I was buzzed awake this morning by my Apple Watch’s haptic tapping, and so knew something was going on. Sadly, my mom’s brother passed away overnight, not completely unexpected as we had been getting updates for the past week or so. He was 92 years old; the family longevity genes remain strong. But it had me thinking…this is the fifth close death we’ve learned about while cruising since last October. It’s obvious we’ve entered a new season of life ourselves.
Still, we have one foot simultaneously in younger lives, too. Along with the sad news this morning, we received happy pics of the future Mrs. McGuy’s college graduation over the weekend along with McGuy in his gown and hood for his masters graduation less than three weeks away. Then McGee texted, totally stoked about Sabastian Sawe’s sub-2:00 London Marathon finish. I smile sometimes remembering back to when I thought my guys wouldn’t need me much longer…when they were 5 or 6 years old. Instead, I’ve been tapped all winter for assistance with credit card applications, honeymoon planning, post-graduation 60 day leave travel suggestions, ideas for the best part of the country to live in when working remotely, and once I had to watch Netflix right then because Alex Honnold was free-climbing Taipei 101 and hadn’t I visited there?!?
I’m very blessed.
So, today…
G left the cabin well before I did, but texted me that the day had a much colder feel. Not a total surprise (we felt that wind hit the ship as we left Cabo yesterday) but I had kinda figured we’d have another day or so of warmth before I needed to put away the shorts and dig out the warmer clothes. After all, it’s almost May. There are still people wearing shorts and T-shirts on board, but I am definitely not among them. The good news is that my “travel pants” that I always wear to fly because they have lots of pockets, and that haven’t been worn since embarkation day still fit fine, maybe even a little roomier. Oh happy day!
We lingered over breakfast in the Sanctuary Restaurant. G has gotten quite hooked on the ham and cheese skillet while I am still attached to my Greek yogurt and citrus fruit. And here I must interject that I love all y’all’s emails concerned about my health. Certainly, after my Mazatlan margarita experience I need all the advice I can get! But I am not on any medication for cholesterol, no statins, no blood pressure medication and nothing for anxiety…ever, so I can my indulge my love for grapefruit with abandon. My heart’s plumbing is textbook perfect; its electrical system is a hot mess, but, then, so is all my relatives’ who are living well into their 90s.
I had to run back to our cabin following breakfast to
add still more layers. Our cabin has been comfortable and sleeping has been cozy until now, with the heavy comforter appreciated. But you’ve not heard me comment on the ship itself being too cold. In fact, we’ve been very comfortable in all the public areas. Until today. If you’re coming on board for Alaska, you might want to be prepared. I have just one fleece jacket with me, and am afraid I’ll be sporting it non-stop until we get home.
We met up again in the Princess Arena for two enrichment lectures: the first, a Behind the Seas Meet the Cast session followed by Dr. James Engman’s lecture on Life in the Deepest Seas.
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| The cast from the theatrical shows |
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| After countless lectures and two weeks of cruising, James Engman still draws a crowd. He really is the best! |
I returned to the cabin afterward to see if my laundry issue from last evening had resolved itself. After 72 hours, I had received three hanging items, but a separate paper bag with my “smalls” was no where to be seen. I’ve never had the same laundry submission returned separately before, but then laundry really is the only cabin issue we’ve had. We’ve never had laundry bags and forms in the cabin, and when I ask for two I get one a couple of days later. Finally this morning I got the smalls as well as two pairs of socks that were sent earlier and have been missing for days. I’d given up on those altogether. G has a tuxedo shirt still out and I have a submission from last night but I’m definitely not sending anything further.
I had just soup for lunch, and then we settled on the back deck behind The Eatery where we were very happy to feel heat lamps we’d never noticed in the ceiling. I had wondered how this ship was going to live in Alaska, but features like that will make all the difference.
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| I’m going to miss these soup pours! |
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These heat lamps make all the difference
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While we were sitting out there, we heard the ship’s horn sounding the Love Boat song over and over again and didn’t know what was going on until we saw another Princess ship passing us going the other direction. A quick check of Cruise Mapper showed it was the Emerald Princess. Hello old friend!
We weren’t one bit hungry for dinner tonight - or for the Elite Lounge fare for that matter- but went to dinner anyway. We ate lightly, skipped dessert and got to the Princess Arena in time to get two seats together. Tonight’s show was the Mighty Quinn who we’ve managed to avoid at least twice during our winter cruises. His is an antic driven act, but, frankly, we kind of needed the energy tonight and enjoyed the show.
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| I can’t believe that I forgot to dinner menu pics. These are from the app. |
After the show, G wanted ice cream so we went to The Eatery for him to get it. We’ve made a point of checking out the food offerings in the buffet the past few days. Frankly, when we came on board, we really thought we’d be eating most of our meals there. Things worked out differently (thankfully, better) but we continue to ask ourselves if we will be happy on this ship without the Sanctuary Restaurant and the answer is a strong YES. The Easter and The American Diner are nice venue for all meals and we love the Dining Promenade.
And we are back in the cabin at 8:30pm tonight. Tomorrow will be a different kind of day. We were not supposed to be arriving in LA until the day after tomorrow but received a notice several weeks before this cruise that we would be arriving tomorrow at 3pm instead. The ship has been cruising at full speed since we left Cabo to make that happen, and we have felt some minor movement for the first time since we boarded.
Our early arrival allows us to go through US immigration tomorrow evening instead of losing hours doing it Wednesday morning. Much like stopping at St. Thomas on a westbound transatlantic cruise, this could take awhile, and we received letters last evening instructing us about what group and time we’ll be clearing immigration. We drew the short straw and are not scheduled until 8pm, but, really, we don’t care. We had talked at one time about spending the night on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, but have enjoyed our time on the Star Princess so much that we changed our minds about that.
The good news is that Captain Arma told us in his noon update today that the port of Los Angeles is planning a celebration of sorts when the Star Princess sails into San Pedro for the first time tomorrow. There will be drones and water sprays. That should be fun. It’s been very special to be a guest on this inaugural Panama Canal cruise as the Star Princess entered the Pacific Ocean for the very first time and it sounds like more fun is in store.
