Halloween

Our first Sea Day did not come until the fifth day on board the celebrity Equinox!  This is unusual since I have always had the first day or surely the second day of a sailing to become settled in and acquainted with the ship.  We had left home and spent five nights on the Iberian Peninsula, spent a day to transfer to the ship and three port days before we could relax and catch our breath.

Did I say ‘catch our breath?’  No way.  This was the busiest day at sea that I think I have ever spent and we only had time to fit in one trivia!  We did not set an alarm, that was nice, but we still were up by 7:15.  I think that is because we set the clocks back an hour.  We decided the perfect way to start the shipboard fun was with a nice long soak in the Solarium Spa Hot Tub.  The water felt so good and the nice glassed view of the sea was relaxing.  We then enjoyed a healthy spa breakfast of fresh fruit, yogurt, mini-muffins, and caffeine.

After a shower back in the room, we set out to enjoy the many activities being offered to give everyone a taste of the sea days ahead.  I had time to learn a little of the history of Spain, while Elva attended an art history lesson.  We bumped into each other around the ship but did not spend the whole day in each other’s shadow.  I spent some time on our balcony writing. 

The Galley Tour is always interesting and this was no different.  We met in the Silhouette dining room where the various chefs were introduced.  Almost half, or 620, of the crew work in the food and beverage eservices.  While we waited our turn sipping champagne and Mimosas, Elva decided to go to the art auction instead.  I stayed for the tour and found that the spotless, all stainless kitchen is one of several on the ship that prepares over 12,000 meals a day.  Especially nice on this ship is that all the galleys are at the most aft end of the ship `with the dining venues in front of them.  There are no decks where thru access is blocked necessitating a trip up or down the steps to get around them.

After lunch we met up and went to the Captain’s Club welcome event.  What a party.  A variety of cocktails was being served and tasty tidbits was passed and the waiters and waitresses came by again and again.  I think I had four Cosmos, granted they were light, and a whole can of Coke Light.  I know that I ate a half dozen shrimp and when the desserts came around had a fluffy strawberry thing, a lemon tart, and a chocolate covered cheesecake on a skewer!  I was sorry I had eaten lunch!

We skipped Nikos lecture, he was so bad the first time we decided not to give him a second chance.  Instead we went up to the lawn for the glass blowing demonstration.  We then walked around on the upper decks to get a view of what the ship offers and before we knew it, it was time to dress for dinner.  We sit in the Select Dining and tend to go early so that we can be finished with our meal service in time for the 7:30 pre-show activity.   This is sometimes a trivia, or a game, or a brief talk on a topic of interest such as travel.

Tonight’s main stage show was a comedic juggler.  He was very entertaining.  In one part he involved four of the men in the audience in his tall unicycle act!  The guys were great and really added to the silliness of the whole thing.

After the show, while the late seating diners were finishing up so they could join the party, the Beatles group played in the Centrum.  Everyone was in their Halloween costumes.  Some were quite elaborate.  I joined in the ‘parade’ and won a certificate as the ‘No One Knows What You Came As’ award.  I thought it was quite clear that I was a cereal killer.

It was a fun but tiring day so we were glad to go to bed by 11:00 since on the first is the tour I was leading.