Today was perhaps my favorite sea day to date, in no small part due to the fantastic weather we’re enjoying. Sunny, 80-ish and calm, with not a ripple in the Coral Sea on which we’re sailing, this is cruising at its most comfortable. It was also my busiest sea day to date; from the time I left the cabin for breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room until we returned this evening, I spent about 30 minutes total in the cabin. Though the Princess Patter has been chock-full of activities every day, today it seemed to offer the most in which we were interested.
We started in the Princess Theater at 9am for a lecture by the Great Barrier Reef pilot Karl Nilsson. He had come on board in Sydney, and will be on the navigational bridge to advise the captain as the Ruby Princess navigates the waters of the barrier reef, the planet’s largest living organism. He said we had entered the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park at 7am today, and would remain in it until after we start to make our way south to Brisbane in a few days.
One of the most interesting facts that Karl shared with us is about the Torres Strait, on the eastern side of the Bay of Carpenteria on Australia’s northern coast. This strait connect the Arafura Sea in the Indian Ocean with the Coral Sea in the Pacific Ocean. These two seas have different mean sea levels because the Arafura Sea has one low and one high tide every day while the Coral Sea has two low and two high tides every day. Fascinating (and a great trivia question).
Source: Karl Nilsson presentation
We stayed right in the Princess Theater for the 10am lecture by Destination Expert Hutch, who talked about our Port Douglas stop and Willis Island scenic cruising. We had such awful weather when we were in this area two years ago that it will be nice to see Four Mile Beach on Port Douglas in the sun (fingers crossed).
And still we stayed in the Princess Theater, this time for the 11am lecture by Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch Captain David Lethin on the life of a Bering Sea fisherman. Honestly, after hearing his tales of harrowing experiences during the dark days and wild weather of winter crab fishing, I think those people are slightly crazy.
As we headed from the Princess Theater to the DaVinci Dining Room, this time for lunch, I ran down to the International Cafe to take a photo of the specialty coffee in Australian dollars, which I was asked to post.
International Cafe coffee menu in AUD, page 1
International Cafe coffee menu in AUD, page 2
That put me in the Piazza at the end of the fruit and vegetable carving demonstration, so I grabbed a few photos while I was there. I especially love the watermelon carving because I also love mandalas, which they remind me of.
Breakfasts and lunches in the DaVinci Dining Room have been packed this cruise, and the waitstaff is being run off their feet. We’ve been oh so lucky to be seated in Waiter Natalya from Ukraine and Assistant Waiter Darko (not that one) from Macedonia’s section four times already. They are the dream team, and Natalya is a doll, but uber-professional at the same time. G is smitten.
Day 3 lunch menu, page 1
Day 3 lunch menu, page 2
Today I had calamari made dairy free and steamed vegetables for lunch.
Following lunch, I enjoyed about an hour working out in the pool and had just enough time to shower and dress for dinner before I returned to the Princess Theater for violinist Chris Watkins’ matinee performance at 3:15pm. So enjoyable; we have been very fortunate to have had several excellent musical performers to entertain us since we boarded the Ruby Princess. Then it was Elite Lounge time (you can see why we had such limited time in the cabin today), where we made some plans for tomorrow in Airlie Beach with Paul and Marlene.
Day 3 dinner menu, page 1
Day 3 dinner menu, page 2
Day 3 dessert menu
Asparagus with tarragon aioli
Cioppino
I ended with a single bite of key lime pie. 😊
Following dinner in the DaVinci Dining Room, we were on the Promenade Deck for another beautiful sunset ended with a green flash. After waiting nearly my entire life to see my first one, I’ve seen at least three already this season.
Another green flash sunsetThey’re everywhere this year!
Comedian Mark Palmer was tonight’s entertainment in the Princess Theater. I thought he was pretty good; G was not as impressed. But he focused on observational and relationship humor, and those are always safe cruise ship comedy topics.
We move clocks back yet again tonight, which will put us 14 hours ahead of EDT. I have to think of it as 10 hours behind and a day ahead, or I get lost in the math. And speaking of math, I mentioned that I had spent time yesterday trying to figure out our on board spending statement now that we’ve gone from US dollars to Australian dollars. It took me forever to understand how that was handled, and I have two degrees in accounting and finance. Today at the Elite Lounge, I helped former high school math teacher Marlene to figure out her statement. Like me, she had a hard time grasping what had been done. Though we knew the final balance was right, it was difficult to understand the methodology used to get there. That promoted G to have the joke of the day. “You know, Marlene, you’re having trouble because you’re a math teacher and they gave you the correct answer, but didn’t show their work.” 😆 Harious.
And, finally, blog reader Mary provided me the best advice today when she told me about an app called PhotoScan that I can use to get better photos of the Patters and menus. This free app is amazing. I don’t know how it does what it does, but it works great (though I have to hold my iPhone really high to get photos of the menus). You’ll see the difference with today’s dessert menu and Princess Patter. Thanks, Mary!
Day 3 Princess Patter, page 1
Day 3 Princess Patter, page 2
Day 3 Princess Patter, page 3
Day 3 Princess Patter, page 4