Alaska Bound At Sea

July 2

Our first night we were in open waters and the ship was rocking and rolling all night and during the complete day. We noticed a lot of guests on board were not only having difficulty maneuvering around the ship but we heard many people saying that their family members were sea sick. Thank goodness for the patches that Donna always wears to avoid this malady as she would be feeling motion sickness also.

We explored the rest of this ship and found that it is nice to be on one of the older and smaller ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet. It is very easy to get around and also there are lots of public areas available for sitting, reading and wildlife spotting. We found a nice spot to do all three on the 6^th level and Donna spotted many pods of porpoises following along side the ship as we continued the sea day northbound.

Today began our first lecturing experience of this cruise. Even though we are on our 15^th journey to Alaska it is always exciting to present our shows for the guests.  For this cruise, we had prepared four lectures but when given our schedule for the week, we found that we have only three shows to present. It will be a rare treat to only have to work on three of seven days. On the last cruise, we had nine shows in thirteen days and that began to feel like “work”.

At 1:30, we presented our show which we call “Fire and Ice” explaining the forces that shape the earth with an emphasis on Alaska’s glaciers. Our venue was in the large show lounge, the Broadway Melodies Theater, and we presented to a surprisingly large crowd.  Usually our first show is a smaller group as many of the guests have not gotten the information on where and when to attend the shows and are still trying to find their way round the ship and understand the full daily schedule of events.

Since it was rather cold and rainy outside, we decided to do our daily exercise walking inside so we walked four of the decks on the inside completely around and it was good to be able to unwind and critique our successful presentation as we exercised.

In the early evening, we dressed in formal wear for the Captain’s welcome aboard cocktail party and it was nicely presented. We haven’t personally met the Captain as he was busy taking pictures with the guests and then introducing the senior crew. We hope to get the opportunity to introduce ourselves to him sometime during the seven days.

The large family that were our assigned as table mates were not present at tonight’s formal dinner so we were able to talk to the waiters and learn about their homes and families. After our lovely seafood dinner, we walked around a bit to burn off some of the calories and also to people watch the formally attired guests. We always like to see the other travelers all dressed up and especially enjoy seeing the little children all dolled up in their party clothes on formal nights.

Since we knew that we have to get up early and get ready for our next show right after breakfast, we decided against going dancing and retreated to our stateroom a little earlier than usual, opting to not attend the late stage production show. A day at sea is a busy one for us but one of the pleasurable experiences that we always enjoy since we get to present a show that we have spent so much time preparing.

Tomorrow will be another adventure with a morning lecture and then a day in Juneau. We look forward to seeing a friend in town and meeting the two children that she hopes to soon adopt.