Somehow we also squeezed in three meals in the Sanctuary Restaurant today. We don’t eat a lot at any one of them, but still…the transition back to intermittent fasting and two meals a day is going to be a rough one. To atone, I actually found the fitness center today and biked for 45 minutes. And while I was looking for it (I knew it was on Deck 18, but had to figure out which set of elevators I needed to take to get there - midship), I found the entrance to the Sanctuary Club (Deck 18 aft elevators).
While wondering around lost, I stepped into the Love by Britto restaurant on Deck 17 aft, and that is one beautiful space. It has expansive views off the back of the ship. I love Britto’s art, have for years, long before Princess had an association with him, so I especially appreciate this decor.
| These charger plates were really pretty! |
| It took me 12 days to find the fitness center 😉 |
Not one bit hungry but at least feeling virtuous from my time in the fitness center, I met up with G in the Sanctuary Restaurant where I had some delicious tomato soup, also poured from a pitcher.
We spent some time around the Lido pools for the first time, listening to the sax music from the SaxWaves Duo. Getting there about 1pm we found several available loungers around the pool, in the sun and shade. That’s largely been true this entire cruise wherever we go, though we do sometimes have to share a lounger for a short while.
We had a short lie down in the cabin before getting cleaned up for the evening. SaxWaves Duo was playing again on the Wake View Terrace before dinner, and we have really come to love that setting. As for sax music, it’s G’s favorite (his father was a professional saxophonist). That’s why we’re groupies!
We then snuck in the back of the Sanctuary Restaurant and ate a very quick dinner that allowed us to get to the Princess Arena in time to get seats for tonight’s comedy show. We walked in at 6:10pm, 50 minutes early and got the last two seats together in the center section of seats.
| Always a dish of well cooked broccoli with whatever we get for dinner |
| The audience participation improv section of Doug Funk’s show was harious!! |
It was a “2 show night” as guest entertainer Willis White was performing in the Piazza. We settled on a sofa on Deck 9, got a treat from the International Cafe, and waited for his show. I remembered that he had two shows on the Royal…or was it the Emerald…whichever ship we saw him on a few months ago and I was hoping he’d do the same on the Star Princess. We got lucky!
And, finally, I need to mention that Staff Captain Chris told us at the MTG luncheon that this cruise had 500 fewer passengers than normal capacity, which is definitely making the ship seem roomier than it might otherwise be. Add a further 800 kids and it becomes a whole other experience. I would add that putting it in a cold or inclement weather itinerary might snug it up even more. When I say that there are plenty of empty chairs and loungers…YMMV.
A few questions/comments I’ve received about our cabin. Yes, it’s small but our inside cabin on the Carnival Jubilee was even smaller and didn’t live nearly as well. Our Star Princess cabin is extremely comfortable. It even has a third berth which hasn’t been any kind of an issue, except during the first night when the ladder that was stowed up there slid down the wall onto G’s bed. That about gave us a heart attack. Luckily, it didn’t actually hit him, only because the hook end was caught on the side of the frame. But in the middle of the night we were rigging a fix out of a heavy duty twist tie that came off of my curling iron cord. No issues since.
There is plenty of storage we’re not using, but the hanging clothes space in the closet is rather limited. I’m just using drawers to store most of my clothes and G is using hangers and shelves for his. The live vests are stored in their own narrow closet right next to the cabin door, which keeps them nicely out of the way.
There is a small bench which serves mostly to accumulate superfluous decorative pillows.