Cruising to Hawaii Thanksgiving Day

Woke to a beautiful, if a bit subdued sunrise this morning. Our coffee and yogurt were delivered at 8 and we sat out on the veranda to enjoy the fresh morning air. It is already 68 degreesF and the clouds on the horizon are not anywhere close. The swells are only five feet this morning and the patch is doing its job. The irritating side effects of the patch are nothing compared to that horrid throwing up kind of sea sickness.

Mo is attending the the most demanding job of the day: read the Princess Patter and make a little list of what we want to do when. Last night we went to a great short show with a truly good vocalist, Lovena Fox. She had a great range and was a good entertainer. I actually got goosebumps when she sang "Don't Cry For Me Argentina". Jennifer Lopez always used the "goosies" to judge whether a singer was good enough to win on American Idol. I really love it when music gives me goosies. I think I even got a few watching Paul McCartny on the big screen the other night as we sailed under the bridge.

After the show we traveled through the Promenade deck 7 to the Amalfi dining room for our second seating dinner. Everything was actually delicious! We weren't too excited about dining on our last cruise to New England on the Caribbean Princess, so dinner was a great surprise. I had spicy beef satays and a Tom Thai soup for appetizers, and then decided on the signature Princess fettuccini Alfredo, thinking it might be easy on my stomach. It was, and I even enjoyed a perfectly made creme brûlée for dessert. Mo had a Caesar salad and some excellent beef fajitas with all the trimmings, including some great guacamole. The meat was well seasoned, tender, and perfectly cooked. After dinner coffee was prompt, hot, and strong. Much, much different than our last cruise. Tonight we will be eating turkey in the dining room so we are happy to discover that the food there is good.

The weather today has been nice, and the clouds on the horizon never came near us and thank goodness the swells have stayed low. Even without pool time, it is amazing how we can while away a day. At ten I decided to join a group of "Knitters and Natters", an informal gathering with no leader, for some light conversation and some ooohing and ahhhhing about what everyone was working on. It was nice. Mo watched a show on how to carve a turkey, which was a bit of a turkey anyway.

We wandered to the pool deck to see how warm the hot tubs were, and snce they weren't that warm, we decided instead to sit on the sunny side of the deck and people watch. I knitted, Mo read, and we shared a really good hot dog and some french fries from the Trident burger bar near the pool. We hoped to play some ping pong, but the tables were completely monopolized so we gave up.

It was 2PM, and the agenda had nothing of importance until 4. We went back to the stateroom to put on workout clothes and then up to the 15th floor to the fitness center. All the elliptical and treadmill machines look out over the ocean at the front of the ship. The machines are pretty high tech, and it took awhile to get them going, but once we did it was a great workout, better than walking the windy decks on the track above us or on the coldish promenade deck below us.

Back to the room for another change of clothes to go to the Captain's Circle party. In the past this party for repeat cruisers was held in one of the big bars, with wonderful hors doeurves and complimentary cocktails while cruisers were awarded various prizes for the most cruise days, the most cruises, and some random door prizes. We even won a bottle of champagne at one of the previous parties.

This one was different, not worth the effort of going down the elevator! It was a big generic group of people gathering in the big Princess theater. No drinks, no hors doeurves, and just some promotional videos of the new Royal Princess coming out next year. So their way of thanking repeat customers is to dump us into the theater and try to sell us something? That was dumb. The gift certificate from the captain for a drink of our choice that was passed out to us as we left the theater barely made the thing worth while.

Another silly while the time away moment was the 12 varieties of fudge special at the Godiva chocolate shop tasting party. I stood in line for 3 little and I mean tiny little, pieces of fudge and then a hard sell to buy more. I hate gummy fudge and this was quite gummy. Nothing like the sweet, creamy perfection of Alaska fudge company in Juneau. Ah well, I kept my card in my pocket for this one.

All these non-activities make it sound that cruising can be really stupid and boring, but in between the stupid stuff, there is still always the ocean. Outside our deck the sky is open, and the sea slides by in the most incredible shade of navy prussian blue. Remember that color from the old crayon box? It was always my favorite.

We are back in our stateroom, watching the ocean slide by while Mo watches the news. We have FOX, BBC, and MSNBC to choose from, no CNN. But unlike European hotel coverage, this news is the same that is running in the states. Soon we will "dress" for dinner, and take the long comfortable walk to the back of the ship for our Thanksgiving turkey dinner. It is a formal night, and already we have seen some really gorgeous dresses, and spiffy tuxedos. I know some folks don't like this part, but for me it is fun. Dress up opportunities in Klamath Falls are rare, and my work life for several decades required heavy boots and dirty jeans. I love putting on long flowing things that sparkle and love even more watching all the other people who are sparkling.

An easy day at sea, and I am feeling great.

 

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