Day 9: At Sea

First, some unfinished business. I received a couple of requests to see my new Mexican fire opal bracelet from La Paz, but there is a story associated with this pic, so I had to also have time to tell it. When we were in Mazatlan while on the Royal Princess in December, we went to a beach in the Golden Zone where I stuffed myself on fish tacos while G, who rarely eats on shore because he is certain he is going to catch a stomach bug, went walking for a short time. As we were leaving, one of the many vendors we passed on the way back to a pulmonia stepped in front of me and said, “Name bracelet?”  I hadn’t even gotten my standard “No gracias” out when I noticed he was holding up a bracelet with my name on it. And spelled correctly (very rare)!  It only took a second to connect the dots, that G had set this up while on his walk. So that is how I came to have a name bracelet, just what every 65-year-old (66 tomorrow!) woman needs. But, as G helpfully pointed out, we just have to add a bracelet with his name and another with his phone number and it essentially becomes a medic alert bracelet, which is perfectly appropriate for a 65-year-old, soon to be 66-year-old. Yeah, thanks for that babe. 

Mexican fire opal bracelet, Balinese bracelet, $5 name bracelet. Eclectic tastes, for sure! 😉

We were awake at a respectable hour this morning, and went to breakfast in the Botticelli Dining Room where our waiter was darling Xolani from Zimbabwe. Like every other waiter we’ve met from Zimbabwe, he was so sweet to us. We had no right to even be eating breakfast today (MTG luncheon day), but that didn’t stop us. I had just enough oatmeal to convince my morning vitamins to stay down and happy in my stomach. 

I returned to the cabin to finish yesterday’s blog post and get ready for our luncheon, which was scheduled to begin at 12:15pm in Sabatini’s. Our invitation told us to arrive early, which generally, on this ship and the Ruby Princess, means we’re going to start with champagne in the Adagio Lounge next door. And we did. 

The lunch was fantastic, one of our tastiest ever, and, of course, the service was impeccable (our waiter was Rajiv from Mauritius). 

Tuna starter

Rack of lamb

Halibut and shrimp

Chocolate raspberry dessert

Introducing the chefs…

…and the waitstaff who made the luncheon so memorable

With Captain Johnathan Baranski

MTG luncheon always ruins us does the rest of the afternoon, so we took a nap in our cabin, dressed up a little for formal night and went to the Elite Lounge (just crudités) followed by dinner with Baran in the Michelangelo Dining Room. Appetite has nothing to do with it at this point. But we did eat lightly (watermelon and feta and Mexican seafood stew aka Bering Strait Stew on an Alaska cruise and cioppino on a Mediterranean cruise 😉). 

Imperial Strings Duo entertaining in the Piazza before dinner

They told us last night they’ll be on board until April. 

Yay!

We had a scoop of grapefruit sorbet as an intermezzo between our starter and entree and then skipped dessert

We caught the tail end of the Captain’s Farewell Cocktail party where many crew members came on to the Piazza floor while the party band played Simply the Best, and then went to the Princess Theater to see Erik Bryan in Let Me Be Frank, a mystical toast to Sinatra and the Rat Pack. Yeah, not exactly my taste but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. Actually, he was much, MUCH better than Sinatra which helped. 

We followed that with comedian Tim Nutt in Club Fusion’s Laff Lounge, then swung into the buffet for coffee/ tea, and had an early bedtime. Tomorrow is the last day of this cruise. It’s been a good one with perfect weather, though it’s gotten just slightly bouncy tonight (we are at the very back of the ship). Captain Baranski told us at lunch to expect this overnight and tomorrow and we’re ready for it. It’s been hard to know we’ve even been at sea this cruise!