Tuesday, June 14 – day at sea
Sleeping with the sheet only (no comforter) worked out great. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. I woke up a little before 7:00am and set my camera out on the balcony to warm up. Then I decided to throw on some clothing and see what’s doing on the observation deck. The TV says it is 88 degrees with 93% humidity. No way is it that warm - yet. So I decide to see what the lines for breakfast are like. What a difference a day makes. There are no lines. I don’t mean there are two or three people in line, I mean walk right up, take what you want, and then eat. Also, I found out that if I want a banana I have to set my sights a little higher. I saw a tray full of bananas just out of my reach. So I asked a crew member for a banana and he reaches for a spot just at about my head level about one foot away from where I was standing (note to self, the bananas are just above the rest of the food).
And of course I saw a chair hog. Thing is she is doing it a little different than most chair hogs. Most just set their towel on the chair early in the morning and then go back to their cabins to sleep. This one set her towel on the chair, then got between the towel and chair and was sleeping there when I came by at 8:00am to eat, and was still sleeping there at 9:00am when I took her picture. I guess it is one way to make sure you get a prime lounge chair and not worry about someone moving your stuff or stealing your chair.
I was going to take my breakfast back to my balcony to eat, but I ran into my friends and we ended up eating our breakfast outside by the pool – on the wrong side of the ship. Apparently the starboard side is for smoking and the port side is supposed to be smoke free (another note to self).
After breakfast I went back to get my camera and the cabin steward was already working on my cabin. I just grabbed my camera and headed for the forward observation deck for a couple of pictures looking out over the bow and also looking back along the sides of the ship. Then it is off to the sun deck for pictures of the pools. While there I notice that only one person is using the waterslide, so I call my friends and let them know that this would be a good time to use the waterslide.
It has warmed up quite a bit and now I’m a sweaty mess. So I figure I’ll go back to my cabin, upload the pictures, update this, don my swimsuit, cool off in the pool and perhaps try out the waterslide.
The pool was great. The water temperature was perfect. I spent about two hours in the pool, a few minutes in the hot tub and went down the waterslide once (just so I could come back here and say I did it). The line for the waterslide was not too long, as there were maybe fifteen to twenty people were in the line. However, since they always wait for each person to completely clear the slide before the next person goes down, they can only run about three people per minute.
After an hour or so of pool time I had ice cream for lunch and came inside for a nap (this has been my first day of rest since a week ago Sunday (June 5) and I don’t do too well in humidity. After my nap I did a little more exploring and picture taking. I was able to take some pictures in the Sun King Restaurant (the optional extra cost steakhouse). For one picture I put the camera on the floor and pointed it straight up. One of the waiters saw what I was doing and was quite interested in seeing the picture, which turned out quite well. Also, since today is Flag Day the American flag is hanging in the main atrium.
I then went down to deck five and found a few more souvenirs to purchase. Then down to deck four where I found three of the four pictures that were taken at dinner the first night. Speaking of which, our waiter is going to be headed in the same direction I am on Saturday night. He’ll be joining the Carnival Splendor (home ported in Long Beach California) on Sunday, June 19.
At dinner I gave two of the pictures to my friends and kept the third for myself. I had the prime rib, as did Mom. Dad had the lobster and their son had spaghetti (which actually looked very good). My friend’s son and I had the warm chocolate melting cake for dessert.
We decide to see the comedy show tonight. While waiting for the show to start I was in their cabin and decided to see if I could check my folio from their cabin. No, I cannot. However, they then decided to check their folio and Carnival has everything screwed up. They have been charged five gratuities instead of three and their son has an $85 dollar balance against a $60 cash deposit (apparently his account is linked to theirs). Unfortunately this seems to be a weakness with Carnival. Whatever is filled out on line overrides anything done on the ship. This is the third time I have seen this happen. No matter what you want to change on the ship, what you did on line will override it. Mom will take care of it on Thursday (like many others, they are not interested in getting off the ship in Jamaica. I have a restaurant I want to check out in Jamaica.
At any rate we took in the comedy show tonight rather than the production show. The comedian, Smiley Joe Wiley was pretty good. Not great, but still pretty good and this show was family friendly (the late night shows are restricted to eighteen and above). Afterwards my friends went back to their cabin and I took in about half of the movie Secretariat that was showing on the big screen (Seaside Theater).
Tomorrow I have to be onshore at 8:30am, so for now it is good night.
You have to be this tall to go down the waterslide ...
