Day 77: Third of five days at sea

There was no bright sunshine to wake us up this morning; in fact, we had a mix of all sorts of weather today. We had a simple breakfast in the Club Restaurant (actually, G had two simple breakfasts because he got there before me and then returned with me). There were plenty of activities scheduled for this morning, including Douglas Pearson's last port lecture, this one on Maui (but we caught all of those on the way down in September), and the special lecturers on board, talking about astronomy and NASA, but our only planned event this morning was the Crossing the Line ceremony taking place on the pool deck at 11:15am. 

We had actually crossed the equator about 3:05am this morning, and we got a photo of the navigation channel on our cabin TV right after we did. I guess you could say we sprang into fall. ;-) but, for obvious reasons, the formal ceremony on board was held hours later. The beauty of this small ship is that we can show up right when the ceremony starts and get a great view. I remember on the larger ships arriving hours ahead of time and waiting in the sun to be assured a decent line of sight. 

Just crossed the equator!

Finally reached halfway between Bora Bora and Hilo

The entire ceremony centers on the pretext of a mock trial of selected polliwogs, people who have never sailed across the equator before. I heard that nearly a hundred passengers signed up for about eight "defendant" spots. Captain Ciruzzi kicked it off (and for being a fine skipper was awarded the Order of the Kipper, with a fake fish hung around his neck). Craig the male vocalist was King Neptune and dancer Harry was Queen Titicaca (harious casting) and they paraded around Deck 10 to the Pacific Princess show band playing Land of Hope and Glory. This seriousness complete ;-) it turned silly.

The defendants were tried for crimes such as gluttony and scarfing down free drinks and complaining and making out in the hot tub, and, found guilty, were required to kiss a real fish and then were covered with food. The accused glutton was operated on (the surgery performed behind white sheets) and real bones and spaghetti and miscellaneous items like beer cans came flying out from behind the surgical drape. The whole thing was fun and clever and, I thought, particularly well done by Sammi and her staff. And it seemed like nearly all passengers turned out for it, which was nice. Pity the poor Accomodations crew that cleaned up the mess (they had covered the pool deck with plastic to make it easier). 

Harry as Queen Titicaca 

De-fooding the glutton 

Craig O'Hara as King Neptune

I don't know that man!

Douglas with Harry as Queen Titicaca

Of course, seeing people covered in chocolate syrup naturally made us hungry, so we went right to lunch in the Club Restaurant (just a chicken Caesar salad for me) to allow G to get to his 1pm ukulele lesson. I had nothing on tap until quilling at 3pm, and so went up on deck and worked out in the pool for an hour. The mix of sun and rain continued all afternoon, the worst weather of the cruise so far and still not too bad. The wind died down a bit today, making the seas less bouncy and us all much more comfortable. 

At 3pm, I joined a large group for quilling, headed by Company Performance Manager (and dancer) Rachel and aided by dancers Harry and Michael. You know, I thought I'd never get used to the new cast after having enjoyed getting to know the old one so much, but I have, and they are equally wonderful. I went rogue today, making a Christmas tree while everyone else was making the usual butterfly. We all asked to have another session on one of the sea days returning to Los Angeles.  I am really enjoying those projects!

Dressing for dinner and the Elite Lounge starts so early these days, by 4pm or so. But it was Breeza Marina and herbed goat cheese night; I'd dress for dinner right after breakfast for that. There was nothing to see but a lot of grayness out of the large Pacific Lounge windows. I don't mind at all, but hope the weather improves when we arrive in Hawaii. 

We had a familiar menu for dinner tonight. G had the surf and turf but gave me his shrimp, and I had the seafood skewer, delicious but not as exciting as when we see a new menu. We went to the Cabaret Lounge for the 7:30pm performance by comedian Derrick Cameron (he also performed at the Welcome Aboard show, but I didn't include his name in my post that day), and then listened to pianist Brad Stevens in the Casino Lounge for a short time. At 9:30pm, we are watching an Adam Sandler- Jennifer Aniston movie in our cabin and shockingly (for me) enjoying it. 

I forgot to mention something from yesterday's fruit and vegetable carving. A set of grandparents on board had to take photos of carvers Samuel and John and their finished projects with a Flat Stanley. G and I enjoyed that immensely, and it brought back great memories of our own Flat Stanley experiences with the twins...Flat Stanley at the dentist, Flat Stanley at water aerobics, Flat Stanley playing my piano. I'll post a photo of yesterday's Flat Stanley when I can.     

And, finally, regarding Princess Messenger@Sea and our Messenger IDs that don't work...we've been told, sorry, but there is no fix. Period. Thankfully, it's something we've lived without until now on this small ship, but faced with a longer stay on a larger ship, we might feel a bit more disgruntled at the apparent apathy shown toward finding a resolution. Such is life. 

Day 15: Third of five days in a row at sea and Crossing the equator!

I tried too long last night and again this morning to add at least one of many photos to yesterday's post and, after about 23 minutes of internet usage, got nowhere. Frustrating, but I really should know better. I will eventually add photos and will let you know when I do...maybe at Chaplins in Papeete?  That will be familiar territory!

Our weather continues to be spectacular, sunny and 82F with 18mph trade winds from the northwest (so, from behind the ship). The ocean swell continued to diminish until this afternoon when we started to experience small waves and more choppiness, and the weather forecast for tomorrow is unchanged. We have been really fortunate weather-wise except for Hilo (where it almost always rains) and our Kauai port miss (but I feel that the daytime cruise of the southwestern Oahu coast and the extra night in Honolulu more than made up for that).  

Today's Princess Patter included the following navigation notes: 

During the morning we will continue following southerly courses towards Raiatea, through the Pacific Ocean. This afternoon Pacific Princess will cross the equator. Certain navies, such as the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy, have a tradition of holding ceremonies on board ship to mark sailors' first crossing of the equator. Crossing ceremonies, typically featuring King Neptune, will also be held this afternoon on board Pacific Princess. The equator is an imaginary line that lies at zero degrees latitude, is 24901.55 miles long and divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. 

I managed to wake up before 6am today, which was good, but allowed myself the luxury of reading in bed until G started to stir. We went to Sabatinis for breakfast shortly after 7:30am and ate very lightly, because of our plans for lunch. At 9am, I was in the Cabaret Lounge for Douglas Pearson's presentation on Moorea, and looking at his photos of that gorgeous lagoon and beautiful mountains, I felt certain once again that Moorea is the most beautiful island we visit...until I get to Bora Bora, when I'll change my mind. Honestly, I can't choose. 

Today at noon in Sabatinis was this cruise's MTP luncheon. Once again, a bit of a clean up (elegantly casual attire was specified) and best behavior was called for. We peppered Captain D for information about exactly what time we'd be crossing the equator (7:15pm-ish), which pass we'd be entering the Raiatea lagoon through (Teavapiti Pass) and which of Moorea's bays we'd be anchored in (Cooks). Captain D had made his daily noon announcement a few minutes early to allow him to get to the luncheon by noon, and during it he said that today we were going to experience something truly unique, even among seasoned sailors. Crossing the equator so closely to the autumnal equinox (about 27 hours apart) meant that the sun couldn't be anymore directly overhead than it is, and we would cast absolutely no shadow at midday. This only occurs when crossing the equator at the vernal and autumnal equinox. How cool is that? (And how geeky are G and I that we had already checked on how the closely timing of the two events would occur several weeks ago when we were still home. We love this sort of thing!). 

Our luncheon menu today was different that last cruise, but every bit as delicious. Since I have no hope of uploading any photos of the menu, I'll just again type it below:

Fusion of Parma ham and king crab salad

OR

Pumpkin and Stilton cheese risotto

Hawaiian jumbo shrimp in garlic sauce

OR

Beef steak tagliata style

Chocolate hazelnut bar with citrus cream

Where there was a choice, I chose the first option. It was all spectacular. But, oh, it's difficult to feel any kind of motivation after that kind and quantity of food at midday. Luckily, the first part of the afternoon was taken up with the ship's Crossing the Equator ceremony. The sun was so hot (and so overhead that there was absolutely no shade on the pool deck), that I was happy the entire event lasted only about 30 minutes. Most notable was that Hotel General Manager Ivano Calandri made an excellent King Neptune and Deputy Cruise Director Jason an hilarious Queen Titicaca. The mock trial of pollywogs (those participating passengers who had never before crossed the equator) devolved into a huge slimey food mess, as it always does, and preparation and clean up probably takes at least twenty times as long as the event itself. 

I returned to the cabin to change out of my dressier clothes and back into my usual shorts and T-shirt and adjourned to the quiet, shady side of the Promenade Deck. The dolphin sightings that had me so excited yesterday had been just as common (with perhaps larger pods) until late this afternoon when the waves picked up, and I could have spent all day out there watching for them.  We also saw; for the first time today; several frigate birds. Here, in the middle of total nothingness. Where did they come from?

Without much appetite, we skipped the Elite Lounge and went directly to dinner in the Club Restaurant at 5:30pm. We ate lightly (salad and seafood skewer for me) and G kept going to the Passenger Services Desk TV monitors to check on the ship's location. Finally, about 7:19pm, we felt the bump in the water (haha) that indicated we had crossed the equator and passed from summer to winter (and tomorrow to spring). Holy transitions, Batman!

We were excited tonight to see a new (at least we don't recall previously seeing it) production show called Shake, Rattle and Roll. Great songs, accompanied by the Pacific Princess Show Band, and wonderful costumes. I am doing some serious fan girling of male vocalist Shai Yammanne...a sensational vocal range and cute to boot. How old am I? ;-)

And that was it for our day. I'm not sure why (champagne mimosas for breakfast and wine for lunch and dinner, perhaps?) but we were feeling very relaxed today. Or maybe it's just because we have nothing to do and all day to do it. Is there a sweeter sentence in the English language?

Day 86: At Sea

From the Navigator (this appears on page 1 of today's Princess Patter):  During the day, Pacific Princess will continue to follow her northerly course through the Pacific Ocean bound for Hilo. Early in the morning, we will cross the equator, brining the Pacific Princess back to the Northern hemisphere. 

But you already knew that, didn't you?  And, once again, during an entire day at sea, we are not close enough to any other island to bear mentioning. 

---------------------------

We bunked in until 8a this morning; we had ended up staying awake until we actually crossed the equator at 1:50am this morning. No bump in the night, but, since sailing across the equator is not something we do everyday, we wanted to witness the moment. For us, Winter 2014-15 officially began on January 12.

Breakfast was leisurely and light...we cannot eat our way through ten sea days. Drink, perhaps, but not eat. I went out to walk on Deck 10 but the intense sun chased me into the fitness center and onto a treadmill, where vertigo eventually took over and I retreated to our cabin. It's not that it's particularly bouncy.  In fact, there's been very little roll (side to side movement) since we left Bora Bora; however, the ship is pitching (front to back movement) noticeably and it is very pronounced when looking out from the front or back. I took care of some hand laundry and started a list of to-do's for Hawaii. The excitement about our arrival there is palpable among the crew. There are WalMarts in both Hilo and Honolulu, and I think that every crewmember who is not disembarking in Hawaii will be making tracks to one or the other, schedule permitting. Their last big shop was on the Pacific Princess's southbound journey through Hawaii in September; you know how hard it was to get things in French Polynesia, and their supplies are running low. 

We went to lunch around 12:30pm, and it was another feast. I ordered a bottle of wine (Simi Chardonnay) to have with my seafood entree, and I much prefer it to the Silverado Chardonnay. I am really very happy I purchased a wine package for this cruise. It's allowing me to try several wines that are new to me, and I have plenty of time on our sea days to do that. 

At 1:55pm (I'm being precise here for a reason), we went up poolside to watch the official Crossing the Line ceremony. Now, on prior cruises that crossed the equator, we'd have to be in place a few hours ahead of time to get a good viewing location for the festivities. Not so on the Pacific Princess; just five minutes before it began there were ample places to watch from. Love this ship!

But...back to the ceremony. It is rooted in a maritime tradition where pollywogs (people crossing the equator by ship for the first time) are mock-tried by a court headed by King Neptune and his queen for their various crimes and misdemeanors. On cruise ships, it's largely become a comic food fight involving great humiliation and mess. Volunteer pollywogs were solicited to participate, but as shellbacks (veteran equator crossers), G and I didn't qualify. The funniest part of the entire thing is that dear, openly gay Jere Ring played the queen, and tiny Executive Housekeeper Michael Collins played King Neptune. Perfect casting!

Jere played his part as if it was a role he was born for

King Neptune and his queen paraded around the jogging track on Deck 10 above the pool while the Pacific Princess orchestra played Land of Hope and Glory. Harious!  Michael wore a pair of wellies with a big tag on them:  Cross Dress for Less (get it?  Instead of Ross Dress for Less. LOL!) 

Yep, things got very messy very quickly (but, unlike on the larger ships with multiple pools, they kept the mess out of the Pacific Princess' only swimming pool). 

A queen and his king. ;-)

The weather was perfect again today, and a fun time was had by all at the crossing ceremony. Michael's Accomodations crew works so hard to set up for this event and then clean up afterwards, but nearly every passenger on the ship turned out for it, and it certainly was a highlight of our first five days at sea. 

There had been such an uproar about the fact that the BCS National Championship game was not going to be shown on the Pacific Princess that, apparently, a deal has been struck and Princess has just today paid for the rights to do so.  The game was shown starting at 3:30pm in the Casino Lounge. Hopefully that will temper some of the unhappiness about yesterday's games not getting the viewing space that passengers wanted. The issue, again, is simply that this is a small ship that lacks some of the features and abilities of the larger ships. I watched until just after halftime while G used a hot tub, and we went to dinner with zero (no, none, not a bit) of appetite at 5:30pm. I had a seafood skewer and sorbet and was done.

We were finished in time to get to comedian Cary Long's 7pm show. We first saw Cary along perform on the Celebrity Galaxy exactly ten years ago (again with that!!) this month, and I thought he was the funniest cruise ship comedian I had ever heard. His bit about men packing underwear for a cruise described my husband to a T. (And for years I thought G was the only one like that. Obviously not.) However, Cary hasn't changed his show one bit in ten years. It's still funny, just not as funny for repeat viewers. I guess that's why we're partial to musical entertainment. Heard over and over again it never grows old. 

We went up to Deck 10 for perhaps our last look at the Southern Cross constellation. The skies were clear and there were a lot of stars to see and, surprisingly, we also saw what appeared to be the lights of another ship on the horizon. If that's what it is, it's our first sighting of these five days at sea. 

We are a bit burned out tonight, and back in the cabin by 9pm. There is a movie on TV about the last queen of Hawaii that sounds appealing, and we will finish out our evening watching that. Three sea days filled with football and a crossing the equator ceremony might be my comfortable limit. Just two more to go!!