The Tasman Sea was angry today, my friends. Furious. We started rocking and rolling sometime last night, and it continued all day today. We had been warned; for a couple of days, Captain Lewis had been telling us that our first day back to Sydney was going to be quite rough. This morning we had the added insult of rain, but it cleared by the afternoon and day became quite sunny by evening. The Promenade Deck was closed off, and all of the pools were netted over.
Today was what I think of as an administrative day of sorts. I needed to get caught up with several things, most of all paying bills, so as soon as we returned from breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room, I turned my attention to that. Once again, I have to say that this MedallioNet WiFi is a life changer for us. How many times in past seasons have you heard me say we needed to find high speed wifi on shore so we could update our financial apps so we could pay bills? Now, all of that can easily be done on the ship.
I lost my pashmina sometime late last cruise. It’s my first loss of the season. There’s always at least one; it just goes with the territory, I guess. And if I have to lose something, an acrylic pashmina I bought for $10 at least 15 years ago is an ideal option. But I need it, darn it. The Princess Theater is freezing, and my only other option is my fleece jacket. So I thought I’d try to find another pashmina at today’s garage sale in the Michelangelo Dining Room. Ugh. This is so not my thing, but I persevered and managed to squeeze into the dining room and make my way around all the tables of clothes and clutter, only to find there were no pashminas. I could easily purchase one made from possum wool almost anywhere in New Zealand, but, no, that’s not something I could ever do. I’d rather freeze. And so I am.
A mass of humanity at the garage sale
I met G at noon in the DaVinci Dining Room for lunch. I had just salad and soup. My appetite has returned with a vengeance, to the point where I have to refrain from stuffing my face with everything. I sat through G eating a big fat piece of carrot cake with two scoops of ice cream for dessert, and then he followed me to the Horizon Court Buffet so I could get watermelon.
Day 12 lunch menu, page 1
Day 12 lunch menu, page 2
Watercolor painting in the Piazza
These people clearly knew what they were doing.
Of all the areas in which I have no talent, I have the most no talent at Art.
Over splashing Calypso Pool
My next goal for the day was to remove the nail polish I’ve had on my toes since we left home in September. Yes, it was still on and looked good enough that it garnered me a compliment in the elevator as recently as last week. But it was nearly grown out, and had to be removed and replaced. And in case I want to do this again before we return home, I saved enough foil and nail strips to do a repeat.
The two-month old glitter polish gets soaked off
It’s so funny to compare how G and I spend a sea day afternoon. We are definitely a mixed marriage. He has an acute case of Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and ran from one activity to another. I, on the other hand, have chronic Fear of Getting Dragged Into Doing Something I Don’t Want to Do When I’d Really Rather Be Watching The Crown (or FOGDIDSIDWTD...WIRRBW...TC). We didn’t meet up until it was time for dinner in the DaVinci Dining Room, and we’d both say it was a perfect day.
Day 12 dinner menu, page 1
Day 12 dinner menu, page 2
Day 12 dessert menu
Ponzu marinated tofu
Cruise Director Aaron made an announcement about 4:30pm that tonight’s scheduled Princess Theater entertainment, production show MagicTo Do, was going to be rescheduled until tomorrow night because it wasn’t safe for the cast to be doing it tonight. The day had remained rough, not so much rolling or pitching but that shake and drop that makes life on board difficult even if one isn’t sea sick. Instead, Scot Robin was back with new show performing more of Buddy Holly’s hit songs and other early rock and roll hits. After 45 minutes of being thoroughly entertained, we moved to Club Fusion for party band The Sound’s Beatles set. Another 45 minutes of great entertainment. We could afford to stay up late. We move clocks back an hour overnight and tomorrow is another sea day.
9:15pm on the Promenade Deck
Still light after 9:45pm
And now for something completely different (as Captain Lewis says during every noon update when he switches from a discussion about the ship’s position and weather to the origin of nautical terminology)...I am loving the new slide to type feature in iOS 13. It’s the equivalent of writing in cursive and it’s so much faster. It’s carved at least ten minutes off my blog post preparation every night.
And, finally, more news from the home front. As seen on our webcam: a rabbit racing across the driveway followed closely by two coyotes looking for a meal, and three deer sauntering across our front yard and driveway. We had no idea the front of our house was the site for so much late night action.
Day 12 Princess Patter, page 1
Day 12 Princess Patter, page 2
Day 12 Princess Patter, page 3
Day 12 Princess Patter, page 4