We caught some college football highlights on TV before we even went to breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet, but we spent most of the rest of the day relaxing and working out and swimming in the Terrace Pool, which felt really wonderful in the heat. In fact, I think there may have been several other passengers who spent their day the same way, as the Terrace Deck and Horizon Court Buffet seemed unusually busy for a sea day.
I spent a couple of hours doing a final clean up of masks, snorkels, floatie and beach bag/ cooler, using toothpaste on fingertips to remove all the sunscreen from my mask. Once everything was dry, I opened the beach suitcase and packed it all away, and then started washing out swimwear that won’t be needed again until we get to Hawaii. Our next two cruises will be considerably cooler and certainly our tropical toys won’t be needed.
It was so hot outside that even our inside cabin warmed up to 78F, despite the thermostat being turned all the way down. Luckily, the AC seems to have caught up tonight, and we’re comfortable in here now.
We skipped lunch altogether and were hungry when we went to dinner in the Bernini Dining Room. I am still really enjoying the element of surprise with my dinner menu. Headwaiter Sean just seems to know exactly what to order for me, and I’m feeling very spoiled. Tonight my starter was a divine seafood combination of salad shrimp, small scallops and mussels in a light citrus dressing served on peppery arugula. I had the standard menu salad, and my entree was the menu barramundi with mussels and lightly grilled peppers on the side. Fantastic!
We finished in time to go to the 6:45pm Princess Theater performance by baritone Don Windsor. We knew when he spoke that he wasn’t from Australia, and he told us he was born on a farm in Kansas, but now lives in Melbourne (again, a woman was involved in getting him there). I’m not sure he would be considered an American or Australian entertainer, but he’s the closest we’ve had to a paisano.
We listened to some live music around the ship and are back in our cabin until the start of the Tropical Island Night party. We just walked across the Lido Deck, and it’s a perfect night for a party out there tonight. The ship is even stable, as it has been since our arrival in the islands. I don’t know what the next four days will hold, sea swell-wise, but we’ve almost forgotten the bounciness we encountered cruising north over a week ago. Hopefully we won’t be reminded.