Day 24: Exercise, Fun & Games Onboard : Sea Day #5

Today is our final sea day en route to Nawiliwil, Kauai. It's been a fairly rough passage with heavy seas and strong winds. Strong enough to close the top Deck (#12), which is where the exercise track and most outdoor games are located. That doesn't leave too many options for me to get some exercise as I am most definitely not a gym rat - I like to walk.



If you walk a full circuit of the exercise track, including a detour by the pickleball and bocce courts at the back of the ship, it's about 300 yards. Rough calculations and engineering approximations mean 6 full laps to a mile. Even when it is not blowing half a gale, there is still an upwind and a downwind leg that makes balance entertaining. 

The back of deck 12 (the stern) contains a full-sized paddle tennis/pickleball court. In addition to having random winds blowing from any direction, there are sporadic blasts from an air conditioning vent across one side of the court. It's very challenging to play. Serving is hard, and there is (obviously) a net over the top of the court at about 15 feet, so you can't lob either. Brand new game!



You also have a bocce ball court, shuffleboard, practice driving range, and a mini/crazy golf 9-hole course. 

All fun entertainment when the ship is rocking and rolling.

The next exercise option is the gym on Deck 7. It follows a "New Year's Resolution" pattern of usage. This means that the first few days of a segment are full during the early morning, and then passengers give up, and the crowd dissipates. Allison loves using one of the exercise bikes to help the rehab of her knee. Big occasion a few days ago when she finally managed a full rotation on the pedals. She's covering a few miles every day. Yay!

I do use the gym for about 10-15 minutes most days to lift some arm weights. Floor exercises are kinda tough with the movement of the ship. They also offer some yoga classes that I'm going to try in the second half of the cruise.




The final (accidental) exercise option is the stairs. Other than when I carry our coffee back to the room in the morning, I take the stairs rather than the elevator. Most days, I log between 40 and 60 flights a day. I predict that although my stomach may grow, I'll have amazing thigh muscles by the middle of May. It's actually a long haul from the dining room or theatre on Deck 5 to our cabin on 11!


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