I didn’t sleep well so I’m up at 10:30, too late for a sit down breakfast, but of course there is food available somewhere aboard 24/7 if you can find it.  The old reliable Garden Café’ has the buffet open, so I sit down to a light start for the day with eggs, bacon, yogurt, fruit salad, and 3 types of sweet roll.  If I manage to still fit in my pants after this it’ll be a miracle.

Once again, the weather is perfect, with lots of sun and about 70 degrees I’m guessing.  The rumor is that things are going to get rough tomorrow, but for now it’s sweet indeed.

I won’t bore you with everything I did today.  Instead, I’ll give you a little more details on my fellow passengers.  By nationality, most are American, followed by a strong Canadian contingent.  But there are English, Swedes, Italians, Germans, French, and Brazilians as well, plus I’m sure a lot of people I haven’t met.  41 nationalities in all.

There are 3,000 passengers on board and the ship has a capacity for 4500.  I’m not  sure I’d want to be aboard with that many people, as even now it’s hard to see some shows, but it would make for a better social scene.

It comes as no surprise that there aren’t many families on the ship, very few blacks, and a smattering of singles, maybe 200 at most.  Most of the US people are from Florida, California, Texas, and the northeast.  A few handicapped people, and even one who brought his seeing-eye dog aboard.  Median age is 59.

It seems the reasons for taking the cruise varies quite a bit.  Not a few are staying aboard ship for the next leg of the Epic’s journey, which will be cruising the Med.  Some have family living in Europe meeting them in Barcelona.  Some use the ship as basic transportation instead of an airplane.

That’s me.  I hate flying anymore.  It was pretty refreshing to just walk onto the ship with my shoes still on and my dignity intact.  I didn’t have to remove my belt or drop my pants for the enemy-I mean, the federal government.  Yeah, they scanned my bags, but they didn’t lose sleep over the 3 extra ounces of cologne I was carrying.  Compare and contrast this with your flying experience, and note that the price difference is negligible.

I view this cruise as an opportunity to get into the vacation mode so I can hit the ground running once I arrive in Spain.  No jet lag, and I’ll even get a few cursory Spanish lessons on board!  Not bad, eh?

The second Second City show I see is better than the first.   I attribute that to no Improv, which is too hit and miss for my tastes.

The night’s entertainment is “FABBA”, a kind of salute to Broadway and Pop music.  The talented crew do a great job with it, and they’ve packed the tiny Bliss lounge because they had to cancel the up top event due to bad weather.  Lots of people dancing on the floor, and I’m one of them.  When I leave at midnight, it’s still going strong.