It was really cold in Galveston when we set sail on Sunday, and when we awoke in our stateroom on Monday, it was still really cold outside on the balcony. I figured it wouldn't warm up much until we got close to the Yucatan peninsula, at least 24 hours into the cruise. The ship's TV system said we were traveling at about 20 knots, which is about 23 MPH. (1 knot = 1.15 MPH).The TV system on board was pretty good, although limited. There were about 15-20 channels, and 10 of them were dedicated to the cruise and info about it. One channel was for the Cruise Director. We missed his live "Port-of-Call" talk at 11am. Fortunately, they replayed it over and over on that channel. His talk was full of info about the various excursions that would be offered in Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico. Very informative. Sounded like a frustrated stand-up comedian to me.
Two channels were given to the jazz cruisers. One was dedicated to showing repeats of the previous nights performances, and the other showed performances from the previous years jazz cruise. The sound quality was pathetic, but you got the idea. They really should work on improving sound quality here, perhaps run the sound thru some external speakers, instead of the tiny, tinny ones attached to the TV. But then you might never leave the (state)room.
Another channel was dedicated to "Navigator's Log" and "From the Bridge" type stuff. Info like the ships position, maps very much like what you see on airliners these days, how fast we were going, the wind direction, info about ocean wave height, etc. Very interesting stuff. The scale of ocean wave heights went up to 40' seas. We were sailing through 1.5 to 4' waves most of Monday. Not bad.
Another channel runs loops about safety procedures on board and gives detailed info about the ships systems and where everything was located on what deck. It was all very well done. In the literature in the stateroom, it said that the tours of the bridge and engine room were no longer conducted, due to security reasons (9/11), but on this channel, they showed some pretty specific detail about the bridge and engine room. You learn, in fact, by watching the channel, that you can control the ship completely, if necessary, from the engine room. Did you hear that, terrorists??
This channel also featured a few talks from the ships doctor, and one talk about the "Noro Virus" was very good. You have probably heard that a lot of people on cruises have been coming down with intestinal problems due to the Noro Virus. According to the doctor on board, it's a very common virus and is much more common on land than at sea. I didn't know that. The best preventive? Wash your hands. A lot. They have taken cleanliness so far that, in every restroom on board, at the exit doors, they have attached these little boxes full of tissues that you are supposed to use to open the doors with. Of course, when you try to get one, it just disintegrates into your hand, so you end up with little bitty fragments of tissue that are practically worthless. Inside the restrooms, there are no paper towels or tissues to dry your hands with, only air blowers, so while their intentions are good, in practice, it doesn't work too well.
In addition to the ship and jazz channels, they provided CNN, CNN International, the Discovery Channel, the Cartoon Network, a movie channel, and, yes, FOX NOISE. Yuk.
Breakfast was "open," meaning you can sit anywhere you want, but when we went to the Monet Dining Room (there are two formal dining rooms on the Conquest - the Monet and the Renoir), we were led to a table with four other cruisers who had just arrived. No problem. One couple was from Iowa and the other couple was from San Antonio. They were all very friendly. The couple from Iowa raises free range chickens. I didn't bring it up, but all six of us at the table despised George W. Bush.
The breakfast menu is somewhat limited, but my wife and I both chose the Eggs Benedict. We'll have that rich meal only about once per year. This was that special occasion. I'd like to say it was fabulous, but it wasn't. It was just ok. Could not compare to the last time we had Eggs Benedict, on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, or Sint Maarten, or anywhere else for that matter. And they claimed they had a world-famous French chef on board. Famous for what, exactly? Mediocrity?
After breakfast, we explored the ship some more. It was just too cold and breezy to go up top, however, so we studied the map of the ship some more and discovered Henri's Disco, where some of Sunday's jazz musicians were having a Q&A and autograph session. We hung out there for awhile and wandered over to the Deck 3 for a little on-board shopping. Since it was still so cold, my wife bought a little pink hoodie (for too much money). She hadn't even thought it might be chilly on board.
We also found "The Studio" on Deck 4 where they were selling CD's and other jazz paraphernalia. They wanted $20 for each CD! $20? Gimme a break! I could buy any of those CD's elsewhere for $5 to $10. Everything else there was similarly over-priced. But what do you expect when you have a captive audience?
The two jazz performances this evening - Gerald Veasley and Candy Dulfer - were not on the top of our list, even though she is drop-dead gorgeous, so we decided we would skip them entirely and hit the casino that evening.
In addition to the ship and jazz channels, they provided CNN, CNN International, the Discovery Channel, the Cartoon Network, a movie channel, and, yes, FOX NOISE. Yuk.Breakfast was "open," meaning you can sit anywhere you want, but when we went to the Monet Dining Room (there are two formal dining rooms on the Conquest - the Monet and the Renoir), we were led to a table with four other cruisers who had just arrived. No problem. One couple was from Iowa and the other couple was from San Antonio. They were all very friendly. The couple from Iowa raises free range chickens. I didn't bring it up, but all six of us at the table despised George W. Bush.
The breakfast menu is somewhat limited, but my wife and I both chose the Eggs Benedict. We'll have that rich meal only about once per year. This was that special occasion. I'd like to say it was fabulous, but it wasn't. It was just ok. Could not compare to the last time we had Eggs Benedict, on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, or Sint Maarten, or anywhere else for that matter. And they claimed they had a world-famous French chef on board. Famous for what, exactly? Mediocrity?
After breakfast, we explored the ship some more. It was just too cold and breezy to go up top, however, so we studied the map of the ship some more and discovered Henri's Disco, where some of Sunday's jazz musicians were having a Q&A and autograph session. We hung out there for awhile and wandered over to the Deck 3 for a little on-board shopping. Since it was still so cold, my wife bought a little pink hoodie (for too much money). She hadn't even thought it might be chilly on board.
We also found "The Studio" on Deck 4 where they were selling CD's and other jazz paraphernalia. They wanted $20 for each CD! $20? Gimme a break! I could buy any of those CD's elsewhere for $5 to $10. Everything else there was similarly over-priced. But what do you expect when you have a captive audience?
The two jazz performances this evening - Gerald Veasley and Candy Dulfer - were not on the top of our list, even though she is drop-dead gorgeous, so we decided we would skip them entirely and hit the casino that evening.
First things first. We're on vacation. Too cold to sunbathe or take a swim, so, after a rather uneventful hamburger at the Lido Deck grill for lunch....time to take a nap. I really have come to appreciate naps in my, ummm, advanced years. And with a very gently rocking boat, it was very pleasant.
We decided we'd try to make it to the official dinner time but got held up and didn't arrive until about 8:45pm for the 8:30pm seating. My Sign-and-Sail card said that we were assigned Table # 509, but when we arrived, the Maitre'd said it was "open seating." Again, this means, sit anywhere. You don't have an assigned table after all. Which was very disappointing, because we walked all over that restaurant and did not find any table with two open seats. Several had only one, and we were interested in meeting people, but we kinda wanted to sit together for dinner.
We got shut out. No seats. No dinner. So we had to go to the Lido Deck again for the dinner buffet. Not nearly as "good" as dinner in the Monet, but not really all that bad.
After dinner, we went to the Casino. Straight to the craps table. Surprisingly, there were no gamblers at the table at all. We put down $50 to get in, and in short order had doubled our money. They say that craps gives you the best odds in the casino, and I believe it. We have won quite a few bucks at craps tables over the years. I hardly ever go near the slots anymore. Blackjack, sure. Poker? Forget it. A few other craps players drifted over and everybody cleaned up. It's too easy. Suddenly, the boat took a big "whoosh," both of our heads spun a little, and we cashed out. Turns out we were now in 4'-7' seas. The feeling was rather unnerving, and we decided to call it a night. You don't feel the boat so much when you're lying in bed. It was a good opportunity to feel, uh, other things....
Oh yeah, each night, your cabin steward turns down your bed, and they leave you with a "towel animal" on your bed. Naturally we take pictures of them. It's really silly, but cute. They will actually teach you how to do it while on board.
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