Cruise: Day 2 - At Sea

I had a hellish night. I was fine until about 1 a.m. I got up and went to the bathroom and went I climbed back into bed. I couldn't get comfortable and I soon had a cramp in my right shoulder. This lasted another seven hours. I don't like the mattress and the pillows.

I skipped breakfast and had lunch at 11:30. The food once again was shitty, even at the buffet. I then attended a shopping seminar where they gave us a map and told us where to shop in St. Thomas and St. Martin. It was 90% jewelry stuff, but there is a Star Wars shop (yep) that's on the list that I will visit. I also need a couple accessories for my camera -- a lens hood, a lens cleaning kit and a thing to keep the lens cover from getting lost. I can live without all this stuff, of course.

I went to the photo place and picked up the photos taken of us at dinner and when we boarded. $97! HOLY SHIT! I wasn't paying attention.

I signed up for the "Cyber Cabin" deal as soon as I got on board so that I could get Internet access. The cost was a flat fee of $100. But it's dial up! They handed me a plastic box with a phone in it, some cords and a manual. Unbelieveable. I almost said forget it, but it is cheaper. I would prefer the wireless broadband access, but it's .50 a minute -- $30 an hour. And I'll probably go over three hours in a week.

Actually, now I'm thinking I should go for that. Dial-up is just so fucking slow it makes me crazy. I could probably force myself to only spend three hours online, right?

I experimented with my new wide-angle lens and the circular polarizing filters. They make the sky very blue and everything is darker and more saturated. I probably won't use them unless I'm in the open and there's exteremely strong sunlight. I also re-familiarized myself with setting exposures manually. I fucked up many good picture opportunities in Alaska by relying on the automatic setting. So many of my pictures were severely overexposed. SIGH!

Tonight is "formal" night and my mother is already irritating me by asking me what I'm wearing. I don't care about clothes and shoes and shit. She tossed a pair of panty hose at me and I tossed them back. I said I'll eat at the buffet if she keeps this up. I came on this vacation to relax, not to have someone tell me what to wear. The waiter last night said we don't have to wear formal wear, so I won't.