Jan 4th, 2023 Day 2 of 128

Sea Day

And just like that a whole sea day is done.  It never fails to surprise me how fast and how full a day spent on the ship can go by.  After my first night of being slowly rocked to sleep on the MS Zuiderdam I forced myself to have an ealry rise to hit the gym.  Unfortuantely SEVERAL other passengers had the same idea.  The majority of those in attendance were there for the Yoga class, and by 7:30 they had all but cleared out.  Megan and I went to the Pinnacle dining room for our first breakfast on board.  We then went and helped out at the Projet Linus program as this was their first day of introducing the wonderful program to the passengers on board.  Gail and Marty go above and beyond to organize and execute this event every sea day.  We popped up to the Crow’s next for the Cruise Critic’s community meet and greet.  What a fantastic turn out of cruising enthusiats.  I look forward to more events with that group.  A small group of us put together a meet up for Friday for all the bloggers in the group.  There are about a dozen of us.  We also had the wonderful opportunity to touch base with Bonita.  For those of you who followed my last world cruise journey, Bonita is the amazing woman who donates her time on sea days to tutor the children in Math.  In 2020 it was Algebra for Valerie, and now in 2023 it will be Algebra for Megan as well.  Megan and I then headed back to the cabin to change into our bathing suits for a couple of hours of soaking up the sun in the beautiful 80 degree weather as our family back in CA are contending with cool temperatures and torrential rain storms.  We wrapped up our afternoon by heading back to the cabin to complete our rennovations.  Photos have been hung, pillow shams have been added for pops of color and decals have been applied throughout to give our cabin a tropical, hawaiian feel.  (Photo to come at a later date).  At 4:30pm the ship hosted a “block party”.  Everyone was encouraged to step out into the hallway with the empty wine glass to meet our neighbors and those in the cabins around us.  The ship hosted appetizers and wine that were served by staff walking up and down the hallways.  Something new for our memories on board a ship and all in all a really fun time.  We did not particuallarly love our seating for dinner last night and we had heard our waiter from the 2020 WC was onboard so we sought him out this evening.  We were able to reconnect with Regy, and as luck would have it, there was an available table in his section so we now have a table for just the two of us with our dear old friend for the remainder of the cruise.  We actually have a table for four so I hope to host some crew at a future meal.  I love getting to know the crew and learning more about the ins and outs of ship life for them.  It’s educational for Megan as well and we incorporate it into her homeschool cirriculum.  We are back in the cabin early this evening.  Still a little jet lagged, still adjusting to the time difference and looking forward to our first port tomorrow of Falmouth, Jamaica. Adventures ahead for us there but you’ll have to wait to hear about until tomorrow.  Below I have included some photos from our sail away from last night, and a few others from today.  I am blessed to be here living this journey out with so many past passengers, friends and Megan.  I immensely miss those we left back at home in California and I know you are “here” following along with us.  Hugs and sweet dreams from Megan and I both.

Port Webcam of the MS Zuiderdam 1/3/2023.MS Zuiderdam getting stocked up and ready for her adventure. Sunrise from the 9th floor gym aboard the MS Zuiderdam.My dinner escort for the evening.  On tonight’s menu, escargot, filet mignon, and we splurged for a minor upgrade for some lobster tails.