We had the most relaxing day at sea, predominantly revolving around NFL football and the Most Traveled Guest luncheon. We accomplished not one darn thing and that was just fine with us.
We were again awake early. G grabbed two loungers on the Terrace Deck and I threw on workout shorts and a T-shirt and joined him. The day was sunny and already warm at 7:30am. We took turns getting beverages and a little food from the Horizon Court Buffet (just an orange and some broccoli florets for me) and reveled in the beauty of a truly placid Pacific Ocean. Eventually G moved to a hot tub on Deck 16 (both of them were open and at the perfect temperature!) while I did a water workout in the Terrace Pool. I knew it was unlikely I’d get to the Fitness Center once I was cleaned up for lunch.
Back in the cabin, we alternated between getting ready for the luncheon and watching NFL Red Zone, which was considerably easier today because we weren’t experiencing the TV signal losses we did last week. We even saw the snowy Bills-Colts game, and laughed and laughed (more...Perrier, anyone?). By 11:15am we were dressed and sitting in the Princess Theater for historian Peter Donovan’s lecture of the day.
I was really happy when I looked at today’s Princess Patter and saw that Peter was due to present before lunch. I was afraid that he would be on the schedule for 1pm again, and, if he had, we would have missed him, but 11:15am worked perfectly. He spoke on WW2 in the whole South Pacific, and it was really interesting. He had several photos from that period of the US installations in Noumea and Luganville, and mentioned again how James Michener’s military experience in Luganville became the basis for his book Tales of the South Pacific (and later the Broadway play and movie).
Peter finished at noon, and we had only to walk out of the Princess Theater and we were at the Crown Grill just in time for the Most Traveled Guest Luncheon. Captain Pomata was there to greet us and for photos, but couldn’t stay for the luncheon, and we were seated with Staff Captain Mario Constantino. Once again, my dietary needs were well addressed, and we had a most enjoyable meal chatting with fellow passengers. The nice part about being unable to have wine with lunch is that it doesn’t ruin me for the afternoon; still, when we returned to our cabin, Sunday Night Football was on with that fabulous Ravens-Steelers game and we ended up glued to that until it ended just before it was time to go to dinner.
It was Italian night for dinner, and I had a seafood starter, salad and penne arrabiata over broccoli (I love that). We are in the Princess Theater awaiting the performance of comedy duo Pearson and Harvey. We’ve seen them once before this season, in the Vista Lounge. It will be interesting to see if their show plays different in the Princess Theater.
It wasn’t the most exciting day, but it was the most relaxing day. Though four sea days in a row might prove to be a bit much, this first day was absolutely perfect.