DV, Day 2

I woke up early (6 am) since my body was still on Boston time. After breakfast at the buffet, we got ready for the day. We were cruising all day long, so it was a quiet Sunday. I studied scriptures for a while, then went outside to the upper decks to see what I could see.

Sunday morning was one of my favorite times on the ship, because almost no one was awake early, and I could enjoy the quiet on my own. I spent the morning bundled against the wind and chill, looking for wildlife in the vast expanse of ocean. All you could see in all directions was ocean.

I spotted a few whales and some other animals, at a distance so great that taking a picture of them was useless. See?

If you zoom in a lot you can see where the whales were.

It got me thinking, though. All that water! Captain Lars said the ocean is over 6000 feet deep in this part of the world. When Heavenly Father created the world, He made a lot of water. I felt grateful to experience such marvelous beauty. It makes even the giant whale seem small in comparison.

After lunch, I spent time with two of my group sitting and talking outside on deck 7. It felt more normal to be outside where you can see the horizon move when the ship sways, and made the motion more tolerable. Then we came in for an hour to warm up (and learn about the best places to go shopping in port). Then two of us went back out, this time up to deck 13 (where it was a lot windier but had better views) for a while.

The late afternoon view

The view an hour later

After a yummy dinner, we walked laps around deck 7 promenade to burn off the extra calories (and because it was something to do).

Days at sea are relaxing but not very eventful. Overall, I felt it was an OK way to spend the Sabbath despite not going to church; I came to appreciate the beauty and vastness of God's creations more than I had before.