From the Navigator (this appears on page 1 of today's Princess Patter): After yesterday's departure the Pacific Princess proceeds her voyage following North-Easterly course through the Pacific Ocean, towards the next port of call, Los Angeles.
<<Will it change at all over the next five days?>>
Sunrise: 6:55am
Sunset: 5:37pm
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We had felt, by yesterday evening, that we'd been off the ship for days in a row, and I can't easily explain it. In Hilo we'd spent the entire afternoon on the ship, and we'd gone to dinner in the Club Restaurant that night as usual. But, somehow, our long days off the ship in Honolulu and Maui were felt by us and noticed by the crew. I guess we had simply changed our usual routine, which, after three months, is fairly predictable.
We made it to the Club Restaurant for breakfast for the first time in a week (shocking!). Afterward, I went to the Internet Cafe (quite bouncy on Deck 9 forward) to print the boarding passes and luggage tags for our Grand Princess cruise on Saturday. We know that we don't have to have the boarding pass printed out to get on the ship, but are hoping our "Preferred" status, clearly designated on our boarding passes, will ease our embarkation on the Grand Princess. 30 minutes in the front of the ship in the Internet Cafe did me in, and I retreated to the relative calmness of our low- and mid-ship cabin. Even the crew is suffering today, and perhaps the worst part of all is that we know we have four more days just like it.
The NFC playoff game started at 10am, and was shown in the Casino Lounge and on our cabin TV. We chose to watch it from the cabin, freeing up the limited seating in the Casino Lounge for the real fans. And what a great game that was! I was rooting (unbelievably) for the Packers, as playoff football makes for strange bedfellows, and was thrilled with the way the game started out, but, alas, while the game itself was a bit of a surprise, the ultimate outcome was not. But I love good football, and that game was good football.
We went to lunch in the Club Restaurant as soon as the game ended, anxious to see these lunch menus we've not seen in years (if ever). I had paella that was a bit of a disappointment, but my glass of Simi Chardonnay more than made up for it. The ship was moving side to side (rolling) so much that the drawers and cabinet doors in the service stations in the dining room kept rolling open and closed, open and closed. With no further obligations until the Captains Circle parties tonight, we spent the afternoon in the cabin watching the AFC playoff game and getting ready for the second formal night of this cruise.
I am succumbing to pressure to post another photo of myself in my blog, and, in doing so, will let you know that we are once again this cruise's Most Traveled Passengers (MTP). This is the photo that will appear in the Princess Patter on the final day of this cruise.
Because of the number of Elite and Platinum passengers on this cruise, there were two Captains Circle parties held, at 5pm and 7:15pm, and we went to both of them. For the record, I have given away all of our MTP etched glass "major awards", generally to honeymoon couples we've met, except for two: Tahiti and this cruise's Pacific Islands award. They are simply too heavy to take home in quantity, and it was much more fun to give others a memento of their cruise.
We had to be dressed formally and meet Tiffanie, the Captains Circle host outside the Cabaret Lounge very early, at 4:35pm, and so the AFC game was still on when we left our cabin (but, at 38-7, the outcome seemed fairly certain). There had been a point, before last Sunday's ill fated Broncos game, when I had warned G and Tiffanie that, if the Broncos were playing today, I might have to miss the Captains Circle party. Tiffanie said that she would simply announce our names and then let everyone know that Mrs. MTP was in the Casino Lounge watching the game. ;-)
Unfortunately, that issue became mute. :-(
Violinist David Klickenberg performed at 8:15pm, and we attended his show and then called it a night. We move our clocks ahead one hour tonight, the first of two time changes we'll experience on our way back to Los Angeles. While the front of the ship is quite bouncy tonight, it's much more stable in our cabin and we are hopeful for a good night's rest.