With no schedule until this evening, I had a bit of a lie in and didn’t join G in Sabatini’s until after 9:30am. It was a lot busier in there this morning, as it was a sea day, but that is still a most relaxing place to start a day on a cruise. I miss being able to have a mimosa but it what it is, and even G admitted he feels so much better limiting his alcoholic beverages to one or two each day. He was living large this morning and enjoyed freshly made eggs Benedict with fresh squeezed OJ but I again had smoked salmon, avocado, berries and orange segments. Oranges that have been peeled and segmented are the height of cruise decadence for me.
I needed to stop by Guest Services again today after breakfast. Our sink stopper hasn’t worked at all, and I know I sound like a broken record on this point, but with hard contacts, a perfectly sealing sink stopper is a necessity. I mentioned it to our cabin steward the first evening and he tried to fix it himself but that didn’t go so well. After he came through with the mattress yesterday, I hated to bring it up again but mentioned it to G instead and he said he would try to fix it. After getting through one contacts removal and one insertion without it, I either needed to fix it myself or officially report it. I can do those kinds of things but I’m on a cruise, dammit. A stop by Guest Services this morning brought a plumber to the cabin within 20 minutes and it was done.
G had a veterans get together at noon, and I had no reason to go to lunch, but that didn’t stop me from going anyway and getting mint tea and seafood curry. I spent part of the afternoon writing yesterday’s blog post and planning our day tomorrow in Bilbao.
Speaking of this blog, there’s a reason you might notice the appearance has changed a bit this cruise. BlogTouch Pro, the app I’ve used exclusively for over ten years, has basically closed up shop. It hasn’t been supported for a couple of years and I soldiered on with it because when it was good, it was very very good, but when it was bad, it was horrid. I fought it through Alaska, but when I got a new iPad, I could no longer download the app and that left me no choice but to find another option. I settled on Blogging for Blogspot.
I’m adjusting to it, though it does have a few quirks. I can’t double space to get a period and then a leading upper case letter on a new sentence, something that is so ingrained in me that going without it is akin to attempting to write cursive with my left hand. But the most troublesome issue is that I can’t futz with photo size and placement (ie centered) as I could with BlogTouch Pro (there was a lot time spent on that over the past ten plus years!). It’s painful for OCD me, but if we can both deal with it, I’ll continue blogging and (hopefully) you’ll continue reading.
Tonight was the first formal night of the cruise, and I wore the same black kimono that’s been on almost as many cruises as I have. Long gone are the days where G packed his tuxedo and related accoutrements; for this cruise he packed a dress shirt and a tie (because it takes less luggage space than a sport jacket) and we are what we are. I actually wore my sneakers, which, thankfully, are grey/black and not turquoise/fuchsia instead of the patent leather Birkenstocks I brought with me. No, we won’t be used as models for Page 1 of the Princess Patter anytime soon.
DRO Enache stopped by at dinner to make sure all was good (how could it not be?) at our little table for two tucked between the two entrances to the galley. He offered us our favorite table for two next to a window and we had to decline, as we enjoy the wonderful service by Berenice and Sebastian so so much, which, I think, pleased them to no end. Plus I’m really enjoying the fact that there is not another table for two less than a foot away.
I had the roasted basa tonight (aka sea bass) and it was pure perfection. On the Ruby I couldn’t finish an entree; here I’m pondering the etiquette of licking my plate.
Production show Bravo should have been the end of our evening (should have been but wasn’t). I miss the soprano in Bravo, but one of the female vocalists filled in admirably, and such cutbacks are what they are.
As soon as Bravo had finished and the Princess Theater had started to empty, we stayed in our seats to watch McGee compete in an invitational race in Oregon. With nine hours time difference, I knew that, if the race started on time (cross country races usually do), we would just be finishing up Bravo in time for the start. He’s so tall that he’s easy to spot, and it was a wonder to be able to watch the livestream on my iPhone while on a ship almost halfway across the world.
We have already found our favorite live music on the ship, and made the rounds listening to a set by each, and then finished the evening at the silent disco in the Piazza, as much fun as can be had in public at sea.
