I think everyone on Quantum of the Seas woke up this morning with one thing on their mind: the storm.
Since late yesterday, the Captain indicated we would run into a low pressure system that will bring with it high winds and rough seas. Today, the news was more of the same and the worst of the storm would begin around 8pm tonight and last until some point tomorrow morning.
I slept in today until about 9:30 and slowly made my way out of the room, managing to lock myself out of my stateroom again. Thankfully my stateroom attendent (Peter) is usually around the hallway somewhere and was able to let me back in.
My first stop this morning was the pool deck to get some fresh air. I was feeling a little sleepy still and just enough energy to get upstairs and enjoy the sun.
Despite the impending storm, it was a sunny day outside.
After a little fun in the sun, I went downstairs to record a live podcast episode with some of the folks in our group. It was a fun discussion of our time onboard and you can look for that episode (and others I've recorded while onboard) to come out in the coming weeks.
I have to say, the people I've cruised with this week have been so much fun to hang out with. It's been great having friends everywhere I go around the ship!
Right around this time the Captain made another announcement about the weather. He said we could expect swells up to 30 feet and the storm to begin at 8pm, be at its worst around 2pm and by 2pm tomorow it should be much smoother.
We've been re-assured many times not to worry and to take things easy and use the handrails where possible to brace yourself. For the crew, this isn't a big deal but I think us passengers are a little worried.
After the podcast recording I grabbed a quick lunch from Two70. I had to get more of those wonderful roast beef sandwiches!
I took my lunch back into Two70 for the Captain's Corner. This is a wonderful impromptu Q&A session with the captain, cruise director, head engineer, head of food and beverage and more.
The questions asked where all over the place, although many of the initial questions were about the storm. The captain indicated this ship can easily handle a category 3 hurricane and something like what we will run into is not a big deal.
I really enjoyed the insight into the operations of the ship based on the questions asked and it was well worth my time.
I didn't go anywhere after the show because Two70 had another Roboshow to see and I did not want to miss it.
The Roboshow is undeniably cool and really impressive from an artistic and technological standpoint.
I think the roast beef sandwiches calmed my nerves because I went upstairs to the pool deck and quickly found myself dozing off. I tried mightily to stay awake but the ocean breeze, warm air and music playing did me in.
I didn't sleep that long, perhaps 45 minutes, and got up to see what else was happening around the ship.
Right around 3 or 4pm, the captain provided a new forcast on channel 18 in our staterooms and he indicated the new weather models looked much better. We'd still hit a storm, but waves shouldn't be more than 15-20 feet and it would be done earlier than we thought.
I felt greatly relieved, so much so that I went down to the Cafe Promenade to indulge in a favorite Royal Caribbean tradition, those little sandwiches at Cafe Promenade. And also a few slices of pizza from Sorentos. Ahhh, the cruise life!
Following my late afternoon snack, I gambled the last $10 I had allocated for gambling in the casino. At first I doubled it and then like any good gambler, I lost it all. Oh well.
Vistarama was being shown in Two70 so I headed there to check it out and met up with some folks from the blog group cruise and enjoyed the show while having drinks. My new favorite drink might be the blue ed. Very tasty!
Dinner tonight was at Devinly Decadence, the former specialty restaurant and now complimentary restaurant on deck 14 near the Solarium.
The restaurant has an interesting set up. You get a menu of just entrees with an appetizer and dessert bar at the rear of the restaurant. It's certainly an interesting concept.
I ordered the enchiladas and ahi tuna tacos but the star of the meal for me was the Morrocan tomato soup appetizer. I may have had multiple refills of it.
I will be going back tomorow for lunch because their lunch menu features a Big Mac clone they claim is less than 500 calories. Now we're talking!
After dinner it was 9:30pm and the ship was moving no worse than earlier, so I decided to ignore my mother's advice of not swimming after eating and go for a night swim. The pools were empty and I had barely swam this trip so I figured why not.
I spent a little time in the pool and then some more time in the hot tub. Time well spent!
Tomorrow is our last day of the cruise and yet another sea day. Should be rather smooth sailing tomorrow and I have a few plans already to get done.
Stray observations
- I freely admit I let the weather forcast get me too nervous to enjoy my day. I eventually made peace with the news but as it turned out, it was nothing to worry about.
- The pools, North Star, casino and many other otherwise extremely popular public areas are virtually empty during dinner hours.
- The crew has been sanitizing the ship non-stop for this Norovirus problem. I give them a huge amount of credit for constantly cleaning everything.
- Others have noticed it's quite difficult to get water onboard. Meaning, geting a cup of water does not seem to be as easy to get to as on other Royal Caribbean ships.
