It was so nice to not only gain an hour back overnight, but to have no reason to wake up early either. Naturally, that meant we did awaken early, by 6am, but at least we didn’t have to spring out of bed and make our way to the Horizon Court Buffet as soon as we opened our eyes. Our day was still chilly, but not as cold as the last two days, with a high in the low 50s, and it was rather grey and we had rain showers on and off all day. Thankfully, we were in rather protected waters en route to Shanghai, and the seas were very calm.
The first thing I did this morning was to go back and re-read last night’s post. That’s certainly not the first time this season I’ve basically written it in my sleep…but it is the last time! The very nice thing about this season’s blog posts is that, with the exception of a few days early on (which I will remedy when we get to Hawaii and high speed WiFi), I have already uploaded most of the photos to the daily posts. (Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!!) Thank you, Jenny, for encouraging me to do that.
With the exception of the posts I made before I left home, and the London and Dubai posts, every blog post was typed and all photos were uploaded using my iPhone. There’s a reason I type a banal caption under every photo: once the photos are uploaded, all I can see are boxes outlining the photos’ positions and the captions under them; I can no longer see the actual photos in my post because WiFi speeds don’t allow them to be displayed. I write the blog posts hours later, in Microsoft Word (because BlogTouch Pro doesn’t support a landscape keyboard on the iPhone) and then copy and paste it into the draft post in sections, using the captions as a guide. It’s cumbersome, but it works.
G loves breakfasts and lunches in the International Dining Room and still enjoys sharing tables with fellow cruisers. On the other hand, I become increasingly asocial as the season progresses, and while I am not opposed to sharing a lunch table with others, I simply can’t face it first thing in the morning. So G went one direction this morning and I went the other this morning, arriving in the Horizon Court Buffet early enough that I had a table all to myself. The waiters look after me so well. One brings my soy milk and another my decaf coffee and they even point G in my direction when he joins me after his dining room breakfast. Spoiled…I am so spoiled.
Somehow, I was motivated to start packing right after breakfast. Part of it, I think, was concern about meeting Air China’s strict baggage limits (oooooooh, we are right at the limit), but most of it is that, after our last port of call yesterday, my mind is switching from cruise mode to Hawaii mode. This happens every year, and is why I say every season is exactly the right length. I’m not ready to leave the ship until I know it’s time to…and then I definitely am.
G would not be denied one final lunch in the International Dining Room, and we were seated with a family from Brisbane and a lady from Perth who was originally from the Seychelles. The Seychelles! My eyes lit up and I asked her several questions about the islands. I am still lobbying hard for that Norwegian Spirit cruise from February to April 2020. I know the timing is wrong for us, I know that we would suffer without internet and laundry on the ship, I know it will be very pricey, but none of that has hampered my enthusiasm for that wonderful itinerary. If we want one final season that goes to places that are largely new to us, that would be it.
There were all sorts of sea day activities still taking place around the ship, including the culinary demonstration and galley and backstage tours. G attended the final lecture by Destination Expert Narelle Froude, this one about Shanghai, China, and returned to the cabin full of excitement about the Shanghai Maglev train, the fastest train in the world. It travels 268mph and G is convinced that, if the port of Shanghai is re-opened (read on), if the Sapphire Princess gets in on time, if China immigration goes smoothly, if we are off the ship and at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport on a timely basis, and if we can check our large suitcases well ahead of time, we need to ride that train tomorrow. That’s a lot of if’s. Stay tuned…
I readied extra gratuity envelopes and wrote thank you letters this afternoon, and happily began this blog post when I could keep BOTH eyes open at the same time (I love it when that happens). I finally watched the movie The Amazing Showman on TV because…Hugh Jackman. ;-) While we enjoyed watching movies on MUTS while we were in Southeast Asia, we felt disinclined to do so once the weather turned cold. However, not everyone was similarly dissuaded; there are people out there every night- rain, cold, no matter- bundled up in coats and blankets watching movies.
Sadly, the Sapphire Princess lost its ESPN signal beginning January 2, so we couldn’t watch a single bowl game played on January 1 (truly tragic). However, we got it back this afternoon and I happily watched Michigan beat Penn State in basketball. Hey, I’ll take the victories regardless of sport, and basketball is second only to football in my mind (and we will never speak of that Ohio State game again).
And about the port of Shanghai being closed right now…Captain Ravera made an announcement about 5pm welcoming us to Shanghai, and giving us the bad news that the port has been closed (due to weather? I’m not entirely clear on that) and that the Sapphire Princess was one of 2000 ships just outside the port, waiting for it to re-open. We should have been taking on our pilot about 7pm tonight and every hour that is delayed may delay our arrival. And then there’s China immigration to go through. As it was, with an on time arrival, some passengers were not disembarking the ship until after 1pm. We are not stressing; we have Princess EZ Air and a Princess transfer to Pudong International Airport and Princess Vacation Protection. We may have to phone our hotel in Hawaii to tell them we’ll get there eventually, but we just might get an overnight in Shanghai yet.
By dinnertime, even G was mostly packed, and we enjoyed the Last Supper with waiters Joffrey and Yesi. We were so very fortunate to have wonderful waiters and a seasoned cabin steward this year. It makes a huge difference in our enjoyment of our cruise season. In fact, we’ve had wonderful waiters in the Horizon Court Buffet and International Dining Room for breakfasts and lunches, too. The Sapphire Princess and her crew has provided us a most memorable cruise experience; Princess food, however, continues its downward trend. As a seafood eater, I still have plenty of choice, but the beef offerings that appeal to G are getting harder and harder to come by.
Production show Born to be Wild was performed tonight, and it was a wonderful way to wrap up the cruise. We have really enjoyed the entertainment on the Sapphire Princess. There have been cutbacks there, too, notably in the elimination of a second show option most nights, and not every show will appeal to every person, but we have seen some excellent entertainment on this ship.
We returned to our cabin, set out our suitcases, and will savor this last night of sleep before (at best) a long, long travel day (and night) to get to Hawaii.
And that was how we spent the final day of the second segment of our around the world adventure.