Cruisecation: Day Three

I told you it would be food-photo-heavy.  For breakfastses we ate at an enormous buffet called the Windjammer Cafe but which we referred to alternately as The Wingaling and The Trough.  Breakfasts were similarly delicious, ranging from oatmeal with add-ins to waffles with pile-ons.  There was always some sort of fried potato bit

and as much as it felt like a waste to be eating tots when there were shrimp omelettes lying untouched, they were the best tots of all tots.  I miss you, tots.

We spent our first full cruising day lying pool-side and pool-in

drinking fruited beverages brought to us by the sippy-sippy dudes.

And ok, your room card not only gets you into your room, it is your charge card for things such as pool-side drinks (and exorbitantly-priced sunscreen for mid-week when your bottle runs out), as well as your ticket into free events requiring reservation like all the shows.  Did I mention that I lost my room card within five minutes of being on ship?  And that they make it idiot-proof, because when any vendor swipes your card they get an image of your face on their screen so even if you lose your card, only someone who looks eerily like you would be able to charge things to it, and only until you realized it was missing and wandered down to Guest Services to get a new one issued, at which point the old one is nullified.  Also, they are very jolly about it, because this happens all the time.

Where was I?  Oh yes.  One can only spend so much of one's day lounging in the sun, especially when one is pasty-colored.

So we played mini-golf, because YOU CAN DO THAT ON THIS BOAT.

Some hooligan nine-year-old hit me in the shin with a ball, but Joel gave him what-for.  Where are these kids' parents?  Probably drunk by the pool.  Anywert.  Joel also tried out the wavejammermathing...the faux-wave where you could boogie board (there was also one for surfing).

The rest of us were too wilty or ambivalent or pregnant to try.

For formal dinner I wore the zebra-print dress Joel bought me for my birthday

and had escargots

and a papaya and pineapple soup

and roasted duck with cranberry cabbage

which I resorted to eating with my hands, because knives and bones are difficult

and a double strawberry cheesecake with a chocolate souffle on the side.

And then we cottoned on to the late-night swim (about two days before the rest of the boat did) and went prowling for late-night eatables (there's a sandwiches-and-cakes place open all night, and a pizza joint open until 3) and took our tired selfs to bed.  Lying by the pool will wear you out.