Royal Voyage 2015 Day 4 & 5: Learning How to Relax
DAY 4
When we booked this cruise at the start of 2015 we obviously had a lot going on. Beyond the stops which sounded incredible, hanging out on the boat during the at-sea portions of the trip sounded wonderful as well. However, like any vacation you have to find your groove and that’s exactly what the first two days at-sea were like aboard the Explorer of the Seas.
We woke up on our first at-sea day and went down to the dining room for breakfast. It was packed. We couldn’t get a table for two so we got sat at a giant table for ten people. They were all far too talkative for our tastes that early in the morning so we made it a quick breakfast, Jenn got some eggs and bacon and I got a Spanish omelet. We left breakfast and began exploring the ship. We didn’t have much time the previous day (having slept most of our time away on-board) so we went exploring. We firmed up our reservations at several of the restaurants on-board and checked out some of amenities. We even got Jenn booked for a spa appointment for the following day.
Usually we only take Dramamine on the first day of a cruise to get adjusted to life at sea. But our first full day at sea was also met with a pretty nasty storm that had the boat rocking. Since there wasn’t much to do in terms of outdoor activities we took a nice long afternoon nap after getting a light lunch via room service. It was a formal night but we already had reservations at their Italian restaurant on-board Giovanni’s. We still got dressed up for the occasion. We had quite the meal. We started off with their antipasta, then some scallops, and both had lamb with a pasta to share. Everything was really good especially the lamb which was extremely well prepared. We both got a cherry moose desert and I had a small piece of tiramisu.
We finished off the night walking around the ship and skipping the show (it was the RCL Singers and Dancers).
DAY 5
Our second at-sea day was taking all the lessons we learned from our first and also enjoying the beautiful 72-degree weather and smooth seas. We woke up, skipped the dining room for breakfast and went to the small café in the middle of the ship. I got a cup of coffee, Jenn a cup of tea, I had a small cinnamon roll and Jenn a raspberry danish.
We sat, enjoyed our drinks and small breakfast and watched the people pass by. We left breakfast and went up to the top deck and played a round of mini-golf. I won of course. We then went over the basketball court and shot some hoops for a couple minutes before walking over to a lounger and reading for an hour.
It was then time for Jenn’s hour long hot stone massage so she walked over there, I shot some more hoops and then went to the gym. Jenn’s massage according to her was amazing. Just what the doctor ordered. We met back up at the room at noon and walked down to the dining room for lunch. Success, we got a table for two. We had a really nice lunch. Jenn got their spaghetti (no surprise to anyone I know), and I just went with their salad bar.
After lunch I was still feeling the effects of Dramamine from the day before in my body so I fell asleep while Jenn read her book and thought up different ideas for next years trip (not joking). We got up a little after 5PM and got ready for yet another specialty restaurant dinner. Tonight was Chop’s Grille their steakhouse on board. We made our way down at 6:30 and got an incredible ocean-view spot. I started off with their goat cheese salad and Jenn had their mushroom soup. We then split a jumbo shrimp cocktail. For our main course we both got a 6oz Filet Mignon which was cooked to perfection. One of the better steaks I’ve had on a cruise. For dessert Jenn got the chocolate filled cake and I had the red velvet cake. At this point in the meal we were so done with food we didn’t eat much of it.
We ended the night very similar to the night before, tired, full, and ready for the cruise to rock us to sleep and get us ready for our first port of call, Crete.
