Today I raised the Art of Doing Nothing to a new level. Actually, that’s not entirely true...I did a little something. But it mostly is. If one can’t do that on a cruise, where is one supposed to perfect the Art of Doing Nothing?
I woke up enough to wave goodbye to G as he left the cabin for breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room, and hurriedly asked him to take a photo of the menu as the door shut. And then I fell back asleep until after 9am. When I did finally wake up, I decided to skip eating until lunch, and spent the rest of the morning streaming YouTube videos about our upcoming ports. This MedallionNet WiFi...transformative. Cruising is a whole new sport.
Day 3 breakfast menu, thanks to G
G came and went from the cabin, reporting that the air outside was quite smoky. We thought we had faintly smelled smoke in our cabin this morning. What we thought was a foggy day when we looked at the front of the ship channel turned out to be smoke from the wildfires (they call them bush fires) hundreds of miles away in Australia. Captain Lewis said, in his noon update from the bridge, that the wind was coming from the southeast today, and that’s why the smoke was blowing our way. It gave the day a fairly eerie feeling.
We ended up having lunch in three different places today. First, G wanted fish and chips and bread pudding from the British Pub Lunch in the Crown Grill, then I had ordered a special salad topped with sardines and lemon vinaigrette in the DaVinci Dining Room, and, finally, we swung by the Horizon Court Buffet so I could get watermelon for dessert. If that doesn’t scream SEA DAY, I don’t know what does.
Day 3 lunch menu, page 1
Day 3 lunch menu, page 2
After lunch, it fell to me to return to the cabin and unearth the suitcase we have stored in the dark corner of the closet, behind the crutches and cane and hiking sticks and boot. I pulled out our snorkel and beach gear for our day tomorrow in Lifou, New Caledonia, and then used the Ocean Concierge feature on my iPad to order two shore excursion tickets for tomorrow. The weather looks warm and sunny, if a little smoky. The tickets were delivered to our cabin tonight while we were at dinner. It’s a good system.
I am not one to self-promote, but I was so darn proud today that I want to brag on my husband a bit tonight. As we were going into the Elite Lounge, a couple was turned away just in front of us. They were on their first Princess cruise, and just wanted to see what the Lounge was all about. G stepped up and asked the “bouncer” (a bar steward) if he could bring guests. When he was told that of course he could, G turned to the couple and asked them to join us. The situation was instantly de-escalated and the couple was pleased to tell us about the two future Princess cruises that they’ve already booked since they’ve been on board. That’s my guy!
Day 3 dinner menu, page 1
Day 3 dinner menu, page 2
Day 3 dessert menu
Steamed asparagus
I got creative with my entree tonight. I had just the sides from three different entrees served on
one plate. Delicious and nutritious. It never fails; the longer we cruise, the more we
crave food like we would eat at home.
All of the smoke in the air gave us such a weird pre-sunset sky tonight
that G ran out to the Promenade Deck during dinner to take a photo.
Due to technical difficulties, tonight’s scheduled production show a Once Upon a Dream was replaced by production show Colors of the World. We had just seen it three nights ago, but went anyway. It’s my favorite one currently being performed on the Ruby Princess. Afterward, we walked through the casino where, for the first time since we’ve been on board, G plopped a $5 chip on the roulette table, splitting it between 0 and 00. Guess who won $90 in less than a minute? I told him it had to be karma.
The bags are already packed for tomorrow and the alarm is set for 6am. It’s our first time in Lifou, and, based on the videos I watched today on YouTube, 100 shades of French Polynesian-blue water awaits.
Day 3 Princess Patter, page 1
Day 3 Princess Patter, page 2
Day 3 Princess Patter, page 3
Day 3 Princess Patter, page 4