At Sea

Carolina's Notes

Today Jimi and I slept in til 10:30; it was much needed. My original plan for this trip was to complete and comprehend 4 chapters of the BCE section of the CPA because my next test is October 5th. Today I started on the first of the four chapters and did not finish. It is very difficult studying on vacation. So after about an hour and a half of studying, I ate more food and more ice-cream, watched a Battlestar Galactica, and took a nap. This, I believe, is how a day at sea should be spent rather than studying IRR, ARR, and NPV.

After my nap, I went onto the balcony. Our three rooms are next to each other and we figured out a few days ago how to open the doors between our balcony so we all have one large communal balcony now. This balcony reminds me of my parents bathroom growing up. Inevitably, my parents, brother, and I always ended up in their bathroom. It was like the family board room; lots of important decisions were made in that bathroom. So our communal balcony has been equally fun and a forum for making plans. You never know when Zoe is about to barge in and jump on the bed!

Dinner tonight was with the whole family at Papas Italian Restaurant, which was good. A chocolate buffet was advertised in the ship paper for 11 pm, which is way past my bed time but it was looking like I was going to have to tough it out. My strategy was dinner, casino, show, and then chocolate. I managed to only lose $20 for the hour I spent the casino. The description of the show tonight was a Spanish Dance Nd it sounded quite promising but I haven't been to a show since the horrendous magician so I was nervous. After moving seats 26 times, we were satisfied with our seats on the aisle in case it was awful so we could escape. The show was excellent! Not only was it well done and beautiful but they managed to pull off the dance in the first turbulent seas we have experienced on the trip. Chocolate Time! There were chocolate statues and 8 million different types of chocolate pastries. I had a little bit of each. I have a feeling tomorrow I will feel the consequences but for now all is good in the world.

Susan's Notes

Oh, thank goodness we have a day at sea. We were hoping to get some rest – and we did – a little bit. Spent some time by the pool – can you believe you can fall asleep with a band (amplifiers and all)playing next to you? It is possible if you walk 3 – 5 miles a day for 4 days in a row.

Our dinner at the Italian Restaurant was unremarkable. Apparently, someone took John Gee’s order so he did not get his food when the rest of us did. I got up to look for the waiter – instead of our waiter the host came over to see if everything was all right. Since the kids were appalled at the attention I caused I did not pursue getting our dinner free but I thought about it.

After dinner we went to the theater to see the Spanish Ballet Troup from Madrid. For some reason, the boat was rocking something fierce – the only time it did this the whole trip. We looked like we drank our dinner as we walked down the long hall to the theater but so did everyone else. In spite of the rocking, the dancers stayed upright and were VERY delightful to watch. A few times during the show, Carolina grabbed my arm to stable herself – I was worried I was going to have to grab my digesting food from the air.

To top the night off right – we went to the chocolate festival in the Garden Café. The whole place was full of chocolate items, candy, brownies, chocolate Leaning Tower of Pisa’s and Yoda. We feasted to our hearts delight! By the time we reached our chocolate “high” who cared how much the ship was rocking.

John's Notes

Our day at sea was fairly relaxing. We slept in, ate breakfast, of course I ate like it was my last, and then prayed for a little sunshine. We tolled around the ship and finally made it to the pool later in the day and Zoe and I went down the tube slide a thousand times again. We dined at Papa's Kitchen and had a very happy waiter. When in doubt just laugh, well at least he did. Other than that not much more to report other than I again took place in an absurd amount of overeating.