(BTW, I forgot to mention that G did not sleep much on the plane. Instead, he and several other guys discovered the bar area of the plane and the flight attendants kept them well supplied, probably hoping they'd eventually settle down and sleep. I think G managed about two hours, right before we landed in Frankfurt.)
This morning, I dressed in the dark and snuck out of the cabin without turning on the light. Years of cruising in inside cabins have taught me well to prepare everything I might need the next morning before I go to sleep. I grabbed my iPhone and iPad and made it to breakfast in the Club Restaurant at 7:51am...and I was the first passenger in there this morning! Our arrival in Dubrovnik was not scheduled until noon today; it subsequently was pushed back to 2pm so that we didn't have to use tenders to go ashore (I would have preferred to tender in as they'd've dropped us right at Dubrovnik's Old Town). Another large ship was leaving Dubrovnik by 2pm, freeing up dock space. Due to our late arrival in port, this ship was very quiet this morning as everyone, even the Brits who have only experienced an hour or so time change, slept in.
Waiter Romeo from the Philippines (we've known him for years) spoiled me with attention. While I've been trying some of the new regional cuisine at dinner, breakfast is a fairly tried and true combination of fruit and egg white veggie omelet, although today I asked for some of the asparagus that was being used in the special egg entree on the menu. Each day's breakfast menu has all the standard choices- cereals, oatmeal, eggs, breakfast meats, fruits and juices and breads and pastries- but also features two entrees that change daily, usually one egg (like eggs Benedict) and one non-egg. I love the way Princess does breakfast in the dining room!
As I sat there at a table for two, I used my iPad to easily get on WiFi. Sure, it wasn't fast, but the signal was much stronger than we are experiencing in our cabin. I may change the timing of my post publication to the following morning. I would still prepare them at night but would publish them when I am at breakfast the next day. Most of the blog readers who email me say they read my blog post with breakfast each morning. Because we are cruising in Europe this year, I can publish it with my breakfast in the morning and it should all work out. And maybe I'll save enough internet time doing that to actually upload some photos, but I've burned through way too much internet time already just publishing posts from our cabin. I think I'll mostly refrain from frustrating myself by trying to upload photos from the ship.
I left the Club Restaurant and walked out along the Promenade Deck to see what the weather was like. It was definitely chilly, though not nearly as cold as in Venice yesterday. There was also some sun along the horizon so I was hopeful for a brighter day (as it turned out, it was mostly rainy). The ship was still quiet, and, not quite knowing what to do with myself (and not feeling like changing to go to the fitness center), I settled in the Pacific Lounge on the front of the ship on Deck 10 to watch as we followed south along the beautiful Croatian coast line. We were very much looking forward to cruising in the Adriatic Sea, as we imagined we'd often see land on either side of the ship. We are!
Assistant CD (and dancer) Emily from Orlando started a line dance class at 9:30am in the Pacific Lounge and the seas were smooth today so I joined in. I have found out that this cast (they came on in October last year) have only been home for two months since then. They are tired but full of stories of the amazing places they've visited, being on for a portion of the World Cruise and the entire Pacific Princess' summer season in Northern Europe and the British Isles. It's a pretty nice life for the young and unencumbered. It's the encumberances that make it tough (as I recall from being young and encumbered and 80% travel when I was just out of college...long before Internet). I sometimes wish we cruised in the summer months as we do in the winter; the Pacific Princess in particular had some wonderfully varied itineraries over its European season.
But, anyway (no 's'!), it's fun to see how the dancers have progressed in leading activities on the ship. I felt initially sorry for them when they came on board last October; they were trained to be dancers and were thrown onto the Pacific Princess where dancers do double duty as members of the Entertainment Staff. They have adapted well. Emily was perky and enthusiastic and kept encouraging us to dance with gusto. "Burn more calories; eat more cookies!" I'm not a cookie person but am happy to substitute wine and cheese instead (and, boy did I today. Read on).
Our cabin steward this cruise, Ionut (say Yow-noot) from Romania, is a doll. He stopped me this morning to ask where we will be moving on turnaround day; he wants to mention our preferences to our next cabin steward so she's up to speed before we even arrive. We've never had this offer before, and whether it speaks to being on a small ship or it's just that Ionut is as awesome as Awesome Ambrish was is unclear. We are so fortunate to be so spoiled!
At 11:30am, G was still snoozing away (he is definitely not on Europe time!) so I made lots of noise to encourage him to wake. He accompanied me to lunch in the Club Restaurant but chose the brunch items that are always on the menu. The chilly day had me selecting comfort food- Mexican Albondigas soup and the roasted bell pepper vegetarian entree. Following lunch, we went up to the Pacific Lounge with its ceiling to floor glass to watch as the Pacific Princess navigated into its berth at the Port of Dubrovnik. Years ago we saw a photo of the beautiful suspension bridge at the Port of Dubrovnik but didn't even originally know which port the bridge was in. A little research told us it was Dubrovnik and today for the first time we sailed right up to it as we docked.
Upon our arrival, Captain JP announced that it was 50F outside and threatening rain. We disembarked the ship wearing all the layers we had thought we might need in late November and December, but never imagined we'd wear in early October. The ship offered a shuttle to the Old Town, the fortressed area of the original town of Dubrovnik, but we bypassed that line and shared a taxi with two ladies for 13€ total. Though we saved some time by skipping the shuttle, traffic from the port to Old Town was almost gridlocked. It was nearly 3pm by the time we walked through Pile (PEE-lay) Gate into Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And just at that moment it started to rain steadily. Ugh.
The crowds were fierce (our cab driver told us there were 9000 cruise ship passengers in port today) and almost immediately, everyone whipped out umbrellas. We were able to see nothing but the person in front of us and a sea of umbrellas. We were getting ready to pay to climb the stairs to the top of the wall for the mile-long walk when we quickly had enough. Instead we chose to stay on the main east-west stone street, called the Stratum, but even that was packed with umbrellas. We are going to be here three more times this season; we have the luxury of holding back on cruises when the weather is inclement. I mentioned to G about a wine bar in Rick Steves' book at the same time we stopped to look at a picturesque alleyway navigable only on foot that climbed up a long series of steps half way up the side of the wall. We looked down at our feet and saw a placard stating that D'Vines Wine Bar was located right off of that alleyway. Sold!
Of course, everyone had the same idea to escape the rain, so we waited in the covered alleyway until two seats opened up and made ourselves comfortable. All of the wines and cheeses were locally produced and we tried both a white wine flight and a red wine flight and sat there eating four kinds of the freshest cheese imaginable and homemade bread and figs and using the fastest WiFi we've ever seen outside our own home. And when the wine flight was finished, we each chose our favorite and ordered a glass of that, spending several hours in this tiny hole in the wall staying dry and cozy despite the rain falling outside. I was also able to upload a few photos to the blog posts of the past two days. Yay! The entire stop cost anout 300 Kuna, or $42, and it was a perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon, so perfect that I want to return on a future stop.
We left the wine bar just as the church bells were chiming 7pm. It was pitch black out, and had finally stopped raining but everything was glistening wet in the street lights. G said he wanted to climb the steps up the alleyway, which was quite a challenge after all that wine and in that darkness, especially considering these steps were made of stones and were hundreds of years old. It was like stepping back in time to see this 8-10 foot wide alleyway lined with apartments with window boxes of flowers and clotheslines and little balconies. We reached the top of the alley which was about half of the height of the city wall and turned left to walk back to the Pile Gate.
As we exited through the arched wall, we heard someone calling our names. Calling our names after dark in Dubrovnik? It turned out to be dancer Michael and singer Matt from the production show cast. They led us to the Princess shuttle bus and we waited just a few minutes before it began the return to the ship. The traffic was 1/10th what it had been earlier in the day and by 8:15pm we were respectably but minimally freshened up for dinner in the Club Restaurant, which was open seating tonight due to our late stay (10pm). Not especially hungry, I had an appetizer and soup and called it dinner. Both choices were from the regional offerings on the menu: lamb kabobs with cucumber yogurt dip and Turkish chicken soup. They were delicious!
Lamb kabobs with yogurt dip
Afterward we stepped out on the Promenade Deck for as long as we could tolerate the cold, and then went up to the Pacific Lounge to watch our sailaway and the lights of the city. We are skipping the show tonight, hoping to get to sleep early enough to allow us to wake at 6am tomorrow to watch our approach through the fiord to Kotor, Montengro. Our arrival is early, at 7am; Kotor is very close to Dubrovnik and the approach to the city is supposed to be an especially scenic one. Here's hoping for an improved weather day!
