Today is our first of seven “day at sea” on the itinerary. We did some exploring of the ship yesterday, but during the day today we had more time to walk around and see more of the ship. In case you want to follow along with where we are on the Royal Princess, here is a link to the deck plan:
http://www.princess.com/deckPlans.do?shipCode=RP
This morning we went to the Concerto Dinning Room for breakfast. It is a little more traditional with murals painted on the walls and lot of tapestries and curtains. Our dinner dining room (Allegro) is more modern with straight-line architecture and largely a black and white color scheme. Anyway. Janet got to have her first serving of Eggs Benedict (this is a favorite which she considers to be one of the best breakfasts served anywhere). David had a Ham & Cheese omelet.
After breakfast Janet went to the “Knitters and Needle Workers” session. There were about 15 ladies and one gentleman. She finds these sessions very relaxing and enjoys conversations with others while they do their various craft projects. One of the ladies had been at our breakfast table this morning (those are small odds when you consider 15 out of 3500 passengers). After that she went to the Book Club to get a copy of the mystery book they are reading (The Lake House). There were actually 2 books, but she had just finished reading the other book before we left St Louis. There will be a review of the books during the last sea day, so she will try to have it read and be able to give her opinions on both books.
Meanwhile David went to an Introductory Photography session which was pretty basic but leads to a more advanced session in the near future (what he is more interested in). After that he went up and found the Wellness & Fitness Center. It is well equipped with a lot of machines, so David went back to the cabin to change and then got a chance to walk 2 miles on a treadmill (surprisingly there is no outdoor walking track making a complete circle of this ship). So this may become one of his daily activities while we are at sea.
We both met back in the cabin before noon and went up to the Trident Grill for hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries. We finished our lunch with ice cream cones from a place called Swirls – very good but a little messy. Then we went back to the cabin for Janet to do some more on her needlework projects while she watched a movie about Steve Jobs. FYI, Janet got an early Mother’s Day present from Elizabeth (a light with a magnifier glass) and she found it very helpful working on her crafts in the cabin today.
David went up to one of the pools with his book to rest and to work on a little sun tan. The weather is mostly sunny today with a 20 knot breeze across the ship, and the temperature was well into the 80’s this afternoon. The pools were very popular today so he couldn’t do much more than stand in the cool water – not swim. At noon we were heading East-Northeast from the Bahamas and are about 1/2 way to a point south of Bermuda (taking the Great Circle Route). In other words, we are a long way from anywhere right now.
Later in the afternoon the captain announced that we had a medical emergency and they were changing course to go directly to Bermuda (it’s better than turning around and going back to the Bahamas). We will have an unscheduled “scenic cruising” tomorrow afternoon off Bermuda while they ferry the poor passenger to the island. The captain said they had accelerated to full speed and should be able to make up any lost time before our first scheduled port-call in Madeira on April 30th. The consequence might be not as smooth a ride, but so far it’s not been a problem.
At 3:30 Janet went to High Tea. This gives her an afternoon “caffeine fix” and a chance to meet more people. It was very crowded with more “customers” than they had people to provide service. She eventually got her tea and scones, and met a lady from Hungary. Since David doesn’t drink tea, he stayed behind. He did print off a copy of our current billing statement and verified that none of yesterday’s beverages were on the bill. J
David had to do a little emergency surgery on our computer mouse this afternoon. The cord got kinked and started tearing the outer layer of insulation next to the USB connector. If the internal wires had broken we would be in a lot of trouble. So with a quick MacGyver-style fix, he repaired the cord with a band-aid and then attached a section of soda straw for more support (like placing a splint on a broken arm). Another band-aid to hold that piece of straw around the original cord, and hopefully we will be alright if we exercise reasonable care. Otherwise it is going to be hard to get the ship to pull over to a computer store for the next several days.
We met up again before dinner and went down to the Allegro Dining Room on schedule. Once again we were the only ones at our table – what is wrong with these other people! Tomorrow night we are going to slide down to the end of our table and just chat with the people at the next table anyway. For our dinner tonight we both started with the “mini shrimps and baby scallops” appetizer. Janet had the Caesar Salad and David had Mango & Pear Cold Soup. Then they served a sample of a special past which was prepared personally by our Head Waiter (Benito – from Portugal). For our entrees, Janet had the larger owl of Fettuccine Alfredo and David had Jerk Chicken. For dessert Janet had the Hot Fudge Brownie with ice cream and David had Key Lime Pie. Then Janet had a glass of Irish Cream and David had Drambuie. Altogether it was a delicious dinner.
This evening we went to the theater and saw a Welsh “comedy vocalist” named Diane Cousins. She has entertained on many Princess cruises before and we remembered seeing her sometime in the past. Nevertheless we found the show very funny. After the show, we adjourned back to our cabin for the night.
As we move further into the Atlantic, the satellite-internet service becomes less reliable. Once we get closer to Europe it will improve again. This means that for a couple of days we may be delayed in posting updates to the blog. But you will not miss any episodes if there are blackout areas – we will be sure to send the updates when we get the satellite back.
Sorry – there are no photos to include in today’s edition. We had a nice restful day and just didn’t get around to taking any snapshots (hopefully tomorrow).
