We were up early again today, but I still missed the sunrise. While I was getting dressed, I reached inside the cabinet for some underwear and realized I was down to my last pair. Ruh-roh. That had me looking back at the photos on my iPhone. I take a photo of every laundry slip AND the clothing I send out to be laundered. Sure enough, I last sent laundry out on Sunday evening. It should have been returned last night. We are now into the fourth day, and, though I was fairly certain the bag of laundry would be returned, clean, today (it was, around noon), I couldn’t take a chance. I turned the bathroom sink into a washing machine and, when I finally left the cabin to go to breakfast, six pairs of unmentionables were hanging on the clothesline strung across the cabin. I could have gone to the passenger laundry room and washed them there, but I didn’t think it was worth the time to do that.
I was happy, when I met up with G in the DaVinci Dining Room, for two reasons this morning. First, I was hungry, which is a wonderful thing on a cruise ship. Skipping most of dinner last night helped a great deal in getting there. And when I looked out the window I saw bright sun again today. Our weather has been spectacular, but it was especially important today, with the Crossing the Line (equator) ceremony scheduled to take place poolside at 3pm. Today was a tiny bit bouncier than yesterday, but was still so mild it is scarcely worth mentioning.
But that is a good segue to talk about how the Ruby Princess is handling this passenger load and this cruise. The demographics of this cruise definitely skews older. There are a handful of kids, but I’m guessing the median age is in the mid-70s. Whether it’s for that reason or some other, this ship has not felt that crowded. There are always loungers available on the open decks, teak deck chairs available on the Promenade Deck, room in the hot tubs...the only place we feel the passenger load is in the Princess Theater. As always. That’s why we like it when show are held at 6:30pm; most early diners are still eating and we can breeze in just 5 or 10 minutes before the show starts and get good seats. When the first show is held at 7:30pm, we need to be there at least 30 minutes early.
And while I’m on that subject, twice G has had to run back to the cabin to get me something warmer to wear, and comes back wearing a fleece himself, too. Now I’ve learned to take a pashmina with me. The Princess Theater is a meat locker. Club Fusion is nearly as bad, but the middle zones of the ship are comfortable. I’ve felt kind of foolish covering up a Hawaiian shirt with a fleece, but one does what one must do.
And that is why I wore my fleece and carried a pashmina with me when I went to the Princess Theater at 10:45am to listen to Destination Expert Hutch’s lecture on Tahiti. G was already there, having gone early to listen to the enrichment lecture on secret submarine maneuvers in the Pacific by Armando Sanchez. G has really been enjoying his lectures on espionage and top secret something or other. Honestly, today, sitting there listening to Hutch’s lecture and looking at his slides of photos of the island of Tahiti made my heart so darn happy. The islands of French Polynesia really are my favorite place on earth, and I feel so fortunate to be returning.
We had decided to skip lunch in the dining room today, I think we got a little too full over the past few days, and a lunch of salad and veggies was in order. Once again, there was no plant based protein on the salad bar, but, fortunately, there was a bean salad, kind of what we call Texas caviar at home. But when a headwaiter walked by, I asked him about it and was assured that they would be happy to get me any kind of beans, seeds or nuts they have on hand.
We didn’t eat lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room, but this was the menu for today:
Day 10 lunch menu, page 1
Day 10 lunch menu, page 2
Internet deteriorated a little this morning...
...but was decent this afternoon. I was able to stream video again this evening
While the Patter was once again full of activities, the big excitement this afternoon was the Crossing the Line ceremony, held around the Neptune Pool and celebrating the Ruby Princess crossing the equator around 9pm tonight. We’ve seen a few of these over the years, but they are always good fun, so we made a point to be in a good viewing location. The first time I saw this was on the Sapphire Princess transpacific in 2004, with Cruise Director Alastair Greener, and Deputy CD Frankie as Queen Nefratitty. That was harious. But today’s ceremony was equally funny and extremely well done. King Neptune's bride today was Queen Double D, and the First Officer on the Bridge served as captain.
The premise of the ceremony is that pollywogs (those who have never previously sailed across the equator) are brought before a court headed by King Neptune to be tried for their sins, things like drinking too many free drinks and gluttony and swimming in a Speedo. They are, of course, found guilty, and are then covered with food and even made to kiss a large fish. Once reparations have been made, the ship is allowed to cross the equator and continue on its way.
The “captain”, King Neptune and Queen Double D
It’s basically a huge food fight
It’s basically a huge food fight
In the end, both the “captain” and Cruise Director Aaron ended up in the pool (which needed to be emptied and cleaned at the end of all this). The turnout for this event was huge.
Afterward, I went back to the Terrace Deck and ended up falling asleep in a lounger. In the sun. That could have been dangerous, except for the eleventy seven layers of sunscreen I had applied to watch the Crossing the Line ceremony. G finally came to wake me up; tonight was formal night and I needed to get ready. The first two of three Captains Circle parties were also held tonight in Club Fusion, but we are going to the third one, which will be held on the next formal night.
Day 10 dinner menu, page 1
Day 10 dinner menu, page 2
Day 10 dessert menu
Ponzu marinated tofu
Lime and salt cured salmon, entree-sized portion
We left dinner and went immediately to the Explorers Lounge to watch Donny Rae Evins perform again, this time singing soul, R&B and even a little Motown. We love that music; apparently, a lot of people do, as we were lucky to get the last two seats for the show. It was excellent, and only the fact that we knew seating would be limited during his next two shows this evening stopped us from seeing him again. There was a juggler, Dan Bennett performing in the Princess Theater, but we decided to instead change back into shorts and spend some time under the stars on the Terrace Deck. The solitude was exactly what we were looking for tonight.
Day 10 Princess Patter, page 1
Day 10 Princess Patter, page 2
Day 10 Princess Patter, page 3
Day 10 Princess Patter, page 4