February 7, 2010

• Watery Places

  One of the delights on going on a cruise or a vacation like this is the thrill of being able to say, “Why, yes, we did sit around the pool in January!” And then all those friends buried under snow, winter coats, and high heating bills sigh a little in jealous, which sort of makes the rocking boat worthwhile.  Peep and I did have this bragging right, although, I must say, it was not my sort of swimming weather–mid 70′s The pool was out in the open, and in this shot of the crowd voting on the Best Belly Flop contest, it is to the left. It wasn’t a very large pool.

  

  Here’s another shot of it.

  

  It wasn’t a very large pool, but it wasn’t very crowded. It was surrounded by deck chairs, two hot tubs, and an occasional live Caribbean band!

  

  I had to take advantage of the atmosphere–in my cardigan while shivering. Still. How could I not?

  

  Every afternoon on the pool deck, in addition to the band, they had soft serve ice cream. It was well worth the walk up nine flights of stairs. NINE FLIGHT of STAIRS.

  

  Now, let me give you a bit of direction on Deck 9. If you start at the front of the ship and head to the back, first you will come to the Windjammer, which is where we ate a lot (more on the food later). You would go through some glass doors and be on the outside pool deck. If you would cross the deck and go through another set of glass doors, you’d be in my favorite part of the ship (other than my cozy bed): The Solarium.

  It was always neat to walk into this glass-roofed room. (Apparently, the roof can be retracted on hot days. It stayed closed for our cruise!)  There would be the loud, cheerful noises of the pool deck: people talking and laughing and the band playing, then, once the Solarium doors shut, BAM. Silence. Peace. No cold wind. Just warm, soothing happy.

  

  The Solarium had a shallow pool flanked by two hot tubs. Peep and I enjoyed one of them until a rather large fellow got in and accidentally (we hope) bumped Peep and said, “Oh, sorry. Hot tubs are a contact sport.” Since we didn’t quite buy into that creepy philosophy, we got out!

  

  The room was decorated in blue and green tiles and looked like a Roman bath. It had tables flanking the edges which looked out over the ocean. It was filled with all sorts of potted plants.

  

  

  

  The Solarium was also one of the few places on the ship where I could get an internet connection. I didn’t tell you about the internet, did I? 55 cents a minute. Yes, a MINUTE! And do you know what is worse? I actually paid for it! (Well, I prepaid for a package and got it for 47 cents a minute.)

  

  Also in the Solarium was a free snack bar which was open all afternoon. Got a craving for pizza (yes, a few times) or a burger or fries or fruit or a cookie (um, yeah!)–the Solarium was the place for you.  It was also a good place to play cards as if we had played by the pool, they would have blown away!

  

  Here is a view of the Solarium at night. Sigh. So pretty.

  

       
  Next time, we’ll talk about food and random bits of sporting fun!

  

  • 6:34 pm
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