The last day! The last meals, the last live entertainment, the last ocean views, the last time I will ever be as spoiled as I've been on the Pacific Princess (and I'm kinda ashamed to admit how much I liked it).
I sat for a short time on the sunny side of the Promenade Deck...but not long. Even with a fleece pullover on, it felt very chilly. (Our temperature at noon was 61F). Still, it couldn't have been a prettier day. We've had sunny weather ever since leaving Honolulu on Thanksgiving Day, but the wind did cause us a lot of trouble for a couple of days. Today we met a lady who had fallen on the pool deck on our second sea day out of Hawaii, and knocked out two teeth. Ouch! Those were two very rough days, among the worst I've ever seen.
I returned to the cabin to find G up and about, so I accompanied him to the Panorama Buffet where he had an omelet. As I've said, it's more the variety than the quantity of food I will miss when we return home...plus the wonderful waitstaff that has served it. Back in the cabin, we cotinued packing up most of our clothes and some of our toiletries, but took a break to go to the Cabaret Lounge for the culinary demonstration with the executive chef and Maitre d' Oscar. Even though we've done it several times in the past, we did the walk through of the galley afterward, and it was nice to have a chance to say goodbye to fruit and vegetable carvers Samuel and John, who were displaying their efforts in the galley.
We did a little more packing then, enough to know where we had issues (paperwork) and I determined that I had a little more room in my carry on for a few more gifts, and so visited the boutique one last time. Lunch in the Club Restaurant featured one of our favorite menus, and G opted for the veggie burrito while I had the chicken korma with all the toppings. At home, that would be enough food for an entire day; I predict a painful adjustment ahead. During lunch, we completed our check ins for our Southwest flight tomorrow (we had separate reservation numbers), and were able to get assigned to Boarding Group A (almost unheard of without paying extra for Early Bird Check In), one of us position 41 and the other 42. Go us!! The weather looks good for both LA and home; hopefully, we'll have an uneventful day.
After lunch, we went up to the pool deck to check out the temperature of the hot tubs: cold, lukewarm at best. I don't know what happened. We've enjoyed truly hot hot tub temps all season, but it seems they're not heating the water nearly as much any longer. And the pool water was more cold than refreshing, too. Coupled with the cool air, we reconsidered our plans to hang out on the pool deck this afternoon, and returned to the cabin to pack the swimwear and sandals we'd held out thinking we might use them.
We cleared off the bed enough for a lie down then. G napped and I read (and tried to ignore the news, which, once again was horrible. How many times has that been the case this season?). By 3pm, we were 195 miles from Los Angeles and my excitement was starting to ratchet up. As is always the case, whether our trip is 15 nights or 150, faced with returning home I am anxious to get there NOW. I just want to click my heels together and transport myself right to our front porch.
We skipped the Elite Lounge (we'd been drinking minibar items all day) and went directly to dinner in the Club Restaurant at 5:15pm. The Last Supper. Despite the fact that I wasn't even hungry, I had a seafood and watermelon starters and a small serving of fettuccine alfredo as my main dish. Believe it or not, I have never once, not ever had Princess' fettuccini alfredo, and decided it was time to try it. Well...it was awfully salty and rich, and I probably won't order it again, but I'm glad I tried it once. We both skipped the baked Alaska in favor of the dark cherry sorbet for dessert. We are quite addicted to Princess sorbets!
The featured entertainment tonight in the Cabaret Lounge was a variety show with harmonica-ist Bernie Fields and comedy magician Lorenzo Clark. Now, we've seen Lorenzo's act so often this year that we could probably do it ourselves, but 20- or so minutes of Bernie Fields was just right. We are back in the cabin now, going through that always-painful process of closing up and weighing and opening and rearranging things in suitcases. It's never a pleasant process, and after nearly three months away is especially grueling. In fact, I've just this minute decided that it's my least favorite part of cruising, which means that getting up in the middle of the night for a flight falls to #2 and embarkation day unpacking to #3. But all those many days in between...living the dream, baby!
Life is good. :-)
