Today was our first sea day, and the first day in a week that we could really relax. Of course, we slept in after getting up early just about every morning so far on the trip. I got up and went to the coffee bar for a cappuccino and two yogurt parfaits. Stephanie slept in while I worked on trying to catch up on the posts for this trip. I am still fighting a little bit of a head cold, but it seems to be getting better each day.
The weather was still not that warm, and we had a 20 knot winds coming from the bow, so the winds on deck were blustery. We did find some nice sun on the stern of the ship where the wind was not as strong. We stayed there for a while so that our room steward could clean the room. We also found a protected area on the port side of the ship, and sat in the lounge chairs there for a little while.
We really had no plan for the day other than to relax. The wind picked up during the day, and it also got a little cloudier. We ate some lunch out by the pool, but realized the wind was cool even with the sun periodically peeking through the clouds.
At 2:00 PM, there was a “flair” show at the Seaview Bar. This was the first time we had seen both Franze and Rommel perform together on the same ship. In addition Jorge, that we had met with Rommel on our Caribbean cruise last October, joined the show, even though he no longer worked at the Seaview Bar. They all did a great job despite it being a little windy and rough. We both thought that Jorge had really gotten better in the last year.
After the show, we headed back to the room to relax. It was really starting to get cloudy so it was quite cool out on the open decks. The wind died down some as we approached the protected waters near Gibraltar. We will be passing Gibraltar and heading in to the Atlantic Ocean at about 10:00 PM tonight.
Tonight was the first of three formal nights, and is the Captain’s reception in the Atrium with the champagne waterfall. We got cleaned up and dressed in our formal wear, which was less formal than usual, I had not brought my tuxedo, just a sports coat, tie and slacks.
We planned on going to the Vines Wine Bar for the reception. I headed down a little earlier than Stephanie so we could get seats at the bar before the crowds showed up. It was fun to people watch and see the various outfits that people were wearing, some were really formal, and some were not even close.
After the reception was over, we headed to Alfredo’s Pizzeria for dinner, first stopping by Bellini’s to get a glass of wine. Since Bellini’s is on the same deck as Alfredo’s, we can send the waiters there for better wines that are on the Alfredo’s menu, which is typically the same selections offered at any dining venue. We had not seen anything on the dining room menu that motivated us to spend two hours in the dining room to eat, and the lines to wait for a table were quite long after the Captain’s reception ended.
We both had a salad for the Antipasto , and for dinner, I had a Calzone and Stephanie had a pasta dish with eggplant. My calzone was great, and Stephanie’s was good, but she liked my calzone better.
We met up with our friends from Flagler at Bellini’s after dinner, and had a couple of refreshments before heading in for the night. We change time for the first time tonight, gaining an hour as we start to transition to Eastern time as we cross the Atlantic.