Thursday, January 23, 2020

Day 120: At Sea

We awoke today to an outside temperature of 79F, and it was partly sunny, but very windy. The Majestic Princess, which provided a smooth ride across the Tasman Sea, is bouncing a bit today. And the ceiling panels around the Seawalk (the curved walkway with glass floor that extends out over the water on both sides of Deck 16) are rattling something fierce. Still, we’ve found our cabin location at the front of the ship to be rather smooth. 

We went to breakfast in the Concerto Dining Room shortly after it opened at 7am, and were surprised by the number of people already there, but shouldn’t have been. It was probably all the jet lagged Americans and Canadians who are still waking up at 3am. We went our separate ways after breakfast. G went to the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet and followed that up with a cabin crawl; I went to Princess Live to watch the first part of a Princess documentary on Captain James Cook. And that, in a nutshell, pretty much highlights the personality differences between G and I, especially this late in the season.

But I was so impressed with this documentary that I purchased it, as well as the Reflections DVDs of this cruise and a documentary we had seen last cruise about New Zealand (bundled for free, since the Majestic Princess is not returning to New Zealand again this season). Video Manager Leandro said that the Reflections video would include yesterday’s sail away from Sydney, and just in case we never get down here again (which simply doesn’t bear thinking about), I wanted that one saved for the ages. It was spectacular. The Captain Cook documentary includes a lot of footage of Polynesia and the same goes for that. Who knows if we’ll continue traveling like this? 

G and I finally did meet up for lunch in the Concerto Dining Room because...the Floret Family, of course. In fact, two of them. I’m glad that’s on the first Sea day lunch menu of every cruise. What a way to get my daily veggies. 


Day 2 lunch menu, page 1


Day 2 lunch menu, page 2

G rushed off to the military get together, but I settled in a lounger in the Hollywood Conservatory where I could escape the wind and happily started another book. We may be returning home to two more months of winter, but I remember too well the condition of the house when we left. I’ll have nine months of cleaning to get caught up on, and reading will not reliably fit into my schedule again until sometime next fall. 

The evening was filled with the Elite Lounge in the Vista-less Lounge followed by dinner (I could live on caponata), and we opted to skip production show Fantastic Journey tonight (and go to tomorrow’s matinee performance instead). Instead we went to comedian Mike Harris’ show in the Vista-less Lounge. That was a mistake. He started with his one good joke and it went downhill from there. Live and learn. 


Day 2 dinner menu, page 1


Day 2 dinner menu, page 2


Day 2 dessert menu

As a consolation prize, we swung through the World Fresh Marketplace (it truly is on the way home from the Vista-less Lounge) for watermelon and a lemon cookie. Where are the aerialists when I need them?


Day 2 Princess Patter, page 1


Day 2 Princess Patter, page 2


Day 2 Princess Patter, page 3


Day 2 Princess Patter, page 4