Vacation Notes 2015: September 7th: Day at Sea

Monday, a day spent at sea. We're on our way to Crete(Chania), Greece.

Most of the time there’s not much that can be seen from the ship. It’s water, water everywhere except when passing through the Strait of Messina. While here we can see the shores of both Italy and Sicily. It’s not too long before we are out on the open seas again—probably.  Distant rains limits visibility, maybe there’s land just a few hundred yards off. It is the Mediterranean, so I guess that should be a few hundred meters off.

A day at sea would seem a good day to indulge the inner lazy, but I awoke too soon. L***y and M***a did not suffer from this affliction. In fact it is doubtful that M***a would have woken at all if not for the prompting of shoves and pokes.

Too much lazy is not good and once again I walked as much as seemed reasonable. There is a lap-track on the top deck which I took advantage of several times, including a few laps with LauraMaery. The air was hot and heavy with the rain that would eventually fall, but a strong breeze provided the necessary relief to overcome what would have otherwise been oppressive conditions. The end result was illogically refreshing walking conditions.

While too much lazy may not be a good, just the right amount of lazy can be grand. While M***a disappeared into the mysterious stuff that that teenagers do on a long voyage, one that last more than 20 minute, L***y and I took to the deck chairs with books in hand.

All day the skies threatened. There was lightening, in the distance, and the sound of thunder rolled over the relatively still seas uninhibited, rain threatened with several false starts but a serious storm never really did happen. Although, it did become necessary, at least as determined by the ship’s captain, to close the upper deck due to high winds.

Generally food on a cruise line is not really worth writing about more than once. Every day is something new and decently terrific. But, on this day, we tried a few new wrinkles.

Breakfast was ordinary, and delicious, and abundant.

For lunch we tried the sit-down dining room rather than the buffet. Food and service was excellent. L***y had the salmon while I had a steak sandwich.

For dinner we made reservations at Izumi, on-no-board restaurant featuring Japanese and Asian cuisine. This is one of the few times we've been disappointed with cruise-line fare. My sushimi plate was good but L***y's Philly roll had the texture of a wet dish rag. Still, the service was excellent and they did replace the Philly Roll with L***y's substitute selection. For what it's worth, M**a ate what were basically chicken McNuggets.

Cruise-line passengers can be a demanding bunch and, true to form,  after dinner we were ready to be entertained.

Mira went to the on-deck movies. They were showing the latest Avengers flick: the Age of Voltron.

L***y and I went to the main ballroom to hear the group, 4Ever. They were pleasant enough, if you enjoy mediocre 4-Seasons, but after a few bars we’d heard enough.   We quickly retreated to the Centrum -- center of the ship, duh -- where the lobby band was rocking –at least as much as you can

rock on a cruise ship where the average age is probably 75. They called themselves D'Grooveline. Their name aside, it possibly being indicative of a professional death wish for being doomed to a career of playing lobbies, they were a tight, cover band that hit all the right notes for the assembled crowds.

At one point L***y even became a recruiter of sorts, coaxing several toe-tapping women into the dance floor.

That's all for now. Tomorrow we reach land!