I slept in while Tom went to the gym (are you sensing a trend here?). Well, let me backtrack. Our room phone rang at about 7am and I was so dead asleep I didn’t know what it even was, then I thought it was Tom’s alarm. By the time I realized it was the phone, Tom was answering it. Of course I could only hear his side of the conversation, but I couldn’t tell who was on the phone or what was going on.
Long story short, one of the guys in our group, who was part of the group excursion we bought tickets for when Costa Rica fell through, was calling us to tell us he had decided to do the Carnival-sponsored trip instead, he just felt more comfortable, yada yada yada, and Tom somehow convinced him to stay with our group. I mean, HELLO? Was he planning on screwing us out of the money since we had already purchased the tickets? And why call us at 7am? You never call ANYONE on a ship at that ungodly hour. So anyway, we were both pissed—both at being woken up and at him being an asshat. (He has not been our favorite person thus far.)
We both fell back to sleep for a bit, then Tom went to the gym. I got up and showered after he came back and we went up for a late breakfast. Again, nothing much interested me, so I just had a bagel with cream cheese, a few pieces of bacon, and a banana. Tom ate his usual oatmeal with some granola he brought from the room. As I was in line getting my food, Earl (our dinner waiter)s came up behind me and said he missed us last night and I laughed and told him we had eaten at Nick & Nora’s, but that we would surely see him tonight!
The ship was pretty empty since we were docked in Panama. We had not planned any excursions and really had no strong desire to go into town (we were warned it wasn’t a place you really wanted to just walk around). We lazed about a bit, confirmed our ziplining reservations, and then decided we might as well at least walk through the port in Panama. And that was more than enough, LOL.
It was hot and humid and there were tons of people milling about. We walked through some of the local shops in the immediate vicinity of the port, but all of them had the same touristy crap—think Mackinac Island, LOL, except the employees aren’t trying to make deals with you to get you to buy something. We wandered through a grocery store, where we saw quite a few ship employees buying necessities. (We had been looking for some cold sore medicine for me, but there was nothing.) Outside there was a lady with a monkey who was offering to take pictures for $1, but we just felt too badly for the poor little monkey who was all dressed up that we said no thank you. We did stop by a coffee shop and I got a fruit smoothie and Tom got some coffee drink. I was expecting a nice fresh fruit smoothie but was severely disappointed—she took out a carton, unscrewed it, and dumped some anemic-looking pink sludge into the blender with about a gallon of ice. Yuck. Tom said his coffee wasn’t bad (not exactly a ringing endorsement).
The only thing we bought aside from the two mediocre (at best) beverages at that shop was…more alcohol at the duty free store. The prices were better than what was on the ship (for some things we already bought) so we took pictures of the prices so we could get a refund (which Tom did later on that evening—$17 back for two bottles of Appletons Rum). Needless to say the hour we spent in Panama, just to say we visited Panama, was plenty.
Then it was back to the ship, and we decided to hit the pool for the first time (we just aren’t sit-by-the-pool-and-sun-ourselves type of people). We went up to the Adults Only pool and sat in the pool for maybe 15 minutes (were surprised it was saltwater, although now it seems obvious), then laid in the sun and read for maybe 15 minutes, at which point Tom left because he was getting burned. I left shortly thereafter—not because I was getting too much sun, but because it was just too hot and bright. Also, I didn’t want to get too red—I have been tanning for a few months and have no tan lines, but 15 minutes in the equatorial sun usually leaves tan lines you can NEVER get rid of. On the way back to the room I decided to grab some fries, then ran across our friends by another pool, so stopped to chat with them for a few.
Back in the room, it was naptime for Tom while I sat on the balcony and read. We were on the port side, so I had a view of the city. The port had a bunch of pastel buildings in a row, but beyond that it was sad and pathetic. The nap monster eventually overtook me, and it was nice napping on the balcony with the sun and the breeze…
We relaxed until dinner, and we were pulling out of port on our way to dinner. Unfortunately, there were some high winds, so the ship was ROCKING. It was extremely noticeable, and it was fun watching people walk—they all sidestepped at the same moments when the ship shifted. But it wasn’t fun dealing with the after effects. We were all kind of iffy (oogy) at dinner, and I am sure it was just the power of suggestion, but we all started getting headaches and drinking alcohol was the farthest thing from our minds.
For starters, I couldn’t decide between the Fried Mozzarella on Mixed Greens Served with Mannara Sauce and the Cream of Sun-ripened Tomatoes Enhanced with a Touch of Gin so I had both, followed by the Greek Farmer Salad (Iceberg Lettuce, Cucumbers, Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Onions, Black Olives and Feta Cheese Tossed with Vinaigrette), and Assorted Seafood, Newburg Style (Black Tiger Prawns, Ocean Scallops and Fish Fillets, Tossed with a Creamy Lobster Sauce, Served with Saffron Pilaf Rice). I have to say I was less than thrilled with the Newburg, but didn’t want to get anything else, even after our head waiter assured me he would bring me anything else. Well, since I had already had two pieces of bread, two appetizers, and a salad, it wasn’t critical to me I have a full dinner (especially since I wanted dessert). And oh, what a dessert—it was coconut cake! Ironically, it was the Diet option, but it was very good and I thoroughly enjoyed it…with some strawberry ice cream and hot chocolate.
Tom had the Duet of Mussels and Shrimps Provencale Sauteed in Virgin Olive Oil, with Tomatoes, Herbs and Garlic for his starter, followed by the Greek Farmer Salad as well, followed by the main course of Tenderloin of Beef Wellington, a Filet of Beef Topped with Mushroom Mousse, Delicately Wrapped in Puff Pastry, Ginger Carrot Puree and Butters Broccoli Florets.
This was entertainment night in the dining room, so after the main course and while waiting for dessert, everyone was invited to join the conga line. Only two people from our table joined in. Again, since the ship was still rocking, you could see everyone kind of hop from side to side as the ship tilted. For dessert, I was geeked about the Coconut Cake (my new favorite obsession), which was actually the Diet Coconut Sponge Cake with a Low Calorie Cream Dessert Prepared with a Sugar Substitute. It was quite yummy. Tom couldn’t decide between the Bitter and Blanc (Warm, Dark and White Chocolate Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce) and Tiramisu (A Delicious Creamy Combination of Contrasting Flavors of Mascarpone Cheese with Coffee and Sweet Chocolate). I am not a bread pudding fan, but the Bitter and Blanc was DELICIOUS and definitely won top honors at our table.
After dinner we went back to the room and hung out for a bit, got changed, and decided to run our “errands”—Tom went to get the refund on the alcohol and I went to print out our excursion vouchers. We went to pick up our formal pictures we had ordered earlier in the week but they weren’t ready yet. Then we strolled through the casino and I quickly lost my $4—so much for always doubling my money. By that time, Tom was feeling a little woozy, so he went back up to the room and I just hung around downstairs for a bit. I went back up to the room to catch up on my journaling, and after a bit, Tom was feeling better and I was feeling oogy. I took a seasick pill JUST IN CASE and then it was off to meet our friends for some DVD Movie Trivia—which we almost won, dang it. Afterwards, we had planned on doing something, but I really just wanted to go back and go to bed, and Tom was raring to go (somehow, we always seem to be on opposite OOGY schedules). So we went back to the room, and I read for a bit and then we both went to bed.