DFR Travels: A typical day on board...

Sunday, December 29. Drizzle.

When we get on board and underway next Saturday, things will be somewhat hectic as we try to settle in on our new life on the ship. My blog will likely be more on what is happening on a particular day, so I thought that I might give some insight into what options there may be on a typical day at sea, in other words, for 69 days of the cruise.

To start the day, we often call for tea and coffee to our cabin around 6:30.

Around 8:00 we may wander up to the Conservatory, a large eating area, buffet style, surrounded by floor to ceiling windows. We usually end up eating a healthy breakfast, oatmeal, eggs, etc., although on some days we may have a bit of bacon. There we will likely be with friends and get the day sorted. We may then have a few laps of the deck to keep the blood flowing. Fellette may then go to Choir Practice or Bible Study and I may go to a lecture on some interesting subject, or if they have it, Tai-Chi classes.

On occasions Fellette and I may go for an early morning dip around seven, prior to breakfast. Sometimes the pool is shut if it is moving too much, but it is nice to be in the pool floating on your back and see the sun come up and even the moon above, amidst the rigging with all the flags fluttering.

I may get a chance to do some work on my pictures, start the blog, read, or have a nap. Remember the objective is to relax and have a good time, we do our work the rest of the year at home. I have taken some DVD's of lectures by professors on some of my favourite subjects.

Fellette will find a scrabble partner, although Gail, our travelling companion is an excellent player and they may get together.

Lunch is usually with friends, often in the conservatory but once in a while in the dining room. The dining room service is slower and does not have the range if you are interested in making your own little salad, etc. The downside of the buffet is that there seems to be a bit of a scramble as we usually all eat around the same time! One gets a bit tired of doing a dance with your tray around the serving counters.

After lunch, more of the same, with some variety, maybe a Port Lecturer, or a dance class, bridge is always an option although bridge players seem to be obsessive and will likely be the last off the ship if we ever had to abandon ship.

Of course for the shoppers in the crowd there is always the shops to browse in, or the casino.

We are on 'Early Dinner Seating' which has it's pros and cons. Getting dressed for dinner is a time that we really enjoy. That is when I shave and shower have a pre-dinner drink and spend some time with Fellette, catch up on the day's happenings and appreciating where we are and what we are experiencing. We are sitting at different tables than Moe or Jim and Gail so that we all have an opportunity to meet and experience different people. If we five sat at one table we would not get much of a chance to meet fellow travellers. We will have many dinners together though when some people eat in alternative dining rooms and we can bring visitors to our various tables.

The night-time entertainment starts after dinner and runs for an hour. I often do not go but spend time in the cabin, alone, with my books, DVD's, photos etc. Jim and Gail with Fellette and Moe will likely take in almost every show.

There are also movies during the morning, afternoon and evening as well.

During the day of course, the Pool Deck is always an option, sunning, napping, reading and dipping to cool off. They have a snack bar up there and on occasions we grab a delicious made-to-order burger for lunch.

An over-indulgence of food is of great concern, seriously. It takes great discipline to balance your food intake with your expenditure of calories and they really make it difficult with the variety and presentation of absolutely delicious looking foods.

To give you an idea of where my time goes during the day, the foregoing ramble took me about an hour to do.