Sea Days Heading to New Zealand; Sounds Day; No Dunedin

Day 2 was a sea day as we were cruising from Australia to New Zealand.

We began our morning by going for a walk on deck.

The walk was great until we rounded the front of the ship. The headwind was so strong I could hardly breathe. There were some fun things to look at on the ship as we went around and around.

Glen was frequently consulting the daily Cruise Compass so we could get our day planned. Top of the list was going to the trivia games.

Steven knows a lot of things and is really good at trivia. With Patricia's input, Glen's knowledge and me throwing in an answer here and there, we made up a great team.

We loved the Two70 venue at the back of the ship. It was bright and cheery and we had a great view of the ocean.

The water play area for kids was very colorful and looked fun--if the weather had been a little warmer.

I have always enjoyed looking at the artwork all throughout each ship. It gives me something enjoyable to do as we were climbing flights and flights of stairs.

Our cabin was on the 9th floor. The dining room was on the 3rd floor. The buffet was on the 14th floor. Lots of stair climbing!!

I thought of my optometrist brother Mark when I saw these works of art.

The Music Hall was another common place for trivia. It was darker and had more of a bar feel to it. We didn't like being in there as much, but we didn't let it stop us from participating in trivia games there.

Does it look like we were having a relaxing time? The guys were absolutely enjoying themselves. We girls were feeling the motion of the ocean. The water was quite rough on our cruising days.

Patricia was wearing a seasickness patch, but was still feeling a little seasick despite the medication. I was taking big doses of ginger supplement, which helped mostly; but on the cruising days, I felt a little nauseous--unless I was eating!!

It was formal evening on the ship, so we got all dressed up for dinner.

Anticipating the delicious meal we would be eating that evening. Patricia and I were enjoying the fact other people were preparing our food and we could eat as much as we wanted--anytime during our waking hours.

Patricia loves her ice cream! She was very happy to have her yummy chocolate cake topped with vanilla ice cream.

We listened to some piano music in the Schooner Bar while waiting to go to the evening show in the Royal Theater. It was a variety show starring singer Danny Cannis and the comedy of Landry.

We saw our first towel animal that night sitting on our bed when we went back to our cabin.

Despite being confined on board the ship all day, we were determined to get our 10,000 steps in. Look at all those flights of stairs we climbed!! Believe me, we did not go up the stairs to the buffet that many times that day.

We learned the higher the waves, the more flights are registered. It confirmed to me the fact that it was a lot of work just to walk down the hallway and stay upright!

It also proved to be a bit of work to keep from rolling around in bed as well. Glen said he slept like a baby with all the rocking of the ship.

Day 3 was another cruising day. We saw barf bag holders hung up on the handrails by the stairs with very few barf bags left. Apparently that meant others were experiencing seasickness as well.

 It was super windy outside, so we decided to go to the gym and walk on the treadmill instead.

We opted for the dining room instead of the buffet for lunch.

Along with the trivia games we played that day, we played some table tennis and then Steven and Patricia wanted to participate in the volleyball tournament. 

Glen would have joined them, but his other foot (the one that hasn't been causing him so much pain) was killing him. He could hardly walk.

Thankfully, he only dealt with that problem that one day. Thankfully, it was a day we were on the ship.

The good news is their team received silver medals. There were only two teams competing. They had fun.

Our evening show in the Royal Theater was variety entertainer Johnny Balance. 

He lived up to his name and did some balancing tricks.

Didn't reach our 10,000 step goal, but look at all those flights (waves) we climbed that day. Impressive!!

Day 4 After all that rocking and rolling on the ocean, we had yet another day on the water We were cruising Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound. Technically, Milford is not a sound, it is a fjord. 

A sound is created when a river valley is flooded by the sea. A fjord is created by a glacier. It was mistakenly named a sound when it was discovered. It was created by huge glaciers which carved through the rocks to create the dramatic rock formations of the mountains there. 

There are two main, permanent waterfalls in Milford Sound. There are many other waterfalls that fluctuate, depending on the weather.

Apparently we were blessed to have rainy weather that day because we were able to see lots of waterfalls. 

 

We ate lunch in the dining room.

Then off we went to play a trivia game as usual.

 We continued cruising through Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound as the weather improved.

That evening our entertainer was a very good pianist with musical accompaniment from the Ovation of the Seas Orchestra.

Steven and Patricia went to bed, but we ventured down to the other end of the ship and listened to the Beatles Celebration Band and watched people dancing.

 A hanging towel monkey adorned our cabin that evening.

Didn't come up all that short for steps on a day at sea. Climbing 18 floors is more realistic and it is a sign that the ship was much calmer that day as we were not in open water.

Day 5 the itinerary showed we would have a day on shore in Dunedin. The captain informed us the afternoon before that the winds were going to be too strong and he did not feel it would be safe to take the big ship into that port. 

So that meant yet another day at sea. We actually didn't mind, but the morale of the passengers (especially Patricia) was pretty somber about missing that port. 

We made the best of the situation. We tried a new place to have breakfast. I was thrilled to see I could get a nectarine there to go along with my breakfast burritos. Glen was happy with his egg, ham and cheese muffin. 

Some of the cruise directors challenged the HR managers to a competition as entertainment for us that day.

We enjoyed listening to the Ovation of the Seas Orchestra for a while.

Of course we had our fill of food that day as usual. It became a common practice to go to the Windjammer Buffet after dinner in the dining room and get some dessert--or more food as in Glen's case. 

We watched a show put on by the ship entertainers called The Beautiful Dream.

The flights climbed that day showed it was a little rougher on the ocean once again.

All the ship's passengers were looking forward to land the next day!!