Sea day 2 of 4

This is our second sea day out of the four we will have crossing the Atlantic between Barbados and the Cape Verde Islands, our next port of call. The weather was perfect today with bright sunshine, force 5 winds and small swells so we spent most of the day outdoors.  There are so many places for passengers to be on the Prinsendam that we often feel as if we are the only ones onboard.

Most mornings we have breakfast and lunch on the aft deck outside of the Lido (buffet) under a large canvas canopy providing shade and shelter when there are light rains.  The tables are set for four people, but we usually eat alone.  The setting reminds me a little of being on the back deck on Tahitian Princess (now renamed Ocean Princess) except that was always crowded with people sharing tables out of necessity

We were quite late for breakfast again. For some reason we are not waking up until around 9:30. Since second seating for dinner in the La Fontaine Dining Room is not until 8:00, we still have time for lunch. Can’t miss a meal, you know. At lunch today, we enjoyed the company of Dave and Barb, fellow Cruise Critic members, talking about past cruises and upcoming ports.

In between meals we spent some time forward on Deck 9, standing at the rail watching flying fish jump out of the water and take to the air for many yards before splashing back into a wave. Before and after lunch we spent time sun bathing at the pool reached through the Spa. There were lectures and a movie today but with eating and talking to people and a snooze in the sunshine we didn’t get to do anything indoors.

I enjoy reading about the nautical details of the Prinsendam’s voyage on our Captain Albert Schoonderbeek’s blog.  He writes about the things I know nothing about, such as picking up the pilot, plotting our course by great circle or other route, negotiating the currents and rocks in channels, and other maritime matters.