Today marks 365 days we have sailed with Princess (actually
I am 7 days more but want to celebrate with my honey). It is also a formal night and we decide we
will celebrate tonight with some champagne.
Today I surprise Bernie by heading up to Horizon Court with
him for breakfast. I had an egg, one sausage,
some fruit, one piece of toast and all of it was hot, well not the toast but
that is understandable.
What amazes me about this cruise is how crowded it
feels. Now we have sailed on this class
of ship over 20 times and have never felt it so crowded as we have for these
past 40 days. The demographics of this
cruise is much much older than we are use to.
I am sure this has to do with the length of the trip and that it sailed
from a US port and returns to a US port.
Also these are very experienced cruisers they love their trivia and
their evening shows.
Trying to find a seat in the International Café in the
morning is a game of chance and speed (which works in our favor because we are
much younger than most). Trivia, both
morning and afternoon is well how do I put it, survival of the fitness. Some teams are downright mean! And rude!
Making really nasty comments to whoever is hosting. People it is just a game! Sadly some of the more nasty comments come
from the most travelled passenger Ju.
Every time I run into her she has some nasty thing to say
about cruise staff, the ports, the ships, the officers, and even Princess. Now really!
They have sailed over a 1,000 days more than us, you would think if she
hates it that much she would just stay home.
Okay I have vented.
Lisa Ball the Cruise Director is giving a talk on Life at
Sea. She has prepared a presentation
that talks all about ship life, chain of command, contracts, cabins, dining
halls, how to get hired etc. This is the
first time I have seen this type of talk and I am interested. I come early (20 minutes early) and the place
is already ¾ full. I take a seat along
the back wall where I can’t see the podium but I love that they show the
presentation on the tvs so it is not necessary to see her.
I took lots of notes and will prepare a full article that I
will publish on my facebook page Cruising Princess Cruiseline with Vickie so
look for it there in the note section. Facebook page
What I was impressed with was Lisa saw how busy it was
getting and called for more chairs to be delivered. Also she took questions after the show, which
is great, but also not so great. Most
people seemed to take the time to complain.
I even heard a woman complain on how there are not many hand
sanitizers around the ship. REALLY – I not
sure why us North Americas have been hypnotized by these large companies like
Purell that this is the be all end all for hand cleaning. First it DOES NOT kill the Noro virus. Second it does not replace proper hand
washing. Third people have a false sense
their hands are clean and don’t wash them properly. Wash your hands in the washroom with soap and
water, dry with paper towel and you are good to go. I have seen numerous people walk right by the
washroom into the dining room and use the sanitizer there, and people leave and
use the sanitizer and but walk right past the washroom again. By using just the sanitizer you have not
cleaned your hands of any viruses. You
are better off walking into washroom before a meal and washing your hands, and
when leaving go in and wash again. Okay
I have vented again.
Theo is conducting the Zumba and I remember Theo from the
Star. He just boarded in
Valparaiso. I decide to stay for the
class, and once again it is packed.
Back in the cabin we relax for a bit and I am trying to
decide what I want to do this afternoon.
The Crossing the Equator ceremony is this afternoon.
Oh I forgot to mention that Lauren did the noon announcement
and she talked about crossing the Equator and made us laugh when she said we
may all feel a bump when we cross.
We opt for the ceremony since I missed it last time. This time it is being held at the pool with
the MUTS. This is good and bad, they are
videoing it and showing it on the big screen too but sadly many people have
pushed their lounge chairs up to the glass on the second level meaning few
people can watch from above. Next time
they should remove the lounge chairs so more can see.
Bernie and I sit around the pool bench and soon there
throngs of people that I almost think about leaving but glad I stayed.
Now many of you will rememeber that two years ago on the
Star when I was a Pollywog I was picked to be in the ceremony. That ceremony was quite different than this
one. This one was similar with the
crimes the Pollywogs had committed but the rest was different.
 |
Lisa Ball - Cruise Director |
In the end lots of chocolate sauce, spaghetti, jello, cream
were doused on the guilty Pollywogs and most of the crew that
participated. As an observer it felt
like the ceremony was more about the crew having a food fight than the
Pollywogs being included. Seemed like
the passengers watching and involved were more of an afterthought. When I participated last time it didn’t get
this bad and the four Pollwogs and the passengers were included more. Click here to read about that day when I
crossed the Equator for the first time.
It is late afternoon and I am hungry so we grab a small bite
to eat. I love the afternoon snack at
the Horizon Court cause they serve baked potatoes. I then add cheese, sour cream, chives and enjoy.
I have been experiencing a tummy ache all day – I am sure it
is something I ate or drank. I have been
having a hard time digesting the milk in the latte and if I have two I find my
tummy really acts up. May be a lactose thing
but find I don’t get the same problem at home.
Oh well, I am just going to have to watch myself.
So we relax for a few hours in the cabin. I really don’t
feel like going to dinner tonight. I am
not hungry and with this tummy ache I know I won’t be able to eat
anything. But we are celebrating and
Johan is joining us so I dress in my formal wear and meet up with Bernie and Johan
at 8 for dinner.
Champagne was served, toasts were made, picture was taken…..
aren’t we fortunate.
Tonight is also lobster night and Bernie said he really
enjoyed it. The appetizer gnocchi was
very salty again. Me, well I had to
apologize and bow out cause of sore tummy but I left Bernie in the very capable
company of Johan. The boys can have fun
tonight without me.
I head back to the cabin and watch Cocktail – yup the one
with Tom Cruise – Hubba hubba.
Oh and by the morning my tummy was settled down and back to
normal – fingers crossed and no latte for me today.
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