Happy Valentine's Day to all!
Would have been nice to say it was a sunny day, but no, it was pretty dismal. The skies were dark with rain clouds, and it did rain for most of the morning. It was the winds, 7 on the Beaufort scale, that made walking difficult on the promenade deck.
Since there were only a few people in Club Orange this morning, Jonah had a chance to address a few questions we had asked her recently. It was regarding whether or not they had Blanton's, a small batch whiskey, onboard this ship. After some searching, she said they did not. There were some other ones that they considered close, like Elijah Craig, Bakers, Basil Hayden, Duke, or Pappy van Winkel. None of which we are familiar.
Then we had heard that the immigration process was a bit confused yesterday in Ft. Lauderdale. Perhaps there had been a miscommunication with the shore side services, some of the in transit folks were not happy campers with the slow process. That's why we never stay with that group. Later this afternoon, there was a knock on our door, and we were given a tray of sweets, with a card saying they extended their sincere apologies for the inconvenience it may have caused. We had no problem, but we did enjoy the chocolates anyway.
We had spotted a zippered sweatshirt in the ship's shops, so decided to go try it on. Having only one in the correct size, it seemed to fit OK. When the sales person rang it up, he missed the 15% Mariner discount for being a high star member. Making a phone call, it was told we were correct, and said he would amend the bill. However the original price of $75 would be on our account, to be changed later. We would have to watch to see it was done correctly. After all of that, we went back to the room, and discovered the zipper was not working properly. So back it went for a total refund. Now this may take a few days.
In the meantime, we had found two charges on our shipboard account that we did not make while we were on Half Moon Cay. The bad thing there is that the vendors do not have computers to bring up your accounts. They only look at your cruise card, then write your cabin # on a tag. Since your room number is not on your card, anyone can give any room number. If that happened, how would we prove it was not us? Will find out tomorrow. It is always good to check up on charges because stuff can go wrong.
We did take note that there were many sales in the Shops, mostly because tonight is the first gala evening. You can pick up a lot of glitter for $10 or more. Even bow ties and regular ties for the fellows. One thing we missed again was the complimentary wine-tasting. Really, it is an attempt to entice you to purchase a wine package using your loyalty discount. For us, it would have been a 50% savings.
The Captain's talk came on the TV (bow camera station) while we were in the room. What a difference….we could hear him well. Nice to know someone actually listened yesterday and fixed it. Outside on our veranda, it still was not working, but that is someone else's department. And part of the Captain's message was that the clocks will go forward one hour tonight. Another nice touch happened when a long stem pink rose was given to us for Valentine's Day, compliments of Jonah. That makes up for losing the hour.
We had a light lunch in the Lido, then came back to the room for computer work. Sometime around 4pm, we were treated to a display of dolphins jumping close to the ship. They must have been feeding, because the pod was a large one. We have been here for almost 2 months, and these were the first we have seen out at sea. Having quick access to the better camera, many great shots were captured. With the ship doing almost 20 knots, we were past the pod pretty quickly. Now we will be on the lookout for more as we head south to Bonaire.
Dinner was with the group in the dining room. The lamb chops looked really nice, as did the chicken. One of us had the cheese stuffed pasta shells, and Woody had the crab-covered steak filet. It seemed like a half dozen people were having birthdays this evening. Usually that only happens towards the end of a cruise. Birthday or not, some people like the special attention.
Tomorrow will be another sea day, which we like to re-charge our batteries.
Bill & Mary Ann
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Report #59 Day at Sea En-Route To Bonaire Monday - February 14, 2022 Happy Valentine's Day Rain, gale force winds-7 & 79 degrees
