9 Mar 2017 – at Sea

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Before we describe what we did today, it is noteworthy to announce that this is our 150^thday of cruising with Princess – at least according to our count. That means we achieved Elite status and are entitled to additional perks on future cruises. The most significant perk is “free laundry” service (HOORAY), but it only applies to future cruises starting with this status – not in the middle of this trip. Back in 2004 when we made our first cruise on Princess, we met a couple who were Elite and we thought we could not possibly sail that many times, but now we have done it.



Today is also the first birthday for our nephew Landon (Kate’s son). Happy Birthday!



We slept in this morning since this is a “Sea Day”. The view this morning from our balcony was of Africa as we sailed past. Well really we are hundreds of miles from Africa so we can’t actually see it, but that’s the next thing off the starboard side of the ship, along with a whole lot of water.



We had breakfast in the Horizon Court. Then Janet went to Knitters & Knatters and had a long session of knitting with her friends. Meanwhile David went to Fitness Center and walked 1.5 miles before walking another mile on the Promenade Deck. It was a nice walk but then he got some rest on the balcony reading. We stayed in the cabin until about 12:15 and then we went to the International Café for some sandwiches for lunch. They still don’t have lemonade so David had a coke and Janet had a pot of tea. For dessert we had some little cakes.



After lunch Janet went to the Future Cruise department and collected literature about several other cruises, including Japan, elsewhere in Asia, New England, and even the World Cruise (we have booked a segment of it next Spring). Meanwhile David went to the pool for a swim and a little time on the sun deck. Although we understand there is a “freeze warning” in St Louis, around the ship this afternoon it was about 87, even with a 20 knot breeze. We spent the rest of the afternoon back in the cabin watching Raiders of the Lost Ark, which Janet had somehow never seen before - she did not watch the “snake portion” of the movie.



We went to get some appetizers and cocktails. Tonight the feature drink was Margaritas, so we skipped the food but each had a margarita. Then we went to dinner and had the Surf & Turf. It was very good. We each had the crabmeat appetizer beforehand and David also had a bowl of chowder. Janet skipped dessert tonight and David had cheesecake.



The show in the theater last night had been a ventriloquist. We did not go see it, but we heard that the fellow had to do his act in several languages, so that was a pretty smart dummy. Anyway, this evening was a UK vocalist named Peter Grant. There was a Movie under the Stars which we talked about watching at 9:30, but decided to retire to the cabin and maybe catch it on TV tomorrow. Altogether we had a restful but entertaining day without doing anything too strenuous.



Since we couldn’t quite see Africa there are no pictures today. Maybe we will find something photogenic tomorrow.

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