Wednesday, January 6, 2016

First full day of world cruise!!

Cruise World-first full day-January 6 en route from Florida to Costa Rica.
Weather: 80 and sunny. Light rain at 5pm.

 

I watched American news last night as I unpacked till 1AM. Yet, I didn’t fall asleep till 2am.  I brought way to many items so it’s a good thing I have closets, shelves, drawers, and the bathroom to myself.

 

I slept anxiously for fear I would miss the cruise critic party or my first breakfast ritual so I set the alarm for 8:20. I slept quite well having gone to bed feeling exhausted. Although there was turbulence last night, it did not alarm me and I enjoyed being rocked to sleep at sea. In fact, being rocked to sleep by the sea is one of my favorite elements of cruising.

 

At 8:40AM, I finally responded to the alarm and sprung from bed. What to wear!?!?--I had many options. I settled for aqua pants and jacket.

 

First stop: aft elevators straight up to the lido deck for breakfast. I found a lovely window seat and made a good cup of Cafe Bustelo.  (I brought my own from home.) I had smoked salmon and a strawberry yogurt. One of the servers asked me what I wanted and brought the yogurt to me. It was a peaceful morning watching the waves crash against the ship.

 

Next stop, I listened to part of the shore excursion presentation on Costa Rica, then left early for the one and only cruise critic party. Pete from California did a yeoman's job of organizing the event, compiling and updating rosters, and even printed 250+ names tags compete with cruise critic handle and place of residence. I was disappointed that none of the captain’s staff attended but it was nice to meet more people.  Perhaps the officers chose to avoid this meeting on a world cruise for fear of being bombarded by guests for the next 115 days! I suppose I understand.

By the way, this is the first time with a cruise roster where the organizer uploaded photos of each member. That helped us to match faces with names early on the cruise.  Although I signed up for the cruise late in the game, many of them had been chatting for months and months.

 

Next, our new trivia team formed and played the first round at 11:45.  Betsy and Joan from Juno had played together previously on another cruise. I found it funny that Betsy had not remembered Joan's name, although she referred to her as a friend.

 

I left early to join the solo travelers’ lunch, already in progress. I sat with 5 ladies at a window-side table. Agnes had trouble with her salad order. She is on a very strict diet. I really felt for her. I was more than satisfied with my meal.

 

A trivia member came to find me during lunch to give me winning dollar certificate!!!  Our team came in third.

 

2:00-I listened to the worst lecturer ever drone on about Columbus' 4 voyages.

 

Next, high tea at 3. then, changed for dinner.

 

4:45-5:20- I sat in the aft pool area after the rain. It was quite, calming, and peaceful.  I experienced moments of bliss.

 

 

At dinner time and I am testing out different dinner tables.  I was seated with with Frank and Judy whom I met on my 2014 HAL Noordam cruise. They were good company.

 

7PM trivia in Crowes nest.  We tied for first. At one point I said "we" and they asked, "do you mean the royal we?” I realized I was only American on the team so WE did not apply. ha!

 

I went into theatre early to get good seats for production show--Good unobstructed seats. It was a terrific show of song and dance high quality movie and James Bond-themed numbers.  There were not enough dancers in the cast though; only three women and two men. Perhaps there were injuries.

 

 

Casino watching. I spoke with woman who cruises for free often (on several cruise lines) because she spends so much in casinos.  I was unaware this possibility existed. Of course, this will never apply to me because I don't gamble.

 

 

Piano bar listening and watching was fun.

 

I did my usual evening activity and brought chamomile tea back to my room.

A nice surprise awaited me: on the bed, next to my cute towel animal, were several world-cruise-logo themed gift items including a sturdy travel bag, a toiletry kit, and a travel journal. I could get used to this……

I watched shore excursion videos for a bit. Then drifted off to a sound sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone=

 








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