The first post of each season:

Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Day 15: At Sea

We were a little bouncy last night in our cabin on the back of Aloha Deck, the first time we’ve even felt that we were on a ship. I threw the empty hangers (there are a lot; we packed lightly) onto the floor of the closet about midnight, and we finally got some sleep. 

Our breakfasts in Sabatini’s are winding down, and I treated myself to the brioche French toast again today. I *thought* we’d be having lunch in the International Dining Room, but, as it turned out, we didn’t. There was a slight break in the rain (I ran out onto the Terrace Deck and took those pics of the two person loungers that I posted in an earlier post), but, for most of the day, it was grey and rainy, and we heard the fog horn for hours. We settled in and watched a movie in the cabin, and got packed up before we went to dinner at 5pm. By then I was hungry, which was a welcome thing, because G’s fish that he caught yesterday was going to be served in the dining room. 


Watermelon and feta


Crispy salmon cake

Valentin filets G’s salmon

Best salmon ever!

I had dessert tonight and a fancy alcoholic coffee too. 
‘Cause it was The Last Supper


Our passage began getting narrower over the course of the evening. 

I have been dragging the past few days, and was taking a COVID test that we brought from home every day. When I tested tonight, I was not surprised to find that I was finally positive. Really, the fatigue was the worst of it, but I was also congested and had a slight fever. Luckily, we had Paxlovid with us (after the Ruby last year we won’t travel without it) and I took the first dose right away. I can’t say that the ship has seemed “sick”,  but there have been a few more coughs on the southbound cruise, and we’ve seen a few tables outside cabin doors. Still, we kept to ourselves most of the time on board, and I always wore a mask in the Princess Theater. G had told me I was going to get sick on the Sapphire, and he was right. But this is not serious, and I’ll be better in a few days. It’s part of travel these days. 

Still, these two cruises have been among my favorites, at a time I really needed to get away. Despite the family dramas taking place at the same time (there have been more than a few tears in the cabin), I’m so glad we celebrated our anniversary on a cruise. 

We’ve signed up for Direct to the Airport transfers tomorrow, bypassing all immigration lines in the port terminal. We’ve heard good things about it. I’ll be wearing an N95 mask the whole way home, and it shouldn’t be a hard travel day. Fingers crossed it all goes well.