Day 2, Friday, May 20, At Sea, Formal

I'm normally an early bird, and woke this morning at a pretty usual 5am.
When I went up to the WJ coffee was on and the wind was rather howling,
with a 10kt headwind creating an effective force of 30kt. Walking on the
Enchantment of the Seas takes place on the "Jogging Track" on Deck 10.
It is above most of the structures of the ship, making nice views but it
is quite exposed to the weather. The surface is some kind of painted
composite except for a short teak section on each side (I found out at
the evening reception that this "bridge" covers the section where the
ship was lengthened 70 feet in 2005). I much prefer the teak promenade
decks on some other ships but got in a pleasant walk anyway, punctuated
by a very beautiful sunrise.

After the walk I took a look at the Morning Show with CD Carly Boileau
and Activities director Paul, then headed to breakfast.

My room 3542 is an outside cabin on deck 3, a quiet location with cabins
directly above and below mine. It is one of the smallest cabins I have
used on a large ship, large enough for me but it would be a challenge
(especially closet space) for a couple. One thing I did not like when I
arrived was that the head of the bed was right against the window making
it awkward to see out. I casually asked Friday this morning if it would
be possible to convert it to twin beds. No problem. The change was made
by the time I got back from breakfast and there are now only 2 small
nightstands between me and my window.

There was a 9:00 "First Time Cruisers Ship Talk and Tour". While I am
hardly new to cruising it is my first time on RCI and Enchantment and I
got a quick overview of the ship. I thought the Cruise Critic (computer
chat group on cruising) Meet and Mingle was this morning, but there was
no one there when I went to the location. When I went to inquire at
guest services the person had no clue what this RCI sponsored event was,
quite disappointing.

At his noon update Captain Gus (Anderson) told us we were 400 Nautical
Miles from Baltimore and expecting mostly good seas and weather.

There were not really a lot of afternoon events that interested me and I
spent part of the afternoon reading. After trying the pool deck and
finding it way too windy to hold a book, the solarium worked a lot
better. I think we may have a few Crystal people looking at this thread
and I have brought a bit of Crystal with me. I am currently reading "Why
Geography Matters" by Harm de Blig. Mr. de Blig was a speaker in their
enrichment program on my 2008 Transatlantic Cruise. If I finish that
book next is a novel by Kathy Reichs, Forensic Anthropologist, and
Novelist and creator of TV's bones series.

I did find my way up to the WJ for afternoon tea and enjoyed a very nice
scone.

This was the first of 2 formal nights on the ship. The Captain's welcome
aboard reception in the Spotlight Lounge was at 5:15 with an
introduction of the ship's officers. Captain Gus noted we have 2376
passengers on board, the largest contingent I have sailed with to date.
We generally looked quite good tonight as we enjoyed a pleasant dinner
(I had the Duck). The evening entertainment was singer Hal Frazer, doing
mostly music from about the 50's to 70's.

Today's parting shot comes from Captain Gus's words of wisdom at his
noon update: "Character is what you do when nobody is watching".

Roy