It is after 11pm as I start this post, but we just came from the most wonderful Princess Theater performance by pianist Jon Darsk that left us thoroughly energized, and I am going to use that to propel me through this post at warp speed. Luckily, it was a sea day with not much to report. But I’ll start with our weather. The sea remains rough, however not nearly as much as yesterday morning. The ship has been rolling quite a bit today, but at least we saw the sun all day with the exception of a couple of rain showers. Somehow, the appearance of the sun makes rough seas more tenable. Still, it made walking a challenge, especially for someone for whom walking is already challenging. We are both looking forward to setting foot on terra firma in just over 24 hours.
The highlight of our morning was going through Australia immigration. At least five (really!) immigration agents came on board, I’m assuming in Dunedin, to process the passengers and entire ship’s company into Australia. Today the passengers were assigned to various groups, and each group was called down to the Michelangelo Dining Room on Deck 5 to have their passports scanned by the agents. It took a large part of the morning to get to our group, but once we went down to Deck 5, the process was basically a walk through and was very easily completed. We are thrilled to not have to deal with this upon our arrival in Sydney the day after tomorrow. That should save us quite a bit of time.
I had skipped breakfast, so, after our immigration task was completed, I swung by the International Cafe and was very happy to see an empty chair. And once I sat down, I was even happier to be approached by a bar steward to take my decaf cappuccino with soy milk order. 27 days, and this is the first time I’ve managed to do both things, and it was very nice to sit there for an hour and drink my coffee and continue to read Elton John’s autobiography.
Look who found a seat in the Piazza AND was served a cappuccino! Oh happy day!
Current coffee menu on the Ruby Princess, page 1
Current coffee menu on the Ruby Princess, page 2
At noon, I met up with G in the DaVinci Dining Room for lunch (Greek Salad without the cheese for me).
Day 27 lunch menu, page 1
Day 27 lunch menu, page 2
Following lunch, we checked on the status of the outside decks and pools. The Promenade Deck was still closed off all day today (it really was quite bouncy), but the Terrace Pool and the four midship hot tubs have been filled. I didn’t see anyone in them, though. I think our high today was 56 degrees. So sometime between today and two days from now things are bound to warm up. It’s supposed to be in the high 70s and sunny in Sydney on turnaround day.
Halfway between New Zealand and Australia,
the WiFi speed remained impressive, but then went down
several times this afternoon and evening
I spent part of the afternoon in the Adagio Lounge (finally made it up there!) reading my book, but took advantage of G going to a Veterans Get Together (he said it was the best one he’s ever been to because he enjoys talking with the Australian veterans so much) to get ready for the fifth formal night of this cruise. Five formal nights, and I wore the same slacks and camisole for every one, with five different jackets on top. I certainly have streamlined my cruise packing over the past 22 years. There was no Elite Lounge tonight because there was a Captains Circle Party for those people who came on board in Auckland. The top three most traveled (including us) were also invited and were introduced. We asked Paul and Marlene to join us and had a fun evening.
Day 27 dinner menu, page 1
Day 27 dinner menu, page 2
Day 27 dessert menu
We missed the 7:00pm Princess Theater show as a result of the party, but got perfect seats for the 9:30pm show, front row center. I loved watching Jon Darsk perform everything from a classical medley to Bohemian Rhapsody, including Moonlight Sonata and Billy Joel and Scott Joplin medleys. He is going to perform a classical concert tomorrow in the Princess Theater at 2:30pm and I can’t wait. That is right up my alley.
It’s hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of this cruise. Where has the time gone? The first two times I did a transpacific cruise, I felt like they went on forever; this feels quite the opposite. But I came on board with one goal: to be permanently done using crutches by the time we get to Sydney, and I achieved that several days ago. I still have a long way to go to be where I hope to end up, but that gives me a new goal: to be walking three miles without stopping by the time we return home. Like the little engine that could, I think I can, I think I can.
Day 27 Princess Patter, page 1
Day 27 Princess Patter, page 2
Day 27 Princess Patter, page 3
Day 27 Princess Patter, page 4
