Carnival Luminosa Day 2: April 14, 2023 Sea Day

I was up early even with the time change. I used the TV to check on the sunrise and then went to the top deck to catch the first rays. 

I checked out the serenity deck and there were already seats saved wirh towels beside the sign that said no saving of seats.

I went to the buffet to try the coffee. It was strong to the point it wasn't edible. This is a solvable problem by cutting it with a little hot water. I will be able to cut back on my coffee consumption this cruise.

I went to the gym to see if the unlimited pass was good for the whole cruise or just 7 days. I still haven't received a good answer. I did see stretch and Abs class appeared to be free. That said, the instructor was more than 15 minutes late so I left. He was there with students when I returned a half hour later.

I went down to the Java Cafe and grabbed a sudoku puzzle and a printed program for the day.
The program is just a high level look. None of the stretch abs etc classes are listed. A passenger told me there is a free sauna but that is not confirmed.
At 8am brunch started in the dining room. I took a shower and then requested a table for breakfast in the app. In 10 minutes I had a seat.

I ordered a yogurt parfait and steak and eggs. It was edible but not spectacular. Also a bit slow. The bathrooms are quite a distance from the dining room and I was afraid they would think I abandoned them.
Once I finished breakfast, I checked out the buffet upstairs and then found the burrito bar. I liked the selections at rhe burrito but everything looked a couple hours old. I think I would go there when it first opens.
I went to the shore presentation to try my luck at raffle prizes. Unfortunately they didn't ask if anyone was missing a ticket and since I had gone in the wrong door I had to go ask for a ticket. I explained this when they said sorry it was too late. Then another fun team member gave me a ticket so I would leave. Then I noticed no one took the effort to put my ticket in the raffle box. I should be grateful because they saved me a lot of time.
I left in the middle of the presentation (why stay if I couldn't win) and went to the shore excursions desk.
The dates we are in port are very confusing because of the date line. You can't book excursions past 4/20 because that date repeats twice. One port, Moorea, is a tender port and that is not clearly identified. One port,  Noumea, is not directly at the terminal and requires a shuttle bus. None of this was really discussed in the presentation but was immediately available from the shore excursions counter staff. Another interesting note, if you cancel a shore excursion there is a 25% fee. If you cancel within 24 hours you lose your money.
Last time I was in these ports I took pictures of what was available and I think I will just roll the dice and pay cash.
I took some time to wrap up yesterday's blog post and then wrote down my thoughts so far today.
The balcony room feels big with tons of storage. The bed is comfortable. The bathroom is fine. There is a large sleeper couch and there are two end tables. I will try to do a comparison picture with the NCL Bliss, NCL Gem, and Diamond Princess.
The colors of the ship are weird. There is a weird Buddha like woman statue in the lobby. The decorations are weird. That said, the layout is navigable.
The buffet is not self service and you have to wait in line. I really like this. The ice cream is chocolate only and I really hope this isn't a 22 day supply issue.
So far the food is only just ok. I may actually lose some of the weight I gained on the Bliss and Diamond Princess cruises.
I was unable to purchase wifi ahead of time on this cruise which was upsetting. They sell it only by the 24 hour period for $12 for messaging only and Facebook, $17 for internet, and $18.50 for VPN access. I will try to see if it is daily or truly a 24 hour period.
Note that imessage is working without buying any Internet package so I may save a lot of money on this cruise. Since there is no Internet manager, I asked the photo studio guy about the internet packages. He said they are 24 hours consecutively. I can make that work. I am very curious what happens when we repeat the same day. I wonder if it breaks the internet.

Speaking of Internet, the speed seems adequate. I am.able to check streaming Nest cameras, visit websites and get my email. OpenVPN doesn't work. So far my body doesn't realize it is lunch time. Perhaps I can get away with just a snack before dinner.

I took a quick nap and then headed to tea time for a light lunch.i was surprised that they charged $3 for a Bigelow tea bag. No name brand freebie for me please. The cakes were tasty.

I had a great conversation with the table because everyone basically got the cruise for free and just paid port charges because they play in the casino. Supposedly now that I am platinum, I get $25 of free play. I will definitely have to give that a go.

Since it was a formal night, I had fried oysters, two lobster tails and prime rib, and mocha coffee cake. I ordered decaf coffee with dessert but it never arrived.

Tonight the food was very good. The lobster and steak were nicely done and tasty. The waiters did a song a dance routine which delayed dessert a bit. When I finished, I needed to head straight to the show which was just starting.

Flick was good albeit a bit random. The singers on this ship are very good. I believe I have seen show on the Vista and Horizon in 2016 and 2018.

After the show I went to check out the buffet but it closed at 9pm. The pizza bar is open until late though.

I decided to blog and go to bed.

HAPPY CRUISING!