I’m starting this post while sitting in the Princess Arena awaiting the start of tonight’s performance. G is in the Piazza watching the Captains Celestial Champagne Soirée (or some such something), formally known as the Captains Welcome Aboard Champagne Waterfall. We know that if we wait until that is over to get to the Arena, available seating will be in question. So we divide and conquer.
We had a slower day today, thankfully, more relaxation and less exploration since we now pretty much know where the major venues are on this ship. We continue to be very impressed, and, frankly, can’t figure out where all the other guests are. This ship disperses the crowds very well. In fact, today we experienced our first wait for an elevator, meaning we couldn’t fit on the first one that arrived because it filled up. On other ships, that’s normal 10am-on-a-Monday stuff, but here it took being in the en masse exit from Dr. Don Engman’s second lecture of the day. He has become very popular, very quickly.
So, today…
We made it to breakfast in the Sanctuary Restaurant about 8:30am (no menu pics, it was the same as yesterday) wanting to get to Dr. Engman’s first lecture of the day (the natural history of the Caribbean islands) at 10am. That gave us two hours until his second lecture at 1pm (the natural history of Panama), and we spent some time in a sadly-not-hot tub at the Wake View Pool on the back of Deck 8. Fantastic view though!
After the second enrichment lecture, we really weren’t hungry enough for lunch but we sat on the outside deck of the starboard side of the Eatery while G had a piece of a Detroit-style pizza. Both outside decks (port and starboard) feature a bar and a food venue, burgers and such on port side and pizza on the starboard side and there’s tacos too, but I forget which side they are on. There is also a soda dispenser just inside the Eatery where you can scan your medallion and help yourself. Have I told you that G got the Classic Soda Package for this cruise? It also includes mocktails and that part has brought the usual confusion and erroneous charges but he successfully battles Guest Services when required.
We were back in the cabin for a clean up before tonight’s formal night and were entertained by the bass drum in the rehearsal for tonight’s show. Our cabin is directly above the Princess Arena, and we knew to expect some periodic noise, but we are generally not back in the cabin until after the second show end and really only hear the rehearsal for shows that are accompanied by the Star Princess show band.
G wore his tux tonight, and we saw several men in tuxes, dark suits and military uniforms. Quite surprising, but very nice. They all looked sharp!
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| So, naturally, G didn’t stay in his tux long enough to get a pic, but this is for readers who claimed I never posted pics of me. I’m trying to address your concerns. 😉 |
We ate just a quick dinner in the Sanctuary Restaurant and G went directly to the Celestial Champagne…whatever, and I went to the Princess Arena to get our seats. It was a full house early on.
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| The Celestial Champagne Soirée |
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| Something tells me that this is super glued together, but I’m not certain |
Tonight’s Princess Arena entertainer was Don Ellis Gatlin, a cousin to the Gatlin Brothers. Absolutely fantastic, and we are loving this theater in the round. We ran up to the Done for a Candlelight concert by Cola Sounds, and then returned to the Princess Arena for Don Ellis Gatlin’s second show, because, as G rightfully pointed out, we were going to hear a portion of it if we were in the cabin anyway. We might as well enjoy it all again.
Well, he went so off script in his second show that it lasted over 15 minutes longer than the first and was one of the very best guest entertainer shows we’ve seen on Princess. You know, the entertainment on the Emerald Princess in January and February was excellent, too. Is Princess stepping up their game?
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| Tonight’s movie on MUTS |
And, with that, we called an end to another fun day on the Star Princess. Tomorrow: Aruba for the first time in five years!
Oh, BTW, our European outlet at the vanity was replaced today. Hair dryer worked great in its intended outlet!
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| I know this is a lousy scam. I’m having all sorts of issues trying to get these in the cabin because the lighting is so plentiful and bright that my phone casts shadows everywhere. I’m even tried sitting on the toilet and putting the Patter on the bathroom floor to avoid them. I’m not used to this cabin’s lighting, but I’ll keep trying. |
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