Yellow Fish cruises: Day 74: At Sea

Today was another busy day. I squeezed in two films from the Traveling Film Festival at Sea, a Most Traveled Guest luncheon, breakfast and dinner in the DaVinci Dining Room, the production show Colors of the World, a Dixieland jazz set by the Ruby Princess orchestra, and a 57-minute phone call to Hawaii (50 minutes on hold) to make a reservation for a year from now. I need a port day to relax a little. ;-)

I was dressed for the Most Traveled Guest luncheon when I went to the Princess Theater at 10am, just like I was dressed formally for the evening yesterday when I went to watch the afternoon film. This morning’s film was a documentary called Apollo 11, basically footage from takeoff to touchdown in the Pacific Ocean of the first moon landing mission. I was 9 years old when that happened, and I remember it well, but I was camping with my dad, older brother and some friends that week, and so we sat around the campfire listening to it on a radio. As a result, I never really saw much of the TV coverage of the event, and appreciated this film that much more because of it.

I went directly from that to the Crown Grill, where I met G for the luncheon. Commodore Pomata joined the ship in Sydney, and we have known him forever, but haven’t seen him since he received that promotion a year or so ago. He was there to greet us, and to pose for the photos with the Most Traveled Guests, but did not stay for the luncheon. We were instead seated with Hotel General Manager Simona from Slovenia. She just joined Princess from Celebrity in the last year, and we chatted about people we remember from Celebrity, particularly wonderful Hotel Director Costas Gatsis, and she said Costas is the person who promoted her. What a small world.

We weren’t at lunch in the dining room, but this was the menu for today.

Day 3 lunch menu, page 1

Day 3 lunch menu, page 2

Instead, this was the menu at the Most Traveled Guest luncheon.

I had a grilled veggie starter...

...and halibut with no sauce plus veggies

The menu dessert

My dairy free dessert

The culinary and wait teams being thanked for their efforts

Hotel General Manager Simona is on the right

I went directly from the luncheon to the Princess Theater for this afternoon’s film, Blinded by the Light, a coming of age saga about a British-Pakistani teenager who deals with his own issues of an overbearing father and racism because of his ethnicity through listening to the music and lyrics of Bruce Springsteen. It was quite good, and very heartwarming.

We skipped the Elite Lounge today and went directly to dinner. We simply weren’t very hungry, and so ate lightly and were back in the Princess Theater 45 minutes before the 7:30pm performance of Colors of the World just to get a good seat. That meant that between films and the evening’s show, I spent nearly six hours in the Princess Theater today. It was beautiful and sunny and calm outside...and I never made it out there even once. I am not a film buff at all, and can go years without going to a movie theater, but somehow the combination of easy availability and time have made me a fan of this festival. Beginning tomorrow, there will be one film each port day, shown at 4pm. I won’t be able to get to any of those, as they conflict with our dinner, but they are available on TV after they are shown in the Princess Theater.

Day 3 dinner menu, page 1

Day 3 dinner menu, page 2

Day 3 dessert menu

And, finally, I have an alarm set for 4:20am tomorrow. McGee’s race at Nationals is being live-streamed, and I can’t wait to watch. I’ve been getting text and Snapchat updates from Portland for two days; this is a very big deal. Have I mentioned how much I love this unlimited MedallionNet Wifi that is making this all possible? I know I have, but have I mentioned it lately?

Young people I love are pursuing their passions.

Life is good. :-)