Once settled, we took the port shuttle to the Civitavecchia port entrance (this is a HUGE port) and then walked a short distance to a cafe with WiFi. We were experiencing another issue with our Comcast internet at home which affected our ability to monitor anything remotely. I think this is the straw that breaks the camel's back, and when we return home, our Comcast voice service will be dropped and our multipurpose Comcast voice and data router replaced with a more reliable one providing data only. This will mean that we will no longer get transcripts of voice messages left on our home phone emailed to us immediately but we will join most of the rest of the world in cutting our land line and simply using our cell phones. In the mean time, it took some doing, but G again remotely reset the router and got us up and running...until the next time.
We were back on the Pacific Princess and in the Club Restaurant enjoying the wonderful embarkation day lunch by 1pm. I wanted to stay on board to attend the 3pm performance of the Corrado Duo (you might recall how much we enjoyed this piano/tenor duo when they were on board on October 28, the day we re-boarded the Pacific Princess in Civitavecchia). G opted instead to go back into town to check on things at home one more time (to make sure they had stayed working for at least three hours!) so we temporarily parted ways.
The Corrado Duo was just as wonderful as last time and I immensely enjoyed their nearly hour long performance. Once back in the cabin, I decided to take advantage of the time and space and do some hand laundry and get showered for the evening during the 4:30pm muster drill for newly embarking passengers. That's kind of a tradition with me, regardless of ship. ;-) G returned, having run from the cafe to the ship just for a workout, and we were at dinner in the Club Restaurant (same table, same waiters -Magnificent Marco and Terrific Taufik) by 5:45pm. The special Mediterranean menu items have disappeared on this transatlantic cruise; I had egg rolls as starters, then a garden salad and the conchiglie something something, a pasta in tomato sauce with broccoli as an entree. Yum!
This cruise's Welcome Aboard show was held at 7:45pm in the Cabaret Lounge. The singers and dancers did their usual kick off and then Cruise Director Frank introduced them and the rest of the cruise staff and then comedian Tony Daro did a short show. It was a tough audience (everyone is tired from either flying in for the cruise or, for many of the almost 300 passengers who stayed on from last cruise, all day visits to Rome) but Tony won them over and was truly harious without picking on or poking fun at any passengers. I like that in a comedian!
We knew that today was the day piano entertainer Jere Ring was joining the Pacific Princess until January 3. Jere was on board with us in French Polynesia two winters ago and we loved his sense of humor and the way that he fully involved himself in all the activities on the ship. We were returning to the ship just before lunch today when G spotted Jere and his partner Johnny in the terminal waiting to come on board. Unfortunately, I didn't see them until I was through security so it was a case where I could see him but not get close enough to talk. So when he started performing in the Casino Lounge at 8:30pm tonight, we were there and it was hug time. We had so much fun with him in French Polynesia, and he told several French Polynesia stories tonight. We listened to him perform until 9:30pm, but we are still busy with ports for another couple of days and can't stay out later than that on school nights. ;-)
The cabin we had last cruise had a decent WiFi signal, but we are not so lucky this time around. I will begin to again publish posts the next morning when I can't get a signal at night. On a positive note, this is the best mattress I've had to date on the Pacific Princess (now that my back is already wrecked). Another downside is the clanging taking place on the outside of the ship right outside our cabin. We sat with a couple in the Cabaret Lounge tonight who had been in the next cabin last cruise and asked to be moved or they were going to fly home. They said their toilet was constantly blocked and the clanging drove them nuts. They accepted a downgrade to Deck 3 just to escape the issues. Well, we have earplugs and enjoy the plumbing perks that toilet issues bring. Fingers crossed that this new cabin works out.