Cruising – Nov 2nd

Happy Birthday to me!

This was a sea day with no ports of call as we made our way to Montego Bay and our visit to Jamaica. It was also a formal-dress day for dinner.

I have to mention the night sky that we saw from the veranda last night. There were layers upon layers of stars with a visible milky way. This is the fall sky that I am most familiar with because I got my astronomy merit badge in boy scouts reading the late summer constellations and stars. My old friend Cassiopeia and later Orion were bright and clear not to mention the northern cross.

I got up in time to catch the sunrise that, while not spectacular was interesting. I enjoyed taking pictures on the boat before most people were up.

Penny and I went to  a free digital photography class that actually taught me something about the features and settings on my camera that I didn’t know.
Cruises are synonymous with eating and I already had been eating my share. But this day was a day I would not go hungry. For lunch Kathy and Joe treated us to a 5-star meal. I had fillet mignon.

Kathy got a kick out of the way her cucumber was sliced.

I got a mousse birthday cake.

This was also the day we had a wine tasting scheduled. It was actually quite fun and interesting. Instead of telling us what we were supposed to sense (see, taste, smell and feel) the expert asked us and then led the responses down the correct path. We tasted 2 reds and 2 whites.

I also joined Kathy in the pool and hot tub.

Penny and I then dressed for dinner and headed off to eat some more. I got another birthday cake at dinner but had no room to eat it so I brought it back to our rooom-where I found a plate of 6 chocolate covered strawberries as a special gift from the cruise line.

After dinner we went to a great show in the theater and then went up to crow’s nest lounge to dance through the decades. Each time the DJ plunged into a new decade of music we had a new year’s countdown and Penny and I would share a new year’s kiss.

Our twisting was good enough to be selected as 1 of 4 couples that danced a twist-off rated by the drunken crowd’s applause. We didn’t win but we did get Holland American pins.

When we returned to the cabin we found a towel butterfly on the bed. Each night of the cruise we would find a different animal.