#2 on the top 10

things to do on this Royal Caribbean cruise (I will keep you in suspense as to what #1 was): "Indulge yourself, you deserve it. Book an appointment today at our Empress Day Spa." Well, being the dutiful daughter that I am, and having already met the masseur on board and he was Estonian, I urged Ben to book Pritt's (sp?) available slot for a hot stone massage at 7:00 p.m., and I booked the same time slot with a sweet, little Jamaican girl for that pedicure I didn't have time to have before I left Montreal. Suffice it to say that I saw Ben pass by my treatment room after his session and he was beaming from ear to ear, looking 20 years younger. I was so happy because I knew how much he would enjoy the hot stone massage, having had one at Miraval Spa in Arizona (name dropper!) on my 50th birthday trip gift from Sue. My French pedicure to match my French manicure (I was meant to have red nails for the Holidays, but forget to mention this to Kim until after she had done my white tips -- duh!) was lovely and the leg massage was the best part, and then the real fun began as we pulled out (is that correct terminology?) of the Port of San Juan into the open waters and the "motion in the ocean" began. Oy gevalt! Me who suffers from motion sickness and who had forgotten my acupressure bands at home, started to feel queasy to say the least. Already dressed for our "Casual" dinner that night, Ben and I went directly to our Table 60 in the Carmen Dining Room to meet our fellow diners. We had already gone to the Maitre D in the afternoon to check out our table placement to see if we approved of our table and we did -- a round table for 8 as opposed to a rectangular table for goddess knows how many suited us just fine. And when we found out our compatriots were to be two couples from the USA and one from the U.K. we were relieved because we had heard strains of our beautiful Quebecois being spoken on the ship. Heavens forbid! That is not what I left home for!