Peace on Earth...

...and goodwill toward everyone. 

Wishing you Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a safe and healthy 2016!

Have I mentioned that we will be home for Christmas?

I know I have, but have I mentioned it lately? ;-)

It's not yet Christmas, but we are home! 

We will be continuing our (by then) winter at sea in early January when we return to the Caribbean for what we consider to be "easy" cruising. I can't commit to my blogging plans yet (it's getting harder to turn one mindless beach day after another into an interesting read) but after a month off, I might feel differently. 

But now...our first Christmas at home in six years, following 87 days spent on tropical Pacific islands. 

Life is very good. :-) 

(I will be going back and adding lots of photos to the blog posts since September, and I'll let you know when that is complete.)

Never assume...

...that if there is nothing outside your cabin window when you step into the bathroom to shower, there will be nothing there when you step back out naked.  :-o

Hello there fueling barge person!

Day 87: Fifth of five days at sea

The last day!  The last meals, the last live entertainment, the last ocean views, the last time I will ever be as spoiled as I've been on the Pacific Princess (and I'm kinda ashamed to admit how much I liked it). 

I awoke at 6am this morning and saw that it was still completely dark out, and so I fell back asleep. Shortly after 7am, the sunrise finally woke me up. It has occurred at such varied times lately, with our eastward travel and time changes (and I negligently haven't paid attention to the times listed in the Princess Patter) that every day it's a surprise.  I quietly snuck out of the cabin and went to the Club Bar for coffee and then into the Club Restaurant when it opened for breakfast at 7:30am. I had just oatmeal topped with cinnamon apple wedges, knowing that I'd be eating a good lunch and dinner, too (and I sure did!).

I sat for a short time on the sunny side of the Promenade Deck...but not long. Even with a fleece pullover on, it felt very chilly. (Our temperature at noon was 61F). Still, it couldn't have been a prettier day. We've had sunny weather ever since leaving Honolulu on Thanksgiving Day, but the wind did cause us a lot of trouble for a couple of days. Today we met a lady who had fallen on the pool deck on our second sea day out of Hawaii, and knocked out two teeth.  Ouch!  Those were two very rough days, among the worst I've ever seen. 

I returned to the cabin to find G up and about, so I accompanied him to the Panorama Buffet where he had an omelet. As I've said, it's more the variety than the quantity of food I will miss when we return home...plus the wonderful waitstaff that has served it. Back in the cabin, we cotinued packing up most of our clothes and some of our toiletries, but took a break to go to the Cabaret Lounge for the culinary demonstration with the executive chef and Maitre d' Oscar. Even though we've done it several times in the past, we did the walk through of the galley afterward, and it was nice to have a chance to say goodbye to fruit and vegetable carvers Samuel and John, who were displaying their efforts in the galley.

The butcher shop

We did a little more packing then, enough to know where we had issues (paperwork) and I determined that I had a little more room in my carry on for a few more gifts, and so visited the boutique one last time. Lunch in the Club Restaurant featured one of our favorite menus, and G opted for the veggie burrito while I had the chicken korma with all the toppings. At home, that would be enough food for an entire day; I predict a painful adjustment ahead. During lunch, we completed our check ins for our Southwest flight tomorrow (we had separate reservation numbers), and were able to get assigned to Boarding Group A (almost unheard of without paying extra for Early Bird Check In), one of us position 41 and the other 42. Go us!! The weather looks good for both LA and home; hopefully, we'll have an uneventful day. 

After lunch, we went up to the pool deck to check out the temperature of the hot tubs:  cold, lukewarm at best. I don't know what happened. We've enjoyed truly hot hot tub temps all season, but it seems they're not heating the water nearly as much any longer. And the pool water was more cold than refreshing, too. Coupled with the cool air, we reconsidered our plans to hang out on the pool deck this afternoon, and returned to the cabin to pack the swimwear and sandals we'd held out thinking we might use them. 

We cleared off the bed enough for a lie down then. G napped and I read (and tried to ignore the news, which, once again was horrible. How many times has that been the case this season?). By 3pm, we were 195 miles from Los Angeles and my excitement was starting to ratchet up. As is always the case, whether our trip is 15 nights or 150, faced with returning home I am anxious to get there NOW. I just want to click my heels together and transport myself right to our front porch. 

We skipped the Elite Lounge (we'd been drinking minibar items all day) and went directly to dinner in the Club Restaurant at 5:15pm. The Last Supper. Despite the fact that I wasn't even hungry, I had a seafood and watermelon starters and a small serving of fettuccine alfredo as my main dish. Believe it or not, I have never once, not ever had Princess' fettuccini alfredo, and decided it was time to try it. Well...it was awfully salty and rich, and I probably won't order it again, but I'm glad I tried it once. We both skipped the baked Alaska in favor of the dark cherry sorbet for dessert. We are quite addicted to Princess sorbets!

The featured entertainment tonight in the Cabaret Lounge was a variety show with harmonica-ist Bernie Fields and comedy magician Lorenzo Clark. Now, we've seen Lorenzo's act so often this year that we could probably do it ourselves, but 20- or so minutes of Bernie Fields was just right. We are back in the cabin now, going through that always-painful process of closing up and weighing and opening and rearranging things in suitcases. It's never a pleasant process, and after nearly three months away is especially grueling. In fact, I've just this minute decided that it's my least favorite part of cruising, which means that getting up in the middle of the night for a flight falls to #2 and embarkation day unpacking to #3. But all those many days in between...living the dream, baby!  

Life is good. :-)

Day 86: Fourth of five days at sea

We enjoyed another perfect sea day en route to Los Angeles...brilliantly blue sky, bright sun, mild wind and just that same lazy swell we experienced yesterday. Still, I told G at breakfast in the Panorama Buffet that today's ocean didn't have that same beautifully smooth surface we enjoyed yesterday. "It's lumpier today", I said. "You mean like mashed potatoes?"  "No, cellulite", and this had the people at the next table in stitches. But it was true; the surface was dimpled and lumpy, but the swell was the same. I would love to understand what caused the difference.

We moved our clocks ahead another hour last night, and are finally back on PST. We've been sleeping in slightly later, but were still in the Panorama Buffet for breakfast at 8am. I had a taste for a freshly made waffle today, and we can't get them in the Club Restaurant. Plus, the weather was so spectacular that we wanted to be outside in it as much as possible. So we sat on the terrace behind the Panorama Buffet and drank coffee and ate waffles and enjoyed the expansive view of a cellulitic sea. 

We went up to the Lotus Spa then, to see what was going on in the extra cost area at the front of Deck 9. Believe it or not, we had never been out there until today. The cost is about $10 per day, bookable only for the entire cruise, and there is a thallosotherapy pool there that is included. The water was only lukewarm, the cushioned lounges are the same as those on the Promenade Deck, and there was no one in sight at 10am. We had heard good reviews of it when the ship was in French Polynesia and needed to see it for ourself. Much like the Sanctuary on the larger ships, it's nice but not exactly right for us. Forced relaxation is not my forte and G doesn't sit still long enough to get any value from it, either. 

G went to champagne hoopla at 11am in the atrium and I took advantage of the few minutes he was out of the cabin to fly into action, dragging the scuba suitcase (as we call it) out from under a bed where it was stored opened flat for easy access. I emptied it out and neatly re-packed it, with masks, fins, snorkels, wetsuits and hoods on one side and multiple Princess tote bags, rain gear, metal water bottles, floaties and the beach cooler/bag on the other. It is closed up and weighed and ready to make the trip home. I also folded all the clothes I won't be needing before we disembark. We divide up the storage in here as we do in most cruise ship cabins...I hang everything except undies and swimwear and G uses all but the two shelves (or, in the case of the Pacific Princess, drawers) I use. With all the stuff we brought with us this year, we still have shelves and drawers we've never used. The over-the-door shoe rack helps a lot, and keeps us organized. 

By then G had returned, for once not toting a winning bottle of champagne. Apparently he was no match for a fellow passenger who plays professional horseshoes. Frankly, it was a relief. We are down to our last bottle of champagne, Veuve Cliquot, and will take that to dinner tomorrow night to share with our next-door tablemates. G made a phone call to change out a few remaining minibar items. Like always, we're carting home a bag of unused minibottles of gin to add to the previously unused bottles of gin stored in a dark corner of our kitchen island. I really wish they would simply give us drink coupons we could use in the bars onboard!!

We went to lunch in the Club Restaurant where I had a salad and a small plate of linguine with peppers and broccoli and G had the first item he's actually not liked (a BBQ brisket on salad). He declined waiter Herbert's offer to bring him something different, but toasted coconut frozen yogurt for dessert saved the meal for him. We met the most interesting people, a couple from Houston who is sailing around the world. They started in 2013 in St. Lucia but go home for the holidays every year. Right now, their sailboat is docked in Tahiti, just south of Papeete, and they will return to it in March. Instead of immediately continuing west, they are going to spend some time in Rangiroa and other islands in the Tuamotu Archipelago. They are under no time constraints, and plan to meander their way around the globe. Their longest single passage so far (I think it's called the big leap or the great leap or something like that) was 21 days from the Galapagos to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands. 

Fascinating!

Douglas Pearson was making his final presentation of the cruise, on the history of California, in the Cabaret Lounge at 1:45 pm. I will miss him and his enthusiasm for everything!  G left early to go to a Goofy Golf, not knowing what to expect. Well, they started at the top of the stairs in the Reception Hall and the first cup was on the landing, then at the bottom, and then around the Deck 4 atrium. G said there were golf balls flying every which way, bouncing off the Passengers Services Desk and rolling around on the hard stone floor of the atrium. I'm sorry I missed that!

Eventually we met up in a hot tub. I had avoided spending a lot of time on the pool deck in the near-equatorial sun of French Polynesia, but now that we are so far north, I'm making up for it. Still, I armed myself with almost the last of the spray sunscreen (just enough left for tomorrow) and my Tilley hat but left my rash guard behind. The hot tubs, which have been HOT this season, and wonderful, are now only lukewarm. Still, compared to the chilliness of the pool water, they felt good. I alternated between dancing in the pool (the water is still only about chest-deep) to the live music of duo Rockin Paradise to sitting in the hot tub. Cruise Director Sammi said Rockin Paradise is going home on turnaround day; if the next cruise passengers are lucky, duo Great Escape will come on board. We loved them last year!

Tonight was the third formal night of this cruise (don't get me started...), but G had already decided to dress down a bit, so I wore the least formal of my three formal outfits and he wore his nicest tropical shirt and no one batted an eye. I splurged on escargot and did have lobster tonight (I don't usually), and mandarin sorbet for dessert. At 6:45pm in the Reception Hall, a farewell party was held, offering champagne and some free drinks. Many of the ship's officers were there, in their dress uniforms, and Captain Ciruzzi made a goodbye speech. Not all cruises feature a farewell party, and it was a nice event. 

Production show Do You Wanna Dance was performed at 7:45pm, a wonderful show that received a standing ovation at the end. You know I have trouble with most transitions, and didn't want to adjust to a new cast, but these dancers are fantastic. I will miss them, and miss the kinds of interactions with them that this small ship affords. 

At 9:30pm we are tucked into bed. As I lie here, I can't help but think that in 48 hours we'll be sleeping in our own bed. While our last departure from Bora Bora seems a lifetime ago, it feels like just yesterday that we were embarking on the Pacific Princess in Vancouver. 

Time is a funny thing, isn't it?

Go go go go!