Caribbean Cruise - Day 2 - Cruising

We noticed on Monday that they display the day of the week on the floor of the elevators. This came in handy, as I lost track of what day it was often. Today was our first full day on the ship, and we really got a feel of what cruising was going to be like. We had breakfast in the main dining hall, where meals were all-inclusive. The main dining hall was elegant, and you order off the menu. The menu changed nightly for dinner, but had a lot of the same stuff for breakfast and lunch. 

We were sat with a few old-timers and a mom and son. One of the elderly introduced himself to me as GK. He had been a chaplain in the Army. He was so old that he didn't ask Megan what she did for a living. She's obviously a homemaker. When she told him she's a nurse, he didn't seem interested. He had 1.000 old-man-pun jokes. 

What's the difference between unlawful and illegal? 

Unlawful is not conforming to, or recognized by law or rules. 

Illegal is a sick bird. 

I ordered what I would order every time we had breakfast in the main hall. A ham and cheese omelet and french toast. The french toast was one piece cut in half, so it wasn't as piggish as it sounds. (Maybe it was. I don't know). Megan tried the eggs benedict, which she usually loves, but she said was really bad. I felt bad because I loved my breakfast. 

We went to a Shore Excursion Adventure talk where they highlighted the most popular shore excursions and talked about them. It was really good, because it wasn't trying to sell excursions. It really was informative. In fact we learned that the Sting Ray City excursion we'd bought had no snorkeling. Also that we could cancel and get refunded for any excursions up to 24 hours before. We wanted to snorkel, so we cancelled Sting Ray City, and bought another one with snorkeling and Sting Ray City together. 

We went out on our balcony, and watched the sea go by. I would go out there every morning and journal about what we did the day before. It was a ritual that I loved. We hung out together and watched the sea go by. 

We had lunch in the main dining hall. They sat us at a round table for eight. They would sit other people with you for breakfast and lunch (like GK and his conservative beliefs and puns). They sat the comedian that I saw the night before, Ross Bennett, and another guy next to me. I was genuine when I told Bennett "good show last night." We started talking and he told me that he'll be in Minneapolis at Acme at the end of April. Then he introduced us to the guy he was with as the ventriloquist who's performing tomorrow. He said he's the best he's ever seen, and not to be missed. I told Bennett that we'd see him at his "adult comedy" show later.  

We put on (a lot of) sunscreen and went to the highest deck of the ship where we could sunbathe. The high temperature was only 68 degrees, but we came to sit in the sun, dammit! It was a little chilly with how windy it was up there, but we braved it for a few hours. We're from Minnesota. A little chilly won't stop us. We were already stymied in Wisconsin Dells last summer. We weren't going to let that happen again. 

We went to the show in the theater before formal night dinner in the main dining hall. The show was called Ballroom Fever, and featured ballroom dancing and singing (der). It was fine for a free show. Then we went to dinner. I'd read that since it's all-inclusive to go ahead and order two entrees. I had a fatty, rubbery steak and dry sliders the size of a quarter. Megan had duck that she enjoyed. 

The only picture of us together this night. Sorry. 

We saw Ross Bennett's adult comedy show at 22:30. He was very funny, and not too blue. After his 30 minute show, Megan took advantage of her alcoholic drink package. We bounced from bar to bar, people watching, and mingling a little. The more drinks she had, the more she wanted to talk to people. We settled in at the bar in the casino. She was trying to find friends at the bar, and I looked at the various table games. I was interested in three-card poker. I've never played, but it looked interesting. I lost $10 in a slot and cut my losses there.

On the way back to the room at 2:30 (really 1:30 because we had set our clocks forward an hour) we stopped at the 24-hour cafe where they had deli-type snacks and flavorless desserts, and got a few chicken rolls. The girl gave us three; they were snack-size. Back in the room I ate one, and she ate one. There was one left. 

Side note: My parents often refer to food that doesn't satisfy hunger as "a tidbit to a whale." It's apparently a phrase that the best man in their wedding said all the time. 

I had a big laugh that night thinking about how I could throw that extra chicken roll off our balcony into the ocean, and it would be an actual tidbit to a whale. 

Sometimes our room attendant would make delightful towel animals

Up next: Day 3 - Cruising