June 5, 2022 Sea day #1

Our first Sea Day and we are headed for to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Wi-Fi connections are painfully slow, even slower the Summit’s ship Wi-Fi, although my laptop OS is five years old which might be part of the problem. At 4:30 a.m. I could not access the network to check email, probably because the ship was using the bandwidth to update its systems.

The sun was shining through big fluffy clouds, the winds were strong at about 40 km per hour and the temperature was 26°C. For breakfast, we shared an Ultimate Platter in the Captain Club Coffee Lounge in the Tuscan restaurant. The fruit included melons, pineapple, kiwi, but also mango, papaya, blueberries, blackberries, green grapes and strawberries which were not on the selection while we were on the Summit. The lox with capers was on a toasted mini bagel. There were slices of three different kinds of cold cuts and three different kinds of cheese. We passed on the accompanying pastries. We had a choice of drip coffee or expresso based coffees, as well as mimosas and belinis. The Tuscan Grill, like all the restaurants, is located at the Aft (back) of the ship, our table was overlooking the ship’s wake. After breakfast, we ordered Caramel Macchiatos at Café al Bacio to drink on our balcony enjoying the breeze and watching the two meter waves under mostly cloudy skies.

The ship’s location in the Atlantic Ocean is 24°04.32’N and 73°54.10’W at speed of 20.1 knots, about 36 km per hour. We are east of the Antillas Mayores, east of the tiny Bahamian island of Samana Cays. The sea depth is a little over five kilometres before lunch.

We wandered up to deck 15’s Lawn Club. There are several areas of natural grass for Bocce games and golf putting. Also, up on this deck is the Hot Glass Studio where you can take classes in making something from hot glass.

At 11:30 there was a salsa class in the Grand Foyer on deck 3, where over 20 couples crowded within the about five meter diameter marble floor circle at the bottom of the Grand Staircase with over flow onto the carpet. It lasted 30 minutes for teaching three basic Salsa steps. One of the other couples was Arnie and Sue.

Then we climbed the stairs to the Sky Lounge on deck 14, where we attended the Captain Club Welcome Event at noon, which was originally scheduled for the Lawn Club, but it was too windy with winds steady at 40 km/hr. It was a short cocktail party. We sat and chatted with Arnie and Sue who were also attending. We opted for lunch in the Oceanview Café. As you enter the venue, there are attendants with hand sanitizer who encourage you to take a squirt. This is a lot more visible than pre-COVID times. It is common at all restaurants and there are sanitizer depots near the bars. You are also encouraged to sanitizer your hands as you re-enter the ship after being on shore. The afternoon was quiet. We had the Iglu frappés at Café al Bacio and later went down to the Craft Social for beer and apple cider.

This evening’s dress code for the dining rooms was Evening Chic, which replaces Formal Night. It used to be a dress up night. Now it is unusual to see men in a sports jacket or women is cocktail dresses. Although suits and sparkly dresses can still be seen, it is a lot more casual. We danced in the Grand Foyer before dinner. The ship’s orchestra was playing. It is the main dance area and small, especially since it is at the bottom of the grand staircase where a photographer also set up a photo station taking up part of the dance area. It can fit maybe ten couples if there are not several preschoolers dancing and people having their photos taken. I remember this annoyed me the last time we were on the Equinox in 2016. We definitely prefer the Rendez-vous Lounge on the Summit with its dedicated dance floor.

The photographers had their stations set up for formal photos and they came through the dining room asking if diners wished to have their picture taken. Deana and Adam were at the Murano restaurant to celebrate their anniversary. We, John and Ann and Arnie and Sue all had couples’ photos taken and then a group shot of the three couples was taken. After dinner the band BR4 was playing dance music in the Grand Foyer and the preschoolers were back dancing in the centre of the foyer, sometimes with a parent, while other stood around and talked at the bottom of the stairs hardly leaving room for four coupes to dance. The show in the theatre was a production number including the dancers, singers and acrobats called Topper.

There are two ESPN stations on the TV selection plus National Geographic, Fox News, BBC World News, CNBC and MSNBC. There is a daily movie in Celebrity Central on deck 3. This evening when we returned to our room there was a small flower arrangement on out coffee table similar to what happened on the Summit - part of being Elite in the Captains Club.

Today’s high temperature was a muggy 28°C.

Total steps were 11,146