November 6, 2009: Oranjestad, Aruba
	November 4, 2009: Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos
	Return to the Index for Our Panama Canal Cruise

Today is the first of six "sea days" on this cruise. A "sea day" is simply a day without a stop in a port. I think that if cruise lines really wanted to, they could eliminate sea days (except going across the ocean, of course). The Caribbean is cluttered enough with islands that stops are always available. For example, on this cruise we could have stopped in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and eliminated the sea day. But it might be that ports cost money, or that a particular stretch of open sea to cover might mean that time in port would have to be too short to do excursions or even much touring or shopping.

Whatever the reason, sea days are relaxing for passengers and crew alike. For the passengers, they don't have to be concerned about making their excursions on time or just getting on and off the ship. (Although there are folks who rarely get off the ship in any event.) They can just take advantage of ship activities during the day, meet with friends, have more leisurely meals, sleep late, or whatever. I, myself, find them very relaxing. For the crew, of course, all the activities involved with docking, getting passengers on and off the ship and such can be skipped, and I am sure this makes it easier for them as well.

On this, our first sea day, we slept late and had a leisurely breakfast. Then we played bridge with Paul, Chet and Greg. We met some new friends, Steve Riggs and Gary Thurman, and Fred learned how to play RummiKub. We had a nice lunch. We explored the ship. We took in a movie and worked out in the Fitness Center. We ate with the other guys in the dining room.

We took in the show in the Vista Lounge- the violinist Hanna Starosta. And we ended the evening by joining Greg and his team in the Piano Bar for a Name That Tune session where all the songs had something to do with water or beaches. It was a good deal of fun watching the team try to come up with the answers.

We didn't take many pictures today (we usually don't on sea days).

Here is the Daily Program billing for Ms. Starosta:

"Hanna is a graduate of the Conservatory of Music in Lodz, Poland and a former student of David Oistrakh in Russia. She is a gold Medal winner at the prestigious Herbert von Karajan music competition in Berlin, Germany. Hanna is a charismatic entertainer with a dazzling technique and phenomenal versatility."

Fred and I really enjoyed Hanna Starosta's performance. A classical violinist, she didn't limit herself to classical pieces, which wouldn't have been appropriate for this venue and this audience anyway. Mixed in with the light classical selections were popular tunes from movies and musicals. She described the selections in heavily-accented but pleasant English.

She wasn't in the same vein as the violinists we've seen with the Dallas Symphony; we enjoyed her performance a great deal.

Docking in Oranjestad will be early, and I hope to get up early enough to be on deck as the ship comes in.

You can use the links below to continue to the album page for different day.

	November 6, 2009: Oranjestad, Aruba
	November 4, 2009: Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos
	Return to the Index for Our Panama Canal Cruise