Monday, September 2, 2024
We didn’t have any plans for Charlottetown today. We decided to treat it as another sea day.
Our first stop was the main dining room for breakfast. We shared a table with a couple from California and a couple from Canada. We enjoyed the leisurely breakfast and conversation.
We decided to use one of our Mariner Benefits and try out the Spa’s Thermal Suite and whirlpool. My understanding is that there are limited number of passes available for this area. If all the passes are not sold for a cruise, people can opt to get a day pass for any given day. We were each allowed one free day pass but the caveat is that we could only use it on a port day when the area is less prone to be busy.
You give the spa personnel your room key and you get a special key that unlocks the doors of the suite and the whirlpool. We each headed for our respective changing area with lockers and robes to use. We met back out by the thermal suite area.
The thermal suite had some heated ceramic loungers in front of a big picture window. It also has a dry sauna, rain shower area, and a wet sauna area. We were in there with one other woman. If nobody is waiting, I guess you can stay on the loungers as long as you want. Otherwise, I think you are supposed to relinquish yours after about 20 minutes. Chuck thought they were uncomfortable even with the rolled up towels to put behind your back and head. I thought they were okay, but we left after about 30 minutes.
We went to the whirlpool. It is not as big as a swimming pool but much larger than the regular hot tubs. It was warm and bubbly. We were the only ones in there. I could have swum around it all day. Again, after about 30 minutes, Chuck was ready to leave and go back to the room. I opted to stay for a while longer and then my intention was to go back to the thermal area and try the dry sauna.
However, when I went back, two other women were in there on the loungers. I sat on one of the loungers to dry off more and ended up talking with them until I was ready to leave. They were leaving too as they had a late afternoon excursion to see the Anne of Green Gables farmstead. It looked like they were going to get nice weather, so I told them I hoped they got to enjoy the gardens that we missed last week.
I’m not sure that I would pay for a pass to this area, but I will definitely try to use my one free pass each cruise.
The weather did get much nicer in the late afternoon, so we spent the pre-dinner time out on the Sea View deck.
We were having another dinner in the Canaletto tonight. We had the same waiter as we did last week, and he remembered our names and wine order. Impressive. I couldn’t remember my own wine order from last week. This time Chuck chose the braised short ribs for his main course, and I chose the casarecce pesto Genovese as mine. We had the same appetizers and dessert as the last time. Everything was very good.
Our evening was once again spent in the casino and the Rolling Stone Lounge.
Tomorrow: Sydney, Nova Scotia