Wow. What a day. What a great, great day. This one was special from start to finish with my favorite cruise ship entree, my new favorite cruise ship drink and dancing to some of my favorite songs played by party band Gravity at the Captain’s Champagne Waterfall.
I haven’t yet mentioned that the mattresses in our cabin are- THANK YOU Princess- simply perfect. There is no small amount of dread when I step on a ship because I’ve had some truly awful ones (too soft), but this one? Perfection. And the Sapphire was so stable last night that we slept well and made up some of that deficit sleep GPA.
Passing another island while we slept.
G was up at 5am and snuck out of the cabin for his usual morning walk around the ship. I was about an hour behind him and took a minute to check the internet speed at that time.
Onboard WiFi speed at 6am using speed testing app Meteor
I have to chuckle; upload speed is AWESOME…
…which must make our upload speed at home even AWESOMER!
Still, at 6am I could stream video, but did have some latency with fast forwards and reverses. But publishing a blog and uploading pics with this unlimited WiFi is night and day different from being on the Pacific Princess in French Polynesia or the Majestic in Australia pre-COVID. Smoke signals there would have been easier and more effective.
We had already decided to meet for breakfast at 7:30am, but I thought I’d check out the juice bar included in the drink package on the way. I left the cabin, started down the hall and saw G heading my way. He was carrying a fresh juice for me made with watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe and carrots, called The Antioxident. After 40 years, he knows what I like!!
On our way to breakfast, I spotted the officers board on Deck 7. I was so sad to see that HGM Fernando is no longer on board. I hope we’ll see him again soon.
Senior officers on the Sapphire Princess
Captain Todd McCain is new to us, but he gives the most personal and calming announcements from the navigational bridge. They’re kind of like listening to a mediation app. Yesterday’s announcement at sail away from Vancouver involved acknowledging that many of us had had a very long travel day, but assured us that we are here now, so just relax and let the ship’s company take care of us. Today’s noon announcement had a similar effect.
G was notified that he was this cruise’s most traveled guest (MTG), and that honor brings with it the perk of having breakfast in specialty restaurant Sabatinis. As his designated “hanger on”, I get to go, too! This is, without a doubt, our favorite MTG perk. I may have even done a little happy dance when I found out about it yesterday. We were at Sabatini’s when it opened at 7:30am (7am on port days), and were immediately enveloped in the incredible service that makes that experience so special. With our table for two overlooking The Promenade Deck and an ocean view, this really is as good as it gets.
I blame friend Craig from our Emerald Princess Panama Canal cruise for introducing us to the brioche French toast in Sabatini’s, because that stuff is as addictive as drugs. Totally lacking in nutrition, of course, so I ate only half of it and followed it up with a fruit plate.
Brioche French toast and a mimosa
What a way to start a day.
Our view at breakfast
Our location at breakfast
After breakfast, I wanted to see for myself where the juice bar was located, so we headed up to Deck 14.
The juice bar is located in Scoops, Deck 14 midship starboard side between the two pools.
Darling Sonu from India greeted G by name and asked how I had enjoyed my watermelon juice.
Judith from the Philippines preparing my Booster.
I was really happy to see that these are real fresh squeezed juices and not concentrates.
I was even happier that I didn’t have to prep the ingredients nor clean the juicer.
Without a doubt the best part of Princess Plus.
Delish!
G was interested in the naturalist’s lecture starting at 9am in the Princess Theater, but I am trying to limit my time around large groups of people. Besides, I really hoped the lecture would eventually be found in our cabin TV (so far I haven’t found it). Instead I went into the covered Calypso Pool area to enjoy my juice and listen to music on my AirPods. Pure bliss!
I enjoyed my juice in the covered Calypso Pool area…
…but had to move quickly when the nearby hot tub became a
dancing water feature as crew was repairing it. 😆
G found me still in that area when he returned from the lecture. We took the midship stairs down a deck, turned down our corridor and ran right into…Awesome Ambrish! OMG, regardless of how much we enjoy the rest of this cruise, seeing Ambrish again will undoubtedly be the highlight. Awesome Ambrish from India was our steward on the Emerald Princess from January to March 2016. Along with Cristian from Romania, he provided absolutely the pinnacle of service, and always with a smile and the most infectious laugh imaginable. Huge hugs, and, honestly, it’s like having family on board. He remembered that we had been up at the pool at 6am the morning he had his swimming test to support him, as he was so nervous, and might have suggested that we were among his most favorite guests ever. Same, Ambrish. We feel the same. We saw pics of his family (a brand new baby boy!), talked about how he got through COVID, and vowed to always use the mid ship stairs and elevators just to run into him as often as possible. Pure joy.
Our son from another mother. 💙
It was warm enough to sit out in the sun on the Terrace Deck…at least for us. It was kind of funny today. I could tell where passengers were from based on how they were dressed. Those of us from cold weather locations wore shorts and Ts and maybe a sweatshirt or fleece. Those from the South were dressed in puffy jackets. Hey, when it’s in the 40s at home and sunny, we’re wearing shorts and sweatshirts. Today, in the high 50s and 60s, was downright balmy.
Restaurant Manager Valentin from Romania had showed me the lunch menu for today at dinner last night. Just as I had hoped and dreamed, Chicken Korma was on the menu. This lunch was worth the entire cruise and I thank friend Steve for getting me hooked on it years ago. By the time all the condiments are added to it, it is a feast, and a starter and dessert are definitely not necessary. I chose a rosé to go with it.
The galley gods were smiling on me.
Chicken Korma.
I would take this cruise for this meal alone.
I finally made it to the Terrace Pool after lunch. G said the water was warm enough early this morning to have a mist above the pool, and it was definitely comfortable. I did a water workout and then joined G in one of the big hot tubs on the back of Deck 16. I remember so well Sheila and I sitting in one of them reading magazines as we went around the southern end of New Zealand in 2004. It was cold then, and raining and we were the only people out there.
It was then time for a short rest before getting cleaned up for the first formal night of the cruise. We could have skipped dinner altogether, as we were really quite full from lunch but that is not what cruising is all about.
Crab cake
Halibut
Our location about 5:30pm
G’s birthday had been last week, and we celebrated it tonight at dinner. Chandra brought his guitar and everyone sang happy birthday and it was very special. We had a bite each of the chocolate birthday cake that is served, and were in Crooners by 6:30pm for the Captain’s Champagne waterfall. Except, with the Princess Plus package, we didn’t have to drink that engine room “champagne” and I had a raspberry Baileys instead.
The Princess crew members make this cruise line!
This was captured from a video I will not attempt to upload. The WiFi is awesome, not awesome-er like at home.
Party band Gravity at the Captains Champagne Waterfall.
Fantastic!
G making friends at Crooners while my new fav Raspberry Baileys is shaken.
Production show Bravo started at 7:30pm in the Princess Theater, and, once again, seats were still available right up until the show started. This is certainly a different experience than on cruises in the Caribbean and long cruises that attract well traveled cruisesrs. It’s much more laid back. The show was great, and Barbie McCullough is in again in the role of the soprano.
We went again to Crooners via that beautiful Promenade Deck and listened to party band Gravity playing in the Piazza, and all of us there were well entertained by perhaps twenty whales spouting and breaching off the starboard side of the ship. There was a sailboat a short distance away and another cruise ship in front of us, and there must have been something about us all that either the whales or fish found exciting (which, in turn, excites the whales). They put on a show for at least twenty minutes, and it was like watching fireworks.
We returned to the Pacific Moon Dining Room just before it closed at 9pm for coffee and dessert, then walked across the Promenade Deck to watch the sunset. I love these long days in Alaska. They remind me of the long days around the South Island of New Zealand in December.
Thankfully, we move clocks back an hour tonight, because G has to meet on the pier tomorrow in Ketchikan at 6:15am for his salmon fishing trip. I will wave him off and return to bed. 6am port arrivals are not my idea of a vacation.
And, finally, McGee’s mom sent me this pic while we were at breakfast and it prompted me to remember bandaging one of his early booboos. “BLEED! I have bleed NeeNee!” I fervently hoped he wouldn’t have bleed today. 🙏🏼
McGee in the simulator this morning
Instead he texted me at dinner that his jumps were on hold for a couple of days until he gets medical clearance about his knees. As an IC runner, he has a job to do in the sport he loves, and they want to keep him competing for the academy. Again I offered support and sympathy. That’s MY job in all this and I take it very seriously.
