Well, I'm sitting in the new coffee bar waiting for the wonderous coffee machine to clean it's self! It is early but there of three of us anxiously awaiting caffine!

Our first night aboard was lovely, as expected. The passageway "block party" seems to be a regular feature of the fleet now. Unfortunately we were dressing for dinner and didn't schedule our time very well. Mark Conroy is on the ship and made a quick appearance on each deck.

The lounges were very busy - drinks flowing freely! We saw quite a few children (this is a holiday cruise with a Club Mariner program) and we were also a bid stunned by some passenger attire. I know I saw several pairs of jeans and even a tank top headed toward Compass Rose - it was a casual evening, but that seemed a little too casual. The age mix is also much younger than normal so I guess that might explain the wardrobe choices. Tonight is formal so we'll see a difference I'm sure.

We enjoyed dinner in Compass Rose - it was very busy - the ship is FULL (720 passengers) so service was a little frantic but we enjoyed our wine and the company of friends - the time passed very pleasantly and we were among the last to leave our table. We made a quick trip to the casino, I lost $20 - Tom finished even - I'll be back to recoup (I hope) later.

We were starting to feel like we might turn into pumpkins so we headed for a suite at about 11. Missed the show - can't even tell you what was going on, I'll try to be a better reporter today.

Just before midnight the captain made an unexpected announcement - we were detouring to Freeport - a medical situation demanded a passenger be transported to a hospital ASAP - I don't know any other details - I thought I'd stay awake until we got there but I closed my eyes and before I knew it, it was 5:30 AM - the motion of the sea is better than ambien!

As I said before there are several early risers gathered here at the coffee bar - they are bring out the pastries so I'd better head to the gym before I weaken and start sampling. I'll try to write more later. But for now - life is good on the Mariner!