It's a sea day so we have no place to go and no schedule to meet yet we won't be able to get everything done. What?  How can that be?  First of all, we get up late, like 9am. Sure, the laundry guy showed up at 8am with the clothes Karen sent in yesterday for cleaning and pressing. That woke me up but it didn't keep me up. I went back to bed for another hour. Then Karen got up and, of course, being the gentleman that I am, I remain in bed a little longer to allow her to get ready without me getting in her way. That's the kind of guy I am.

So we get up to the Lido for breakfast by 10am. Most people have already eaten so there's no lines and plenty of seats by the windows. We have breakfast, the usual, but because of availability, I add two fried eggs and an English muffin to my fare. But we must hurry since no sooner do we finish breakfast than we need to get dressed up and down to the dining room for a Mariner's Luncheon hosted by Captain Emiel de Vries of the Koningsdam.

It's a nice luncheon and we're seated at the aft window, looking out to where we've been, the wake of the ship painting a ribbon of foam through the blue-green Caribbean. Our table seats eight so we join three other friendly couples from around the US. I had beef brisket, mashed potatoes and root vegetables followed by coconut creme pie. Karen had the same. Did I mention the coconut pie?  We left there around 1:30.  Karen stopped to look at a shirt and purchase a key card holder in the store and we returned to our stateroom by two. While she organized her clothes, I worked on the blog, loaded pictures to the website and sent out Wednesday and Thursday's reports. I purchased 100 minutes of WiFi time for $55 and I've used up about half so far. It's not too slow but urgency is paramount. No surfing or Facebook. The system is too slow for that stuff and it takes forever to download although better on this ship than usual.  I attribute it to the fact that it's a new ship..

Watching the news, it looks like it's raining back at home but the coverage is national so not much detail is offered other than a problem with the Orville Dam. Tonight is a Gala Night meaning formal attire for the main dining room. I am wearing my tux with a lime green vest, very tropical, while Karen wears a black sparkly spaghetti strap dress with gold jacket. Tonight we roll right into the dining room at 6pm and sit with three other couples. We converse about the usual; past cruises, travel experiences and pets, all topics Karen excels at. Her stories get more exciting each time she tells them. She gets the ports, the dates and the events all mixed up which it even more interesting.

Tonight, the chef is featuring "Surf & Turf", otherwise known as lobster and filet. We have that, complimented with escargot, fruit, berry crisp/ice cream and almond cake, all excellent. We say goodbye to our dinner friends and find seating in the World Stage for the show, "Off the Charts", a medley of tunes from the 60s to present day. Not bad. We stop for a few pictures taken by the ship's photographers, still trying to sell those photos. After that, it was back to BB King at 9:30pm for some music and drinks. No "Happy Hour" here tonight and it's killing me! One Tequila Sunrise and one White Russian at full price, $15.  Who's got that kind of money? 

We give it up at 10:45 and head back to the room. I'm having difficulty walking.  No, not because of the drinking but because one of my patent leather shoes is falling apart, the sole now almost completely separated from the shoe itself.  While I made it through tonight, I will need to get it fixed for the next cruise so I'll look for some glue tomorrow.  It will be a day on the beach at Half Moon Cay, a short day at that.