A Day at Sea Off the Coast of Panama

Our day started with a first-stage alarm going off at 6:30 am. It was a false alarm but it does make one think about safety, fire being the biggest risk. Safety is taken seriously. On day one it was mandatory that we attend a drill by gathering at our muster station, or “mustard station” as JS insists on calling it. Roll call was taken. A couple of days later the crew had a drill right up to stage three where all the lifeboats were prepared for rescue. Today I attended a presentation by the captain who spoke about safety features, such as 37,000 sprinkler heads, as well as the general operation of the ship from the bridge.

The rest of the day was very relaxing....eating, reading, napping, walking and more eating. I went to another kitchen demo and a class on flower arranging. There is one florist and his budget for our two week cruise is a whopping $4600! His floral arrangements are beautiful. This evening was a dress-up event. JS and I took advantage of a free dinner at the fine dining restaurant, courtesy of CAA. It was one of the perks for booking our cruise through CAA, along with a $50 beverage card for each of us. Cocktails or wine are about $12 after taxes and an automatic 15% tip so needless to say we haven’t been drinking much. JS has been anxious to try a cocktail called “Penicillin” made with Islay scotch.Read more