Today was a scheduled day at sea, as opposed to yesterday, which G called a "rehearsal day at sea". Apparently we practiced well, because we had a fine, fun and relaxing day from start to finish.
We spent most of our daylight hours cruising right along the south eastern coast of Cuba, passing Guantanomo about breakfast time. With our starboard side balcony, we had views of Cuba's mountainous coast until mid-afternoon.
We were awake early and in the Lido Buffet for breakfast when it opened at 7am. I am loving HAL's coffee, and am drinking way too much of it (decaf, of course but still...). It seems to go too well with the cloudy/rainy weather we've had since Sunday night.
After breakfast, we walked a few laps on the Promenade Deck (very nice, to be able to do that!) and then returned to our cabin where I retired to the balcony to do The. First. Reading. I've. Done. Since. We. Left. Home. Really. There was certainly no time on the Royal Princess, what with all the exploring and blogging I did, and even on the Nieuw Amsterdam there's always been something else going on. It doesn't help that G has never been a reader; I see these couples sitting side by side in quiet companionship while they both read, but quiet companionship has never been G's strong suit. He's always moving, and if he's not moving, he's in a hot tub or napping. I have to squeeze in my quiet time when I can get it!
While I was on the balcony, a DVD we ordered from the front desk just minutes earlier was delivered (love that about Holland America), and a crew member showed up to speed up our sink drain (also requested just minutes earlier). As a couple who does everything for ourselves at home, I really appreciate this aspect of cruising.
The Mariners Champagne lunch, a perk of being a loyalty club member, was held today in the Manhattan Dining Room at noon. It required a bit of a dress up (slacks instead of shorts) but the food has been so delicious we didn't want to miss it. Well, we were a little disappointed in today's Mariners lunch, and if we'd thought back to previous HAL cruises, we had been a bit disappointed in their Mariner lunches too. So, a first miss in the dining room, but it was enough to convince us to skip formal night tonight and plan to have dinner in the Lido buffet instead.
Rain showers continued to move in and out in the early afternoon as they had all morning (our covered balcony had provided a protected retreat), but, by mid afternoon they seemed to leave us for good. Still, the rainy start to the day had made us lazy, and we happily watched the Royal Pains DVDs we'd had delivered to our cabin and snoozed on and off until it was time for sunset. We dressed for dinner and went up on an open deck for our prettiest sunset to date, then to the buffet where we had the very best Beef Wellington ever, EVER! Incredible, and followed by my favorite Key Lime Pie.
We saw our first production show in the Showroom at Sea, called Garage Band. Okay, production shows aren't Holland America's strong suit, but we still enjoyed the music, a sort of history of rock from the 60s to present day.
We're already back in the cabin and about to have wine and cheese, chosen from big wheels of it in tonight's buffet, on the balcony.
I could get used to this!
Photos 1 and 2: tonight's beautiful sunset
Photo 3: the Lido pool at night. They have NICE fountains, surrounded by water so run off makes no difference.
Photo 4: tonight's towel animal...a peacock (we think). Very intricate construction on this one!