Day 66: At Sea

In the end last night, the sound of the waves crashing against the wall of our cabin kept me awake more than the ship's movement, and even then it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. I managed to sleep in (there was certainly no sun in our little submarine to wake us up) and we were both slow to get going today. There was simply nothing we had to do this morning...so we didn't. Not that there wasn't plenty to choose from. The galley and dining team crews were being run off their feet with the culinary demonstration and wine tasting set up, and the entertainment staff has not had a down minute all cruise (but that might be good to help prevent a pre-occupation with sea- and homesickness, as some of them are on their first contracts at sea).

We did eventually get some coffee and a small breakfast in the Panorama Buffet but didn't want to eat very much. This cruise's Most Traveled Passengers (MTP) luncheon was being held today at noon.  While we were sitting in the Panorama Buffet, Captain Ciruzzi made an announcement about the tropical depression that was causing passenger depression in the tropics...apparently, it is not expected to improve. We must keep our porthole hatch battened down (this term has been much discussed between G and I in the past 24 hours and I wish I had Internet enough to look up its origin...another list item for Papeete) and people with balconies on one side of the ship have been told they can't use them. The Promenade Deck is closed off on the port side, but the pool deck is still open. It's been raining on and off all day, at times very hard. And our stay in Raiatea tomorrow, scheduled for 7am to 11pm, is being shortened. We'll sail at 5pm instead. The winds are expected to increase even more as the day goes on tomorrow, and might impede our ability to cruise back out of Teavapiti Pass if we wait until too late.  Simply put, the weather is pretty crappy and it looks like it's going to stay that way. Well...shoot. 

Today's luncheon was our third MTP luncheon out of these seven cruises, and, while I know some people swear by them, they are simply not our favorite.  Give me a coupon for a specialty restaurant or a nice cocktail party anytime. Anything feels more relaxed than the luncheons.  The menu, however, did not disappoint and we were lucky to have been seated with the Food and Beverage Director Steven for a change of pace. I had talked to the pastry chef two days ago when he was restocking the candy canes around the gingerbread village (he swears having candy canes there for the taking keeps little fingers away from his creation, and it appears to be working), and he promised white chocolate mousse for dessert at the MTP luncheon. Sure, I'll get cleaned up a bit earlier in the day and be on my best behavior for that. The menu, in its entirety, was as follows:

Starters-

-potpourri of seafood Cinderella:  a trove of land and sea gems, Maine lobster, crab, sea scallops, shrimps and Florida citrus segments conveyed in a Cinderella carriage <okay, an aside here. The Cinderella carriage portion of this appetizer was quite amazing, kind of a big, bowl shaped waffle fry-type thing.>

- Risotto Ai Funghi porcini & tartufo:  arborio risotto with porcini sauce mushroom enhanced with truffle and basil

I got the Seafood in the Cinderella conveyance; G got the mushroom risotto

Entrees-

-Filet of Sea Bass:  herb crusted, served with ginger pickled shrimp, lemon butter sauce and premium market vegetables

- Black Angus Beef Tenderloin Rossini:  grilled and tooled with pâté du foie gras, green-peppercorn demi-glace, mascotte potatoes and bouquettiere of fresh vegetables

Both G and I had the beef and it was perfection.

Dessert- Semi-Freddo al Cioccolato Bianco-Soffice:  white chocolate mousse with Drambuie cream and honey tuile

Roll me home, please. That is a LOT of fancy food to eat in the middle of the day. I could happily have slept for a while, but there was no time in the schedule for that. MTP luncheon was followed by wine tasting at 3pm. Thankfully (thank You God!)  we were seated with blog reader Paige who could liven up a funeral. Paige was a star who allowed me to have parcels shipped to her home around the end of November and she brought on board for me another tube of Physicians Formula tinted moisturizer with SPF 50 and my weightless hair oil. I was down to my last drop of that when she arrived on December 18th (which means that I'm much better at forecasting weightless hair oil usage than Hebrew National 97% fat free hot dog consumption).  We made the best of a normally fairly dry hour and,  before I knew it, it was 4pm and all I had done today was eat and drink. Sounds like Christmas to me!

We rested for a few minutes in our cabin before going to the Cabaret Lounge for a Christmas Carol Service. We weren't sure what that meant, but Christmas carols after an afternoon of eating and drinking...how bad can that be??  Well, what it really was was an interdenominational church service for Christmas during which carols were sung. Cruise Director David did a really nice job with it, and piano entertainer Jere Ring played and sang "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and I fried (that's not a typo at our house) then. It was very moving. 

We were so busy praying and frying that we had no time for more drinking, and skipped the Elite Lounge, going directly to dinner in the Club Restaurant instead. I wasn't exactly starving, and had just salad topped with chicken...and sorbet for dessert, of course. And more wine (more of course). We made it to the 7:30pm production show Motor City. The audience was totally into it, and the energy of the show was off the charts. It was huge fun...we love that show, and, it appears, we're not alone. 

I have an alarm set to get up on deck tomorrow morning to watch as the Pacific Princess maneuvers between Raiatea and Taha'a one last time (for us) this winter, but something tells me I might be up there in the rain. At 9pm it is still pouring outside, but, thankfully, the ship is less bouncy tonight. The weather outside is frightful, but the Pacific Princess at Christmas is purely delightful. Regardless of the weather, this is proving to be a wonderful holiday cruise.