March 9 - Sea Day #12

Monday, March 9, 2026

Around 4 am I woke up and noticed lights flashing through the slit in the curtain. I was curious enough that I got up and went outside to see a thunderstorm off in the distance. If it had been just a little warmer I would have stayed outside to watch!

The four of us skipped the buffet and went to the MDR for breakfast at 8:30. The meal ended up taking a very long time but at least we could stay seated and be waited on. Bob and I both ordered the country breakfast special which was two poached eggs on toast, hash, baked beans and a grilled tomato. I also got orange sections which were sweet and delicious. And...lots of coffee. We agreed that since it was nearly 10 am when we finished eating breakfast that we would skip lunch and go to tea time in the afternoon. 

The guys played a little Ping-Pong and then Bob walked on the promenade deck and before going to the talk on jet fighter pilots in the theater at 11:00. I did a little watercolor in the room and then met Michelle for crafts in the Michelangelo Dining Room. The class was very unorganized. We were each given paper and a child's pair of scissors and told "just make a card". Mine ended up looking like a poorly designed kindergarten art project. I'm not sure we will return for any future craft classes.

I doubt most passengers never saw the ping pong tables on the ship. 

Another addition to my watercolor sketch book.

At 1:15, Bob and I met in the Piazza to listen to the Emotions Duo on violin and cello. Even though we had planned to skip lunch we each grabbed a tuna on croissant from the International Cafe while we waited on the music to begin. We also spied Jon getting a snack after his military meet up was over. 😉

John also saw us and took a photo of us listening to the music.

When we did finally make it to tea time, we each had a tiny sandwich and then skipped all of the sweets in favor of the scones. They were warm and so yummy with the cream and jam. Bob declared them the best thing he had eaten on the ship!

The rest of the afternoon was spent getting ready for dinner and sitting on the balcony. It was formal night but after going to tea time, our group ordered much less than usual for dinner...and thus got finished sooner. On nights that the guys ordered 3 appetizers it always takes a long time to get through the meal.

The evening show in the theater was "Stardust", one we had seen on the previous cruise, so we spent the evening in the Explorer's Lounge instead. Bob brought the Yahtzee game which we played while waiting for trivia to begin. The "Super Spy Trivia" was all questions based on 007 movies and we only got 7 out of 20 correct...and those were just lucky guesses. The real reason we were there was to watch the Yes-No Game Show which was pretty funny.

The "Yes-No" game show...such a hilarious form of entertainment!

Round 1 of the tryouts for Voice of the Ocean were held after the game show. Two girls out of the 8 contestants were real standouts. A second night of tryouts will be held before the actual competition at the end of the cruise.

After the changes to our itinerary, we were still trying to decide what to do at our first port of La Paz on Wednesday (a new stop that had just been added when Puerto Vallarta was eliminated). Jon and Michelle signed up for a tour that combined a hike and beach time. I knew I wouldn't be able to do the hike so Bob and I signed up to take the shuttle into the city of La Paz. The ship actually docks in Puerto De Pichilingue which is about 12 miles north of the city. I was a little confused by the timing of the shuttle bus so will have to ask some questions tomorrow.

As we traveled further south, the temperatures continued to get warmer. Stepping out on the balcony just before we went to bed we could see another cruise ship off in the distance.