Day 2: At Sea
The 2005 Caribbean Cruise
Day 2: At Sea
Monday, 19 Sept 05: Since they changed our itinerary, we had our first
full day on the ship instead of being in the Bahamas for the day. The seas
were ROUGH. And I mean they were were ROUGH. This 138,000 ton ship was
being tossed around like a plastic boat in your bathtub with the whirlpool jets
on. Although, I like things like this, Heather was not digging it at all.
Although, she started to get her "sea legs" during the day, she still didn't
feel anywhere near 100% yet. The winds were coming in the Starboard bow at
48-50 mph. Add that to our speed heading into it and that made the winds
on the top deck almost 70 mph. The official wind gauge on the TV said it
was 69 mph relative winds.
Of course, I was out walking and looking around the ship. The main
pool (outside top deck where all the parties happen) was almost empty. The
water was sloshing out from both sides. The Solarium (covered pool where
older folks hang out) was pretty full. But, when you get a area full of old
people that are just sleeping on a bunch of lounge chairs, it looked more like a
morgue than it did a cruise ship pool. We just called it "The Morgue" from
that day on for the rest of the trip. As I walked around, I took pictures
all around the ship. (Listed below) I was getting blown around like
a rag doll in the winds. The waves were breaking so high, you could feel
the spray on our 9th deck balcony. I also went and watched a slots
competition in the Casino. Kinda cool, but didn't hold my interest for too
long.
The Captain came on and gave his daily briefing. One thing he said really
stuck in my mind: In our cars we look for miles per gallon with our gas. He
said, the Mariner gets 17" per 1 gallon of gas. Yes, I said seventeen
inches per gallon. And I thought my Tundra wasn't getting the best in the
world. We were also in an area of the ocean that the depth was 24,000
feet. That was just amazing to me.
The food at dinner was great tonight. Diane, unfortunately, choked on a piece of meat. We
were so busy talking, we all missed it until she coughed it up. Luckily,
nothing but a scare. She was ok. There was a Midnight show with a Comedian. We
were going, but fell asleep and missed him. We heard he ended up not being that
funny anyway. This would be the last good sleep I got on the ship until
our last night on it. That story on the next page...
Pictures from around the ship and various pictures of the sea and sunsets