Cruise Day 2 Sea Day

We woke up fairly early on Monday morning and went for breakfast and our free freshly squeezed juice that we get with the Splash of Romance package. They are freshly squeezed, but then bottled until served.  First it was a bit of a challenge to figure out which bar to go to. It says at the Gym & Tonic bar which we thought was in one of the gyms (there's two gym spaces). It's actually one side of the structure in between the two pools (the side closer to The Galley). There were 4 or 5 options I think: Orange/Carrot/Ginger, Beet, Green, Grapefruit, Oranges. I don't remember which I had on which days; some days we missed it, some days they were out of a flavour. Most were way too strong and sweet for me. We did start adding bubbly water (Rob added Sprite) towards the end.

There was a lecture at 9:30-10:30 on Casablanca, but we didn't make it. We did end up being early for the next lecture at 11, on the Strait of Gibraltar. The speaker was Canadian, a Canadian university professor who spent his last 11 or so years at UPEI and now lives outside Ottawa. What a sweet job, giving lectures on a cruise ship! I enjoyed all his lectures. I missed the first knit gathering though.

After the lecture we went to brunch at Razzle Dazzle.  I don't have any pictures! Looking at the menu online, though, I don't recall eating any of those items! We went later in the cruise for brunch, and I recall that, so maybe we didn't actually go (I'm pretty sure we did though because we also went for dinner the next night and realized we shouldn't have gone so much in three days). 

I think we went and saw a comedienne, Jenny Collier. I thought she was funny; Rob isn't a woman so he didn't find her quite as funny. I'd rather go to a lecture than a comedy act though. It might have actually been the next night though.

Sitting in the Roundabout area before dinner. 

We went to The Wake for dinner. Rob had a little shrimp cocktail. He also might have had the wedge salad (can't remember if that was just at dinner).  I think I had the citrus and fennel salad.

I had read that the clam chowder is a must try, even if you don't like clams. It comes with potatoes, chives, bacon...crispy something seafood (the clams? in little cubes), shrimps. Then they pour the cream soup over top. It was quite good. My first time having clam chowder!

Most days we got to sit right near the windows, which was often created a discussion about they need some sort of automatic window washing system.

For dinner, I did try the bone marrow, and found it too rich and filling. Tasty though.  Looking at the menu, I'm sure I had the shrimps and grits at one point. Ate the shrimp, left the grits. Rob had the hanger steak I think and said it wasn't as good as the filet mignons (I really think we went here for brunch this day, not Razzle Dazzle! I can't tell from the time stamps on the photos because I didn't change the time on my camera. The shrimp and clam chowder photos are from my camera. To make it more confusing, the clam chowder is on both the brunch and the dinner menu, but the shrimp are brunch only). 

Over the two weeks, we tried most of the sides. Rob liked the mushrooms, I had the asparagus twice, the potato was great, the fries excellent, but I would have also loved some plain steamed broccoli or corn. Everything gets gussied up. Rob liked the American steak sauce. One day he asked for it at brunch though and they said they couldn't do that.

This dessert, was probably the best thing I ate. The website I'm using for the menus doesn't have the dessert menu! It was a lemon cheesecake, with this thin lemony shell. Delicious!!

Rob had this, it was a little chocolate tarte, maybe with hazelnuts or almonds? It was good but very rich.

I was extremely excited to go through the Strait of Gibraltar. Some cruises do this at like 4am, but we were expecting to go through around 11:30pm. The weather forecast was NOT good. We went to the upper deck anyway!

Ghostie hanging out in the towel stack to stay dry.

The legendary Rock of Gibraltar! 

 We kept running back and forth, from port to starboard. Off port was Africa! It's the flatter of the two. It was drizzling on deck, but amazingly we could see both shores. Even more incredible, was that the sea conditions were pretty calm! It is usually quite rough going through here. Of course, being in a bigger ship helps, but even still, many mention that this area is quite rough in cruise ships.  When you pass the Rock, you're actually just entering the Strait from the east end. The first pictures might even have been of Puerta de Ceuta, which is a Spanish outpost on the African side. After that, the Strait gets just a tiny bit narrower, and heads southwest. There is a LOT of ship traffic in the area. There are many ferry routes from cities and towns along the Mediterranean. Tangers, on the north shore of Morocco is a huge industry port, and there's a massive port outside the city to the east a ways. According to Google Maps, you can take a ferry from Barcelona to this port (as well as to cities in France and Genoa Italy).

After this excitement, we went to bed! We were arriving in Casablanca, Morocco in the morning!