Today, however, was a dramatic improvement.
I opened my eyes this morning and saw our clean laundry lying on a chair and the paper bag of clean undies and socks sitting next to it. How did that get in here? I had put the Do Not Disturb card on the door and had gone so far as to turn the deadbolt last night before we fell asleep. G said that someone had called to say that our laundry was ready and he had opened the door to collect it. I had heard neither the phone nor the door; I slept so hard. I threw on yesterday's clothes and followed G up to the Panorama Buffet for coffee and sunrise. After stollen (#8 slice of the season) and fresh strawberries, I remained on the Panorama Terrace with the usual cast of coffee klatch characters until my fanny started to resist. It was time to move on.
The pool remained empty and netted over, which was a shame, because I could easily have spent some time swimming. Instead I returned to the cabin to shower for the first time in two days and become generally more presentable (as in, shedding the fleece I've lived in since we sailed from Funchal and instead tying a colorful scarf around my neck for a little warmth and brightening). G showed up and we watched as the sky grew suddenly very dark and it started to rain. Just as quickly, it cleared and the sun re-appeared and remained the rest of the day. The wind dropped and the seas were less bouncy. It became a really nice day.
The big news this morning was the restoration of the availability of the Princess.com website from Princess@Sea. The ability to access the Princess website had been mostly MIA for at least a couple of weeks (I think even longer than that). That has hindered me from doing so many of the things I do when we are cruise planning, not to mention that I was unable to see the status of our Future Cruise Credits (FCCs). I wanted to get new FCCs while on board and didn't know how many to purchase (we buy them by the boat load). Also, I was finally able to show G the itinerary for the Pacific Princess Panama Canal cruise beginning January 3. We have actually been considering staying on for it, but today, being able to see the itinerary online, has changed our minds. It is mostly sea days and the few ports don't appeal to us. It would offer 17 more days of warm weather before we leave for Hawaii but, for now, we'll pass.
Captain D said, in his noon update, that we are basically half way across the Atlantic and that the next 36 hours should be just as nice as today. However, the afternoon and night before we arrive in Bermuda will be rougher, but not any rougher than what we've already experienced. And the weather in Bermuda should be perfect. He then proceeded to tell us the origin of the terms 'bottoms up' which involves a body in a barrel of rum and...well, Google it. It's kind of yucky. Still, I was starving by lunch (we had skipped dinner last night) and we were first in the Club Restaurant when it opened at noon. What a feast. I had a salad with avocado, orange and blue cheese crumbles and then spaghetti dressed with only olive oil and diced tomatoes. I felt that dessert was a must, because I didn't recognize any of them on the menu and considered it kind of a research project, so I ordered a banana savarin with coconut sauce. I had no idea what to expect, but it tasted exactly like those Hostess angel food cakes filled with banana or vanilla cream from 50 years ago. Exactly.
G went to a 1pm lecture on pirates but I opted to go to today's wine tasting instead. (Banana cream followed by wine tasting? You can tell I was feeling fine today.) I then held down a lounger on the sunny side of the Promenade Deck and listened to an Audible audio book for at least an hour. The good news is that Bill Bryson arrived not in Little Dribbling but in Cape Wrath yesterday afternoon, but that was as far as he went, and I can now state that I've finished one (just one) book in 64 days. And written about 70 blog posts, of course. And spent about 50 days walking a gazillion steps in ports. Until the past two days, this hasn't exactly been a relaxing vacation. I will have to go home to rest up. But meanwhile, I've turned my attention to a second book, Christopher Lascelles' A Short History of the World, because all these historic sites we've visited since we left home October 3 have whetted my appetite for a review of things I haven't studied since sixth grade.
A cloud briefly moved in about 4pm and that was my signal to return to the cabin. Meanwhile, G had received a personal phone call from the Passenger Services Desk advising him that Goofy Golf was starting in the Atrium and they had noticed he wasn't yet there. It was akin to a kid being asked to come out to play, and that's the kind of personal attention that we've been spoiled with on the Pacific Princess and that has us so anxious to return again and again.
We skipped the PES Lounge, despite the fact that it was Stilton night, because we had had such a huge lunch and were going to go to dinner. We should have skipped it, too, but decided we would go and just eat lightly, because we really hadn't done anything at all today to require the consumption of more food. I had a salad and scallops and sorbet for dessert. We are sitting in the Cabaret Lounge listening to the Pacific Princess showband and awaiting the 7:45pm performance of Celine Dion tribute artist Tracey Shield (we've seen her once already this season) and will likely follow it up being entertained in the Casino Lounge by Jere Ring. We move clocks back another hour tonight and will be just two hours ahead of EST.
Tomorrow will bring smooth seas for one more day and temps warming into the 70s with beaches right around the corner. Life is good. :-)
