Panama Canal Cruise 2013:
Day 2 - At Sea
Day 2 - At Sea
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Saturday, January 19, 2013: We spent our first day at sea sailing past Cuba, including these barrier islands early in the day. |
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There was rarely much of a wait for the omelette station, so we started our day with omelettes with our breakfast. Debbie was happy to have her usual cruise ship breakfast staples of smoked salmon, pineapple, and muesli (topped with raspberries this morning). |
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We took advantage of the sun on our deck while having some refreshing Diet Cokes. We got good at purchasing two cans at a time (at $2 each), then sharing one and chilling the other for later. |
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We followed Holland America's Statendam all day. For the most part, rain clouds stayed away from us, except for a brief late morning shower. |
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We kept the onboard navigation channel on pretty much all day, so we could see where we were and where we were headed. |
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Afternoon brought clear skies and ... |
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... a shorter distance between us and our little friend. |
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Our butler was scheduled to bring us tea every day around 3:30, but he showed up on the first day around 4:15, and even later the next day. However, we got to fill a couple of plates with tiny sandwiches and desserts and cookies and have tea like civilized people. |
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We're so civilized that we spent entirely too many hours playing various versions of Angry Birds (Tom: Angry Birds Star Wars, Debbie: Angry Birds Seasons). |
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Canapes showed up at 5:15, which would be a problem if we were still at the 5:30 seating, but instead, it helped keep us from starving until our 8:00 seating time. |
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This still life is titled, "Man Contemplating the Caribbean." |
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We wondered what phase of the moon we were in, but with only one data point, this moon seen here, we couldn't tell if it was waxing or waning. The next night we could tell it was waxing, so we knew we'd have a full moon to look forward to sometime during the cruise. |
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Here's the view looking toward the front of the boat. The last barrier is new, marking the additional Sky Suite and deck that had been added since our last visit 10 years earlier. |
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We watched a beautiful sunset over Cuba. |
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The Martini Bar advertised a martini sampler for $15, so we got ourselves prettied up for formal night and hit the bar before dinner. |
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The sampler consisted of a classic vodka martini, apple martini, fresca martini, peartini, raspberry lemonade martini, and sunset martini (citron vodka, coconut rum, pineapple, grenadine). With regular martinis priced at $10 each, the sampler at $15 was a bargain. |
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With the exception of the classic martini in the back left, they all tasted like adult kool-aid, with Debbie claiming the peartini as her favorite, and Tom liking the fresca martini made with watermelon and lime. The sunset martini (citron vodka, coconut rum, pineapple, grenadine) was also very good. |
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We were just a little hammered when we were done. |
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Fortunately, all we had to do was walk to the beautiful main dining room from there. |
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We got our table for two, where we were served by a pair of Serbian gentlemen, Dimitrije and Marko. Bread was served with whipped cream cheese, hummus, and butter each night, and we really enjoyed all three options. |
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We foolishly ordered the very foo-foo Celebrity drink of the day, and we're pretty sure that other diners pointed and laughed, but it sure went down easy. Plus, when we look this good, who cares? |
Copyright © Deborah Schilling/Thomas Bundy