<<It continued with a lesson about Los Angeles that I won't bother to retype here.>>
Sunrise: 7:17am
Sunset: 5:27pm, a 10 hour 10 minute day, quite a change from the 12 hour 54 minute days in French Polynesia.
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We were awakened by the sunrise coming in our porthole this morning, and made it to breakfast in the Club Restaurant with time to spare. Progress! Following breakfast, I walked on the jogging track and then met up with G in the buffet. He claims it is now officially too chilly to sit outside comfortably (it was about 58F late this morning). If I am in the sun with a tartan throw, protected from the wind, I'm still enjoying it, but without the sun it would be an entirely different sport.
We started packing about late morning, and the loveseat that is in nearly every cabin on this ship really proved its worth. Instead of having to open our large suitcases and claiming bed space before noon, we had stacks of folded clothing sitting on the loveseat waiting to be packed away. Packing to go to a hotel (or for a drive home, for those lucky enough to be able to drive to a cruise) is very different (and easier) than packing for a flight. I am not packing toiletries or over the door shoe rack items until tomorrow morning, and they will be carried to the hotel tomorrow in our large beach bag/cooler. No worries about 3 oz. of liquids or suitcase weights!
Still, packing is never fun, so we allowed ourselves to get pulled away to go to lunch in the Club Restaurant. We ordered our last bottle of wine from our 7-bottle wine package, which we finished at dinner tonight. 7 bottles plus four bottles that had been kept for us on the ship plus the bottle of Veuve Cliquot from the Captains Circle party...that is absolutely our limit for a 16-night cruise, even one with a lot of sea days. We would never survive all the alcoholic drinks in the unlimited beverage package ($50 per day per person!!).
Sitting at our table near a window for lunch, we spotted movement in the ocean just a hundred or so yards from the ship. Whales! We had whales spouting, and then dolphins arching out of the water just ahead of them, no doubt perturbed by their presence. What a thrill that was, when we least expected to see it. We've been extremely fortunate with whale sightings this cruise!
We never made it any further than the cabin this afternoon. We took our time packing, and will arrive at the Crowne Plaza hotel tomorrow much the same way we arrived back on the Pacific Princess 16 days ago: as loaded down as the Clampetts with bags hanging off every finger. Luckily, since we were unable to purchase a fourth suitcase in Hawaii, reader Jill is very kindly bringing us an old one from her house (she is driving to Los Angeles for the Grand Princess cruise on Saturday), one she swears she was going to give away to charity. It will save us when we fly home and can't have bags hanging off every finger.
I was not especially hungry by the time we went to dinner, but wouldn't have dreamed of missing the Last Supper. We will miss this entire waitstaff so much! We will miss the entire crew. The ship. French Polynesia. There may be tears tomorrow morning...
There was a variety show tonight, guitarist Dan Riley and singer Bobby Brooks Wilson. It was a great show for the final evening of a cruise, when too many shows are almost an afterthought. We're back in the cabin to set our suitcases out, and then may go back out again. We promised Jere Ring we'd come to listen to one of his sets. Oh, yeah, we'll miss him too! There have been a lot of laughs and a lot of fun to remember.
We have to go only as far as the Crowne Plaza hotel in San Pedro tomorrow, just a few blocks from the ship. Our hope is to walk down to the waterfront to watch the Pacific Princess leave again, this time on its 111-night World Cruise. Friends Curt and Cindy and Wally and Stacey are on for the entire cruise. We wish them safe travels and as wonderful a time as we've had during our 86 nights on the Pacific Princess!
