Day 79: Fifth of five days at sea

Today was the epitome of a perfect sea day. A beautiful sunrise (which we were up in time to watch, because it's occurring later now, at 5:56am this morning), brightly sunny skies all day, smooth seas despite the fact that the wind remains above 20 mph (it's more of a head wind now), and a Patter packed with fun activities. Oh, and with neither a formal night nor a Captains Circle commitment in sight. Perfect, I say!

The library with no one inside (rare...it's a favorite hangout for many passengers)

We started with a light (very light) breakfast in the Club Restaurant. Our assistant waiter for dinner, Sebastian from Mexico, is surely ready to move up. He has been our waiter for the simpler breakfast menu every day recently, and he really is a delight. We kept it very easy this morning, with cereal and bananas and skim milk. Who knew what treasures the lunch and dinner menus would offer, and we wanted to be hungry enough to enjoy them. 

I went to the 9:30am line dance class in the Pacific Lounge (so you know it was less bouncy today). Dancers Emily and Rachel were teaching us the line dances to go with tomorrow night's Love Boat Disco Deck party. There are four of them, in quick succession, and we only managed to get through three of them in the allotted 30 minutes before hula lessons with Maile and Tui began (I told you there was a lot going on today!). Plus, I had had to make a decision, and missed Douglas Pearson's lecture on Hawaii's flora and fauna, being held at the same time in the Cabaret Lounge. I thought I had heard that one on the way south in September, but Douglas later set me straight over coffee in the Club Bar...he had incorporated some new information, and I had missed out!  Oh nos!  I guess that, like island arrivals, there are no two alike in Douglas Pearson's mind, and we must have the stamina to do and see it all (and to be in two places at one time too, apparently). 

We have asked Douglas to chase down the name of that documentary that was on TV in the early morning hours a couple of days ago, about the Polynesian migration and Hawaii and Rapa Nui. We wouldn't mind seeing that in its entirety when we return home. Thank goodness for YouTube and Netflix and Amazon Prime, etc. We are seeing snippets of such wonderful things on this ship (if you can find them beyond all the Love Boat reruns); I do wish the Pacific Princess had the on demand TV!

Next I was off to the martini demonstration with EJ and Reggie in the Casino Lounge. Not that I'm a martini drinker, of course, but, as with fruit and vegetable carving, I try to get to these things once a cruise season. And EJ and Reggie are endlessly entertaining. Actually, the entire bar staff..actually, the whole crew has been so fun and friendly.  And getting to know them is one of the best part of cruising for a longer period of time. 

I then squeezed in that coffee with Douglas and Beverly so I could be necessarily chastised for having chosen line dancing over Hawaii flora and fauna (That's a joke. Douglas doesn't chastise. He just has a way of making one feel guilty for having made the wrong choice. Douglas would have been a great nun!). I saw G and a group of veterans having a get together on the other side of the Club Bar, which was nice. On a couple of these cruises, there's been only two or three veterans who showed up; this time there were nearly 15.  

Next up was lunch, and I was hungry by noon. Oooooh, I predict a hard adjustment when we return home and a bowl of cereal (without fresh fruit) has to last us until our later afternoon dunch (that's dinner and lunch together). The lunch menu, though new, wasn't too exciting. I had a cold melon soup (yesterday's fruit from the Panorama Buffet, no doubt) and the vegetarian tofu and rice noodles, and strawberries romanoff for dessert. G settled for the melon soup and a plateful of onion rings...and two desserts. Good eating habits are falling apart these last few days!

We had time, then, to sit on the Promenade Deck for about an hour. We have moved far enough north that the breeze feels just a bit cool (around 80F) but, combined with the warmth of the sun, sitting outside feels incredible. We know that cooler days lie just ahead of us, as we make our way back to Los Angeles. In fact, after Hawaii, I'm going to put away some tropical things and bring out the Rapa Nui yoga pants and fleece pullovers. Sigh. 

A view doesn't get any better than this :-)

I left at 2:30pm to go to the Casino Lounge for Tui and Maile's Hawaiian language class, but then left that early to go to Harry's 3pm craft session:  cutting out construction paper oak leaves to be used on the thanksgiving tree (which had appeared in the Reception Hall this morning). Tracing leaves and cutting them out; such a familiar activity for me, who works in a pre-school (although a simpler leaf design than an oak leaf, or else an Elison die cut machine would have been welcome). The best part of the craft sessions are the conversations and gossip we have while we're doing them. 

G was in a hot tub by then, but I only had enough to time to go to Happy Hour in the Casino Lounge just before it ended at 4pm to purchase some cans of Strongbow Ale (BOGO for $1). There will not be an afternoon Happy Hour until our next sea day three days from now, and we don't always stay up late enough in the evenings to make it to the 9pm to 10pm Happy Hour in the Pacific Lounge. I returned to the cabin while G was still out to get ready for dinner, and we went to the Elite Lounge for pre-dinner drinks and then to the Club Restaurant where yet another new menu awaited us. I had a lobster and crab cake entree and peach daiquiri sorbet for dessert, very nice. 

We had a full evening of entertainment then. We caught the second half of the variety showtime with comedian-juggler David Deeble and singer Heather Sullivan, then stayed for the entire next show and finally stayed for our first Ye Olde Pub Night, the first time we've seen it this year, and the new cast's debut performing it. It was entertaining, and the sing alongs are always a lot of fun. 

It's nearly 11pm now, after a day that started before 6am.  We arrive in Hilo, Hawaii tomorrow morning (we're less than a 100 miles away right now!!) and will go though immigration at 8am. Charge up the iPhones, stretch out the texting fingers...after more than two months outside the U.S., we'll have AT&T phone service and Internet once again.  

Yay!

Just a little excited!

Day 78: Fourth of five days at sea

We once again had bright sun this morning, and it stayed with us all day, though it was quite windy (over 20mph). I stayed in bed reading until about 9:30 am, skipping breakfast entirely, before I moved out to the pool for a bit of exercise. The Most Traveled Passengers luncheon was scheduled for noon in Sabatinis, and I didn't want to eat anything before hand, nor have to get cleaned up more than once this morning before I went. I guess that, on this fourth day at sea, I was feeling very mellow and non-participative.

These notifications on my iDevices are just rude!!

Captain Ciruzzi greeted us and posed for a photo at the start of the luncheon, but then had to move on to do captain-stuff, and so we were seated at a table with Staff Captain Darius Balana from Poland, whom we had previously seen but never really talked to, so that worked out well. Mrs. Mary Ann Z from California is the most traveled passenger this cruise, with over 1000 days on Princess. She first cruised Princess in the early 1970s on the Princess Italia to Alaska, and had some good stories to tell about that. She is staying on for the next cruise, the 50th Anniversary cruise, so if anyone reading this meets her, please look out for her. She said she had been on the wait list for the anniversary cruise (because it sold out immediately when it opened for booking), over #100, but did clear it in September. 

So...back to the luncheon. Here was today's menu:

Duet of lobster and shrimp ceviche 

OR

Risotto con funghi

Herb roasted halibut steak

OR

Beef tenderloin tropical

Chocolate hazelnut bar with citrus cream

Our waiters for the luncheon (love that we know them all by name on this little ship!)

Captains Circle host Tracey, Chef Gaetano and the sous chefs 

Tracy and maitre d' Oscar

I chose the first starter and the second entree, paired them with first the Chardonnay and then Cabernet Sauvignon with the entree and spent a very companionable almost two hours at lunch and then the next three hours recovering from it. I guess I am warming a bit to the luncheons, but still prefer the cocktail parties or (even more) a voucher for a free specialty dinner. We've been lucky during our four (I think) luncheons this season in being seated with very interesting and fun fellow passengers. But, for us at least, the luncheon does seem to monopolize most of a day at sea. 

We have heard a couple of different numbers for the Elites on board the next cruise, between 300 and 400 (out of 600 or so passengers!). The MTP luncheon cutoff, in the 200-ish days range on this cruise, is going to increase considerably (and that's all I can say!!). 

We sat out on the Promenade Deck this afternoon, recovering from our luncheon, and then moved inside to the Casino Lounge where guitarist Kenny played during Happy Hour from 3-4pm. We made it to the Elite Lounge at 4:30pm, then dinner, with a new (to us) menu at 5:15pm. We have great tablemates at the next table again this cruise. We really use our table for two more for the ability to eat fewer courses more quickly, because we still do a lot of socializing over dinner. For dessert:  watermelon sorbet. Watermelon sorbet!!!  Send a carton of that to our cabin, please. I love Princess sorbets, but had never seen watermelon sorbet on the menu before. (Note to self:  figure out how to make that at home). 

Production show Shake, Rattle and Roll was performed at 7:30pm, and it was the first time this cast has performed it. I love the dancers, all of them, but am having a little trouble liking one of the singers' voices (but won't say which one, 'cause I'm sure it's just me). It was a fun show, but my favorites remain Motor City (which won't be performed this cruise) and Do You Wanna Dance (which will). 

Afterward, we listened to piano entertainer Brad Stevens play in the Casino Lounge. I do miss Jere Ring from last year...a lot. 

And that was our day. I've had a look at tomorrow's Patter...it will be a busy final sea day before landfall in Hilo, Hawaii on November 25. I've also taken a look at the weather forecast for our three Hawaiian ports...not good. Not good at all. Let's hope it improves, but we still can't complain if it doesn't. We may have used up all our weather luck in French Polynesia, and, if that's the case,  it was totally worth it. 

Day 77: Third of five days at sea

There was no bright sunshine to wake us up this morning; in fact, we had a mix of all sorts of weather today. We had a simple breakfast in the Club Restaurant (actually, G had two simple breakfasts because he got there before me and then returned with me). There were plenty of activities scheduled for this morning, including Douglas Pearson's last port lecture, this one on Maui (but we caught all of those on the way down in September), and the special lecturers on board, talking about astronomy and NASA, but our only planned event this morning was the Crossing the Line ceremony taking place on the pool deck at 11:15am. 

We had actually crossed the equator about 3:05am this morning, and we got a photo of the navigation channel on our cabin TV right after we did. I guess you could say we sprang into fall. ;-) but, for obvious reasons, the formal ceremony on board was held hours later. The beauty of this small ship is that we can show up right when the ceremony starts and get a great view. I remember on the larger ships arriving hours ahead of time and waiting in the sun to be assured a decent line of sight. 

Just crossed the equator!

Finally reached halfway between Bora Bora and Hilo

The entire ceremony centers on the pretext of a mock trial of selected polliwogs, people who have never sailed across the equator before. I heard that nearly a hundred passengers signed up for about eight "defendant" spots. Captain Ciruzzi kicked it off (and for being a fine skipper was awarded the Order of the Kipper, with a fake fish hung around his neck). Craig the male vocalist was King Neptune and dancer Harry was Queen Titicaca (harious casting) and they paraded around Deck 10 to the Pacific Princess show band playing Land of Hope and Glory. This seriousness complete ;-) it turned silly.

The defendants were tried for crimes such as gluttony and scarfing down free drinks and complaining and making out in the hot tub, and, found guilty, were required to kiss a real fish and then were covered with food. The accused glutton was operated on (the surgery performed behind white sheets) and real bones and spaghetti and miscellaneous items like beer cans came flying out from behind the surgical drape. The whole thing was fun and clever and, I thought, particularly well done by Sammi and her staff. And it seemed like nearly all passengers turned out for it, which was nice. Pity the poor Accomodations crew that cleaned up the mess (they had covered the pool deck with plastic to make it easier). 

Harry as Queen Titicaca 

De-fooding the glutton 

Craig O'Hara as King Neptune

I don't know that man!

Douglas with Harry as Queen Titicaca

Of course, seeing people covered in chocolate syrup naturally made us hungry, so we went right to lunch in the Club Restaurant (just a chicken Caesar salad for me) to allow G to get to his 1pm ukulele lesson. I had nothing on tap until quilling at 3pm, and so went up on deck and worked out in the pool for an hour. The mix of sun and rain continued all afternoon, the worst weather of the cruise so far and still not too bad. The wind died down a bit today, making the seas less bouncy and us all much more comfortable. 

At 3pm, I joined a large group for quilling, headed by Company Performance Manager (and dancer) Rachel and aided by dancers Harry and Michael. You know, I thought I'd never get used to the new cast after having enjoyed getting to know the old one so much, but I have, and they are equally wonderful. I went rogue today, making a Christmas tree while everyone else was making the usual butterfly. We all asked to have another session on one of the sea days returning to Los Angeles.  I am really enjoying those projects!

Dressing for dinner and the Elite Lounge starts so early these days, by 4pm or so. But it was Breeza Marina and herbed goat cheese night; I'd dress for dinner right after breakfast for that. There was nothing to see but a lot of grayness out of the large Pacific Lounge windows. I don't mind at all, but hope the weather improves when we arrive in Hawaii. 

We had a familiar menu for dinner tonight. G had the surf and turf but gave me his shrimp, and I had the seafood skewer, delicious but not as exciting as when we see a new menu. We went to the Cabaret Lounge for the 7:30pm performance by comedian Derrick Cameron (he also performed at the Welcome Aboard show, but I didn't include his name in my post that day), and then listened to pianist Brad Stevens in the Casino Lounge for a short time. At 9:30pm, we are watching an Adam Sandler- Jennifer Aniston movie in our cabin and shockingly (for me) enjoying it. 

I forgot to mention something from yesterday's fruit and vegetable carving. A set of grandparents on board had to take photos of carvers Samuel and John and their finished projects with a Flat Stanley. G and I enjoyed that immensely, and it brought back great memories of our own Flat Stanley experiences with the twins...Flat Stanley at the dentist, Flat Stanley at water aerobics, Flat Stanley playing my piano. I'll post a photo of yesterday's Flat Stanley when I can.     

And, finally, regarding Princess Messenger@Sea and our Messenger IDs that don't work...we've been told, sorry, but there is no fix. Period. Thankfully, it's something we've lived without until now on this small ship, but faced with a longer stay on a larger ship, we might feel a bit more disgruntled at the apparent apathy shown toward finding a resolution. Such is life. 

Day 76: Second of five days at sea

By 6:30am, our cabin was as bright as day and we were wide awake, but found a yet-unviewed documentary looping on TV about the Polynesian migration and we were instantly fascinated enough to extend our stay in bed. It covered the settlement of the Marquesas and then Hawaii and Rapa Nui and the Society Islands before getting into the effects of European explorers and missionaries on the health and culture of the native populations. But two interesting items of note that I had not previously heard:  Polynesian sailing canoes traveled three lengths for every two lengths of the European sailing vessels. And, with the exception of the islands at the three corners of the Polynesian triangle (Hawaii, Rapa Nui and New Zealand), no island grouping is more than 500km from another, and the Polynesian canoes could travel 50km each day.

Given these interesting tidbits to mull over, we went to breakfast in the Club Restaurant. It was natural, then, that our discussion turned to reviewing our own adventures in Polynesia on this trip, the totality of which usually sinks in only when we watch these sorts of documentaries on our cabin TV. Simply put, it has been an amazing experience, and, looking back, we wouldn't change a thing except our original hotel reservation on Rapa Nui, which is saying something after almost three months of travel. 

Sitting at a table for two at breakfast, we were only inches away from a table for six, and overheard people discussing the Princess Messenger@Sea system. Apparently, many people have been using it successfully, with the only issue being that they have to set up their contacts daily. Well, that would be an improvement for us. We were able to successfully set up one of those passengers on our iDevices; they could not do the same with us. However, that helped to isolate the issue enough that, armed with that new information, we re-visited the Internet Manager immediately after breakfast. He said that he had been told this might be an issue for some passengers, but we were the first he'd encountered. He has sent an email to hopefully get an answer on how to fix it.

Just think of us as the beta passengers for Princess@Sea on the Pacific Princess. Hopefully, the kinks will be worked out for the 50th anniversary cruise starting December 3, the day we disembark. (Have I mentioned that we will be home for Christmas?  I know I have, but have I mentioned it lately?) ;-)

Since we were just one deck below the Pacific Lounge, and line dancing was starting, we went up there long enough for me to do the Achy Breaky, but that was as long as we lasted. Even G was feeling it a bit, though the sea was definitely a little calmer today. Instead we went down to the stable Casino Lounge to watch Samuel and John demonstrate fruit and vegetable carving. That's a fun thing to see once a season, and these carvers seem especially creative. Dancer/ Cruise Staffer Michael was the MC/commentator, and, I swear, that boy was born with a microphone in his hand. He just came on board two cruises ago, and like all but one of the dancers is right out of school and this is his first job, but Michael acts like he's been doing this for years. There's definitely cruise director potential there!

With Flat Stanley, who leads a very exciting life!

I joined G for British Pub Lunch in the steakhouse at 11:30pm. I didn't eat, but split a Strongbow Gold Apple hard cider with him and discovered a new favorite beverage. G was going early to ukulele class at 12:30pm to get in some extra practice (he takes these things so seriously!), and I went down to the Club Restaurant for a quick lunch of spaghetti aglio, oleo and pepperocino, a favorite. 

After lunch, I changed into a swimsuit and went up to Deck 9. The day was sunny and hot, about 84F-ish, and there were several people in the pool and hot tubs, but there were still plenty of loungers available around the pool. Open loungers!  On a sea day!  At 1pm!  I love this little ship!!  There were also plenty of loungers available on the Promenade Deck, even though one side remained closed due to the 23 mph wind from the east and the resulting sea spray.

I used the pool for about an hour and sat in the hot tub after that, just as a squall moved in. The mix of hot water and blowing rain was refreshing, but that marked a change in the weather for the remainder of the day. From then on, we had a mix of sun, rain and clouds. Except for during tomorrow's Crossing the Line ceremony, I care less about clouds vs. sun than the winds dying down, giving us a little relief with the pitching and rolling. Still, as I said, there was improvement on that note today. 

We spent the second half of the afternoon in the cabin, with me reading and G alternately napping and watching ESPN on TV. I was thrilled to watch the Baylor-OK State game, although I cared not a bit who won. We have simply been seriously football deprived. I also texted the twins for an update on their weekend basketball games (fall football is done):  two wins (one in OT) and one loss. We'll take it!

It was the first of three formal nights of the cruise tonight, so we started getting dressed about 4pm for that. We had time for a brief stop in the Elite Lounge (it runs from 4:30pm-6:30pm this cruise, mighty early, but then we're sitting down to dinner at 5:15pm!). It was Stilton and port night, and I couldn't miss that, regardless of the movement up on Deck 10 forward. 

Dinner tonight was the 50th anniversary menu. By now we pare it down to the mixed greens salad and the beef tenderloin. G had the orange marnier soufflé and coconut ice cream and I had the poached pear for dessert. We went to the 7:30pm Cabaret Lounge performance of entertainer Heather Sullivan, who sang the music of 20th century divas backed by the Pacific Princess shown band. We do love live musical entertainment. 

G has changed out of his tuxedo and is heading back out for the game show Majority Rules but I am tucked into bed with an e-book on my iPad. The Pacific Princess will be crossing the equator about 3am tomorrow morning. I'm not sure we'll get up to watch, but it's always a noteworthy day. The Crossing the Line ceremony will take place on the pool deck at 11:15am tomorrow morning, and we will officially be just one month away from winter. 

And, finally, that stream of consciousness I promised last night, disconnected observations about things happening (or not) around the Pacific Princess...

The new internet system, one that I think most of the bigger ships have already been using, is a huge improvement in terms of logging onto and off of WiFi. One needs to set up a login and password to access it, but, in my case at least, by keeping one Princess@Sea window open on my iPad and iPhone, I remain logged in and have not needed to re-enter my information. To use WiFi, I simply touch the the Internet button on the bottom of the Princess@Sea home screen and am asked to Confirm or Cancel my decision to connect to the Internet. It's instant and easy. Logging off is a smidge more difficult, only because I sometimes lose that logout window, but I type logout.com in the address line and it does the same thing. 

The online Princess Patter is about 65% effective, because it doesn't contain all of the events listed in the real Patter. So it's nice to refer to about event starting times and places, but can't be used to browse all available activities. I am still carrying a Patter as backup. Princess@Sea also has a list of desk hours and open times for various things such as the Captains Circle host and Shore Excursions desk, and these seem to be accurate, and this is very helpful to have at hand. 

Something else that's only partially useful...having our onboard spending account on Princess@Sea. I can only see my own, not G's, as a credit card in his name in registered to pay for our on board spending. He can see both of our accounts, and ends up handing me his iPhone to check them both. It would be nice if he had the option of allowing me to see both accounts on my iDevices. 

Not useful at all (for us...yet) is the Princess Messenger feature. I'll keep you posted on that...

There has been no wine package offered on any of our Pacific Princess cruises, not even this 16-night cruise. I was told it's because they cannot get the stock on board to assure that they will have what passengers want. I don't know whether this situation will change for the next few cruises out of Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale before the 2016 World Cruise, but I have to admit that I miss it. Instead, I've been buying wine at happy hour between 3 and 4pm. The choices are more limited but I've found a couple of wines that I like. 

The handling of on board credits (OBCs) has changed again. Instead of getting cash for the refundable OBCs, a check will be mailed to our house after the cruise, but I know better than to get involved in chasing that down. It's not been an issue from a spending perspective (we've well overspent our OBC) but it has become an issue for getting US $. After 76 days away from home, we are flat out of them, and have had to use French Polynesian francs for extra tips, which we've been assured is not an issue for the crew. Luckily, we'll soon have access to an ATM in Hawaii. 

I have had to start a list of things I need to replace or fix before we cruise again, and I seem to add to it almost daily. Reader sunglasses, one contact (left), two broken earrings (unfortunately, of different pairs).  Then last evening I was taking off my necklace, one of those $4 magnetic strings of beads I'd bought in the Caribbean years ago, and the wire inside broke, sending tiny beads flying everywhere. Oh joy!  This was while G was still out and about, and so I dropped to the floor and, using my hands (it was dark and the lighting in here is not the best), found dozens of them. Then, walking around in bare feet, I found even more. ;-) It reminded me instantly of a wonderful toy I'd received as a child, one with tiny nails and a small hammer. I think I played with it on the hardwood floor just once, and then it disappeared, never to be seen again. Well, that mystery is now solved.

We are loving our Deck 4 ocean view cabin with its large window, and it was well worth having to move on our last turnaround day. The location is unbeatable, the best on the entire ship for being centrally located, and we make a habit of using the Reception Hall stairway (we call them the 'pretty stairs') to walk up the one deck to the Club Restaurant or Promenade Deck. 

And, finally, I heard tonight at dinner about some snow heading for the upper Midwest, including northern Ohio. For the first time in recent memory, it didn't wrench my stomach to hear that. Mom is safe and well, and doesn't have to go outside for anything when the weather is bad. 

Life is definitely good. :-)

Day 75: First of five days at sea

How much trouble are we having adapting to our '80 to zero in one day' lifestyle change?  None at all, except for the pitching of the ship, which started immediately after we left Bora Bora and headed north. There are currently 630 passengers sailing on board the Pacific Princess, and I suspect more than a few of them were feeling the effects of the ocean motion today. Typically, I am fine as long as I avoid the front of the ship, so my participation in activities in the Pacific Lounge and Cabaret Lounge was out of the question, but I happily spent my day in our cabin, the atrium (called the Reception Hall), the Club Restaurant and on the Promenade Deck. I accomplished not one. single. thing. and that is the beauty of sea days.

While we slept in a little bit later this morning, there was none of that languishing in bed until noon stuff going on. Our cabin, on these five northbound sea days, is on the sunrise side of the ship, and our brightly sunny weather continues. By 5:30am the sun had lighted our cabin, but we manage to sleep on, curled up like cats in its warmth. However, by 7am it was getting downright hot, and we learned our first lesson about these five sea days in a row:  turn the AC temperature way down before retiring for the night. By 3pm today, we were turning it back up, but it became a little oven in here this morning. 

As for a rundown of our activities today...as I mentioned, it will be short because I was not feeling at all participative and G was only mildly more social. We met for breakfast in the Club Restaurant, and I returned to the cabin to catch up with hand laundry. I also took the time to throughly clean my mask, snorkel and fins, as I kind of doubt that I'll be using them again before we return home. I had neglected to mention in yesterday's post that the water temperature at Matira Beach was 88F. Somehow, I don't think the water in the Hawaiian islands will come close. 

We both made it to the BIG!!!!!! $500 Treasure Hunt Drawing*!!! (*must be present to win) at 11:15am in the Cabaret Lounge (we won NOTHING!!) and then stayed to use our free bingo cards in the first bingo session of the cruise (ditto, but we were kept highly entertained by dancer/cruise staffer/ bingo caller Michael who is a party waiting to happen). We managed to squeeze in a quick lunch in the Club Restaurant before G had to head off to the first ukulele session of the cruise. Hawaiian duo Tui and Maile came onboard in Papeete and will be offering the usual Hawaiian music but also cultural activities, such as lei making and hula and ukulele lessons. 

I wanted to go to line dancing in the Pacific Lounge at 2:15pm, but...well, it was the Pacific Lounge and I wouldn't have lasted five minutes in there. Instead I sat on the Promenade Deck (only one side was open; the other was closed off due to the wind and sea spray) and read. G joined me there for a short time, but we eventually returned to the cabin and napped (yes, even me!). Unfortunately, that had me sleeping right through dancer Harry's first craft session (it was the card/bookmark project today, so...sorry Mom!). G went to the Elite Lounge at 4:45pm, alone, because, again...Pacific Lounge.

I joined him for dinner at 5:15pm in the Club Restaurant. Regardless of whether we're hungry or not, we cannot bring ourselves to miss even a single lunch or dinner in the dining room this cruise, simply because we're seeing menus that are either new to us, or that we don't see very often, due to this being a longer cruise. Tonight we both had watermelon with a yogurt topping, a salad with blue cheese and walnuts and ravioli with a roasted walnut sauce. Wow, what a great meal!

G is out attending comedian David Deeble's early show in the Cabaret Lounge. We had a brief calmer period late afternoon and during dinner, but the ocean is once again pitching a fit. I won't venture out any further than our low, midship cabin tonight. Someone mentioned during dinner that we are forecasted to have these tempestuous seas all the way back to Los Angeles. Oh joy. 

I was going to continue with the GPS-worthy portion of today's post, where my stream of consciousness finds it way onto my iPad, things about the new internet system and the missing wine package and laundry turnarounds, but the ship's shudders and rolls and the sound of slapping waves have disinclined me to write anymore tonight. 

To be continued...