The full first day at sea (Monday March 7 in our case) was a special one on the POESIA. The "Animation" staff want eveyone to learn about all the activities on board - from stretching & aerobics classes, to bingo and dance lessons. We attended a session about the excursions available at each of the 3 ports of call in the Caribbean later this week. In the evening, the dinner attire was "formal" and was followed bya "Gala" event to meet the captain and his officers.
Ann & I went to one of the restaurants for lunch and were seated with 2 brothers - one was a Catholic priest with a group. Also joining us was another couple from Kitchener Ontario who have taken 15 cruises, so during lunch we learned from them more tips about how to find deals on cruises. After lunch, we relaxed for a while, then I went to the gym where I found all the upright stationary bikes were in use. So, instead, I warmed up on a recumbent bike and was surprised that it stopped after 20 minutes. That's when I noticed that the maximum time of use has been reduced from 30 minutes on last year's cruise.
We arrived at our dinner table dressed for the formal dinner and met a new couple who had been assigned to our table. Brian & Mary live on the island of Jersey and this is their first MSC cruise. As mentioned earlier, Tom & Marjorie also are seated at our table, so we are the only non-Brits! Dinner was excellent; after dinner, we passed up the opportunity to stand in line to meet the captain and, instead, headed for a bar for some capaccino and people watching. Later we took in the show in the theatre which featured music & dance from the US.
Today, Tuesday, we enjoyed our continental breakfast on our balcony while soaking in the warm ocean air and looking out over the sunny Caribbean water. The ship had passed by the Turks & Cacos Islands overnight and during the day today, we continued on a ESE (heading 120 degrees) north of Hispaniola (Haiti & Dominican Republic) on our way to Puerto Rico. The weather was fine all day and we spent quite a bit of time on our little balcony, mostly shaded from the sun. We went to a dining room for lunch and met two women from Ontario and a retired German couple who live in Alicante, Spain. We had pre-ordered a bottle of champagne and chocolate-coated strawberries, and decided to enjoy that this afternoon on our balcony.
I was bothered by a stiff neck all day because the fitness centre doesn't have the equipment I need to support my arms when doing curls. I did them anyway yesterday, and have strained my neck. Taking Tylenol was helping very much, so Ann suggested I try an Oriental neck & head massage in the Spa. I didn't need persuading and they were able to take me as soon as I caled at 3pm. I felt much better afterwards and was pain-free within two hours. I won't be doing unsupported curls again on this cruise!
We are scheduled to dock in San Juan at 7am on Wednesday, where we will be taking an excursion to El Yunque Rainforest. I'll report that tomorrow, along with any other comments I may have on Puerto Rico.
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