The first two days on board are sea days so lots of time to relax. At 10 am on the first day.... Feb 14th... We went up to the Observation Lounge for the Cruise Critic gift exchange, we'd brought an Aussie bag with a whole lot of bits and pieces, stubby holder, key ring, an Australian flag BBQ apron etc, we got Lena's gift, an Arkansas lanyard and mug... Rodd has his new key lanyard now so we will think of Lena and Dan every day as we work! The couple that got our gift loved it and gave me a gorgeous pair of handmade earrings as a special thank you. After the gift exchange was the official Cruise Critic meet and greet where the ships officers come to be introduced to us and also Ann had a list of all the roll call members so as she read out names we could put faces to all those people we'd been chatting with for the last year. I had signed up for the Martini tasting at 4pm so we made our way to the Windjammer bar before 4 and sat with Kevin and Brenda for awhile chatting then when the tasting was starting Rodd took himself off ... Who knows where.. While I sat with Kevin and Brenda and proceeded to sample 6 different martinis, yep 6...although they were only about half sized glasses they were pretty potent and as the tasting went on the group got louder and happier! I had told Rodd I'd meet him at progressive trivia at 5pm (the last cruise we had also done this and it was a lot of fun) but it was about 5.30 by the time the martinis were all gone and I popped back to the cabin to get changed then made my way up to the Observation Lounge where trivia is held. The trivia was all finished but the gang were still up there chatting away so we sat for awhile and then I went with Lena, Dan, Karen and Ken to Lena and Dans cabin for a drink while Rodd stayed chatting to Laura... We agreed to meet at Il Adagio for our 7.30 reservation Valentines dinner... I arrived right on time and Rodd wasn't too far behind, he had a bit of trouble locating the restaurant, it is a little hidden away, took me ages the day before to find it. Dinner there was lovely although I have to say the service was a little slower than we've found generally around the ship. This is one of the specialty restaurants and as we have never been in one of the specialty restaurants in our past 2 cruises we thought what with it being valentines day it might be nice to try one. We paid $10 per person and you can order as much off the menu as you like so it really is a great way to do a spot of fine dining without the exorbitant prices you'd normally pay. After a lovely dinner we headed off... Not too sure exactly what we did and everywhere we went but we ended up in Dazzles nightclub where I danced the night away with Heather and Tim and several other people. I know I danced with Richard, the cruise director and Patrick the assistant cruise director... It was rather a late night, around 3 ish I believe before we made it to bed, Rodd unfortunately had to sit on the sidelines and watch us all dancing the night away as his foot is still swollen. You would think since I was up dancing (and drinking) all night that I would have a good sleep in but that was not going to happen, We were up at breakfast by about 9am and then decided to hang by the pool for awhile. Naturally all the seasoned cruisers were up at some ungodly hour to put their towels on the pool loungers and then they disappear for hours on end leaving their towels comfortably minding their spot while the rest of us have to perch on chairs or stools. To say I was not impressed by this behaviour is an understatement, I would sit there fuming and watching the clock to see just how long these chairs were left empty... Yes I was tired and slightly hungover (although I did drink copious amounts of water along with the copious amounts of alcohol) so was a tad irritable... Rodd managed to persuade me to "get over it" and I made myself as comfortable as I could on three chairs and settled down to try to keep up with the blog writing. We managed to find an empty hot tub at one stage so jumped in.. I couldn't stay in too long though cos they have them so hot I was cooked in about 5 mins... and then I did a few laps of the pool, that was so nice and refreshing after the heat of the hot tub. After a bit I needed to get some lunch and then it was time for me to have a nanny nap... I just couldn't keep my eyes open. Rodd whiled away the time at the casino and before I knew it it was time to get up and get up to the Observation Lounge for Trivia. All the gang were heading to Moderno for dinner tonight so we decided to join them.. this is a Brazilian grill so meat, meat and lots more meat but I had a serving from the divine salad bar and then when I told the server I don't eat meat she organised a lovely vegetable stack with a bernaise sauce so I was very well looked after. This restaurant has a $20 cover charge and once again definitely well worth it. After the main they served 3 desserts for the table to share and the most amazing grilled pineapple with a glazed cinnamon coating, so good! We had lots of fun at dinner, Rodd was in fine form and when the photographer came around he put on quite the show. From dinner we went straight to bed... Aruba tomorrow so we want to be fresh and ready early.