We broke from tradition this morning and hung a breakfast room service tag on the door, requesting only a decaf coffee delivery (to keep it simple, G didn’t get caffeinated). When we’re home, I would give anything for coffee while I’m still in bed, but, no, with an upstairs master bedroom, I have to go downstairs to make it, and to save time, before I go downstairs I get dressed and put in contacts and make the bed and…well, by then my day is pretty much underway and I’ve kind of lost that whole “coffee in bed” concept. So it was definitely nice this morning to pour a cup of coffee and crawl back under the covers to enjoy it…
 |
| …watch the sunrise off the bow of the ship on the bridge cam at the same time |
And then I looked at the Botticelli Dining Room breakfast menu on the app and saw that it offered something I really enjoy, so I ended up getting dressed anyway and going down to Deck 6 to have breakfast. Which kind of defeats at least part of that “coffee in bed” thing.
 |
| That item that got me out of bed? Tropical fruit and cottage cheese. |
 |
G never did join me, so I plugged in ear buds while I ate and generally grooved on life. When I was finished, I literally ran into him leaving our cabin and followed him up to the Horizon Court to watch him eat. We sat with a couple from England who was going to be flying to Detroit after this cruise for a wedding (it must be a really good friend whose daughter is getting married to go to Detroit in December!) and we warned them not to expect to see the sun the entire five days they’re going to be there…but perhaps coming from the UK that won’t be much of a shock. But the temperatures likely will be!
We next did a morning walkabout so I could test pool water temperatures, and, dang, they are chilly (and the somewhat protected Lotus Pool was netted off). Then I remembered that small, round Oasis pool on the back of the ship on Deck 17 and dipped a hand in it and it seemed a smidge warmer. I was initially really excited about that. No one even knows it’s back there and I could swim without without an audience (except for the people reading in Skywalkers, and if I can’t see them I won’t worry about them), so I planned to return after lunch when I guessed that pool would be in full sun.
And that’s when we discovered the line of empty loungers on Deck 17 along the starboard side of the ship in the sun, protected from the wind. And we sat there and enjoyed the sun and the sea for quite a while until some exhaust from one of those big vents back there and smelling of rotten food forced us to flee.
The Botticelli Dining Room opened for lunch earlier than we’re used to, at 11:30am. I wasn’t particularly hungry but G had eaten lightly in the buffet and was. And here we were presented with perhaps the best surprise of the cruise. The menu was not the lunch menu shown in the app, but was instead our favorite lunch menu of all time, featuring chicken korma!!!!!! With condiments!!!!! And G’s favorite veggie burrito and Phillie steak sandwich and four flavors of ice cream. We settled in and enjoyed it all. And while I was eating the two small chicken thighs in the korma I knew that dinner would, of necessity, be pasta. I’d already consumed all my protein (68 grams) for the entire day. But it was so worth it.
 |
 |
 |
| A gift from the gods |
 |
| I just wish they’d save the leftovers for me |
Fully sated, I returned to the cabin to do some hand laundry and discovered that steward Santhosh (from India, we call him Santy) had returned the laundry I turned in embarkation day evening, which is a good turnaround time. I was particularly happy because it contained the leggings and heavy hoodie I had worn to watch the Grand Princess arrive in Sydney Harbour Wednesday morning when it was not warm, and I have been sorely missing those items during our chilly days (60s) on the Tasman Sea.
I allowed lunch to settle and then went up to the Oasis Pool to do my workout. What I hadn’t realized is that pool is shallow, or, at least wasn’t highly filled, just slightly above waist deep, which requires yet a different workout, harder on the knees but also freezing in the wind. I lasted only 35 minutes, then squeezed myself into the crowded adjacent hot tub (definitely not hot) to warm up. At least it was brightly sunny today, which helped, but I really do miss a covered pool on this ship!
Another long, hot shower followed, then dinner in the DaVinci Dining Room where, as planned, I had just the pasta (and am, frankly, hungry tonight as a result).
 |
 |
Tonight’s Princess Theater entertainment was Australian vocalist Nina Ferro. She had an incredible voice and it was an enjoyable show. She also had a broken right arm, and, having had one myself a corner of years ago, I felt for her (trying putting on a bra with one hand). But she was still out there giving it her all.
 |
 |
While we were waiting for the show to start, that man who I had seen working out in the pools on the Grand Princess came in and sat a couple of seats away. I leaned over and asked him which pool he was using on this ship. It turns out he is from northern Italy, but spoke perfect English. He said he has been struggling because of the water temps and the wind, and had used crew chat to ask the front desk to put in a request to warm them up and open the Lotus Pool. I sat right there and did the same. Maybe there is power in numbers. And I felt somewhat vindicated knowing it’s not just me.
We move clocks ahead another hour overnight for New Zealand (but then back an hour after that for Fiji- go figure- these countries do crazy things to lay claim to being the first to welcome a new year) so we made it an early evening. Our mattresses on this ship are primo, and the best part of every good day is crawling into bed at the end of it.
