As tired as I was, I had some difficulty sleeping. I woke up several times during the night. Every time I did, Wanda was awake, reading or playing games on her electronic etch-a-sketch, sorry, tablet. Between the excitement of embarkation day and the iced coffee she had late in the afternoon I'm surprised she slept at all. Seven o'clock rolled around and she had a few hours. Today was our full day at sea which meant, naps, lots of naps.
As I was trying to open my eyes Wanda was just about out the cabin door. She had her I-POD in her pocket, ear buds in her ears and a very determined look on her face. “Wait, I’ll go with you” I said, which was a mistake for a couple of reasons. She couldn't hear me and I should know by now, I can’t keep up with her. It was early and I didn't think the neighbors would appreciate me yelling so I made pantomime motions. At this point Wanda was trying to decide if I was doing my impersonation of Marcel Marceau or I wanted to go with her.
I managed to do two laps around the inside of the promenade deck before calling it quits. I went back to the cabin, grabbed my coffee cup and went to get a latte'.
If I was writing a paper for presentation this is the place I would insert a footnote. Here are a couple of tips and/or points of information.
I'm not a coffee snob but I do enjoy it. The coffee on every ship I've ever sailed on is, lousy. I actually took a one cup coffee maker along on our first cruise. For a variety of reason this was a stupid thing to do. Beside schlepping something I didn't need, electrical appliances are fire hazards. Ladies, for your hair, curling irons are OK. So, if you must have your coffee, bring a French Press, or buy a coffee card on board.
The price of a coffee card is $33.35 and gets you fifteen 'specialty' and unlimited fresh brewed coffee's. I drink double lattes and I think they are $3.75 when purchased separately, so you save a few bucks. Lot's of people complain about the cruise lines up-charges. I don't have a problem paying for things I want, but don't need, when on board. Making these drinks is time consuming.
And a tip: If you are a coffee or tea drinker you can buy a travel cup on board. We have about a dozen now and do not need another Princess or Celebrity or Alaska or Mexico beverage cup, so we bring two. They don't take up much room in the suitcase. You can roll up a couple pair of underpants, maybe not a great idea, socks, and stuff them in the cups. This way you will save a few dollars and won't use paper 'to-go' cups.
So, this first morning I'm waiting for Wanda to finish her walk then we are going to go have breakfast in Sabatini's. It's one of the suite amenities , first I should probably change, I'm wearing the t-shirt I slept in.
Breakfast in the specialty restaurant is one of the new amenities. It's very nice, it's quiet, and the menu is substantial. At this point in the cruise we don't know if, or how often, we will take advantage of it. Both of us are very early risers and very light breakfast people. Like everything else on the cruise, there are several choices for how and where you can eat breakfast. Early morning The Horizon Court Buffet is usually very quiet. We can get a quick bowl of oatmeal, some fruit, and yogurt there, easy peasy.
The question I most often hear from people who have never been on a cruise is, Will I be bored? And I answer, "How the Hell should I know?" If you can occupy your self reading or people watching or just watching the gentle waves as they cascade away from the ship or the different colors of the wake, you won't be bored.
In case you need a little help with things to do, from 7 AM until the wee hours of the next morning things are happening around the ship. Morning exercises including Zumba. Sunday Interdenominational Worship Services. A tour of the ship, ping pong, morning trivia, jig saw puzzles with fellow passengers, cards both in and out of the casino, fruit and veggie carving demo (this is really fun) health seminars, the morning and evening NFL games on the big, big screen outside and in the sports bar inside. Dance lessons, slot tournaments, art auctions, martini making and vodka tasting, A production show called "Motor City" in the Vista Lounge and Alexander the Illusionist in the Princess Theater. At 9:30 PM "Men In Black 3" on the outdoor big screen.
These are about half the listed activities.
So, if you get bored while on a cruise, you must be a very boring person at home.
We managed to keep busy between eating and naps this first day at sea.
I'm from Detroit so the Lions-SF 49ers game was of great interest to me. I went up to watch it at 5 PM and by 5:30 it was pretty obvious San Francisco had a much better team. I watched until 6 or so and then some of us got together for dinner.
The first full night out was also the first of two formal nights. Over the years we have gotten away from bringing formal wear. Since we choose not to dress-up we go to the buffet or order room service. Tonight we met Andi and Wil and Ted and Catherine (our other good friends) for dinner in the buffet.
Truth be told, I was very disappointed in the selection and quality tonight. I have come to believe, for whatever reason, food can be very ship specific. I have had wonderful buffet food in the past. Maybe it was me tonight? Whatever, there are so many choices, I'm not going to go hungry. Desserts are good and later maybe I'll get a pizza, or a burger, or a club sandwich, or a large Cesar salad with anchovies.....see what I mean!
At 8:30 we saw "Motor City" one of the Princess production shows. We both enjoyed it, a lot. If you think these shows may be 'cheesy', think again. The performers had terrific voices, the dancers were great and it was very obvious that lots of time, effort, and money, went into this show.
Some notes from 11 PM, September 16, 2012
Wanda’s in bed trying to get to sleep. We’re due to dock in Juneau at noon tomorrow so that must mean we’re still on the ocean. I think I heard it will be around 4:30 this morning when we sail into the Inside Passage. Correction: since we turn the clocks back an hour tonight we arrive Juneau at 11.
The ship is rocking around some at the moment and it appears our cabin is directly above the starboard stabilizer. At times it sounds like dragging a large hammer across a larger slab of steel. It’s a little noisy but I would rather have the noise than not the stabilizers. Another noise issue we encountered today are the runners on the Promenade Deck just above us. Nothing like hearing the pitter patter of large feet as they traipse across the ceiling. So far, the benefits and the cabin itself more than make up for these occasional annoyances.
The Piazza performers area, in part.
Tomorrow: We arrive in Juneau.
For Fee.....food porn: Is that my fruit bowl or are you happy to see me?
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