2013 Christmas Eastern Caribbean Cruise

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Friday, December 27, 2013 (At Sea)

An exciting day today, we are at sea so nothing organized for the day, just do what we want. As usual, I am up super early, even on vacation, at 5:00 am. The upside, I am able to work on my blog and respond to emails before everyone else is up.

Everyone else was up at 7:45 am this morning. Instead of eating in the buffet in Horizon Court, we decided to eat in the Concerta dining room, the same dining room for dinner. We like eating here because the food is made to order and fresh.

First thing this morning Michael and I went to the 17^th deck and entered a putt putt golf tournament. Michael played well, Todd not so much. Michael played in three sudden death playoff holes, very close to winning, however he was not successful. The older gentleman he was playing with was also very super competitive.

Following our Putt Putt game Cindy and I went to down to the Princess Live theatre where they were finishing up an Indian Cuisine demonstration. We arrived just in time, at the end, to taste some wonderful Indian Cuisine. Following the Cuisine demonstration, Cindy and I sat through the taping the “The Wake Show Live.” Princess Cruises has its own morning talk show that the record for the next day. They took several takes, but finally got a good recording. This was fun seeing the recording.

Following the taping we grab lunch in the Concerta Dining Room before attending the art auction.

One thing that Cindy and I love doing is attending the art auctions on board. Over the years we have acquired a few pieces along the way. During the auction they have a program where you bid on mystery paintings and bid on a set (3 or more). You give the auctioneer your name/auction number and he will set the price. If you are interested in purchasing the piece, you have until the end of the day to purchase it at the gallery. We put our name/auction number into the mix; however there is no commitment at the end of the day. Before the start of the auction, Cindy and I entered a raffle for a free painting. We did not win the raffle, however the auctioneer did have another option to win a painting, the loudest applause and support during the auction. This award went to Cindy. She won a bottle of champagne and a choice of a painting. The artist is Marcus Glenn. This African American artist is up and coming and is currently doing all the art work for the 2014 Grammy’s. The exposure he will get is good for an artist. I wish I had a photo I could post, however it will be arrive at home in 6-8 weeks. Here is website http://www.parkwest-glenn.com/.

Later in the day we sat with Cindy’s Dad while he played Bingo. Bingo is a big deal on cruise ships. Although he did not win one of the rounds, it is still a ton of fun watching the excitement of people getting close to winning.

This evening is our last formal dress evening. Since we are a Platinum member (Captain’s Circle Program) on Princess Cruises, the Captain of the ship always holds a cocktail reception for Platinum level and above cruise members. This is Princess Cruise’s way of saying thank you for our loyalty. The cocktail reception had various drinks and appetizers including caviar. There was also a band and dancing, a very relaxing event. Before the event ended, the Captain awarded the most traveled passengers. Holy moly, one of the couples spent over 800 days cruising on Princess. That is a lot of traveling. Cindy and I are not even that close.

Following the cocktail party, we went to dinner at our 8:00 pm scheduled time. This evening I had Poached Pear & Blue Cheese Crumbles, Goat Cheese and Apple Soup with Grape Tempura, and Broiled Lobster Tail and King Prawns with Lemon Butter Fondue. This was an awesome dinner. But the best part was celebrating Cindy’s parent 56^th wedding anniversary. Even though it is not until January 2014, we wanted to take this moment to celebrate this awesome moment. Earlier in the day the cruise put balloons on their door. The dining staff gave Cindy’s parents a beautiful chocolate cake and card. They also sang Happy Anniversary and then a mariachi group came over and sang for them.

To wrap up our day, we attended a great show in the Princess Theatre. The show was titled Sweet Soul Music. The show played a lot of the oldies from the 70’s and 80’s.



Tomorrow is our last day on the cruise. There will be a lot of fun activities planned for the day. Can’t wait to tell you all about it.

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