Third Sea Day

Jasper hangs out in the displays in Facets

hello Ryan! 

Weather is not as nice coming back as it was going, very wind, moderate waves and cooler.  You can still wear shorts and t-shirts but I wouldn’t say it is sun bathing weather.

Since the clocks went forward again last night we wake and the clock shows 9 am!  We decide to just head down to the International Café for coffee and pastries and I take part in the Sudoku challenge at 9:45 (came in second) and I then get a ticket for the ribbon Lei Making – trust me that line is long and for some reason they decide to hand out the tickets in the Atrium so the line snakes all around the tables and it is noisy.  Personally I think they should move this ticket handout elsewhere like down by the aft in front of vista where people normally line up for the bingo tickets.

We head to the Princess theater for Mark Harris’ talk on Oceanography and see that the theater is empty, hmmm must have the time wrong so we head back to the Atrium and check the patter and sure enough it is an hour from now at 11, not 10.

We do make it back to catch his show and Bernie really enjoyed it but I found it a little dull, I rather learn about whales, dolphins, fish etc.  Tomorrow’s show is on turtles so I am happy about that.  We have really enjoyed Mark’s lectures, in fact we rarely attend this many lectures by one person but his shows are informative, funny, great pictures and about a half hour, enough to keep our attention.

I forgot to mention the exact number of days the most travelled had well he is on the front page of the Patter and it is Mr. George Feiwel with 1201 days at sea with Princess.  Wow!

Pippa the Future Cruise Consultant is very very busy – lots of people wanting to get the future cruise deposits in and bookings made. 

Still missing the socks, it has been two days and our cabin steward Ivonne has not come to us with any information so this evening we track her down and ask.  She states that the laundry can’t locate the missing socks.  I ask her what the next step is and she says she will have her boss contact us.  One thing I have found that when there has been some issues on board it seems we have to keep pushing the matter (as it seems they just wish it would go away) to get an answer, no one is forthcoming. 

Lunch is in the dining room again, and I start with the broth soup with Matzo balls, and then for my entrée I have the chicken Korma again and it is so good… love it!  I have the rice pudding for dessert and a nice cup of tea. 

We run into Mark the lecturer and chat with him for quite awhile, then we run into Anna a lady we met and chat with her for quite awhile.  Around 2:45 we are back in the cabin and we both feel the need for a short nap.  We sleep for about an hour and then head to the Atrium where Frank (Bartender Supervisor – who we met last Feb on board) is entertaining everyone with his Hawaiian Ukulele Music and singing.  Very nice.

I want to get to the gym this afternoon and head up and it is relatively quiet, seems to be more crew working out than passengers.  No issue with getting a machine.

Lots of things going on around the ship today:  Ukulele Workshop, Movie The Hunger Games, ballroom Blitz Dance Lessons – Cha Cha, golf putting contest, Bingo, Peer Factor, Trivia, Line Dance Class.  Tonight:  Indigo Light String Quartet, Maxman Duo, Big Band Sounds, Vocal Impressionist Michael Wilson, Who Sang What Trivia, A Night of Cabaret with Pianist Eric Stone, Vocal Impressionist Michael Wilson, The Quest in Explorer’s, and the MUTS is showing The Avengers.

Tonight is Italian Night (one of my favorites) the dress is Smart Casual.

San Diego

Since this is our first port of entry into the United States after being in Mexico we all have to clear customs when we get off.  If you are not getting off you are required to meet at a specific time and clear then.  I am hoping because of this we won’t have to clear customs to the extent we normally do in San Francisco.  Hopefully it will just be handing in our declaration form.

This is how close the station is to the pier

We head ashore around 10 and walk to the Sante Fe Station and catch the train to Old Town.  We bought a day pass $5 per person from the machine – note $2 more for the compass card that you can reload.  We will keep the card for the next time we are here. 

The train is very efficient and within about 10 minutes we arrive at the Old Town station.  It is a short walk to the site and we walk around for about an hour.  It is hot, Vickie is tired (woke up very early) and the whole site seems more touristy than the last time we were here.  But there are lots of cute shops, lots of Mexican Restaurants and some interesting historical sites.

We walk back to the station and catch the Green Line back and get off at the Gas Light District and walk around.  We find a few stores to buy a few things and then Bernie looks at me and says “I am craving a really juicy burger” so we ask a local for a recommendation for a great burger and she points us in the direction of Rockin Baja.  And boy oh boy was she right, it was damn good. 

lots of touristy shops

With our bellies full we walk towards Horton Plaza (large shopping mall) and wander around and make our way back to the ship.  We arrive back just after 2 pm and there is a long long long line!  It was fine for us as we are able bodied, but felt bad for the passengers that had mobility problems as there was no place to sit or jump the queue. 

The problem was is we had to show our passports and cruise card and go thru the metal detectors on land.  Guess they are worried about people coming on that shouldn’t so they double check here.   But all the other ports they check too so not sure why they have the “extra” check here.  All in all it would have been fine but the 45 minutes waiting to get on board was a little long.

Right away we head back to the cabin and I lay down and I notice that they have changed out our mattress for a new one.  I did notice in the long line to get back on that they were taking on and off mattresses.  Guess we were the lucky one, now we have brand new mattresses.  We crash for two hours (yup the new mattress is comfortable). 

It is now time for sail away and they are calling names.  Now I will say there were quite a few people who wanted to disembark today and go home, guess they live closer to San Diego.  There were also people on Puerto Vallarta that tried to get off too.  Security dealt with these people.  I know it can be done but there is a procedure and they have to make sure it falls within the rules of Maritime Law. 

Peter John

Pippa Taylor

 

Also we are late leaving, we find out later at the Captain’s Cocktail Party that there were issues with the gangway on land.  We leave two hours late.  Yes tonight is the Captain’s Cocktail Party.  There were three parties in total, two the night prior and one tonight.  The most travelled passenger was 1,041 days and we are a long way from that. 

Jasper Loves Pippa's shoes

After the party we head towards Explorer and take part in the Movie Theme Song Trivia being hosted by Kelly and we actually don’t do too bad considering it is just the two of us. 

Time for dinner, and it is the Chef’s Dinner themed menu.  I am happy it is the goat cheese soufflé to start, made perfectly.  For my entrée I had the fried chicken, I know I know fried chicken you say, but when it is hot and crispy it is darn good.  We enjoy another bottle of the wine and play a trick on Douw, but he is such a sweetie and makes us feel so welcome every time we dine in Portifinos.  Thanks Douw!  I will also shout out for the amazing wait staff too, tonight our waiter is Antonio from the Philippines and Ajay from India.  But trust me all the staff in the dining rooms have been great.

It was a long dinner and we are too late to see the comedian so we do our regular walk about stopping to say hi to the staff in Facets and catch up with them. 

We are in bed around 11:30 and looking forward to a relaxing day at set tomorrow.

Friday – can you hear the waves it is a day at sea

Wow it is 9:30, well really 8:30 but the clocks went forward.  So much for breakfast in the dining room.  I want to head to Sudoku so I am dressed and out of there in a flash.  I came in third in the Sudoku challenge and won a lanyard, and since I have lots of them I gave it to the nice gentleman next to me.

 

A quick breakfast in Horizon Court of mixed fruit and Muselix – boy it is busy up there at  10 am, but I am guessing a lot of people are thrown off by the time change too and the dining room closing at 9.

 

We head to the Piazza for my espresso and Bernie’s tea (he loves the new tea specialty tea brands he is finding here).  We see Jim MacDonald the comedian from last night and we tell him hi and how much we enjoyed his show.

Felipe and Delmarie

 

So now that we have eaten, gotten our coffee, it is time for a workout and we both head up to the gym for a good workout.  Oh what a view!  The gym was busy when we first got up there but it doesn’t take long for it to clear out – lunch time.

The afternoon will consist of some R and R out on deck in a bathing suit and cold beverage.  So bathing suits are on, sunscreen is slathered on and we are off to sun deck, aft area.  Great area, close to the washroom, close to a bar, close to a Jacuzzi, close to a pool and rather quiet.  We hang out there for about two hours before Bernie heads back to the room, I head to the spa to enjoy the steam room and sauna; however sadly the steam room was not that hot and the sauna was definitely not that hot.  This area is in desperate need of some TLC and is showing it’s age.  Thermostat was broken in the sauna, so I couldn’t tell you what the temp was but put it this way I could of hanged in there for hours and I believe with saunas it shouldn’t be like that.

We are both in the cabin now and right on queue around 5:30 we hear the drum solo just below us, no sense watching tv as it is hard to hear.  So we put on our iPods and read until it is time to get ready.  It is intermittent the sounds from below to only when they are rehearsing or the show is on.  I always like to think it could be worse – we could be above another bar that is only all night, or God forbid we actually had to cook and clean here. 

Bernie has been talked into being one of the models for the Runway Show tomorrow in Explorer’s Lounge where they will be featuring the new clothing items in the boutiques.  Stay tuned for the full story tomorrow and when I get home I will definitely add pictures.

 

 

Emilio (Hotel General Manager) and me, so nice to see Emilio again

Tonight is formal night and also the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Party.  We haven’t been to the Welcome Aboard Party in years and decide lets check it out and we have a good time and enjoy meeting many of our fellow passengers.  I even decide to try my turn at pouring the champagne on the champagne waterfall.  Yes!  I have never done this…. Hard to believe but true and now I can say I have done everything!

Captain Todd McBain

 

We meet up with friends for drinks in Wheelhouse then move over to Sabatinis for dinner.  For those that don’t know Sabatinis has a $20 coverage charge for a fabulous meal.  I chose to start with the calamari my favorite appetizer, and then for my entrée I had lobster risotto (which is a portion of the lobster three ways but I love the Risotto).  For dessert I opt to forgo so I can have my favorite drink the Sicilian Kiss.  In fact we head back to the Wheelhouse where I have another Sicilian Kiss.

Peter and Bernie

Pippa swears by the steak served in Sabatinis

Pippa and I

 

Another great day on board.

Some of the events today from the Patter:  Bible Study, Bocce Ball, Golf and Croquet, Bridge Lecture, Sudoku, Trivia, Holiday Store at Sea, Shopping Spotlight Show, Zumba, Service Club Get Together, Pin Pong Play, Casino Introduction, Egg Drop Sign Up, Texas Hold’Em Tournament, Naturalist Lecture (Exotic Marine Life off Mexico), Photography at Sea, Art Auction, Duplicate Bridge Play, Pop Choir Rehearsal, Closest To The Pin, Ballroom Dance Class, Arts & Crafts – Box Making, Bingo, Singles & Solos Afternoon Tea Get Together, Jewish Sabbath Eve Service, Who Sang What?  Featuring Totally 80s, Production Show – Stardust, Majority Rules, Comedian Jim MacDonald.

 

Movies today:  Big Miracle, John Carter, Men in Black 3, Snow White and the Huntsman