Day four was another sea day for us on Mariner of the Seas. The seas had been a bit rough overnight, but not as rough as the night before. And the sun was once again shining. The Captain has outdone himself on finding us wonderful weather in the midst of Hurricane Fiona.
Breakfast and the morning
Breakfast was the usual for me, except that I was looking for some sugar free syrup and ran into one of our waiters, Cezar. He always says hi, no matter where he sees us. Great crew. After that I did some exploring and finally found the Library. The Library is a nice quiet place to get away from people and read a book, or use of one of the ship computers. You do have to pay for the internet package to use a ship’s computer. I saw a couple of kids doing school work. There are a lot of children on this cruise, I’m assuming the older ones are home schooled. I just think that it would be very hard to do school work when you’re on a ship.
Military appreciation
After I walked around for awhile I heard our Cruise Director in the Promenade announcing a Military Appreciation show. I walked over and he was up on the bridge in the Promenade. There was an American Flag draped from the banister. After a few words from Marc, one of the crew played taps, followed by a moment of silence. After that a poem was read. A very touching moment for those below in the audience.
I did some more exploring after that and then ran into on of our solo tablemates. I thought about trying the casino but realized I had no money with me. Probably a good thing. I am not a lucky person and I’m pretty sure that I would have lost that money quickly. I had heard about a Sound of Music statue in the third floor dining room, so I went by there and asked if I could go in and take a picture. The dining room was closed at that time, but they graciously allowed me to go in. It is a beautiful statue.
Lunch
I decided to have lunch in the Windjammer buffet, and he went to the dining room. He had a BBQ sandwich with slaw and fries, and he said it was good. The reason I wanted to go into the Windjammer is that I saw that they had grilled vegetables, and they looked so good. I had grilled peppers, onion, eggplant, and potato. The onion was hot, but the rest was good. It was a healthy lunch, but of course I had to have dessert. It was a chocolate Cappuccino Parfait, and it was so good. I could have eaten more of it.
After that I went to a Harry Potter Trivia contest in the Star Lounge, deck five. This is a nice venue that would be great for dancing, or a comedian show. We haven’t noticed it being used for much at all except trivia. Needless to say, I thought I knew Harry Potter okay, but I only got 5 right out of 30. Study up on your potions and spells names, and know Dumbledore’s full name. And know everything in the books because this is one hard trivia game. Bingo was after the trivia, but I didn’t stay. Time to get ready for dinner. And once I got back to my room I discovered that the Hotel Director, Sean Chang, had sent me a dish of Macaroons! So yummy and nice!
Dinner
We go to dinner at our usual time and were greeted by Randy and Cezar. Such nice guys. After a little conversation they brought us a cheese plate to tide us over till the rest of the table got there. It didn’t take long and then we ordered. I had a Fish Cake for an appetizer. It was delicious. Then I had Beef Tenderloin with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Delicious, and the tenderloin lived up to its name. For dessert I had Mississippi Mud Pie which was delectable. The food on the Mariner has been so good, and the staff even better.
Entertainment
After we ate we rushed to the theater to watch the variety show. The show once again featured the ship orchestra, along with the singers and dancers. Then they included a comedian/juggler who was pretty funny. The theater is a large and nice theater. There aren’t as many poles to obstruct your view, and the seats are comfy. I guess that sometimes in the daytime they use the theater to show movies, but we haven’t watched one.
Beautiful show outside from the helipad
After the theater we ventured outside to see if there was a place to sit. What we got was a beautiful viewing of the night sky, and a huge storm to the left of us with lots of lightening. It was amazing. I haven’t seen so many stars since we were out west. You could even see the Milky Way. Just gorgeous. And the storm just kept going and going. I was thankful that I wasn’t in it. We sat on a bench on the helipad till they made us leave because of the wind. I think that the storm was hitting the Florida Keys.
And then it was time to relax and watch TV a while then go to bed. Tomorrow is CoCo Cay day!
The Quiet Cruiser 