Day 4--At Sea (Dec 22, 2010)

Day 4—At Sea

This was the third sea day and the ship wasn’t rocking quite so much.  Got up early (of course) and went up to the Lido to get a cup of coffee and took it out to the Sea View Pool area, which is aft (or at the back end of the ship) right outside the Lido buffet.  I watched the sunrise again and it was beautiful with only a few clouds.  The deck crew got out all the lounge chairs as the sun came out and set out towels on each one—this was the first day they did this at the Sea View Pool (the Lido pool is covered, so most people went there).  After about an hour, the deck crew gathered up all the towels and sure enough, within another 20 minutes, it started raining.

Went inside to the Lido for breakfast and this was the first day that we could actually serve ourselves at the buffet.  The first two days, we weren’t allowed to help ourselves to anything and they had servers everywhere to serve you—couldn’t even get your own coffee or glass of juice.  I was told this cuts down on the spread of any Norwalk virus.  Once the first few days are over and there isn’t an outbreak, then people are allowed to help themselves and it becomes more of a “true” buffet.

Mid-morning, I attended the Digital Workshop on creating videos using Microsoft Live.  It was only a 45-minute class, but did learn all the basics on how to put together a slide show with music and learned how to embed videos.  Now I’ll just have to play with it when I get home to see if I can actually do it with my cruise photos.  Unfortunately, I haven’t taken many pictures yet. 

Skipped lunch today since I planned to attend the Dutch High Tea at 3:00.  I’ve been eating three meals a day, which is much more than I usually do—sure hope the clothes I brought with me still fit by the time I get home.  J

Saw my room steward and he reminded me I was on vacation and he wanted to know if I was working (since I had my laptop out on the vanity).  He said I should be relaxing and on vacation and also that I didn’t need to make my bed in the morning—that he would take care of it (what can I say—it’s a habit to make my bed). 

So I took his advice about relaxing, and I did take a nap this afternoon for about an hour and a half (I am on vacation after all). 

Went to the Dutch High Tea at 3:00 and saw Sharon there.  We sat at the same table with four other ladies and had tea and little finger sandwiches and scones.  We finalized plans to have dinner that night at the Italian restaurant, Canneletto. 

Met Janet for bingo at 4:00—unfortunately, I didn’t win (oh well).

The “new widows” club, Sharon, Jackie, Jill, and I all had dinner together.  I ordered a salad and the veal.  As soon as we ordered, the waiter came back with a large tray of antipasto, and we selected what we wanted (I had salami, olives, mushrooms, calamari, and zucchini—there was also tomatoes, onions, prosciutto, yellow squash, and eggplant—what a great antipasto tray and how nice to be able to pick what you wanted from it).  The veal wasn’t as tender as it should have been, but the flavor was good.

I decided to go to the Main Dining Room for breakfast the next day instead of the Lido and Sharon said she’d join me there tomorrow morning.

Didn’t go to the show that night either since it was a pianist playing and I wasn’t really interested.  Instead, after dinner, went up to the Crows Nest for an after dinner cocktail and to listen to the DJ playing music; the theme was “through the ages”—he started with the 40s, then played music from, the 50s, then 60s, then 70s, all the way up to today.  Stayed there later than I usually stay up, and since I ate dinner early instead of my usually time of 8:00, went to the “midnight snack” which tonight featured Japanese food.  I had tempura, fried tofu, cucumber salad, and sushi—they also had teriyaki chicken, sashimi, and a few other Japanese foods, along with some regular American sandwiches, salads, and desserts.  (Good thing I skipped lunch!)

Finally went back to my room to go to bed.  The towel origami of the day was a turkey—they sure are creative on making these little animals out of folded towels.  Tomorrow is our last full day at sea before we start making port calls—wonder if I’ll be able to sleep in a little later and not get up at 5:00!