Day 2 - Sea Day
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US
Yes, today is our 34th Anniversary!
SLEEPING IN
We both slept in (by our standards), awakening after 8:30 am! It was 9:00 by the time we went up to breakfast, and it was crowded! I think everyone was in our same shoes: tired from traveling and sleep deprived!
RAIN!
Having an inside cabin you can find yourself blissfully unaware of developing weather conditions. When we emerged from the elevators on the 10th floor, we were stunned to see it was POURING. Not just raining, POURING. We had noticed on the weather channel the night before some rainy weather off the coast from Miami but we had forgotten all about it. Must be what we were in now. The ship was pretty steady though, as winds were not a factor. Since breakfast was so crowded, some people that had to settle for outside tables - although covered - had their feet in standing water. There was a guy trying to squeegee the water away. Good luck with that! The breakfast offerings were what we are used to on RCCL - typical breakfast buffet choices, something for everybody. The lines were long for made-to-order omelets. Maybe I'll get one later in the week. We never eat breakfast in the dining room, although that is an option. We are always more than satisfied with the choices at the buffet.
On the way back to the room we suddenly found ourselves in the casino. We also noticed that no one was at the Roulette table, so we sat down and played some roulette. I did hit one number straight up (31) but of course I did not stop playing! Overall neither one of us can claim to be a winner. After that we found an empty lounge with a view of the ocean and I worked on writing my journal while Tom read his book. Is it time to eat again yet?
LUNCH
Finally, it was time for more food. This time I lined up for a made-to-order burrito - just like Chipotle. There was only one person in line ahead of me. I was anxious to try the Mongolian Wok but because you have to wait for them to stir-fry it, the lines get quite long, so I decided to save it for later in the week. The sun finally came back out in the afternoon and it turned out to be a beautiful day! The pool area came to life in no time at all.
POOL DECK
This would be a good time for me to talk about the Pool Deck. One thing that quite a few cruise ships are adding to the pool area is a big movie screen - a Jumbo-Tron, like at the ball park. They show movies much of the time, but at this time there was a Men's Hairy Chest contest happening poolside, so that was being broadcast on the big screen, so that everyone all over all decks could watch. There are several impressive-looking water slides with many in line waiting for their turn (later in the week, lines were not such a factor). The pool is on Deck 10, with Decks 11 & 12 overlooking it. At the front of the ship, there are two additional decks, 13 & 14 - well they don't call it that because they avoid using 13. Most of these two decks make up what is called "Serenity" - a no-kids-allowed zone, with lots of cushy chairs, sofas, and even hammocks. There are also some adults-only hot tubs. I love the Serenity area!
MOVIE TRIVIA
At 3:15 we headed to the Encore Theater for Movie Trivia. It was different than most trivia contests where you write your answer and then go over the list at the end. This was a shout-it-out format. No penalty for wrong answers. Cory, the Assistant Cruise Director divided the group in half - the Blue Team and the Red Team. If he heard the correct answer first from the Blue Team, the Blue team got the point and so on. It was really fun! Our team won, but there weren't any prizes or anything.
DINNER
Early this afternoon we got a note saying that our dining was successfully changed to Early Seating. If we couldn't have "Your Time Dining" then early was what we wanted. It was formal night, or as Carnival calls it, "Elegant Night". We got all spiffied up and headed to the dining room. We were escorted to our table and to our surprise and delight, our table was in a primo spot, right at the huge picture window at the back of the ship! We were the first couple to arrive, and we were soon joined by three more couples. As each couple arrived we heard an explanation of why each was not with us the night before - they had late seating and had requested a change - none of the couples were at this seating last night, so we were all in the same boat! Pun intended! Sort of funny that we all though we were the "missing couple" last night. Dinner was Prime Rib. Very appropriate for our special occasion. It was very good and dessert was amazing too. I got to finally try the famous signature dessert that Carnival is famous for "Warm Melting Chocolate Cake" served with vanilla ice cream on the side. Amazing! But ohhhh so rich!
SHOW
The show was a country western singing / dancing production show. It was good but not amazing by any means. Actually the sound was so loud you could hardly hear the singers. Something was off there in my opinion. After the show I was fading fast but Tom was itching to walk around the ship and see what was happening. So I worked on uploading the blog and he went on the prowl and came back with some popcorn and some sodas. We do miss the ever-available cookies on Royal Caribbean ships with the Promenade Cafe, but it's probably for the best! We would later learn that the cookies reappear at 11:30 in the late night snack buffet.
[ More Photos ]
Tomorrow… Cozumel!
Yes, today is our 34th Anniversary!
SLEEPING IN
We both slept in (by our standards), awakening after 8:30 am! It was 9:00 by the time we went up to breakfast, and it was crowded! I think everyone was in our same shoes: tired from traveling and sleep deprived!
Having an inside cabin you can find yourself blissfully unaware of developing weather conditions. When we emerged from the elevators on the 10th floor, we were stunned to see it was POURING. Not just raining, POURING. We had noticed on the weather channel the night before some rainy weather off the coast from Miami but we had forgotten all about it. Must be what we were in now. The ship was pretty steady though, as winds were not a factor. Since breakfast was so crowded, some people that had to settle for outside tables - although covered - had their feet in standing water. There was a guy trying to squeegee the water away. Good luck with that! The breakfast offerings were what we are used to on RCCL - typical breakfast buffet choices, something for everybody. The lines were long for made-to-order omelets. Maybe I'll get one later in the week. We never eat breakfast in the dining room, although that is an option. We are always more than satisfied with the choices at the buffet.
LUNCH
Finally, it was time for more food. This time I lined up for a made-to-order burrito - just like Chipotle. There was only one person in line ahead of me. I was anxious to try the Mongolian Wok but because you have to wait for them to stir-fry it, the lines get quite long, so I decided to save it for later in the week. The sun finally came back out in the afternoon and it turned out to be a beautiful day! The pool area came to life in no time at all.
This would be a good time for me to talk about the Pool Deck. One thing that quite a few cruise ships are adding to the pool area is a big movie screen - a Jumbo-Tron, like at the ball park. They show movies much of the time, but at this time there was a Men's Hairy Chest contest happening poolside, so that was being broadcast on the big screen, so that everyone all over all decks could watch. There are several impressive-looking water slides with many in line waiting for their turn (later in the week, lines were not such a factor). The pool is on Deck 10, with Decks 11 & 12 overlooking it. At the front of the ship, there are two additional decks, 13 & 14 - well they don't call it that because they avoid using 13. Most of these two decks make up what is called "Serenity" - a no-kids-allowed zone, with lots of cushy chairs, sofas, and even hammocks. There are also some adults-only hot tubs. I love the Serenity area!
MOVIE TRIVIA
At 3:15 we headed to the Encore Theater for Movie Trivia. It was different than most trivia contests where you write your answer and then go over the list at the end. This was a shout-it-out format. No penalty for wrong answers. Cory, the Assistant Cruise Director divided the group in half - the Blue Team and the Red Team. If he heard the correct answer first from the Blue Team, the Blue team got the point and so on. It was really fun! Our team won, but there weren't any prizes or anything.
DINNER
SHOW
The show was a country western singing / dancing production show. It was good but not amazing by any means. Actually the sound was so loud you could hardly hear the singers. Something was off there in my opinion. After the show I was fading fast but Tom was itching to walk around the ship and see what was happening. So I worked on uploading the blog and he went on the prowl and came back with some popcorn and some sodas. We do miss the ever-available cookies on Royal Caribbean ships with the Promenade Cafe, but it's probably for the best! We would later learn that the cookies reappear at 11:30 in the late night snack buffet.
[ More Photos ]
Tomorrow… Cozumel!
