Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Day 18: At Sea

I was determined not to get up early today, determined not to eat breakfast, not to drink (very much), not to have anything sweet. Yeah, that lasted until I first opened my eyes at 7am. G was already out running, but he kinda woke me when he came back to the cabin and showered. I didn’t feel like a ball of energy, but it was a sea day. I didn’t have to!

He wanted to go to breakfast in the Allegro Dining Room. Huevos rancheros were on the breakfast menu, and I do love me some Mexican food, so I ate that (but apparently I neglected to take a pic of the menu or the food…sorry!).

We returned to the cabin where I laid back down and slept almost until lunch. What the heck?!? I do enjoy my sleep, even at home, but here on the ship with this too soft Princess Wonder Bed mattress that doesn’t agree with me, I seem to be missing out on the deep z’s I need to awake feeling rested.  I’m hoping the mattress next cruise is a lot better.  And by better I mean firmer. 

I wasn’t one bit hungry for lunch but waiter Michael had told me this morning that paella was on the menu (he definitely knows my food preferences by now). And it was. It just wasn’t like any paella I’d ever had. I ate the shrimp and two squid circles and called it lunch. 





Paella?

And that is where the day definitely went off the rails. G had sat and watched me eat paella, but he wanted Carolina BBQ and slaw from the Trident Grill so we went to the Lido Deck for that. Just for the record, the Carolina BBQ is NOT real eastern Carolina BBQ (IYKYK) but it is improved from what it used to be and the way I am with seafood, G is with BBQ. 

I ordered a beverage through Ocean Now delivery while I was sitting there, waited 20 minutes while it was prepared and then ready to be delivered…and then it was cancelled. G instead went to the bar to get us both a drink and brought us something blue and creamy (Blue Hawaiian?) and there went my no sugar and no alcohol resolutions in one drink. And then he added ice cream, and what a food fest the day was turning into. 




But it gets worse. By then it was 3pm, and all I had done all day was eat and sleep, and we decided to go to afternoon tea in the Concerto Dining Room for the first time only to see our junior waiter Matthew from Zimbabwe. We adore him. Naturally, we had to have a scone while we were there and there is nothing as superfluous as afternoon tea at 3pm when lunch #1 is at 1pm and lunch #2 is at 2pm, with ice cream at 2:30pm too, and dinner at 5pm. 

Ugh. 





That is how I came to have just ratatouille for dinner (love it!)…but had to have my favorite pavlova for dessert, too. 






We have a meeting time of 7am tomorrow morning for our excursion in Grand Cayman, which should be illegal but apparently isn’t. We’ll be joining our next door table mates (our Russian American friends) and can’t wait to spend some more time with them.  We are all set to phone each other in the morning to make sure we’re up.  G wanted to go to tonight’s entertainment (a juggler) but I returned to the cabin to pack a backpack for tomorrow and when I got here I saw a notice that clocks are going back an hour overnight (the final time change of this cruise) so I probably could have squeezed in the show, but instead I’m getting this post written, and that’s a very good thing too, since we have to hit the ground running tomorrow morning. 

And, finally. to answer a couple of questions that I’ve been emailed…I am feeling totally recovered, thanks for asking. I came prepared with decongestants, expectorants, cough suppressants, antihistamines, and throat lozenges and treated myself with just an expectorant and throat lozenge. I also took COVID tests four days in a row but I’m done doing that now.   Our next door neighbor (the one in the adjoining cabin with the air literally screaming between our cabins despite the duct tape as I type this) was quarantined for three days with a sinus infection, which I’ve never heard of before on a ship, but I clearly don’t have that. 
I’m assuming I just had a simple cold (they still exist). I’m also convinced cruise ships are Petri dishes so (Rosanne) do take every precaution. We also left home with over 200 Wet Ones wipes and use them after touching a menu, but it’s the airborne germs that are harder to avoid, and I’ve concluded that most of them get spread sitting in the Princess Theater waiting for a show. 

It will be interesting to see what happens with the number of coughs on the upcoming shorter cruise.