Sea Day - Last Day of First Itinerary

Friday, February 28, 2025

After my bout of tummy troubles the night before, I slept well and woke up feeling 100% normal. (Unfortunately “normal” means a sore knee but that’s another story…) The room service meal I had consumed the night before had not caused any type of repeat symptoms. 

In hindsight, the symptoms were so short-lived I’m not sure that what I had was norovirus…or food poisoning…or something else. I don’t want to get graphic, but I only threw up once and then had one small episode of “D”, nothing compared to the horror stories of norovirus that I have heard. Regardless, the whole ordeal only lasted a few hours and then I was fine. I saw no reason to report anything to the ship’s medical department since I needed no type of care. According to my friend, Google, I could remain contagious for up to two weeks if it had been a case of norovirus so staying in my cabin a day or two more wouldn’t have made a difference. 

Bob and Jon had made plans to play pickleball at 7:30 am so I met up with Michelle at the buffet. It is nice to have a designated table now so we don't have to go hunting for each other...and most of the time "our table" was available. Michelle said they had been awake since before 5:30 am when they were awakened by someone outside working on the lifeboat. I guess that is one more reason the obstructed ocean view cabins are cheaper!

The "Eggs Chesapeake Benedict" was offered today so my breakfast was a crab cake and two poached eggs. I'm not sure what egg prices are now but it seems like the ship is economizing by using small sized eggs. The poached eggs I had were some of the tiniest I have ever seen. Michelle also got a fried egg that was very small.

After eating, Michelle and I went to the promenade deck and worked on our NY Times puzzles. I will continue to do the puzzles once I return home but I will sure miss that sea view while I do! The weather on this cruise continues to be perfect and the seas are the calmest we have ever experienced. The midship location of our cabin might be part of the reason, but we have not been rocked to sleep once!

When Bob texted that he and Jon were at the buffet, Michelle and I went up to join them. Nothing on the schedule was of interest so we came back to our cabin and Bob fell asleep watching a movie. I took the time to do a little "sink laundry" but eventually we will send out a bag to have washed. 

Our room, 4060, an obstructed oceanview cabin.

Our towel animal from last night...

It hadn't been too long since the guys had finished their breakfast when Jon called to remind us the "Cake Me Away" was starting soon in the buffet! (Note from the future:  It felt like our days were planned around food, but Bob and I each lost a couple of pounds on the cruise!)

I resisted the temptation to get some cake and instead got a salad and three pieces of sushi. I'm not really a big fan of sushi and know very little about the different types. What I do know is that I really like wasabi and pickled ginger! I did go a little overboard with the wasabi on one piece and it was so strong it made my eyes water!

We had one round left to finish in our Hand & Foot card game so we went to the Crow's Nest where there are nice tables for cards and games. Jon brought a glass of ice and a bottle of grape pop that he had somehow managed to bring onboard the ship. When he opened the bottle it sprayed everywhere and meant that Jon not only had to get himself cleaned up but also the table and the cards he was holding. 

We had just enough time to finish our game before going down to the Rolling Stones Lounge for "Cocktails with Valerie" (the cruise director) and her guests, the members of Island Magic steel drum band. They had performed two different shows on the cruise and were a huge hit with the passengers. Although we had heard about their background when they were on our Panama Canal cruise in 2018, it was still interesting to hear their history again. They brought along the smaller drum in the band so people could see it up close. What makes their music truly amazing is that none of them can read music! Their shows were standing room only which is a testament to how much people love to hear them play! 

Because of their popularity, they have actually formed two separate groups and have long term contracts with Holland America. One group is on the Eurodam and the other on the Rotterdam for entire winter season while the ships are in the Caribbean.

Julian is the founder and leader of Island Magic.

Each day as we walked from our cabin towards the midship elevators, we walked by three cabins that were numbered differently...UP002, UP004, UP006. (Deck 4 was the Upper Promenade, hence the UP on the cabin number.) I looked at the deck plan but all it showed was a blank space. The same empty space was also located on the starboard side of the ship. During our three weeks on the ship we realized that these were entertainer cabins and it was members of Island Magic that were staying near us! A couple of times we met in the hallway and had a chance to greet them.

Location of entertainers' cabins.

Continuing our lazy sea day routine, Michelle and I wanted to get in a little sun by the pool...and the guys decided to join us. It was partly cloudy but that made the temperatures very pleasant.

I left the pool a little earlier than the rest so I had time to shower before dinner. We had reservations for 5:30 the last few nights which seemed to work out well to get us to the theater in time to get a seats for the evening entertainment. 

We gave Jon a hard time because he ordered FOUR appetizers at dinner! 

Tonight's show was Paul Aldrich who was billed as a guitarist and impersonator. He performed a lot of songs from the 1960's but did so with humor. The show wasn't very well attended, probably because many people were using the last evening of the cruise to pack.

Tomorrow we will be part of a group of about 300 passengers who will be "in transit". That usually means a quick walk off the ship and then right back on, but because of intense cleaning that is to take place we will be off from 9:00 am to at least 2:00 pm. In other words, we will be homeless for a big part of the day. Our plan is that Jon will go get his car from a nearby parking garage and then come pick us up. From there...who knows!