Okay, we saw it. Now back to sleep.
We slept soundly and hard. Unbeknownst to us, we had sailed into a dense fog sometime during the night. Even with our balcony door closed, as soon as we stirred around 6am we heard the fog horn, which you don't hear in inside cabins! Outside it was pea soup, something that we don't have at home and therefore, especially with the unrelenting fog horn, something we considered a novelty. (Those folks from coastal California might not be so charmed).
G stepped outside our cabin door to get something from our cabin steward at the same time a lady in the cabin next door opened her door and asked the cabin steward what that horn was for. Really. A lady with a balcony wanted to know what the fog horn was for, when we could see not a foot outside our balcony.
The things these cabin stewards must hear and see!!
We went down to the Patisserie on Deck 5 and had a cup of coffee while waiting for the dining room to open at 7:30am. This ship, unlike the Emerald Princess and most Princess ships, does not have an International Cafe. They do have a barista and a coffee bar with pastries in the morning and sandwiches later in the day, but we've been spoiled by the IC in a big way. While the service by Deepak was excellent and the coffee good, it just wasn't quite the same.
When the dining room opened, headwaiter Roberto seemed to already know that we liked a table for two by the window. As we dined, the fog began to lift and visibility was extended. By the end of breakfast, the sun was peaking through. It remained mostly bright the rest of the day, sometimes sunny but sometimes we sailed through brief patches of fog.
However, we were into Queen Charlotte Sound, and though land could be seen in the far distance, it certainly wasn't as close as last night.
We followed up breakfast with a Cruise Critic get together. Cruise Critic is an Internet cruise board, where we get a lot of invaluable information and "meet" people who will be on our cruises. I had distributed invitation letters yesterday to several senior officers asking them to join us, and we were pleased that three of them did. Immediately afterwards we had a "slot pull": 14 of us pooled together $15 each and collectively tried to hit it big in the casino. No, I didn't participate, but I was a cheerleader, and although everyone ultimately lost $4 each, we certainly had $4 worth of fun.
Then back to our cabin (with that view!) and I posted the blog posts I had prepared about our day yesterday. While I'm doing all of them on my iPhone, I did use my "good camera" to take the final two photos in the most recent post. These I have to download from the camera to my laptop, and then use that to add them to my posts. It's so much more cumbersome...I'm glad I can take photos and post directly from my iPhone!
It was then that I realized that I had forgotten my laptop power cord. What in the world was I thinking when I left the house yesterday morning?
Oh, that's right. Two hours of sleep. I WASN'T thinking!!
I have a couple of options. Three options, actually. I can check at the Passenger Services Desk to see if they have one (they might). I can go to the WalMart in Ketchikan tomorrow and try to buy one. Or I can use my laptop sparingly and make the 5 remaining hours of battery time last until we get home.
Good grief, I have certainly been memory impaired this cruise, haven't I??
We returned to the Bordeaux dining room for lunch and then G went to a veterans get together while I walked on the Promenade Deck. There is no jogging track on this ship, but it has a beautiful, wide wrap around promenade that is a joy to walk on.
A hot tub had our name on it, so that was our next stop. We soaked in one of the hot tubs in the glass roofed Lotus Spa pool. That indoor pool area is one reason this ship is so perfect for Alaska. We enjoyed a long conversation with a young couple from California who have lived all over Asia teaching English to school children. It sounds challenging, but also very exciting and interesting. They said a lot of retirees do that as a way to travel the world while living like a local. Hmmmm...maybe that's our next chapter.
Tonight was the first formal night, and in a break from norm, G didn't wear his tux, opting to wear a shirt and tie instead. I had to improvise so not to look overdressed...I took the gold and black net jacket from my formal dress and wore it over black slacks and a camisole. Alaska cruises really are more casual!
Dinner was wonderful, with delicious beef tenderloins and perfect service from Tee (Thirada) and Lyndon, our waitstaff from last night. We then stopped for a glass of champagne at the Welcome Aboard champagne party. The Captain of this ship is Nicolo Binetti, who was our captain for a month last winter on the Emerald. It was good to see him again...I wonder if he'll be back on the Emerald again next winter.
Before the show, we spent some time exploring the Piazza area of the ship. On this ship, the Piazza extends four decks high, unlike the Emerald where it's three decks high. I don't know if that made the difference or not, but unlike the crowded Welcome Aboard parties on the Emerald, this one felt half empty. The most striking thing about this ship is how roomy it is compared to the larger ships, with so many fewer passengers. It also offers, just off the Piazza, a card room, and a beautiful library with leather chairs and ottomans facing the ocean. The Emerald lacks a dedicated card room (one of the speciality restaurants is used instead) and has a very small library.
We like this ship! I personally wouldn't want to do a Caribbean cruise on it (I like the aft pool area on the Emerald), but it's perfect for the itineraries it sails: Alaska and the Panama Canal.