Through the night seas remain under 10 feet and there is little motion to the ship. Our first sea day is a quiet day. Temperaatures remain in the low 70's. Most of the others play trivia. They are good and win multiple pens and key chains.
By all signs, the ship is relatively quiet. Nothing is crowded. I expected my sinus irritation would be better on the ship, being primarily in the fresh open sea air. I am finding it to be quite the contrary. Whether it is just the older ship or more likely all the sanitizer and cleaners that are used everywhere, I have no idea.
Some tables have been cleaned with so much alcohol based cleaners, so many times, the painted finish is beginning to soften. I am sure something no one ever thought of when procuring cleaning and sanitizing products.
It is time for the top tier party for the Crown and Anchor society. The crowd is sparse, the party very short.
Barbara is the top cruiser with 5500 hundred points. More significantly there are only 12 Pinnacle member and about 75 Diamond and Diamond plus members on the ship. About a third attend the party.
A last minute decision was made to take advantage of a BOGO offer for Chops Grille. The service was painfully slow. The Waitress, though very pleasant was stressed, inefficient, and not properly trained. The final straw was when I asked to put the check on my room card, and was told we can't do that. Consenting to her insistance of individual bills, and haveing them all paid, she then asks Terry for his room card for about the tenth time of the evening because she forgot to charge him for a drink.
Needless to say the manager wasn't much better and never offered to fix any of the problems, but instead offered for us to come back another night at no charge. We have decided that even free, Chops on this voyage of this ship is not worth it. In case you are wondering, over 3 hours for a dinner that should take 1 1/2 or 2 hours is inexcusable,
Our route to Coco Cay takes us straight south of tampa Bay, and then straight east towards the Bahamas.
Weather remains nice and the seas very comfortable. We are the only ship in Coco Cay. It is strange. No one on the pier, No one in the water park. Few at the beaches. As often is the case it was too windy for the helium ballon. Winds are about 25 mph and the air temperature about 72. The young members of the group head to the beach. The senor members walk ashore and take the tram around the island.
We are joined by the Rhapsody of the Seas and the Vision of the Seas, not tied to the pier, but anchored nearby. Passengers, provisions, or something is transferred between the 3 vessels. A lifeboat makes a trip from the Rhapsody to the Vision, and a small boat comes from the Vision to us.
After the transfers are all complete, the Rhapsody heads off to destinations unknown, the Vision remains anchored off Coco Cay as we leave for Nassau at the end of the day. Neither of these two ships are carrying fare paying passengers
So far the headliner entertainers have been pretty good. The magician, Puck, was excellent. the live musicians are good. I am happy to see that Royal is remining with live musicians for the most part, instead of recorded music as some lines are doing.
I learn that our passenger load is about 950, just under 40% of capacity. Last week the ship was closer to 60%. I have no idea what percentage of the normal crew staff in on board, but there has not been the abundance of staff that I have seen on previous cruises this season that are sailing way below capacity.
A short stint at the Schooner Bar, and it is time to call it a day.
Tomorrow we will be in Nassau.