RTW 2024 Carefree Travel

  After complaining yesterday that the Mariner did nothing to celebrate the Crossing Of The Equator. Overnight, we received an official certificate from the captain, and this morning, King Neptune visited the boat. This was our formal transition from polywog to shellback - meaning we are now experienced sailors. All we had to do was get doused with ice water and kiss a particularly ugly fish. In the olden days, sailors were shaved, forced to crawl through the lower reaches of the hull, and drink some of the bilge water. I had a Banana Daiquiri instead - far more civilized.

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 ha...

  If you know me, or really anyone in the Care family, then you'll know that we have a gentle(!) competitive spirit. So it turns out that Regent has multiple competitions every day and awards "Regent Rewards Points" to the winners. See photo. You can cash these points in at the end of any trip segment for prizes ranging from key rings and bookmarks to rain jackets and some nice UV shirts.  The events vary from the intellectual (Mensa quizzes and Trivia) to the gently athletic (ring toss and indoor golf putting) to the more physical ping-pong and eventually pickleball (Yes! They have a court at the back of deck 12). Some are individual competitions, and others, like Trivia, use a team of 6. Although, as mentioned, we're not competitive, our team has been #1 and #2 in Trivia; John is an indoor obstacle-putting champion but has no ring toss skills whatsoever. As well as being a neat way to meet folks, it also keeps you busy on a sea day if you can't hang out by the p...