3/30 Nothing to Do But Relax at Sea

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Yesterday was busy for me. Although we've been through the Panama Canal before, I still wanted to capture some moments particular to this cruise, the locks, the "mules", the new bridge and Lake Gutan. I managed it all but it took the entire day. Today is another sea day where we can choose to sleep in, take in a lecture or presentation, munch out from different venues throughout the day, swim, visit the spa, dress up for a fancy dinner and maybe take in a show or two. We've decided to do all that. At least that's my intention, with Karen a bit less enthusiastic. I need to somehow write about today's adventure and load more pictures up from past days so I can send out the blogs already written. They're just sitting on the loading dock waiting for shipment but lacking the visual stimulation provided by the photos I attach to them. I can never figure out why some people say, "There's not much that goes on during a day spent entirely at sea. I get bored." Just the "people watching" can entertain me for hours. That's why you'll find me writing or doing any computer work poolside, in the library or at the buffet. I like the hustle and bustle generated by passengers and crew as opposed to the sanctuary of our stateroom. Besides, the people often provide material for my daily journal.

Right now it's 1pm and I'm currently located on Deck 9, relaxing in a padded lounge chair and gazing out to the pool and two spas directly in front of me. Now keep in mind, this is a Holland America ship cruising 15 days from Florida to California, not a Carnival cruise full of college kids during spring break. The images one might conjure up in one's mind of muscle bound guys and bikini clad girls are totally different from those presented to me on this ship and I refuse to capture them through any camera lens. I'll just keep writing.

My accomplishments so far are breakfast, attending a future cruise presentation and now, sitting by the pool. Karen is actually in the pool while I'm preserving activities as they are completed via the blog. I'd like to get some lunch but wait for Karen to return. It's a good hour before she joins me again. It seems she met some friends while in the pool and started yapping. Heck, some people asked us as we were leaving the future cruise lecture, "Have you ever taken a long cruise?" That started Karen on a review of our previous cruises that lasted 20 minutes and we're not big time cruisers. Anyway, upon her return, I can now get my hot dog, first one of the trip. They make great dogs here with a variety of options like cheese, sauerkraut or chili but mine's just the regular one. I order a Coke to go with it. That costs me $2. I must watch our expenditures. We started out with $1102 in shipboard credit and i need to make it last. We hang a little longer at the pool. It's about 90F today but we hide out in the shade and finally pick up at 3pm.

Back in our room, I load my pictures from my camera into the laptop computer and edit my blogs in preparation for uploading to the site but by 4:30 it's time for me to get ready for dinner tonight. It's another Gala Attire evening so we have to look smart. Arriving around 5:45pm, we sit with two lady friends from Las Vegas and a couple related to them from a town near LA. We have a pleasant evening. Mom is more sedated in her conversation which works to her advantage as two of our table mates are teachers. Karen has a way with riling them up but all is good. Karen had shrimp cocktail, Thai chicken soup with forbidden rice, crab legs and hazelnut torte. I had a fruit cocktail, Thai soup, filet mignon and a lemon soufflé. We skipped the wine tonight.

Tonight we returned to our room directly after dinner, stopping at the service desk to cash a $100 bill for tomorrow. We have a tour scheduled in Costa Rica starting at 8am so we need time to get ready. We'll talk later.

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Comments

[Nickole]

Love you
Love reading your blogs. I'll look at more tomorrow. Glad you guys are having fun! ?