Tuesday November 11 – Remembrance Day – Day at Sea

I wake up at 7 am, but it is really 6 am since we put the clocks forward one hour today.  It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day.

Bernie heads down for some tea and my latte and I type up the blog as Bernie watches the Wake Show.  We enjoy Mike and Paul on the Wake Show but their question of the day needs to have the answer in by 9 am which for us is difficult so we pass.

I am happy to see that the ship is recognizing Remembrance Day with a ceremony in the Atrium at 11:00 conducted by the Captain. 

We make our way down to the International Café for some coffee and I do some Sudoku and I take part in the speed Sudoku but don’t do very well.  The Atrium is a buzz with so many things going on.  The Bijoux sale is happening in Michelangelo Dining Room.  There is a Spotlight Shopping Show happening in the Princess Theater with the Shopping Host too. 

Lots of other things happening, here is what the Patter lists:  Zumba, Knitters and Natters Get Together, Classic Movie Dirty Dancing, Introduction to Acupuncture, Casino Introduction Blackjack, Roulette, Book Club Sign Up for “The Fault in Our Stars”, Morning Trivia, Scavenger Hunt Sign Up, Introduction to Digital Photography, Scrabble Get Together, Quilting Part I, Go Pro Photography Lecture, $500 Slot Tournament, Wii@Sea Tournament, Enrichment Lecture:  Baja California and Trail of the Migrating Gray Whales, Line Dancing, Pop Choir Rehearsal, Martini Demonstration, Art Auction, Pool Games, Merengue Dance Class, Afternoon Movie Maleficent, Spanish Class, Name That Song Trivia and Bingo…. And much more.

For us though it is all about relaxation today.  We stay in the Atrium for the Moment of Silence and service and then head to the Princess Theater to attend the new event Chocolate Journey demonstration with the Maitre d’hotel, Executive Chef and Pastry Chef.  They prepared three items, cookies, truffles and mousse.  Just wish we could of gotten samples. 

This cooking show made us hungry so we head to the dining room (Da Vinci) for lunch.  We sit at a table for six but it is hard to hear because it is noisy so we try to make due and get to know the two other couples and enjoy a great meal.  Bernie has his standard dining room hamburger and I start with the Thai Soup and I then had the Pasta Carbonara.  We both skip the dessert and head to the IC for some chocolate cookies.

We decide to head up on the top deck for some sun and past the enclosed pool towards the main pool.  The band Altitude is playing and they can be heard EVERYWHERE. 

Now it is fine to have a pool band but really to have to listen to them at the pool past the pool to the forward sunning area and even the Sanctuary.  And it is so loud you can’t even listen to your own music with ear buds cause the band overpowers everything.  I know music is a personal thing but this bad is bad in my opinion.  I can hear them singing “I Feel Like A Woman” and she is out of tune.  It is so hard to stay here that I get up and head back to the cabin.  It should be noted that the only area outside that you couldn’t hear the band was the Conservatory and the Aft area. 

I am back in the cabin relaxing reading and I fall asleep.  Bernie comes back a while later saying he too slept up on the deck.  His noise cancelling ear phones helped but did not cancel out the band.

I sit out on the balcony and lots of people are out for the sunset and there are tons of dolphins doing jumps.  We see some tuna too so I am guessing the dolphins were after them.  This lasted for about an hour and was great entertainment.

Tonight is formal night and we dress and head down to the Promenade to meet up with our friends Yvonne and Paul. 

Lots of people are dressed up, everyone looks lovely.   The Captain is having his welcome aboard champagne waterfall but we pass as we have reservations at Sabatinis tonight.

We are sat at a lovely table for four and we brought champagne and that is so enjoyable.  I start with the tomato and mozzarella salad, I then have the grilled vegetables.  Both were very good.  Bernie had the calamari and the artichoke dip and he loved them too.  

We notice that the calamari is a smaller serving which is a good idea cause they use to have a much too big portion before.  For my entrée I had the lobster three ways and really enjoyed it. Bernie had a special for the night which was turbot with a tomato sauce – he loved it.  

For dessert I had the new chocolate dessert Tiramisu.  I really enjoyed this and like it much better than the old Tiramisu they use to serve here.  

What I really like was our friend Yvonne can not have dairy at all and they made a lovely lemon curd tart with meringue which she enjoyed.

Overall the meal at Sabatinis was very good and we left full.  Service was a little off tonight though, we had to ask for oil/vinegar for our bread, we had to ask for him to pour more champagne, and some other little things.  But it was busy and he seemed to be run off his feet.  But I would definitely go again.

We wander around a bit and then back to the cabin around 11:00 pm.

A few things to add:

We tried to get reservations for the Crab Shack but after two days of trying to call the dine line with no one picking up we just gave up.  Again this seems to be an ongoing issue we have experienced before and hope Princess can improve and make getting reservations thru their dine line a bit better.

The Wake Show has information about the port right at the beginning of the show.  This provides vital information about the port we are visiting and is very helpful.

Bernie went for a drink in the afternoon to Crooners bar and was stunned to see or hear this guy sitting in the lounge with his laptop blaring music from his Bluetooth speaker.  Really!  Do you think the rest of us want to hear your “personal” music.  I found this to be rather rude.

The make up of passengers on this voyage is very good.  Not too old but definitely not a lot of kids.  Many first time cruisers, and not many elite either.  Although we find out the cut off for the Most Travelled Luncheon is 430. 

Tonight they held the Gold/Ruby party but I am not sure at what time.