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.
