Oh, what a difference a day makes. Actually, we started having some improvement by late afternoon yesterday, but G said he still felt a lot of rocking and rolling last night. But today...the seas are glassy and smooth, with a light side to side swell, and so beautiful that I just wanted to sit out on deck and look at the water. No splashing, no crashing of waves against the side of the ship, just sunny skies and gentle movement. I took at least 20 photos and five videos of...the water. It was that nice.
Naturally, this has eliminated any vertigo on my part, too, but I was surprised to notice this morning how congested my ears were. I took two Sudafed and kept tissues handy for a couple of hours. I'm wondering now if that wasn't a big part of my vertigo issue since Maui, because I've never felt so seasick before. If it ever happens again, I'm going to first take Sudafed and see if that helps. I may also start traveling again with Meclazine. We used to, when we first started cruising, but never needed it and so haven't brought any for years.
It felt wonderful to be up and about on the ship again, and I was very participative all day. After breakfast in the Club Restaurant (which is getting simpler by the day. Today it was six grain toast topped with cottage cheese and orange marmalade), we went to a Meet the Officers session headed by Cruise Director Sammi in the Cabaret Lounge (yep, at the very front of the ship!). She interviewed several senior officers including the Captain and Staff Captain and Hotel General Manager and Food and Beverage Director, first asking how they got started on ships. For the bridge officers, it always began by living in a port city and having a relative who was at sea. For those people in hotel operations, it usually started with some advanced education in hotel management. Either way, most of them took a circuitous route to the Pacific Princess, with the captains spending time as deck hands on freighters in their early years. Very interesting!
I then rushed off to a craft session called Quilling 2 held in the Reception Hall (atrium). I am not the only one who is quite taken with this art of twirling and gluing paper. Today, those of us who had participated in an earlier session were put in an "advanced" class and encouraged to go freestyle (which, frankly, I've been doing since the second session). Today I made a bouquet of flowers in several different colors. I am going to have to get to Michaels when I am home to see about buying those narrow strips of quilling paper. I like that it's a pretty simple craft to be involved in, and involves almost no supplies. Plus, a quilling wand will easily fit in my shoebox of life's possessions. ;-)
Around midday, we finally passed the halfway point between Hilo, Hawaii and Los Angeles, with about 1100 miles on either side of us. We also passed the first ship we've seen since Hilo, a freighter heading west. I remember from our first crossing to Hawaii back on the Radiance of the Seas in 2002, we passed sister ship Legend of the Seas en route and had a huge horn blowing exercise in the middle of nowhere. The decks of both ships were packed with passengers waving (even though they weren't that close). Later today we passed two more freighters; it's apparent even without looking at a map that we are getting closer to Los Angeles.
We returned to the Club Restaurant for lunch, a simple bowl of soup and grilled chicken breast on a salad for me (I know, I know. I once said I'd never eat that again, but time dulls the memory). We had to finish quickly to get up on Deck 10 to have a birds-eye view of the ship building competition that was started several days ago. I guess (without having the rules in front of me) that the goal is to build a small boat that can float a six pack of beer across the pool without sinking using only supplies found on board. The final award was based on team spirit, originality and boat appearance and sea- (or pool-) worthiness. All but one boat made it across the pool, but one of those did start taking on water at the same time the theme from Titanic was playing on the pool deck speakers. That was harious.
The sky was perfectly sunny and blue all day, though the air is starting to take on a chill. We were still comfortable in shorts and T's, but by tomorrow we'll need at least a fleece if not slacks, too. But our favorite place to be when it's sunny but chilly is in the hot tub, and we spent most of the rest of the afternoon in one, with me alternating between it and the pool. The pool is once again full of water, but it's downright...refreshing.
We drank beer and hard cider in the hot tub, and so skipped the Elite Lounge tonight in favor of going directly to dinner at 5:15pm. It is sinking in a bit that we will be going home to a house devoid of food, and that even when we do shop for groceries, we'll be missing the huge variety and quantity of food we've had available for almost three months. (Not to mention an entire waitstaff dedicated to meeting our every dining need). Ouch.
Tonight's entertainment is once again comedy magician Lorenzo Clark (who has left and rejoined us repeatedly since Vancouver) and a late night comedy show by Doug Funk. I am giving both a pass in lieu of listening to pianist Brad Stevens in the Casino Lounge and then reading in the cabin.
And, finally...how 'bout those Broncos??? Oh, man, I am sorry to have missed that game! At the same time I went online to publish my blog post last night, they clinched the win with a TD in OT and I started getting text messages about it. Perfect timing...perfect game...perfect win, and the Broncos QB position looks more stable than it has in awhile. I am so happy!! Thanks to those blog readers who sent me emails about it, and especially reprints of the sports articles covering it. But how in the world did you ever know that I am sort of fond of Broncos football??
;-)