Diamond Princess Dilemma: What to Do Onboard for Six Sea Days?
Today is Day 6, and we’re not bored yet. Not even close. One of the best things I’ve amused myself with so far was the Goldilocks Swimming Pool Challenge. It started at 5:30 am and Padre wasn’t invited, since he’s a morning snoozer. We’re opposites in many ways; I’m up at the crack of dawn or before, he sleeps ‘til 8; I’m usually in bed reading by 8 pm (or earlier, no joke). He’s up ‘til midnight watching sports, news, and bad movies. He’s more of an introvert than me in some ways but handles crowds fine, but I dislike crowds and crave quiet. And our opposing preferences usually work out great, until they don’t. Cruise ship life fits us perfectly, since it has late night and early morning venues; loud, crowded places and quiet corners for solitude (and fabulous food everywhere. Make it stop! Our plea for help, since no one is saving us from ourselves so far. What’s with that? :-))) Anyway, back to the swimming pools. I call it the Goldilocks Challenge, since I tried out three swimming pools at the crack of dawn to see which one was just right for me. I
started with the outdoor Neptune Pool, which during the day has the huge Big Brother TV screen and bad music blaring. Ewww. But I thought at 5:30 am, it just might be peaceful. Well sort of. Only a couple other people swimming, and the hot tub was pleasant. But then……at 6:00 am the music started…. Blondie’s Call Me! LOUD. No, really…what were they thinking? The late night partiers who would appreciate Blondie are still sleeping it off, people. Time to move on. Next came the indoor Calypso Pool – much better. Had it to myself, and the hot tub was just right.
The only glaring ‘wrong’ thing was the bar, which is lit up front and center. And it was open for business, at 6:00 am, with a couple cruisers stopping by already. Really? That would make for a very long day….. So the indoor pool came close, but still wasn’t quite right for me either. I had to work to get to the aft Terrace Pool, since areas I usually traverse to get there were closed off at crack-of-dawn time. But I finally made it and enjoyed a solitary swim – more like a huge slosh, since the pool water mimicked the ocean’s wave action, and it’s like being in the ‘gentle’ washing machine cycle/very fun.
I retreated to the hot tub to watch the sun come up, and by that time photographers were clustered at the rails for the sunrise but I soaked in peace. The Terrace Pool was just right, so I declared it the winner of Annette’s Goldilocks Swimming Pool Challenge 2018 …and the stunning sunrise made me glad to be alive, by the way. The other two pools on the Diamond are behind pay walls (the Sanctuary and the Japanese Baths), and I plan to try both during our next series of sea days – four in a row, after our first port stop in Darwin, Australia tomorrow. More on how all that goes in future posts. So what else is there to do on sea days? When Padre finally peeks out from under the covers he loves to walk and walk, as do lots of other cruisers (me too). Up on deck 15
there are long routes to follow, and deck 7’s Promenade makes for grand walking, as well as geezer-gossiping. Bill, remember, loves old things including old geezers, and he’s found several elderly gentlemen to chat up so far (FYI: This cruising crowd definitely skews to the upper ranges of the lifespan. I saw two children the other day, but none since.) On past cruises, I’ve gravitated to the view bar during the
day for quiet and solitude, but the Diamond’s Skywalkers Nightclub fills up quickly. It does have some pretty groovy neon decorations 
that make walking up there worth it, though. Instead, I’m enjoying the Queen Mary-like lounge chairs on the Promenade deck for reading and writing time. The sound of waves crashing on the hull are hard to talk over, so no loud crowds here – just old geezers chatting nearby and I can’t hear them because of the ocean. There are more presentations than we can possibly get to, on upcoming ports and cultures,
on how to be happy or improve our memories, and Padre’s favorites, which he does not miss: on ship navigation. We’ve been to one musical show after dinner – a 1960’s Rock and Roll/Pink Cadillac extravaganza which we enjoyed, but wondered if the Aussies appreciated – do they know what Route 66 is about, or not? Padre noticed that hardly anyone other than us sang along to King of the Road. I’m sure we’d be clueless if the show highlighted Aussie Top 40 hits, so there’s that. One of our favorite activities, of course, is reading and we’re not alone. On Day 1, the honor library’s shelves were brimming with titles I wanted to read, but yesterday they had just about been stripped bare. We both like to sit on our cabin balcony watching the watery world go by, with a book in hand (and once the captain waved to me from the bridge – I felt special!).
And it feels a bit like Summer Camp for adults: There are competitions, talent shows, show choirs, Tai Chi, Zumba, dance classes (Line Dancing and Ball Room today). I watched a beanbag toss competition in the Explorer’s Lounge, and ring toss in the Atrium. This afternoon, the curtain goes up on the volunteer talent show, and the passenger show choir practices every day for their big show later in the cruise. I didn’t make it to the Glockenspiel class today, but they’ve been repeating it so I hope to catch it before the end of the cruise. And Padre enjoys Movies Under the Stars with popcorn, after I’m tucked in for the night. And there is so, so, so, much more. So we can be as busy or lazy as we want to be, and right now I’m tipping toward the lazy. The weather encourages us to slow down, too – we’re in the tropics now. When we open the door to outside we get slammed with a wall of humid, muggy air, and we understand why afternoons are time for naps in Southern climes. I’ve taken two so far, a rarity for me, but hey – We’re Down Under now. So there’s where we’re at so far. Things will shift tomorrow, with our first port day – great excitement, after all this relaxing! If you’d like an email reminder every time we put up a post, just go back to the homepage and sign up (it’s on the right-hand side). I’ll only be posting every two or three days, so no avalanche of emails, promise. Also: If anyone has questions they’d like answered about the Diamond Princess or about this cruise, just let me know – if I don’t know the answer, I’ll try to find out. Thanks for following along, everyone!
