Sands of Zanzibar: Second Boat Day.

When I was researching things to do at the various ports, the only place that just didn’t appeal to me was today’s stop, a small port called Isafjordur. I don’t know why, but looking at it (via YouTube and Google) it just depressed me. How silly, I know, but I really didn’t want to get off the boat there.

I figured since we had been on the go since we left Cranbrook, that maybe we would enjoy a good sleep-in and a lazy day and just check out all the places and thing to do on the boat. It was raining, raining hard when we woke up, so that settled that.

We went and had a leisurely breakfast (come on, how can the coffee be so bad?!) and then we looked at each other and thought “We should at least get off the boat”.

I had anticipated lots of rain in Iceland so I had purchased a puffy jacket that scrunched up into a small ball so I took that out, and Steven had a light rain jacket, so we covered up and walked down the gangplank, the rain was coming down in torrents, we looked at each other and walked to the other gangplank and went back in. 😂. I don’t mind a bit of rain, but this was horrendous, and there was really nothing to see here. No use being miserable. I just didn’t feel right there. I don’t know, maybe nothing, maybe a gut feeling to listen to. In any case, we shook ourselves off like wet dogs and hung our stuff to dry and decided to check things out on the ship. That was the only time I needed that jacket, that was the only rain we saw.

By now, since we had slept in a bit, it was lunch time so we went to “The Local Bar & Grill” and I had sausage sliders and Steven had a cheeseburger. Then we went over to Starbucks and had a cappuccino and guess what? It was Steven’s first cappuccino (as he isn’t a coffee drinker) and also his first Starbucks. He totally enjoyed the coffee.

There is so much to see and do on these ships. Lots of really good entertainment, lots of mediocre entertainment and lots of weird stuff like bean bag toss and charades. But honestly, you can only be bored if you choose to be, even if you have to make an origami whale and learn to fold napkins into shapes to kill some time.

And food? I know many of you have been on cruises, but the amount food never ceases to astound me. There are eight specialty restaurants, twelve (yes, twelve!) bars and lounges, the big buffet, two other sit down restaurants and a pizza place. No lack of finding somewhere or something to eat.

We went up top where there is a Fun Zone with arcade games, a speedway that goes all around the top deck, water slides, a drop slide (remember that….more about that later), a mini golf course, electronic game things that I don’t understand that involve full size cars, virtual reality places and likely so much more. We were the only people there!

The shopping was minimal, much less than I’ve seen on other cruises. A purse store selling Gucci and the like, a watch place selling Rolex and other expensive watches, a high end perfume shop, a “regular” shop selling t-shirts, sweaters, hoodies and such, plus a small area like a wee drugstore where you could get toothpaste, Gravol and other small necessities. Oh, and the Duty Free. Man, talk about cheap booze. I hate to shop so I was fine with the lack of it. They did have vending machines near the men’s bathroom (not in it, but outside of it) selling condoms and tampons. That just struck me as odd, you’d think it would be in the bathrooms.

The swimming pools were nice, as well as the hot tubs, lots of lounge chairs, but because of the rain today, not a lot of people were utilizing them.

And of course there is a huge spa where you can get all the treatments you can think of, from acupuncture to fancy massages, hair and skin treatments and holistic treatments too. None of that is for me, and the more I read what I have written, the stranger I think I must appear. I’ve never had a massage or a manicure or pedicure because the thought of strangers touching me gives me chills. In a creepy way. And I don’t really like people, and I like to be alone and I love cemeteries and the dark. I see colours when I speak, and while I always thought I was a fairly normal person, I’m beginning to think otherwise! 😂

After spending the afternoon checking out all these interesting places, and watching the drenched people come straggling in, pretending they had fun as they squished and dripped their way to their rooms, I was glad we had stayed aboard today.

Soon it was supper and we chose The Commodore room tonight. Dinner was cheese ravioli with lobster sauce, brisket and fruit for him, and bruschetta, bacon & bourbon chicken and fruit for me. And then, *sigh* a waiter delivered a small cake to our table and a bunch of staff came and sang “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”. The whole song, not just a line or two. Everyone looked. Everyone clapped. The staff said “Fifty Years!” And they clapped some more. I wanted to slither right under the table. And then people recognized us in the elevator and would say “Hey, we saw them singing to you, congratulations.” I understand that people are just being kind, but I thought I would die. I thought the 12 tins of water was our gift, not a public display.

We went to a show after that, Bossa Nova Beat, which was sort of like a WestSide Story, and absolutely fabulous. The costumes and dancing was top notch, Broadway calibre. So much sparkle and glitter, and spectacular music.

We left the port at 5:30 PM and at approximately 9 PM we entered the Straight of Denmark and crossed the Arctic Circle, which really doesn’t mean anything unless you are a geography geek like me. The water was really rough, and I woke up to a weird ticking/dripping sound. I couldn’t figure it out, I was pretty sure that it wasn’t (fingers crossed!) water dripping, but it was driving me crazy, so I got out of bed (this is around 2 AM) and tip-toed around the room, listening intently. Eventually I realized that the boat was rocking enough that it was causing the coat hangers in the one closet to bang rhythmically against the closet walls. So I had to take them all down and stash them in a drawer. They are those non-steal-able kind that you have to unhook the hanger part and leave the other part on the rod. I couldn’t quite reach and I was getting really frustrated. “FFS” came out of my mouth quite frequently .Steven heard me and must have thought I was nuts.

He: What are you doing?

Me: Taking the coat hangers down, they’re making noise.

He: What? They’re what?

Me: (in a most cranky voice) They. Are. Making. Noise.

He: Uh, oh, ok then.

Me: Just go to sleep and leave me alone.

He: Ok then. ‘Night.

Stupid coat hangers.

But the rocking of the ship was soothing, albeit really noticeable. I imagine a few people were sea-sick. We both loved it though.

And that was Day 2 on the ship. Other than the coat hangers, it had been a perfect day. And the rain. And the singing. But yeah, other than that, perfection. 😉