Keeping this many people entertained when it’s impossible to leave the ship is a big job, but Norwegian does a pretty good job of it.  Now if they could only do something about the food…

I woke up and looked out the window to see small islands going by. Pretty! It didn’t feel like we were moving fast, but seeing how fast we passed them told me that we actually were going by pretty quick.

While I was in the shower, Wayne saw a small boat pull up next to ours, and someone get onto it. As it moved away he could see that it said “Pilot” on the side. We were just about out in the open ocean by this point, so his guess is that we needed an expert in the local area to guide us through the channel, but once we got to the ocean he wasn’t needed anymore.

We had breakfast at Versailles, the fake-French restaurant that’s on our “free” list. We agreed to share our table and ended up sitting with a couple from Florida. They’re both mail carriers, he for over 30 years and her for almost 30 years. We had a nice conversation, though it took a weird turn when he said that he’d heard Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana, talk about what he’d like to do as President. *shriek* :) Fortunately they were suitably appalled when I told them that one of the things he’s actually trying to do right now is privatize the public employees healthcare system so he can extract it’s surplus cash to balance the budget.

A young couple sitting by the window rescued us from more political talk by seeing several whales leap out of the water. I didn’t manage to see them, but it was nice to know they were out there.

Our food was ok – not great, but better than we would have had at the *shudder* buffet.

After breakfast we suited up in raincoats and walked all around the common areas of the ship, inside and out, so I could take pictures. We also stopped in at the spa; my feet were still tired from all that standing in line yesterday and I was hoping for a nice foot massage, but the closest I could get would be an outrageously priced pedicure.  I decided to pass.

We went back to the room after this and I worked on these posts while Wayne read on his Kindle, and then took a nap. This is his kind of vacation! :) All of our vacations up to now have been to places where I have been many times and know the area, so I tend to keep him running around to all the things i want to do and see. This time there isn’t anything to do or see, particularly since it’s cold and rainy out, so he is getting the leisure he usually misses out on.

I woke him up for lunch; we tried to go back to Versailles, but they closed right before we got there. So we ended up in the Blue Lagoon instead. Once again the food wasn’t great, but it was edible. So far the only really good food we’ve had was from Aqua.

After lunch we went to the Guest Services counter to look at the menus for the “cover charge” restaurants. One of them serves sushi and Wayne really likes that. As we were looking at them the girl working the counter came over and basically bullied us into making a reservation. This has been a recurring theme… whenever there is an opportunity to sell us something, whether it’s alcohol, jewelry, boarding photos or dinner, the ship’s employees employ a very primitive form of hard sell that we both find extremely annoying. It’s even worse because although they all speak English, most of them have such thick accents that you have to really work hard to understand them trying to sell you something. It’s probably the most annoying thing about the trip so far, right up there with the food on the buffet being *so* bad.

Dinner plans made, we headed for the Red Lion Pub, where they were taking reservations for a murder-mystery lunch on Thursday. I signed us up for that, and we settled in with my laptop, his Kindle, and a couple of bottles of Alaskan Amber. Once again, it’s Wayne’s kind of vacation! :) It’s good for me too because I’m getting these posts done in real-time, unlike the posts about our Christmas trip that I never finished writing.

Eventually Wayne got sleepy again, and he went back to the cabin to take a nap, while I stayed in the “pub”. It’s more comfortable to use the laptop on a table than actually on my lap. I went back up to the cabin when the pub started to fill up and I felt like I was hogging a table by not buying another drink. Wayne was sound asleep when I came in, so I joined him and we both had a nap.

Those of you who know me know that this is not at all how I usually vacation – I’m a go-go-go kind of person and usually want to be running around doing something local all the time. I don’t nap at home, let alone on vacation! But this is an entirely different experience; there wasn’t anything to do during a day at sea, so I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything and it was easier for me to relax and do it Wayne’s way. I have a feeling we’ll be regular cruisers form now on because he’s *really* liking this. :)

We went off to our dinner at 6:00 pm, at the Asian/sushi restaurant. This was one of the fancy places with the extra cover charge. We both thought the food was good, but not outstanding. Wayne thinks it’s kind of sad that we’re so spoiled that they can no longer impress us; I think we’re still capable of being impressed, but eating in Portland has definitely changed our taste in food and we’re no longer impressed by the stuff that impresses regular folks. Since that’s the target market, not us, I’m not terribly disappointed that the food is only meh.

Also, considering the place was nearly empty the whole time we were there, I don’t think we really needed that reservation!  This might be partly an indication of what everyone else thinks of the food but I think it’s more that many cruisers like the “one price all inclusive” aspect to cruising and aren’t even going to consider anything that costs extra (except maybe alcohol :).  I think that’s why the reservations are pushed so hard;  once you have one, you’re less likely to change your mind and go to the buffet instead.

We finished dinner a bit ahead of schedule, so we hung out in the Red Lion Pub and watched the Canucks win a Stanley Cup Playoff game against the Sharks. Lots of yelling since there are plenty of Canadiens on board. After the game was over we went to the Spinnaker Lounge, where we danced last night, and did some ballroom dancing – East *and* West Coast Swing, and Nightclub Two Step. Our teacher would be proud!

Then it was time for the “Newlywed and Not So Newlywed” game, MC’d by Cruise Director Julie. Guess who was the Newlywed couple? :) We’re not exactly newlyweds, it has been eight months, but we were the most recently married people there who were willing to put their hands up. It was about what you would imagine; they asked us all a bunch of silly questions and then checked to see if our answers matched. There were three of us couples – us at eight months, another at 42 years, and a third at 3.5 years. They didn’t total up our answers, but I’m pretty sure if they had Wayne and I would have won.  They gave us a swag bag with a t-shirt, a pen, a water bottle, a kid’s pool float and (best of all) a bottle of champagne.

Last but not least was 70s night. They were filming a commercial for Norwegian Cruise Lines so we were taught a dance routine to Staying Alive, and they filmed us dancing it.

We returned to our room to find a note that the glacier float excursion we picked for Juneau had been cancelled due to low river levels. Oops. So now we needed to go pick a new excursion for Tuesday.

Part of our packing strategy, since we were limited in how much we could bring, was to pack enough clothes for half the trip and plan on doing laundry. Well, that day had arrived at this point and it turned out to be a cool $100 to have our laundry done (and there are no self-service laundromats on board). Ouch! Next time we will have to do things differently…

With that costly surprise to end the night, it was time for bed! The ship had been pitching quite a big (for a very large ship, that is) on and off through the day, but by bedtime it was smooth sailing, literally.