Day 50: A rough day at sea

Oy, what a day this has been (and not in a "Wow- what a day this has been!" sense). This was a rough day, possibly the worst we've seen apart from the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. We've twice sailed that section of water, but on much larger ships. Relatively speaking, today felt just as bad. Very probably even worse. 

Despite the strong hints that Captain D was making (when he could still talk...he and many of the ship's company have the same sore throat- coughing thing going on that we've been dealing with), hope springs eternal and we were still counting on getting into Katakolon today (which, you might recall, was a substitute for Khios). We had booked a ship's excursion to the original Olympic site and set two alarms for 6am to make sure we didn't miss our excursion meeting time. As a result, we were in the Panorama Buffet well before sunrise, drinking coffee and eating breakfast and willing ourselves to wake up (we had plenty of company in that regard). About 6:45am, Captain D started an announcement, telling us he had something so important to tell us that he was going to hand the message he had prepared over to the Staff Captain to read, because Captain D barely had a voice. 

We knew what we were about to hear, of course, that Katakolon would be a miss, but Staff went on to tell us that we were in for some wild weather today (though he explained it in terms of cold fronts and depressions) after a night of wild weather last night. By 7am we were crawling back into bed. We didn't know how we would spend the day but were certain that ours wouldn't start again until at least 9am. We saw it all this morning:  clouds and rain and constant bounciness. A revised Patter full of activities was quickly published, but walking down our corridor on Deck 4, I saw that most were still in the mail slots and many doors had 'Do Not Disturb' cards in the locks. 

Thankfully, we have hours of videos on iDevices and and a Lightning/HDMI adapter and had plenty to keep us entertained while mostly staying down. However, by 12:30pm, I was getting a little hungry...after all, it had been 6 hours since a light breakfast. In the spirit of companionship, G accompanied me to the Panorama Buffet but before he even had selected any food looked at me with a slightly glassy-eyed gaze and told me he was returning to the cabin. 

Amazingly, I was unaffected through all this, and chose items such as rice and steamed veggies and chicken breast from the buffet, thinking they would be safest. As soon as I found a place to sit, a man running toward a bathroom made it to about six feet from me and threw up. Even plain rice kind of lost its appeal after that. The area was cordoned off and a hazmat team called and those of us seated nearby were moved to another area and I ended up settling for mint tea and a soft roll. I took some crackers back to G; I knew he had Sprite in the minibar. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent alternately sleeping and reading in the cabin. About 5:15pm, Captain D made an announcement (with a voice that was still gravelly but ever so slightly improved) that the next four hours would be the worst, with swells of about 17 feet and Force-something huge gales. But then, he promised, they would all be behind us, these three major storms that have made life fairly miserable of late. 17 feet swells to this little ship are not insignificant and my only hope is that we do not encounter a repeat of them during our transatlantic crossing. 

G opted to skip dinner but I was still not seasick and, in fact, was getting pretty hungry. I decided to give dinner a try, but wore the same clothes I'd worn all day and didn't do my usual dinner dress up. Simply getting to our table in the Club Restaurant was a bit of a trick...shuffle three steps backward and then rush five steps forward as the ship rolled side to side. Dear Marco spotted me coming and ran to lend an arm as assistance. And while I had offers to join other tables with people we've met, I opted to dine alone and very quickly and had just one course (scallops) and a baked potato and then scooted out in that same backward-forward way I'd arrived.

Though not everyone felt the same way, of course, the general consensus at dinner seemed to be "Just get us to solid ground, ASAP!"  And after being the dining room I had to conclude that this really was the worst combination of seas and small ship that we've ever experienced. Trays of plates were crashing to the floor, bowls on top of charger plates slid from side to side and at times I had to simultaneously hold on to my water glass and the table to keep everything together. This was one of those days when the dining room staff are all heroes. And the medical staff (our cabin is close to the medical center and we can see they have been inundated). But land awaits tomorrow morning, and Captain D has promised us that on the other side of this hell lay calm seas and sunny skies...and very cold temps. We'll take it, all of it. 

I could easily have made it to vocalist Philip Brown's 6:45pm show in the Cabaret Lounge but that is not where I needed to be tonight. Instead I returned to the cabin to commiserate with my dear husband and simply nod my head when he repeatedly said, "We are NOT doing this next year!!"

He'll feel differently when we get to the Caribbean. This I know for sure.

Even this rough and rocky life is good. :-)

Day 49: At Sea

We were awakened by the sun shining in our room around 7:30am today, and with nothing to rush to, enjoyed breakfast in the Club Restaurant for the first time in days (orange segments and peanut butter toast). I had just dropped my clothes from last night on the chair in our cabin and they landed on top of G's clothes, also lying on the chair, so apparently he had done the same. We returned to the cabin to make sense of it all and re-organize and then I went to the Latin dance session (it's Zumba without licensing fees and certified instructors) with dancer Michael, held in the Pacific Lounge. 

I watched while G and several others played goofy golf in the Atrium, starting on Deck 5 and putting down the 'pretty stairs' to Deck 4 and then over to a literal cup on the starboard side of the Atrium. This is always good fun and provides guaranteed laughs. G ended up tied for third place but, honestly, there were golf balls ricocheting off the back of the Passenger Services Desk. And the movement of the ship made putting from the tiled Atrium floor a bit of a tackle sport. 

Surprisingly, the seas weren't anywhere near as bouncy as they had been last evening, but, in his noon announcement, Captain D explained why, and also said that the worst was yet to come. Apparently, there are currently three different cold fronts converging over the eastern Mediterranean area. We had made it through one, and then last night through the second one and at noon we were in between two of the fronts. Captain D said that what was in store for us this evening and overnight would be even worse than last night. He also made it sound like Katakolon tomorrow might be at risk (oh nos!!) but that once we reached Sicily the next day, the worst- at least of this storm- would be behind us. 

So we will have a port day tomorrow. Or possibly a rough sea day. Either one is okay by us. 

We went to the British Pub Lunch in The Grill and I had the chicken curry and it was delicious.  I love it when they offer that along with the fish and chips because both G and I find something to enjoy.  But we went to the Panorama Buffet for dessert; today featured the pastry extravaganza and I definitely hit the sugar wall after two of them (pavlova and tiramisu). G also had several items dipped in the fountain of melted dark chocolate. It was warm and pleasant enough on the Panaroma Terrace to enjoy the desserts out there, and you know that hasn't often been the case on these cruises. Still, we cast a wary eye toward the sky, looking to spot the leading edge of that next (and final) cold front. 

 

Today was the qualifying round for this cruise's slot tournament and you may recall that I received an entry this cruise because last cruise's tournament had been cancelled due to lack of participation. G cheered me on...but I didn't score in the top 5 and won't be advancing to the final round even if there is one. My glory days are over. ;-)

G decided to take advantage of the last of the decent weather and adjourned to a hot tub: I started this post and began to get ready for this evening's formal night about 3:15pm. There are enough Captains Circle members on board this cruise to warrant two Captains Circle parties, and we were being met at 4:45pm to be escorted into the first one. We had asked Company Performance Manager Heather's parents, who are onboard this cruise, to be our guests and were honored to be recognized as this cruise's second most traveled couple. 

Dinner followed (no lobster for me; I had just salmon and broccoli. I felt like all I'd done since yesterday was eat), and then production show Stardust was performed. We sat with Heather's parents and it was fun to see them watch their very talented daughter doing something she loves to do. At 10pm we are in bed with an alarm set for 6am. Tomorrow is the first of five port days in a row; our last long string of port days until we arrive in the Caribbean.  We are feeling recovered and rested and ready for this last hurrah. 

Day 48: Rhodes, Greece

I think the bow thruster under our cabin worked for nearly an hour this morning to move the Pacific Princess toward its berth and then hold it there while the lines were set. It was extremely windy, and this was probably another case where it was difficult to arrive but nearly effortless to leave.  There's no sleeping in for us in this cabin (but we still love it!) and so we were up in the Panorama Buffet seeking coffee fairly early this morning. But that was the last time we moved quickly. . 

The temps were mild but the wind stayed strong all day. We lingered over breakfast with friends and then returned to the cabin for some more rest. There's been a scratchy throat and congestion thing making the rounds in our cabin the last few days and it has been an energy zapper. Finally we saw some sun and decided the time was right to walk off the ship. It must have been the shortest visit on record; we walked down the gangway, felt the wind and turned right back around. Our day on Rhodes two weeks ago had offered nicer weather and we had already seen the sights. Because it was a Monday (again) the Grand Palace was closed, as was the Archeological Museum and the Acropolis at Lindos. We decided we had seen what we needed to see last time and spent the next few hours in the Panorama Buffet talking with friends and generally making plans for the last three ports on this cruise. 

We returned to the cabin where I actually napped (go me!) and read while G napped. It was a practice day for tomorrow's sea day but in many respects it was even nicer. The ship was stable and nearly empty, and we'll have neither of these tomorrow. 

We went to the PES Lounge before 5pm to watch as the Pacific Princess sailed from Rhodes for the last time this season. I watched as G enjoy hors doerves and then dinner in the Club Restaurant (headwaiter Antonio's penne arrabiatta!) but didn't eat anything because at 8pm this evening I was joining Passenger Relations Manager Gidea, Shore Excursions Manager Geaninina, Crew Officer Natalia and PSD Officer Nicola for a ladies night out in The Grill (the on board steakhouse). This is a tradition Gidea and I started a few years ago when we were both on the Emerald Princess. When one or the other of us would be disembarking (this time it's Gidea returning home for the holidays) we'd get together for dinner and drinks. On this small ship, it seemed that every senior person on the dining staff was aware of our plans ('cause it's that kind of ship!). 

I don't know what excited me more:  a wonderful dinner in The Grill or a few hours of completely female companionship (but I suspect it was the latter). I had the prawn starter, the grilled veggie salad and the filet mignon (with the applewood smoked salt, of course!) and then still had room for a lemon meringue tart for dessert. Add to it a wonderful merlot (in the interest of all of us, I won't say exactly how much was consumed) and it was a memorable evening. 

The seas had started getting bouncy and I didn't really realize it until I stood up. In fact, it took a bit of skill to quietly move from our cabin door to the bed when I returned "home" just before 11pm. While the night stayed bouncy, things have calmed by this morning (which is when, I confess. I am finishing this post). Captain D had told us we would be moving out of the storm that had disrupted our itinerary during the day today. And, as always, he was exactly right. :-)

Day 47: At Sea

I don't have much to report tonight because I did not do much today...and loved every minute of it. First, though, we were treated to a series of squalls overnight with huge lightning strikes and we were up part of the night watching the show. We still woke early but we definitely didn't rush out of the cabin. It was MTP luncheon day, and we didn't want to eat anything before it began at noon. G eventually left the cabin to attend the veterans get together and the lecture about the navigational bridge but I spent time with Bill Bryson, still on the Road to Little Dribbling (obviously, I am not a speed reader). 

Just before noon Captain D made what he said would be a very important announcement. As we suspected based on his announcement last night, we will not be stopping in Khios, Greece the day after Rhodes tomorrow. There is a huge weather system that basically guarantees that we will be unable to tender into the port. Also, the time required to get to the port following that, Catania, Greece would force the Pacific Princess to sail at a speed that would be uncomfortable in the storm. Instead, we will have a day at sea following Rhodes and then call at Katakalon, Greece the following day. 

G and I were thrilled at this news. We've already visited Khios once this season but have never been to Katakalon. We missed it on a Mediterranean cruise in 1999 or 2000 (I forget which) when the war in Kosovo broke out and all of our Adriatic and Greek ports were cancelled as a result. This is our opportunity to finally get there. 

We were seated with Captain D at the MTP luncheon and he filled us in on all that happened behind the scenes overnight to make these changes (which were finalized around 1am). It was complicated by the fact that we are currently 10 hours ahead of Princess headquarters right now and this is still the holiday weekend.  They had wanted to substitute another port but all the eastern Greek ports will be affected by the same storm. This is a great solution. 

The luncheon was wonderful, as usual, with some familiar favorites and other items that were new to us. 

Starter

Potpourri of shellfish Neptune, with crab meat salad, lobster tail and sea scallops

Intermezzo

Sorbetto ai limoni is sorrento

Entrees

Baked, herbed crusted Norwegian salmon 

 

OR

Wisconsin milk fed veal medallion Oscar

 

OR

Vegetarian Crespelle valdostana

I chose the salmon and G the veal and they were simply the best!

Dessert

White chocolate log

 

I've never met white chocolate anything I didn't love!

 

MTP luncheon wait staff- our waiter for dinner was Magnificent Marco, fifth from the left 

 

MTP luncheon galley team

Cutoff for this luncheon jumped quite a bit to the nearly 400 days as the longer term cruisers came on board for the last Mediterranean cruise of the season and the transatlantic cruise coming up next. 

I am usually ruined for the rest of the afternoon after all the wine and food, and today actually managed to nap, which is precisely what I needed to do. We are definitely wearing down a bit. 

Dinner was light, just gazpacho and a salad and a starter (and no wine!).   Our entertainment tonight was vocalist Philip Browne, a Brit with a wonderful baritone voice who has starred in several West End shows. His first was The Lion King and he performed one of my favorite songs, Circle of Life so beautifully that I got chills.  He was definitely one of the best guest entertainers that we've seen.  

And that was our day: sleep, read, eat, drink, sleep some more, eat some more and be entertained. This is cruising at its best and a welcome change from our port, port, port, port, port, port, port, port routine. 

And, finally, I must give a shout out to dear friends Suzan and Greg, leaving tomorrow for Fort Lauderdale and 20 nights on the Royal Princess. Our plan is to meet up in Fort Lauderdale on December 20, the end of their cruises and a Pacific Princess turnaround day. Suzan has been staying in touch with my mom by phone and relaying information to me via email while Mom's email is not functioning. That's a true friend, and I am so thankful for her.  Safe travels, and see you in just three weeks!!

Day 46: Corfu, Greece

We had a shaky start and ending to our day in Corfu, weather-wise, but for several hours today we had moderate temps and no rain, though we never saw the sun. That's okay; the weather allowed us to get a slow start to the day while it was raining and leave the ship when it stopped around 11am. We walked to the port terminal but met up there with Marlene and Paul who had taken the free shuttle that ran between the Pacific Princess and the terminal. They were uncertain of their plans for the day, but we were on a mission to see the New Fortress (we had visited the Old Fortress on our last visit) and the marketplace which is right behind it. Marlene and Paul decided to join us. 

Since the New Fortress is on the side of town closest to the cruise ship, we opted to skip a local bus and simply walk there. It took only about 30 minutes to get to the side of the fortress that my Maps.me app indicated had a path that reached the top (it sits on one of two hills overlooking the city; the Old Fortress sits in the other one). However, once we got there, we discovered the New Fortress was closed for the season. Well...shoot. I guessed that climbing to the top of that hill was not in the cards for today. 'Tis a pity. ;-) 

Instead we spent some time wandering through the market, which offered fish stands and produce stands and lots of photos ops. We came upon a basket of small, oval shaped fruit that we suspected were kumquats, which are widely grown on the island, and the vendor confirmed this. She offered us some to try. They taste very much like an orange but have no rind and the entire fruit can be eaten in one bite. The vendor had some some homemade kumquat products for sale and we purchased a small jar of kumquats packed in syrup. Head waiter Petros told us tonight that these are delicious on Greek yogurt and we will try to buy some in our next Greek port, Rhodes. Another booth offered locally produced honey and we had to buy some of that, too, and I know it will be great on Greek yogurt also. 

 

  

 

 

Kumquats

 

Our kumquat supplier

 

Several different types of honey 

 

 

Oranges look so much nicer with some leaves thrown in

We decided to wander through the Old Town toward the waterfront and enjoyed the many picturesque alleys and outdoor cafes with tables filled with locals. We checked out a small grocery store (Marlene enjoy them as much as we do) but I didn't want to add anymore to my bag because I knew I still had a way to go to get back to the ship. Once in front of the Old Fortress, we continued along the waterfront back to a park from which the Princess shuttle (6€ person round trip) and the HOHO bus depart to return to the ship. The local bus (#16) also leaves from there for 1,70€ per person but we just shared a waiting taxi back to the port for 10€ for four of us. 

 

 

We heard English Christmas carols coming from students in this building

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corfu's Old Fortress 

 

We spent some time at a cafe in the port terminal using the free WiFi and sharing a bottle of a local white wine (the name will be absent because it's Greek to me) that we purchased for 5€. The prices on the Dalmatian coast and in Greece are very low and we've been enjoying them. It had started to rain again by the time we wanted to return to the ship (plus we were tired and tipsy by then), so we took the free shuttle bus back and walked up the gangway about 4:30pm. 

I showered first and went to the PES Lounge for shrimp fountain night but still managed to eat three courses for dinner (we had skipped lunch):  tuna escabeche starter, the most delicious Mediterranean lentil soup with lemon and Moroccan chicken tangine. I loved them all!  The entertainemnt tonight was production show Cinematastic and we arrived in time for front row seats. What a great show! After tea in the Panorama Buffet we are tucked into bed at 9:30pm. We were chatting with fellow passengers before the show tonight and everyone is tired after six days of ports (and some of us had 8 in a row but kind of took two of them off) and very ready for tomorrow at sea.

Captain D said the seas won't be too bouncy but that there will be a chance of rain tomorrow and possibly in Rhodes the next day but left us with the distinct impression that the tender port of Khios the day after that might be at risk. A potential unplanned sea day?  ''Tis another pity. ;-)

Day 45: Kotor, Montenegro

This will be very short tonight. We were up early this morning due to the Pacific Princess' 7am arrival into Kotor and G was again the first passenger off the ship, hoping to use the WiFi in the small wine bar called The Terminal. Though the wine bar was still closed, its WiFi was turned on, but G had a issue involving our router at home (don't get me started on Comcast internet reliability...) and was not successful in resolving it. He returned to the ship and we had a leisurely breakfast in the Panorama Buffet. The weather was grey and chilly, and though it wasn't raining first thing this morning, a light rain did start by 11am or so and continued throughout the day. We had intended to spend part of the day walking around the walled Old Town, but we quikcly changed our minds. We've seen it in sun and didn't particularly need to see it in rain. 

Instead we both returned to The Terminal, ordered tea and coffee and happily Interneted for a couple of hours. G did a remote reset of our home router and then managed to remotely jump through a few more hoops and got it all running perfectly again. We could finally check our thermostat and security webcams, and then put that out of our minds...until it happens again. At just a few minutes after noon, I phoned Mom using Vonage (For free! Get the app!!), and then called her two additional times as I booked an airline ticket to visit her for a week over Mothers Day. I was particularly excited at the fare I was able to get flying directly into Toledo (she lives 10 minutes from the airport) and that's what motivated me to book today. 

Our iPhone batteries were almost depleted, so we returned to the ship to recharge them. We went for lunch in the Panorama Buffet and shared a table with a couple from Minnesota and hit it off so well that we sat and talked for two hours. It's funny...I'm not a particularly social person, particularly after almost seven weeks of cruising, but we have met such nice people on these cruises that I've found it easy to become one. About 2:30pm we returned to The Terminal (our Deck 4 cabin is so darn convenient for getting on and off the ship) and were joined by Marlene and Paul and drank Montenegrin wine and I downloaded several magazines to read on our transatlantic cruise. I tried downloading more Amazon Prime movies but was prevented from doing so because of the country I was in. Ditto with Comcast TV On Demand programming. The videos we leave home with have to last until we return to the US (and perhaps the Starbucks near Port Everglades).  Captain D had shortened our stay in Kotor by 30 minutes to allow him to navigate through the narrowest part of the fiord before it got totally dark so the all on board time became 4pm. We had been keeping on eye on ournfellow returning passengers and when we saw a small group return, followed them back on the ship. We were the last two to reboard the ship and even we were about 10 minutes early. 

We immediately went up to the Panorama Terrace to watch our final sailaway from misty Kotor. I even stood in the rain to take a few eerie looking photos with the clouds hanging low over the steep mountains. Sunset was scheduled for 4:15pm so it wasn't long before we really couldn't see anything any longer, and we warmed up with hot showers that felt heavenly after a chilly wet day, skipped the PES Lounge and went directly to dinner (cioppino and key lime pie!). G went to the 6:45pm performance by comedian Rikki Jay but I wanted more to return to the cabin, prepare this blog post and get caught up with People magazines.  Life truly is good!  :-)

Photos of sailaway from Kotor...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cathedral of St. Tryphon

 

On a completely unrelated subject, we experienced a toilet issue again last night, at about 11:05pm. The Passenger Services Desk (PSD) on this ship closes at 11pm, so when I called their number, I instead reached Room Service. Thinking I had misdialed, I apologized and was ready to hang up before I was assured that I had the right number. Apparently Room Service mans the phones after the PSD closes, and I reported our toilet outage to them (harious). The plumbing was repaired before I was asleep (G always says the plumber who fixes our toilet in the middle of the night is the most important person on this ship and I agree).

Well, tonight I returned to the cabin to find a plateful of hand-made chocolates and a note of apology for the trouble we experienced. We've had these in the past (we call them plumbing perks) and they are amazing. Once again, they led G to comment that a plate of chocolates for a 5-minute plumbing issue was a great trade-off and he was looking forward to the next one. ;-)

Two slower days have helped to heal our bodies after weeks of walking hours each day and climbing hundreds of irregular steps. Captain D said that tomorrow will be another day just like today, weather-wise, in Corfu, Greece. It will be our second visit there this season and we had planned to walk to the Saturday morning local markets and climb to the top of the New Fortress, but it won't take much rain or cold to compel us to spend the day drinking hot choclate in a coffee bar. In our minds, we are slowly beginning to wind down the sightseeing and ease ourselves into sea-day mode for the transatlantic crossing. O

Day 44: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Today was the most glorious day, weather-wise, we've had since we were in Cephalonia, Greece all those weeks ago. It was sunny, it was warm, there was no wind and no humidity. It would have been the best day to spend in Dubrovnik's walled Old Town...but we never made it that far. As nice as it was in the Old Town, it was equally nice on the nearly empty ship, and we ended up spending most of the afternoon sitting in loungers on the sunny side of  the Promenade Deck. As I said last night, we are tired. When one of us is tired but the other isn't, we force ourselves to keep going.  But when we are both exhausted from over six weeks of port intensive cruising that a day on the ship is more appealing than another day sightseeing. 

But I need to back up to the morning, because we didn't start out with the intention of doing nothing. I was up very early after not enough sleep, and by 7am was in the Club Bar drinking coffee and publishing my blog post and waiting for the Club Restaurant to open. When it did, at 7:30am, I was seated and waited a short while for a G to join me. He came in carrying a bottle of chilled champagne for Thanksgiving mimosas, and, since our arrival in Dubrovnik was not scheduled until 10am, we had plenty of time to enjoy them. For the first time. I ordered two poached eggs on toast for breakfast and those took awhile to prepare. But real eggs...mimosas...sounds like a holiday to me. 

We took a few minutes after breakfast to take photos of the Thanksgiving display in the Club Bar. This year it was chickens playing instruments instead of turkeys but that worked even better as there was room for more of them. We then went up to Deck 10 where- surprise of surprises- we had sun and warmth and the most beautiful arrival imaginable into Dubrovnik. We had never seen the port look so beautiful. The Pacific Princess docked at the first berth next to the Tudman Bridge.

 

 

 

 

Despite the day being perfect for sightseeing, we were slow to get started. We had done a load of laundry last evening, timed around our around formal night dinner and Motor City, washing the clothes we wore yesterday to climb the bell tower in Piran, but today we decided we simply couldn't wear our coats and vest even one more day without washing them too. While G took care of that, I walked over the the grocery (and more) store located next to the port and bought every pack of mint Mentos they had (only a few) to get me through potentially bumpy days crossing the Atlantic and added some additional bottles of fuzzy water. We have quite a stash now in our cabin and they will have to be moved one time, next turnaround day, but only around the corner to the cabin we'll have for the remainder of our cruises. 

Feeling positively lethargic (and achy...the combination of these mattresses and our many stairs and steps each day are catching up with us), we walked over to the cafe across the street from the port to use WiFi. I wanted to phone Mom using Vonage (For free! Get the app!!) at precisely. 12:05pm our time to wish her a Happy Thankgiving before she started her day. We talked for quite a while and then G and I both did some internet things (Steve, that issue has been resolved. Thanks for your intercession!) and then walked back to the ship for lunch. It was so warm and sunny that we were able to eat on the Panorama Terrace and watched the Costa Mediterranea cruise ship sail away and the many boats and sailboats taking advantage of the weather. 

 

Roasted pepper, broccoli and rice for lunch. Yum!

It was so warm and beautiful and quiet on the ship that we finally decided we were more interested in sitting on loungers on the Promenade Deck than taking a city bus down to the Old Town, and that's how we spent much of the rest of the afternoon (the very first time this season we've done that!). However, we saw Paul and Marlene tonight and they had gone to D'Vinos Wine Bar in the Old Town. Anita, who works there, had asked where we were. We loved that! We were in the Pacific Lounge at 4:30pm to catch the last of the sun and saw what I guess were scullers making their way across the water. It's funny how French Polynesia had outrigger canoes and half a world away are people doing much the same thing. Unfortunately, it was once again nearly dark by sailaway. Apparently some passengers didn't bother to compare the itinerary to the local sunset time before booking the cruise; we heard some grumbling about that today, particularly as it relates to our arrival to and departure from beautiful Kotor tomorrow. After many years of sailing in the Caribbean over the shortest day of the year, and then in French Polynesia where the sunrise and set times don't vary by much, we're used to that. 

 

 

Sculls at sunset

For Thanksgiving dinner, I had corn chowder and winter greens salad and turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and veggies. G chose the Virginia ham. Everything was delicious, even the pumpkin pie, which Princess has never seemed to be able to get exactly right in the past. I almost bypassed it, but when G ordered it, I did too. We loved it. Feeling the familiar Thanksgiving fullness, we went first to the steak house to say goodbye to waiter Samsuri who is going home tomorrow from Kotor (we'll miss him!) and then to the Cabaret Lounge to listen to Irish husband and wife duo Livewire perform mostly Celtic music. And despite the fact that we did next to nothing today, we are still in bed by 9:30pm. Our arrival in Kotor, Montenegro is early tomorrow, at 7am which means our thruster alarm clock will go off by 6:30am. 

 

 

 

Day 43: Koper (actually Piran), Slovenia

First, Happy Thanksgiving wishes!  I hope you all have a safe and happy and tasty holiday. 

But it's not yet Thanksgiving while I am preparing this post, and tonight is one of those nights when I have so much to say and no energy to say it because the day was so busy which is why I have so much to say. But we don't arrive in Dubrovnik until 10am tomorrow morning so I can attempt to stay up for another hour and give this day its due. 

We were shaken out of bed at 6:15am by the Pacific Princess docking in Koper. That's the first time we realized that our new cabin is right over (or near) the ship's thrusters. Still, we love the cabin and we're only in it for 12 nights so we're choosing to think of it as an alarm clock we don't have to set. We grabbed a quick breakfast in the Panorama Buffet and used just a few minutes of the fast and free WiFi we can get directly from the port terminal (even without leaving the ship!). G walked off to scope out the excursion options and returned to tell us (Toledo friends Marlene and Paul had joined us by then) that there was a bus tour leaving at 9:30am for the medieval town of Piran (pee-RAHN) about a 30 minute drive away. Next door tablemates Ernie and Evelyn had taken this tour during our last visit but had gone in an overflow van with no tour guide and were not especially happy. I can see why. Our tour guide, Petra, was exceptional; I can't imagine missing out on all the great information that we received about Koper, Piran and Slovenia. 

So, to ensure that we would get seats on the big bus, at 9am the four of us bought tickets for 20€ each (cash only) and chose seats on what we knew would be the coastline side of the drive. We departed right on time with a full bus and Petra filled us in on the freight port of Koper (one which Rick Steves said lacks any charm at all) and Slovenia. It wasn't long before we had the Adriatic on one side of us and beautiful rollling hills covered with mist and fall colors on the other. Several of us remarked that it reminded us of West Virginia or the Smokies. In the near distance we could see Trieste, Italy and on our return we passed the entry point for Croatia; Slovenia is a very small country, about the size of New Jersey, with about only 29 miles of coastline. We were covered most of that on our drive. 

 

Slovenian hillside overlooking Koper

 

Koper waterfront

 

By the time we arrived in Piran, we had lost most of the sun we had seen this morning, but the town was still a gem. The entire town (with only about 4000 residents) is very walkable. Our bus left us off on the edge of the waterfront and we walked along a large marina and up to Tartini Square, one the largest squares in Slovenia. In the middle was a statue of Giuseppe Tartini, a composer and violinist once known throughout Europe. We stopped in at an outdoor cafe on the square to order a local red wine called Revošk that is said to have medicinal value in lowering blood pressure. Once again, it wasn't until after we drank wine (will we ever learn?) that we started the climb through the ancient cobblestoned alley to the imposing Cathedral of St. George. The cathedral dates from the 14th century and was decorated in the 17th century by Venetian artists. It is a large cathedral for such a small town, with the intent that invaders would view it from the sea and believe that the town was much larger and would be more difficult to attack and plunder. That's the first time I've ever heard of a church as a defense mechanism! ;-)

 

Risan, Slovenia waterfront

 

Just another of many commentaries that we saw on the US political situation 

 

The Cathedral of St. George on top of the hill

 

Piran City Hall

 

Statue of violinist Giuseppe Tartini

 

 

I know that many visitors to Europe adopt the ABC (another bloody church) attitude when faced with the innumerable number of churches, cathedrals and basilicas, but I am definitely not there yet. I am really enjoying the artwork in even the simple churches we've visited, but Piran's Cathedral of St. George is beautifully decorated with multiple altars. We decided first to climbed the bell tower (Campanile) which is fashioned as a smaller version of the Campanile in Piazza San Marco in Venice. The cost to do this was 1€ per person and the rickety wooden stairs that took us to the top were dark and covered with pigeon droppings (major ewwwhh) but we didn't dare not hold on to the handrail. We finally reached the top and the best views of the red roofs of the town and the beautiful Adriatic Sea. 

 

Looking up the the bell tower of the Cathedral of St. George

 

I think I will remember the steps I climbed (and climbed) in Europe more than anything else. 

 

At least I had windows to look out of in the way up

Do you know what happens when one is standing right next to (as in inches away) the huge bells at the top of a bell tower when the bells ring elaboratively and extensively?  I do. Now. The ringing in my ears should stop sometime next week. 

 

Where I was standing when the bells rang. Yowza!

 

The Minorite Monastery overlooking Piran

 

View of Tartini Square from the bell tower

 

The door to the bell tower stairs

I had just enough time to tour the cathedral (1,50€ per person), but not enough to view the catacombs, which, as you know, is not a favorite activity anyway (no 's'). I had survived the claustrophobic bell tower; perhaps it was wise to leave well enough alone. The cathedral was spectacular with perfectly appropriate music playing softly in the background. I could have spent a couple of hours there in solitude. We had to walk very quickly back to the waterfront and use the bathroom at the cafe where we'd had wine to scrub, scrub and scrub again after all the pigeon poop. We reboarded the bus just in time and returned to the ship a different way, past large salt pans where the highest value fleur de sal  (sel? flaked salt) is harvested. 

 

 

 

 

 

Glass floor showing catacombs

 

Salt pans

 

All on board time was early today, at 1:30pm, and, as is always the case when that happens, there was a line to reboard the Pacific Princess. We went through security screening on the pier and then had to show our passports (and get a Slovenia stamp!) before we could reboard the ship. It had started to rain lightly while we were waiting to go through security and we watched sailaway from the covered Promenade Deck. The sea was mirror smooth this afternoon, and the misty rain blurred the horizon line.

We were hungry then, and went to the Panorama Buffet for pizza (and I had yummy green beans too). At 2:45pm we went to the Pacific Lounge for this cruise's BIG!!!!!! $500 Treasure Hunt Drawing*!!! (*must be present to win). We had no luck this time but Marlene did win the chocolate covered strawberries. Just as we did last cruise, she said she won back the strawberries we used to get for free on formal nights.  ;-) It was time then for some periodic beautification projects (it's been a month since we left home the second time). Together we cut my hair (just part of this 'living the dream' thing that is our life) and then I colored my hair at sea for the first time this season and managed to not color the bathroom too. Go me!

By the time I was showered, G returned from a hot tub and we dressed for tonight's formal night. Pizza at 2:30pm kind of zapped my appetite and I just had a wonderful flaky pastry, roasted veggies and tuna starter and a chicken Caesar salad. We didn't stay for dessert; G wanted to get to the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party and Champagne Waterfall but I am over those already and took a glass of wine from dinner to the Cabaret Lounge and waited for G to arrive and the start of production show Motor City. The Company Performance Manager's parents are onboard this cruise, and after the show she came out to introduce us to them. They must be very proud. It didn't take long for us to adjust to the new cast. We love them!

We were too tired to go to the Pacific Lounge to listen to TV theme song trivia but not too tired to return to the Club Restaurant for G to get tonight's bananas foster for dessert. We appeared at the door to the restaurant not knowing if we could be seated (it's not like Anytime Dining...there are two fixed settings) but we were welcomed back with open arms (literally) and shown to an available table. I like the dining room at second seating; it is so much quieter and slower paced than the first seating. G had his coveted bananas foster and I had mint tea. 

We are sooooo spoiled. 

But that really was the end of our day; well, almost the end of mine. It's been just one hour since I started typing this post and will be about 2 minutes before I join G in sleep. We are tired, really tired. In fact, G said at 4pm today that he could crawl into bed right then and sleep all night. I could do the same. We need to hang on just a little longer. There are three more ports before a sea day and just a couple of weeks until we'll get all sorts of opportunityiesto rest on the many sea days back to Fort Lauderdale. 

We can do this!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I ran into Captain D when he was making his way to the atrium for the introduction of the ship's senior officers at the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party and Champagne Waterfall. He stopped to chat for a moment and told me that the Pacific Princess was the very first ship allowed into the port of Venice the foggy morning of November 21. Then, despite the glorious weather day we'd had in Venice on November 22, the fog had again rolled in by the time we were scheduled to sail. Just 30 minutes after the Pacific Princess left the port, the harbor master closed it again. "The passengers have no idea how lucky they've been," he said. Those words echo what G and I have said repeatedly for several days. Our weather was so nasty upon our first arrival in Europe (hence the Nice incident) and even as recently as the beginning of last cruise had been very cold and windy. But things have changed dramatically. It makes us more willing to again consider these itineraries for next year, and I'm glad we're being left with a better impression of late fall cruising in the Mediterranean. 

Again, Happy Thanksgiving, for the third year in a row from the beautiful Pacific Princess.