Thursday, October 22 - Still at Sea

 Another great sea day.  Lots of socializing, including chatting with a guy last night from London who visits Orlando every year for a month or so.  

I feel like I've been on a teeter totter - I started with my butt on the ground and as I traveled from Orlando to Bogota to Barcelona and the ship, my butt went up in the air.  Now that I've only got 2 more days, I'm starting to think of home, my calendar next week and as I do, my butt is heading back to the ground.

I remember my first cruises.  I lived in Detroit and was happy to do a 7 day Caribbean cruise.  As it came to a close I went home to work and snow.  Now, I go back to a wonderful retirement life and great weather.  I am so grateful to be as happy as home as on a vacation.

Photos!

It was rough the night before but I woke up to smooth seas.  Then this beautiful sky.

Every day as I waited in line for my decaf cappuccino (I'm going to miss those) I gazed longingly at these mini-loaves of banana chocolate chip bread.  I've been resisting but was weak and got one.  I'm on vacation!  It is covered in confectioner's sugar and what looked like a streusel topping but there were no chocolate chips and TBH, not much flavor.  I tossed most of it.  Not worth the calories.  

Great fishing-spotting seas but I just saw a few flying fish.

Still calm and beautiful as the wind started to ruffle the water.  So many shades of blue.

I've apparently been on the hammock too long.  I've turned into Lizard Woman!  The skin on my calf.  I laughed so hard when I saw this.  Then I was horrified when I realized that I wore a dress the other day after sitting in the hammock and this is how my calves looked as I went to get my coffee.

My photos rotate through the device I have on my kitchen counter.  I want to have lots of ocean photos randomly showing up every day.

Like a lake.

Have I mentioned that Hammock Time is my favorite part of the cruise?

I suggested that John and Michelle and I meet at the comfy couches outside the Pizza Place.  I didn't expect them to be covered until noon.  Happily there were nearby tables.

My tasty NA cocktail in Pink Agave.  Nancy 1 and Bill were kind enough to include me in their reservation.

Our table was next to a giant porthole.

I love their guacamole and really do think the pomegranate seeds add a nice burst of sweetness and crunch.

I went for the steak - which looks a mess here.  And, I'm not usually into a bunch of sauce and stuff on my steak but this was really tasty.  A thin rib-eye steak, cooked to medium with Oaxaca cheese and Chile ancho.  Not at all spicy but very flavorful.  Than ancho saucce was excellent.  I could only eat half the steak.

Dessert was chocolate tacos with dulce de leche.

Nancy 1 wasn't interested in dessert but ordered the chocolate tamal so I could try it.  I loved the dark chocolate but the masa was a taste/texture I didn't care for in a dessert.  Not awful but I wouldn't order it again.

The dulce de leche wasn't what I expected.  Sort of a mousse with gelatin is my guess, flavored (mildly) with the dulce de leche and another version flavored with chocolate inside two chocolate wafer cookies to make a taco.  I ate a bit but like the banana bread - ok but not worth the calories.

It was Scarlet Night.  Everyone is encouraged to wear scarlet.  I brought a red blouse but couldn't find it.  I'm sure I'll find it when I unpack at home.  Anyway - decorations around the ship, people in a party mood and shots of some sort being offered in the bars.  It was the first time I've been offered a drink in a table in a bar on board.  

This is what Virgin is really good at.  They can throw a party.  The whole ship feels like a themed house party and everyone seemed into it.  People watching was fabulous.

Unlike a lot of cruise lines, Virgin doesn't have photographers trying to take your photo so they can sell it back to you, which I like.  They did set up this sequin backdrop so people could take Insta-worthy portraits.

These giant inflatable fish appeared in the Social Club.

Did I mention people got into the Scarlet Night theme?

I skipped the party and ran into this gentleman from Scotland with the great t-shirt.  He was chuckling because when the elevator opened to let me on, another Scotsman in a red kilt was walking by.  I've met a number of people onboard from Scotland.  The passengers are primarily American but there's a lot of diversity which makes random conversations more interesting, to me.

When Virgin does a theme, they don't play.  Scarlet lights in the hallways.

And, on the balcony, where it was too windy for the hammock.  And, WAY too noisy.  This was the first night in 2 cruises that I was annoyed by the sound of loud bass in my cabin coming from the other end of the ship, two decks above.  During the day when they have a DJ at the pool I can faintly hear the bass on the balcony but not in my cabin.  Loud, crowded places are my least favorite so while I would have enjoyed the people watching and professional dancers at the party, it was a hard no for me.  I was happy when the music in my cabin stopped around 11.

Wednesday, October 14 - At Sea

 Yesterday was relaxing.  I enjoyed watching boats come in and out from my balcony and did my nails.  Dinner was a shared table at Gunbae, the Korean restaurant on board, with Rayann and Jack and Nancy and Tom (?) where we had great food and interesting conversation.  They invited me to join them for some live music after dinner and I went but once there decided it was too loud and crowded for me so I headed back...to my balcony. At 8:30 p.m.  Many of the evening events on Virgin don't start until 10 p.m.

Today was my favorite - a sea day.  I'm glad I sprang for the premium WIFI which let me have a video call to wish a friend happy birthday.  If you need to work from the ship, you'll need to upgrade to the top level, though.  

My biggest accomplishment of the day was mid-afternoon when I was starving but didn't want to spoil my dinner.  I wandered through the Galley and ignored the delicious looking deserts and got a plate of fruit.  Now I'm finding my halo annoying so will have to go back for an extra dessert after dinner.  On the bright side, it's mid-afternoon and I've already gotten my steps in.

Photos!

My hotel in Bogota had a cool feature I've never seen before - a small tab on the toilet lid so you didn't have to stick your fingers between the lid and the seat.  Why don't all toilets have that?  Toilets on ships are similar to plane toilets - you must close the lid to flush.

The folks next door are celebrating!

Virgin has a cool lighting system - notice the red lights by these doors?  You can set like this, for privacy, or set to ask to have your cabin cleaned.  Handy.

See the wall sticking out?  That's where the larger cabins start.  I have the "regular" size, which is great for one.  Fine for two.  I do miss the love seat by the window on HAL.

THIS IS NOT A BUFFET!  Well, that's what Virgin says.  Lots of breakfast options.

Notice the French Toast Burger on the right.

HUGE!

And, if I was 20 years younger and had a hangover, it would be the perfect choice.

Breakfast view.  

The weather has been mostly sunny and mid-70's.

I splurged and went for muesli this morning.

Before 9 a.m. and after 6 p.m. seem to be quiet times on the deck behind the Galley.

My happy spot.

Mr. Kindle seems happy to be back out on the hammock.  BTW, I'm reading a great book called "Cutting For Stone".  Highly recommend.  And the good part - it's REALLY long, so I've been enjoying it since my first flight last week.

There is almost always a line at each of the two coffee places.

I met a young couple, M&M (Happy Anniversary!) and we were discussing food and travels.  They highly recommended this small restaurant in London.  Coincidentally, I'll be in London next April so hope to try it.

And, once again, I hit the karoke room.  Such fun!

The magic show ran late yesterday so I missed Bingo with the Diva but this is the main theater, where that and some other shows are held.  It is not huge, which creates the lines to get in to every show.

I love coming back to a clean cabin.  With atmosphere!

The Galley was packed so I got the roasted veg salad for the balcony for lunch.

The magic show was terrific.

Not my thing, but these folks seemed very happy sitting in something akin to a kiddie pool, enjoying beverages.

I'd more likely be at the bar, enjoying the shade.

Care to check out the horizon?  And more "interesting" seating.

"I've always dreamed of a metal daybed" said no one.  Ever.  Seriously, if lounging on a metal daybed appeals to you, why?

The chess and metal daybeds are on deck 16.

Along with "the net" where you can look down at the decks below.

There are several hot tubs near the small pools.

I do want to swing on one of these.  But I'm trying to decide - would it be better when there's no one around to see me when I fall off or wait until there are witnesses to help me up after I break a hip?  I promise photos from a sea day of me swinging.  Aletha, I'm carrying on our tradition!

One guy was so pumped up while waiting his turn for pickleball, he was doing cardio.  I appreciate the enthusiasm.

Does Branson have stock in a daybed business?  Anybody besides me prefer loungers so you can sit up to enjoy the view?  

It is highly unlikely you'll see photos of me working out on these.  BTW, they get hot in the sun, which I guess would make you want to do the sit-ups really fast.

Uhm, could someone help me interpret the first line of this sign.  "You CAN'T!  Unless you can."

My mid-afternoon snack.  The fruit was perfectly ripe and sweet.

One of the dinner options - a variety of pinchos.

I was hoping to get a helicopter ride but it looks like I'm saving a bunch of money.  I do love helicopters.

Dinner with a view.  A very average room temp burger and fries.  The view made up for the food.

When you're dining at sea, while watching the sunset, the food is the least important thing.

Especially when you know you're going to splurge on dessert.  The red one is the Scarlet Lady - chocolate mousse on a thin chocolate cookie, topped with a red berry gel.  Tasty.  Even tastier was this hazelnut macaron.  Absolutely perfect.

Just me and a couple others enjoying the nice weather and beautiful sunset.  BTW, sunset was after 7 pm.

I know a couple who sailed their 40' boat around the world.  Nope.  I've been at sea when waves were hitting the windows on the 15th floor.  The idea of being in a small boat during that kind of huge storm terrifies me.