Day 2 - At Sea - Atlantic Ocean

We woke fairly early after a wonderful night of sleep. Our bed is so very comfortable and cabin was very quiet. We went for a mile walk before breakfast which we enjoyed outside of the Marketplace. Chris and I both kept breakfast small and healthy as we knew later we’d be indulging in delights!

Chris attended a lecture about cocaine trafficking. There he learned from a former UK Superintendent of police about the process of growing, harvesting and producing cocaine from the cocoa leaf. Most cocaine comes from Peru and Columbia through Venezuela and is transported through the Caribbean waters we are sailing in to Florida. The drug cartels have moved from speedboats to semi-submersible submarines to outwit the coast guard but still they are captured. What the traffickers have done now is to sink the craft when they are caught so all the evidence sinks thousands of feet to the ocean floor. The best the authorities can do is to deport them back to South America and the cycle starts anew.

After the lecture, we went to play trivia. We were joined by another couple who definitely rescued us. We were the winners with a score of 13/15. The prizes are discount voucher to the spa and gift show which is not too exciting but truly it is the bragging rights that matter.

With our prizes in hand, we went to Marketplace for buffet lunch. We enjoy the vegetable options and the salads which are served there. It was Asian themed so in addition to my salad I tried a vegetable spring roll and vegetable potsticker which were both very nice.

After lunch, we put on our bathing suits and found a shady spot by the pool. It was quite warm so the pool water felt chilly but only for a few seconds. After the initial cold, it was delightful. We swam, wrote, lounged and had a cocktail. We both ordered a Pimm’s Cup which is a wonderfully refreshing drink.

Soon, it was time to shower and change for the evening. We were looking forward to dinner at Waterside. We stopped at Avenue Saloon on the way for a pre-dinner drink. Chris had a Bensonhurst while I tried Little Italy. Both manhattans were good and very similar but mine was a touch sweeter.

At Waterside we were seated quickly and it was surprising not crowded early. Chris asked to be seated in Viktor’s section. I was so excited to reunite with him. He saw me come in and his face was surprised. After a hug, he took us to our table which was not actually in his section. If you read the blog from the Hawaii trip, this was not new for us! Chris enjoyed meeting him and hearing his recommendations. We started with the caviar followed by the oysters. Both were spectacular. A maitre’d passed by to grab the empty oyster dishes and said he would bring us more. How could be say no? Our main was the lobster which was cooked perfectly. For dessert, Chris went with the recommendation of German Chocolate cake while I had the mango pavlova against his recommendations (another thing reminiscent of the Hawaii cruise) and we both liked our desserts.

Since we dined early, we went back to the cabin on our way to the Welcome/Crystal Society party. On my bed was a jewelry box containing my pin for completing five cruises! I put on my new bling and headed to the party. We did a little dancing and caught up with Julie from Cruise Critic. She was on the Hawaiian cruise with me so it was great seeing her and her husband again. We also met Roy from Cruise Critic whose posts I have been following.

We went to see the Icons production show. It was your typical cruise production show with singing and dancing. Very upbeat and high energy songs and dancing. Everyone was handed a light stick on the way in to hold up and wave like a lighter. That was a nice touch.

We ended our evening alternating between dancing in Starlight and piano sing along in the Avenue Saloon. Both were lots of fun. We returned to the cabin around midnight to rest up for our day in Grand Turk.