2/15. fun day at Sea




Day 2. Fun day at sea.

Background music: "Havana Dayreamin'" by Jimmy Buffett

We got up this morning at headed up to the Lido deck. Found a great table at Rosie’s, a window seat on the port side of the ship. We were able to see Cuba in the distance! About as close as most Americans can ever get to the island of Jose Marti, I suppose. Nice breakfast – the hash browns and bacon were terrific. Then we went to the cruise director’s talk. It’s been a long time since we‘ve been on a cruise and we needed to find out how the shore excursions work.



Next was a round of super trivia in the Winston Cigar Bar. (I am not a smoker, i dislike the smell of smoke. During the day the cigar bar smelled faintly of smoke. In the evening, the smell was overwhelming -- one musician playing in the bar actually wore a face mask to filter the air.) the pirate king and I love trivia games, and our firends never let us play on the same team. but this time....I knew a lot of the answers – to other people’s questions. Ah, well. Wanted to stay for Scattergories, but no one else showed up to play.



song of the day: "Macho Man" by the Village People.



Did some more exploring, and then made our way to the Lido deck for the hairy chest contest. The pirate king participated, and I have the blackmail photos to prove it! Carnival videotaped the event, of course, and reran in on thipboard TV ad nauseum. Throughout the cruise the pirate king was recongnized and we chatted with lots of nice people because of it.



Got our lunch from the deli -- corned beef and pastrami sandwiches -- and ate it while sitting on deck chairs on the veranda. This is what “doing nothing” feels like. It was too cold to swim, though, so we had to find other ways to amuse ourselves. Went to the art auction next, loved the paintings but chose not to stay very long. Walked around some more, wound up listening to a guitar player named George in one of the lounges. Then back to the room to prepafre for elegant night.





Background music: "Copacabana" by Barry Manilow.



Tonight’s show was Nightclub Express, a singng and dancing extravaganza featuring the Carnival dancers and a Disneyesque talking sofa. Then it was on to dinner. Our travel agent sent us a bottle of spumante and we drank it with our lobster tails. Lesson for the day…it’s scary on the sun deck on a windy, starless night, especially after you’ve had half a bottle of spumante and you’fre wearing 3 inch heels….but as I am here to tell the tale, obviously my fears came to nothing.