Our second day at sea was a relaxing one, just the way we like it. More friends are showing up at breakfast in the upper dining room, so we hope that this service continues. On our N. Statendam cruise last year, there were far fewer guests in the evening, and the upper dining room was closed completely, except for teatime. Our fixed seating at 8pm, became mixed with anytime dining. We did not care for the continuing meal service with some entering and others leaving around us. Anyway, the breakfast continues to be top-notch and one of us is enjoying the complimentary almond milk cappuccino as the final cup of hot coffee.
Taking our morning walk on the promenade deck, we crossed paths with Greg and Heo doing the same thing. We all had a treat when we spotted many pods of jumping dolphins perhaps 100 yards away from the ship. There must have been a string of dolphins one mile long. The birds had left us however, even though we did see some small flying fish present.
We did a bit of exploring, finally after being here almost a week. Taking a ride up to deck 10, we checked out the Crow's Nest where every table had folks playing cards or table games. A few jigsaw puzzles were in progress, although one puzzle was missing four pieces. Believe it or not, some passengers will take a few pieces then add them when no one is looking. Why? Don't know….it's a power thing.
The Shore Excursion folks were busy as was the Explorations Café. It sure looks different from the bar and bands that used to be here. Finding a narrow staircase, we went up to the Cabana area or the Retreat section on deck 11. None of the tents were occupied today from what we could see. Perhaps they are busier on shorter trips. Last fall, we did have a wonderful President's Club cocktail party with the staff up here. It was really nice until it began to rain, when we took shelter in the cabanas.
From here, we walked back downstairs (there is an elevator) and made our way through the Seaview pool area, the Lido Restaurant, and the Lido pool area. We spotted many folks we recognized from previous world cruises – all staking out their tables for the upcoming lunch buffet. We searched for friends Pauline and Mike, but they were not there yet. We did see the Lido manager Ronald, who is one of the most liked fellows onboard.
Since we had a lot of sun shining on our veranda, we relaxed there and one of us began reading one of the library books. We had a nice breeze and so far, the weather has been tolerable. Still, we have to be careful because we are heading further south, and the rays are much stronger here.
Lunch included two chicken Caesar salads, and a shared club sandwich. Very good. Even the 3 chocolate chip cookies have gotten better since the first day. There must be a new baker onboard. When we finished our meal, we had a phone call from the Shops. The sales gal had located a couple of world cruise t-shirts in the size we wanted, and said she would hold them for us. So we took another walk on the promenade deck, the ducked into the store. There were no other customers at this time, so as well as purchasing the t-shirts, we checked out their collection of Maui Jim glasses. Trying on several types, we ended up purchasing 2 pairs which we really needed. They are polarized and well made.
We have noticed that the service at our dinner table has been not quite as seamless as it had been earlier in the cruise. If there happens to be a popular appetizer or entrée, like scallops or rack of lamb as there was tonight, our dinners do not arrive together. Telling everyone to please go ahead and eat, they do so reluctantly. This evening, we got our dinners late, even though one of our orders was the fish. Could not help but notice that my rack of lamb was fried, not roasted. It was tasty, but not the same. Anyway, we survived and enjoyed desserts of frozen yogurt and a cheesecake with meringue.
And the clocks were set back another hour. Good news.
Bill & Mary Ann
