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Published: August 29th 2015
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Today is our last full day of sailing and that makes it a little bit sad. However we were determined to enjoy the last day and here is what we did.
We started by meeting the Sieberts and we all went to the Portofino Dining Room for another sit-down breakfast. Tomorrow we will have to use the buffet, so we took advantage of this last opportunity. Then we went around the ship doing various bits of business. We checked e-mail in the Internet Café, got advanced copies of our stateroom bill to be sure there weren’t any surprises, did a little shopping in the boutiques, and talked to the Future Cruise person.
David started trying to put things back into the suitcases so we could judge whether we will have a problem or not. The big suitcase has more space available but the scale already reached 50 pounds, so it had to stop there. The smaller case has weight available but needed to hold our end-of Friday items so some space had to be reserved for the morning. Fortunately it looks like everything will fit and we don’t have to leave
Alaskan Coast
seen from Star Princess while at sea anyone’s gifts here in the cabin.
At 10:00 Janet, Kathy, and Jim went down to the Princess Theater to watch the Culinary Demonstration. David joined them about 10:45. This is a traditional end-of-cruise session where the Maître D’ and the Head Chef do a little comedy routine while they teach the audience how to prepare a 3 course meal. First was a Caesar Salad from scratch ingredients, followed by a Scallop Dinner with assorted vegetables, and finally how to prepare a Black Forest Cake. They generally collaborate on the first 2 dishes, but the 3
rd is one actually making the cake and the other doing a comical alternative cake. This was followed by a tour of the galley, but none of us went on it.
About noon we went up to the Lido deck for a few slices of pizza. They were serving Pepperoni and “Star Special” pizza, and we each had 2 slices. We followed this with a collection of desserts from the Horizon Court.
After lunch we went down to the Photo Gallery and searched for all the pictures they’ve taken of us
during the past week. There seems to be at least one picture of every single passenger, for each port and formal dining session. They were sort of divided into logical collections (like all the Ketchikan picture were together). Both us and the Sieberts each found our pictures and bought a few of them. Then it was back to the cabin for a little rest in the afternoon.
For some reason our ship was not scheduled to arrive in College Fjord until 6:00. We seemed to be cruising past very scenic Alaskan costal scenery all day, but it seems strange that we could not have gotten here earlier in the day – it doesn’t appear to be too far on the map. Maybe our ship got the short straw in viewing times for the glaciers in College Fjord – clearly only one ship can be in the end of the fjord at a time, and then it makes a 180degree turn and exits the way it came in. During the afternoon the seas calmed a bit, but last night and this morning the decks were a little rocky. Then after a few hours of calm, it
Harvard Glacier
in College Fjord got bumpy again as we approach the fjord.
We went to dinner at 5:30 (after finishing our wine) for our last meal on the ship. It was the All-American Dinner. We had good appetizers, salads, and pastas again, and then got to the main course. Kathy had a eggplant dinner, Janet had the American Meatloaf, and Jim & David each had the “Turkey Dinner with all the Fixings”. It was very good although the meatloaf was not as good as Janet makes at homeJ. For dessert on the last night of a Princess Cruise, they serve Baked Alaska (especially appropriate on this cruise). David & Jim also had a slice of deep-dish apple pie ala mode. Then there was the “parade of the waiters” where all the assistant waiters (including ours – Jai) parade around the dining room with plates of Baked Alaska and little candle in their center. It is a traditional sendoff to all the passengers.
Unfortunately this was the same time the ship was in the heart of College Fjord. Many of the people left the dining room before the parade to go out and see/photograph the
Vassar Glacier
in College Fjord glaciers. There had been a speaker explaining what we were passing, but that information was not broadcast to the dining room. But we waited until after the parade and then said our goodbyes to Josephine and Jai. David & Jim then hustled out onto the deck in time to see most of the main glaciers at the end of the fjord, and off course in time to take some pictures.
Then we were off to the theater for a final performance. Tonight was a singer who we had seen previously and he did another good job. His show lasted until about 8:45 and we had to have our bags in the hall by 9:00. We had everything packed except the last few pieces of clothing to go tonight. So there is not much space in front of our cabin, Aloha 401. The bags will be moved to a holding area and we can get them on the pier after exiting the ship – won’t have to lug them down the gangway tomorrow. Now it’s just a matter of packing the last items in the carry bag tomorrow morning.
Josephine & Jai
after parade of the Baked Alaskas All things considered, this was actually a fairly restful day, including some time for naps and just sitting and watching the scenery float past. There were some photos taken, but they will be added to the next blog entry – sorry but we are running out of time tonight.
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Janel
non-member comment
Binge reading your blog
I signed up for the blog but somehow they didn't send me any emails and we were caught up in a drama about buying another house on the other side of Florida (didn't happen and I'm just as glad), so it was only yesterday that I remembered your trip...have read it all at once. What fun! Sounds like you had a great trip. Thanks for sharing. It's almost like being there! I really enjoy your travel blogs.