In the midst of the rain shower, we chose to sit in a hot tub on the pool deck. We had the entire area to ourselves, which was nice in itself, but the rain falling on us in the hot tub felt glorious. Soon, though, the sun returned and we positioned towels and robes and whatever we had around the hot tub railing to block as much of it as possible. We spent the early part of the afternoon out there, until the sun starting feeling a bit too intense, and returned to our cabin.
On a whim, I decided to see if the ship was currently getting ESPN, what with it being Sunday in the Real World (as opposed to the Cruise Ship World, where the day was known simply as Bora Bora). Oh yay...except for a few minor cut outs, we could watch football in our cabin, and that's exactly what we did for a bit. The Patriots-Chargers game was just starting, but, even better, we could watch highlights of earlier games. I can't recall the last time we've been able to watch football. The first half of the game was good and I was thrilled.
Coincidentally, G and I had just been talking about football while in the hot tub. More correctly, we had just been talking about these cruises, but football entered into the discussion (as it does so many of my discussions this time of year). G believes that this cruise experience (this ship combined with these itineraries) is proving to be the best he's ever been on, and since he has nearly 90 cruises to compare to, that's saying something. While I feel a bit traitorous saying so (to Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas through the Panama Canal and then staying on going out to and around Hawaii in 2002, or nearly any season spent on the Emerald Princess), I think I have to agree with him. We have a laundry list of reasons why, but the small size of the Pacific Princess certainly tops that list. I was saying that the only thing I'm missing is watching NFL on MUTS, the big screen by the pool. However, I do NOT(!!!) miss the blaring bass of action movies and the out of date concerts that are far more frequently shown. G admitted he was willing to forego the football if that was the price for avoiding the rest, and I guess I agree with that, too.
We are definitely old school cruisers, enjoying simple but well performed entertainment, personal attention and lack of crowds, and always, always that connection to the sea that is sometimes missing on larger ships. When we were talking about exactly this to a headwaiter this evening, he said it perfectly, that this small ship lacks the "tension" of larger ships. We absolutely love this little ship of Princess, however long it remains in the fleet.
So, anyway, back to ESPN...you can see why, having not had ESPN coverage last Sunday at all, today's game meant something to us. Especially me.
Before we showered for dinner, I gave G a bit of a haircut (usually relegated to a bouncy day at sea and so especially easy while at anchor in the peaceful Bora Bora lagoon. I need one myself, soon, and so maybe we'll take care of that the next couple of days in Papeete. We were at the Elite Lounge at 5:30pm to watch as the last of the ship's tenders were lifted and stored, and the Pacific Princess sailed back out through Teavanui Pass into open ocean.
We had reserved a table at the specialty steakhouse tonight, and enjoyed filet mignons accompanied by Veuve Cliquot champagne. At 9:30pm, we have missed tonight's show, but that's ok. There's live music available around the ship and football highlights on ESPN (guess which one gets my vote). We arrive in Papeete tomorrow around 7am and sail the next day at 5pm. The Pacific Princess becomes our hotel right in the midst of the action, and we love that.
