After breakfast in the Club Restaurant (more papaya and poached eggs...I have naturally low cholesterol but I think I've given my numbers quite a boost in the past couple of weeks. Too soon I'll be back to eggs beaters and Greek yogurt), we attending Bill Fall's lecture on the Panama Canal expansion. This was the first time I've heard what the locks for the NeoPanamax ships are called; on the Atlantic side are the three chambers of the Agua Clara locks and on the Pacific side are the three chambers of the Cocoli Locks. Both have water saving basins and have reduced the amount of water required for a ship to transit the whole canal from 52 million gallons to about 48 million gallons. Other modifications to accommodate NewPanamax ships included straightening the shoreline of Gatun Lake and widening the Culebra Cut. This lecture was just as fascinating as Bill's other lectures.
Back in the cabin, I took advantage of a sudden motivation to pack, pulled out a suitcase and folded all my clothes except what I needed for formal night tonight, dinner tomorrow night and our flight home. It was chilly enough outside that today (and tomorrow) I'm slumming it in yoga pants and a fleece pullover. All that's left for me to pack tomorrow are toiletries and the over the door shoe rack items (really...that's exactly how we refer to them, and they include sunscreens and first aid supplies and a ziplock bag with a few office supplies and a Sucrets can holding a few pins and a sewing kit). We've reached the end of an era with this shoerack; we purchased it in 2002 for a 25-night back to back cruise through the Panama Canal and out to and around Hawaii with the intention of tossing it instead of bringing it home. 15 years later we really are going to retire this one and purchase a replacement through eBay. I can't imagine cruising without one.
We went to British Pub Lunch in the steakhouse, and I had the chicken curry which I have really enjoyed this season. Then we went to the Panorama Buffet for dessert and ate it sitting on the Panorama Terrace. It was warm enough back there with our fleeces, and brightly sunny. The coast of Mexico's Baja California was on our starboard side and it was simply a stunning afternoon. We have been so lucky with weather this cruise, at least after the winds that held us in Santa Marta, Columbia overnight. However, at that moment, Captain D started an announcement that indicated change was coming...
The next segment of the World Cruise, from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia, is starting on Friday when we disembark the Pacific Princess. The scheduled itinerary included Honolulu; Pago Pago, American Samoa; and Tonga and then a couple of ports in New Zealand. Captain D said a series of severe winter storms were crossing the Pacific and it would be unwise to leave Los Angeles Friday, and equally unwise to travel as far north as would be required to get to Honolulu. Instead, the Pacific Princess will remain in Los Angeles for two nights, sailing at 4am on Sunday, and will skip Honolulu, Pago Pago and Tonga. Instead it will sail in a more southwesterly direction, spending 8.5 days at sea and arriving in Bora Bora on January 30 and Papeete on January 31, and then continue on to New Zealand as planned.
Our first thought was about all the crewmembers who were supposed to disembark at the end of their contracts in Honolulu. Since the ship won't be stopping there, how would they be affected? And my next thought was remembering that we had been sitting in that exact same spot on the Panorama Terrace a little over a year ago the last time the Pacific Princess sailed out of the beautiful Bora Bora lagoon. Apparently we weren't the only ones who remembered that; when we went to dinner tonight, Maitre d' Oscar greeted us by saying he'd hold our table for us if we wanted to stay on for the next World Cruise segment to return to French Polynesia. He knows how much we (and the crew) adored those cruises. We have other plans, of course, and even if we didn't...8.5 days at sea in a row. Ouch. It's not in the cards for us, this or any year.
I sat out on the sunny side of the Promenade Deck covered with pool towels, listening to an audiobook and watching for more whales breaching. Tomorrow should offer more viewing opportunities. We were dressed formally for the 137th and final (!!!!) time this season and up in the Pacific Lounge for the PES Lounge by 4:45pm (soooo early, but then so is dinner, at 5:15pm). Dinner was another formal night feast and I even had a soufflé for dessert. I'm trying to enjoy those things I deny myself all season long but can't get at home either.
There was a farewell party in the Cabaret Lounge at 7pm and we enjoyed chatting with Passenger Services Manager Carla from Portugal who took Gidea's place. She is a sweetheart and so good at her job, too. As we left, I spoke with Captain D and told him we had just been talking anout him last night with a couple doing the World Cruise, singing his praises. In fact, we had specifically mentioned how he never skips a port due to weather without trying to substitute another one...and his announcement today was a case in point. He said that watching the weather and coming up with alternatives had kept him busy for the past week.
We ended the evening with our last viewing of production show Motor City. I know others bemoan the fact that this show has been around for over ten years, but we love it. We sat on the opposite side of the stage tonight and saw it from an entirely different perspective. Who can get bored with entertainment that good? With music that good? Still, I am ready to go home. In fact, I've been ready to go home since January 7. It's not that I didn't enjoy this cruise, it's just a sense that I have that it is time for this adventure to come to an end and the next adventure to begin. In fact, G and I have spent most of our time since the Panama Canal transit discussing our upcoming Hawaii trip. We've wanted to do this for years; the time has finally arrived.
Life is good. :-)
