Today started out feeling so much better than yesterday, and it just improved from there. It all started by seeing the sun for more than 5 minutes for the first time since LA. We were getting weary of the clouds after the first two days (we do not have a lot of cloudy days at home). I had been having a fair amount of pain, and, worst of all, Mom went back into the hospital two days ago. She has been through a lot lately, and I was thinking all yesterday that I was on a ship getting further and further away. I thought I might need to fly to Ohio from Honolulu and then re-join the Ruby Princess at some time in the future. But I called Mom (thank God for T-Mobile’s WiFi calling and this unlimited WiFi!!) first thing this morning and she sounded better than yesterday and was very adamant that I stay the course. And so I will.
My friend Suzan can read between the lines of my blog posts and was certain after yesterday’s post that I was feeling out of sorts, so I had a text from her first thing this morning wanting to know the real details. I’m good, Sis, we’re good, and we had a great day today, so no worries.
We moved clocks back an hour last night and were up at 5am this morning. G immediately dressed and went down to the International Café for hot chocolate (he purchased the coffee package for this cruise and gets hot chocolate for free too). Already, on Day 4 of the cruise, there is a group of guys down there early every morning (Paul is among them, too) that call themselves the Liars Club. G was walking by the first day and heard the words “0 to 60” and was drawn to that conversation like bees to honey. I was much slower to get to the International Café, but, when I did arrive I left them to themselves, got hot water with lemon and sat on the other side of the Piazza and caught up on the news online. That seems to be our morning routine for this cruise.
I’ve not had coffee since we boarded the Ruby Princess. It’s a bit hard, but I only drink organic, naturally decaffeinated coffee at home and I’m pretty certain (haha) the decaf on the ship is not. So I make do with hot water, or herbal teas. It (like the no hair color) is part of a whole new way of life after The Summer or No Fun, one that has now has become fairly ingrained in me. I don’t know for certain if it is all helping but I’m not willing to risk it. So far, the news has been all good. 👍🏼
The DaVinci Dining Room opens for breakfast at 7:30am (at least on sea days; we’ll see if it’s earlier on port days) and G and I reconnected and went together just a few minutes before it opened. I special order my lunch and dinner every night for the next day, so I already knew today’s dinner would be very light on protein but heavy on veggies. As a result, I had a lot of fruit and smoked salmon for breakfast.
G swings by the Guest Services Desk each morning on his way to the International Café and picks up two Patters for us (the one that is delivered each night under our door is clipped to the wall until the end of each cruise) and we sat at breakfast and tried to figure out some structure to our day. Or not. We have certainly been very content to do not a lot of anything the first couple of days. Yesterday there were two activities in the Patter that interested me quite a bit – a cruise long Instagram challenge, and a speed watercolor activity- but, apparently not enough to actually participate. Actually, the Ruby Princess is large enough that simply getting to meals and the evening entertainment is challenging enough for me right now.
We are already falling into old, bad habits. We left breakfast in the dining room and went directly to the Horizon Court Buffet, where we had breakfast #2. We initially went up there to say HI to our dinner waiter, Homer, who is working in the buffet for breakfast and lunch this cruise, but while we were there, the watermelon looked so good (and it was!) that we grabbed several pieces and had a second breakfast. Or a breakfast dessert. Either works.
After a quick change of clothes, we headed up to Deck 17 for our first hot tub visit. We love that hot tub up high on the back of the ship, and spent a very long time enjoying the sun (finally!) glistening on the slight seas far below, and talking travel with several of our fellow passengers, from Winnipeg and Sydney.
G was determined to go to the British Pub Lunch, held in the Crown Grill beginning at 11:30am, so we left the cabin 15 minutes early and still encountered a long line to be seated. I was fearful we might not make it in for the “first seating”, but we did, and shared a window side table with a couple from California making their first visit to Australia. All of the Australia first timers are so excited about this cruise and sailing into beautiful Sydney Harbour that it adds a lot of enjoyment to this cruise.
I even had some fish at the British Pub Lunch, and quickly regretted that decision. All that fried food puts me to sleep…or maybe it was the fact that we had been up for eight hours and planned a rather late night tonight. We returned to the cabin and napped (me too!) until mid afternoon when we went out to the Terrace Deck and I enjoyed the pool and G enjoyed the sun. That pool is way too cold for him, but I get used to it after awhile. I do hope it warms up quickly as we near the equator.
Day 4 lunch menu, page 1
Day 4 lunch menu, page 2
Then we did a quick clean up to go to Club Fusion for the Elite Lounge. The dinner menu was particularly appealing tonight, with many items that were new to us, even vegan items. I couldn’t wait to try them, and they were all really delicious. We also had our first desserts of the cruise, watermelon sorbet, which is a personal favorite.
Day 4 dinner menu, page 1
Day 4 dinner menu, page 2
Day 4 dessert menu
Ahi Poke
Yakitori-style tofu, cassava root and hummus
Dairy-free vegetable curry
By going to dinner between 5pm and 5:15pm, we are able to get to the 6:30pm Princess Theater show with no issues, and that opens up the rest of the evening to enjoy some of the other entertainment options. Tonight’s Princess Theater show was a performance by vocalist Todd Adamson, and he was outstanding. We next met up with Paul and Marlene and went to the Explorers Lounge for party band The Sound playing a 45 minute Motown set. That was huge fun, and the dance floor was packed the entire time. After that we all sat though Karaoke in Club Fusion (I will never understand karaoke) to hold seats for comedian Rollin Jay Moore, back with a different act. He was extremely funny.
By then it was 10:30pm, and, even with brief naps, our 5am wake up was starting to catch up with us. G was asleep in seconds and I will be, too, as soon as this is published.
Day 4 Princess Patter, page 1
Day 4 Princess Patter, page 2
Day 4 Princess Patter, page 3
Day 4 Princess Patter, page 4