit.  Keith & Carol only have one daughter and one grandchild, and have cruised a lot, almost everywhere!

After Keith and Carol left for a dinner reservation, we hit the dance floor.  The Marina Showband played during the program portion of the celebration and a little afterwards, followed by the 4 Corners Band.  Although we were both feeling a little tipsy from the rum punches, we danced until the bands quit playing; now, we’re known throughout the ship as, “The Dancers.”  Although we consider ourselves average dancers, most passengers seemed to think we were spectacular!

At the Terrace Café buffet, Jesse picked up Sally’s lobster dinner for her since she was slightly wobblier than he was.  Needless to say, we both slept well that night!