Sleeping wasn’t too bad…we were at sea overnight and I woke up a few times to rolling side to side but I would say it wasn’t bad at all since I always managed to get back to sleep (although I did dream about cruise ships!). Tom said he had a bit rougher time and maybe only slept two hours! Poor guy! For most of the time, it felt like you were sleeping in a camper and someone was moving around—just a slight motion. Other times, you could actually FEEL the ship rolling back and forth—not enough to have things slide off the counter, but enough to be able to physically feel it.
We had breakfast delivered in the morning so we could eat on our balcony—and it was quite good! Cheese and ham omelets, sausage, bacon, fresh fruit, croissants, coffee, hot chocolate…mmmmm. After breakfast, I was off to the spa for my massage. It was nice…but certainly (and unfortunately) not worth the price of admission! It was a nice treat, however…but I won’t ever have to do it again (unless it’s about one-half or one-third the price). I also got a scalp massage that was really nice. Of course, they try to sell you the products….which I would be more than happy to purchase if they weren’t so ridiculously overpriced (a la the massage). Yep, they had stuff that was GUARANTEED to make my under eye circles disappear in two weeks…for $70 per tube. Hoo boy. If it was even half that they would have made an instant sale…but $140 is WAY too rich for my blood, even with the promise of non-raccoon eyes!
Tom went to the gym while I was at the salon and the plan for afterwards was to head to the shore just to look around. But the weather turned horrid (they actually suspended boats inland for awhile and had to reposition the ship) so we opted to stay on board while it was storming and blustery. Now, as I’m composing this on the balcony, it’s sunny and probably 85 degrees…almost too warm since you don’t get much breeze unless you stand up—the balcony is made of a sheet of glass so you don’t get any breeze except through the bottom 4” or over the top of the railing. It’s also VERY bright and sunny and I’m starting to get a headache, even having had sunglasses on the whole time. Tom was out here for a bit but is now in trying to take a nap to recoup some sleep he missed last night! I do feel a bit guilty for not physically doing something while we’re on the ship (there’s SO much to do and see!), but I just keep reminding myself this is a VACATION and we don’t have to be busy every single minute. So I assuage any residual guilt by enjoying the quiet time on our lovely balcony…writing my journal/blog or reading a book!
Oh, lunch was good, too. I had asked our waiter last night if there was sushi anywhere on board and he assured me I could find it in the Lido Restaurant…which we did. The Lido Restaurant is basically one gigantic cafeteria with different nationality foods (as well as a salad bar, soup bar, sandwich bar, dessert bar, etc.) so today we ate Japanese (in addition to sushi, I had lamb with garlic and fried noodles and Tom had Szechwan shrimp with fried noodles) and who knows what we’ll have tomorrow…I could easily have sushi again, but it’s “fast food” sushi and nothing made-to-order so I’m thinking to hell with semi-healthy and having chili cheese fries or loaded nachos instead, LOL! We also got to sneak a peak at tonight’s dinner menu and I already know I will have trouble deciding on a main course!!
I finally had to shower to get the flower essence oil off my head from the scalp massage earlier (it works better the longer you leave it on, but it made your hair look really greasy) so now I’m waiting for Tom to get up (he missed the Texas Hold’em Lessons that started 10 minutes ago) so we can do something before dinner.
Okay, so we ended up NOT doing anything before dinner…so let’s go directly to the dinner report, shall we? Appetizers were Sweet Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella, Oyster Rockefeller, and Duck and Black Bean Quesadilla (I had two because I just could NOT decide). Soups were Caribbean Corn Chowder (Tom) and Chilled Apple Vichyssoise (Jen)—both were absolutely divine! Salads were Californian Gourmet Greens (the ranch dressing was lacking, so I didn’t finish mine). Our main courses were mushroom ravioli (Tom) and Caribbean Island Style Paella (Jen). Each time dessert rolls around, I swear I am going to get the cheese and cracker platter, but something else always wins out. Tonight was Tiramisu (of course, for Tom) and Chocolate Avalanche Cake (Jen).
During dinner Tom signed up for a wine tasting tomorrow, but it conflicts with the art auction, so we will split up to hit both. (I have permission to buy a Thomas Kinkade if the price is right!) We headed back to the room to see what the evening events were, and nothing really excited us, so I said I wouldn’t mind hitting the casino. Tom didn’t care to go or play but he went with me anyway and listened to his ipod while standing behind me! (As a sidenote, we are cruising full speed ahead to Tortola, so the ship was rolling quite a bit—we actually felt a bit drunk while walking around the ship! I can’t even imagine if we were actually drinking!) So I got my $4 worth of nickels (and I swear the cashier had to stifle a laugh) and sat at a machine. I didn’t like any of the machines there (they had nine payout lines—I like the simple one payout line) but there weren’t many options. Within about five minutes I had won 200 nickels so I cashed out—and even though I completed my rules: leaving as soon as I win back what I started with—I said I couldn’t leave after only five minutes, so I played a few more rounds, never really winning much. Tom actually sat down to play a few minutes (and finish out my second roll of nickels) when I won again—another 200 or so. I cashed out and headed to the cashier window…and I walked away with $17.85 after less than a half hour. This time, the cashier actually congratulated me!! And the best part is I was completely satisfied and don’t need to go back again! So now I have margarita money come Wednesday when margaritas are the drink special of the day and are only $4.25!
Now we’re just back in the room, chilling. It will probably be an early night since Tom is still tired from his lack of sleep last night…
