Day 2 ~ At Sea
Sunday, April 24
It rained overnight, and this morning the ocean is unhappy. During the night, the ship bounced so much you would have thought the place was haunted. Drawers opened and closed, hangers rattled, wine bottles rolled across the floor. The rocking is great for sleeping, but not so good for standing up. (I nearly fell over in the shower.) Even the wave pool is closed because of waves. Somehow, I thought that was the point. We manage 12 windy laps around the deck before I demand breakfast and coffee. The fantail bar looks appealing, but we soon realize that our own veranda is calmer and with essentially the same view. And the bar is overrun with Germans: There’s going to be a major Speedo alert at the pool today.
It rained overnight, and this morning the ocean is unhappy. During the night, the ship bounced so much you would have thought the place was haunted. Drawers opened and closed, hangers rattled, wine bottles rolled across the floor. The rocking is great for sleeping, but not so good for standing up. (I nearly fell over in the shower.) Even the wave pool is closed because of waves. Somehow, I thought that was the point. We manage 12 windy laps around the deck before I demand breakfast and coffee. The fantail bar looks appealing, but we soon realize that our own veranda is calmer and with essentially the same view. And the bar is overrun with Germans: There’s going to be a major Speedo alert at the pool today.
Snookie returns from yet another meet-and-greet with the Serial Cruisers and announces that a lot of people are seasick. But we bravely venture off to dance class and are pleasantly surprised. Unlike the last trip, at least one of the instructors actually knows how to instruct, and we grasp the basics of salsa dancing before Snookie, too, succumbs to the heaving ship, slaps on a seasick patch and falls asleep on the balcony.
As expected, the food in the dining room looks better than it tastes. Our waiter is a 5-foot-2 Filipino whose non-Tagalog vocabulary seems to consist of “Enjoy. Bon appetit.” His underling is a hulking Croatian. See? The theme continues: Size doesn’t matter.
As expected, the food in the dining room looks better than it tastes. Our waiter is a 5-foot-2 Filipino whose non-Tagalog vocabulary seems to consist of “Enjoy. Bon appetit.” His underling is a hulking Croatian. See? The theme continues: Size doesn’t matter.
It’s formal night, and we add a couple of degrees of difficulty to our pre-dinner dancing: heels, a dance floor that moves up and down, and a drummer who may or may not know how to count to four. I’m tempted to grab the drumsticks out of his hand and teach him everything I learned in seventh grade band. The repertoire appears to be geared toward junior-high dance make-out music – no beat, but lots of opportunities to hang on to your partner. (It takes several measures for us to identify “In the Mood,” which is an indication of the band’s musical impairments.) But other than stepping on my dress and skidding a few inches across the floor, we do reasonably well, even daring to go public with our new cha-cha move.
Other musical highlights and lowlights: We hear an a capella group that is outstanding, but are also forced to listen to some guy channeling John Denver because he’s playing in the bar above our balcony. Maybe he sounds better in person, but I doubt it. Dinnertime entertainment is a string quartet, four women we suspect are refugees from an Andre Rieu fundraiser on PBS.
The rough seas have also affected the pros: The regular show has been postponed to avoid the risk of dancers flying across the stage, so instead we get Diane Cousins, a Welsh singer-comedian. Great voice and one or two funny lines, but she is essentially a cross between a cranky Doris Day and a chubby Celine Dion.
Dress sightings: Lots of overblown taffeta and chiffon, although it’s nice to see that people have at least made an effort. Snookie’s favorite is a woman we spotted earlier at the pool. She’s decked out in a skin-tight gown that dips well below the legal limit in back. A front view confirms what we already suspected: store-bought parts as natural as her long blonde hair.
Other musical highlights and lowlights: We hear an a capella group that is outstanding, but are also forced to listen to some guy channeling John Denver because he’s playing in the bar above our balcony. Maybe he sounds better in person, but I doubt it. Dinnertime entertainment is a string quartet, four women we suspect are refugees from an Andre Rieu fundraiser on PBS.
The rough seas have also affected the pros: The regular show has been postponed to avoid the risk of dancers flying across the stage, so instead we get Diane Cousins, a Welsh singer-comedian. Great voice and one or two funny lines, but she is essentially a cross between a cranky Doris Day and a chubby Celine Dion.
Dress sightings: Lots of overblown taffeta and chiffon, although it’s nice to see that people have at least made an effort. Snookie’s favorite is a woman we spotted earlier at the pool. She’s decked out in a skin-tight gown that dips well below the legal limit in back. A front view confirms what we already suspected: store-bought parts as natural as her long blonde hair.
Sail on to Day 3
