Sea day in the Mediterranean

 Once the ship lost sight of Dubrovnik I joined some new friends for a cigarette up by the pool bar. They had gone into Dubrovnik and climbed the wall. They said it was too hot and crowded to be enjoyable so I didn't feel too bad about not making it on this trip.

For those wondering what we had for dinner after leaving Dubrovnik here are some photos...

 Prosciutto and melon for Carol

Minestrone for me

Veal Saltimbuco for me

3 flavors of Gelato for me

Tiramisu for Carol

The food on Princess always satisfies us with every meal.

After another nice leisurely dinner we went to a show in the Cabaret Lounge and heard a solo saxophone player, with a hint of comedy, backed by the impressive 4 piece Ocean Princess "Orchestra" The musician's name was Olinez from Wales. He had impressive technique but saxophone solos as every "song" tend to pall after 30 minutes or so.

After a walk on the Promenade deck it was time for bed....

Tuesday September 23rd 2014

I was up early-ish. Usually on cruises I am on deck by 5 a.m or so to photograph sunrises and take photos of the ship before the other passengers awake. On this ship I was up around 7 instead following a normal sleep pattern. Only the runners are up with me this early. Breakfast is being served in the buffet at the stern.

Breakfast for us was, as usual, in Sabatini's. No rushing ashore today. Sea days are lazy, relaxing days where the most strenuous activity is walking to your next meal. There's no need to get up for drinks as the waiters work the deck once the bar opens at 10 a.m.

Cappuccino, the best way to start the day

Lox and bagels for Carol

Corned beef hash which is not on Sabatini's menu. Whatever you ask for they will find in another restaurant on the ship. This was probably from the Buffet. I could have asked for a steak.

Sabatini's

The Captain's forecast of wind from the stern held true and the sea grew choppy as a result.
This is the only ship we saw all day. Not a good place to fall overboard! All the cruise ships have cameras (up to 1,000 or so on big ships) which can see someone "falling" overboard but of course a person has to be looking at the right camera feed during the instance that it takes to hit the water.

I say "falling" because you really need to be jumping off a railing to get off the ship.

Here's Carol perfecting the art of not falling off a ship at sea. She is reading her Kindle and trying to stay out of the sun.

Photos taken through the sliding glass door

As today was a sea day two Princess traditions were going to happen.

We were looking forward to a "Pub Lunch" which features British pub food. Princess was once part of P & O, a British cruise line (but is now part of the Carnival Group)

Later there would be a "Formal Night" where passengers are requested to dress well for dinner and the photographers set-up for Formal Portraits.

Pub lunch was held in the steak house and keeping in the British theme they were playing Beatles music while we dined.

Steak and kidney pie

Crispy French fries

A cold glass of Guinness is the perfect drink for this savory meal

An hour later while I was relaxing with a beer on the Pool Deck this young lady came around to offer  cookies and milk. I had already eaten enough and milk wasn't the drink I was craving.

A lazy afternoon having a beer with new friends on the pool deck. A band began to play for a while and I liked some of the songs they sang and recorded them on video.

The Pub Lunch was followed 3 hours later by Afternoon tea delivered to our balcony. That would have to keep us going until dinner 4 hours later (how would we survive?)

Before dinner we had an invitation to the Captain's Cocktail party in the cabaret lounge. We don't usually go to these as there is usually a long line of people waiting to get in for the free drinks. This time we went later to avoid the line and the Captain was still there at the entrance to welcome us.
He remembered our conversation from the day before and made reference to the wind on our balcony.
Good memory!

Everyone is enjoying a free drink. We sat at the back so we could leave quickly to go to dinner at 8.15pm. These events are for people who have sailed Princess before and is like a loyalty bonus.
There was a couple on the ship who had spent 800 days at sea with Princess. By the end of this cruise, which was our 6th Princess cruise in 3 years we have 42 days so we will never be the Most Traveled Passengers. Some folks cruise 6 or more times a year. We like cruising but we also love vacations on land just as much.

If you are retired and live near a port (Fort Lauderdale for instance) you can take advantage of last minute fares where the cruise line is desperate to fill all the cabins on a ship. If you take the cheapest cabin (an inside with no windows) and don't spend much on the ship you can easily have a week of fun and sun for $300 to $400 which would only cover the cost of a cheap hotel in the USA....no food, entertainment or travel included. So cruising is great value for money and prices today are about the same as they were in the mid 1980's when  I worked on a cruise ship- but the ships have so much more to offer. Cruise lines will even "sweeten the deal" to get you on board by offering you some spending "money" (known as OBC....On Board Credit. Use it or lose it!)

The Captain gets up and makes a speech, thanking all in the room and cracking a few jokes. Prizes are given to the 3 Most Traveled Passengers ( bottles of champagne)

For us it is time for another dinner at table 15

Vegetable spring rolls for me

Tian of crab, scallop and shrimp for Carol

As it's Formal Night one of the  ship's photographers is working the tables

Veal ravioli- delicious dish!

Bib lettuce salad for Carol

One of my favorites- Beef Wellington

Carol has lobster (removed from the shell)

We both had Cherries Jubilee and ice cream for dessert

After a great dinner and a few glasses of red wine (Malbec) we went to the Cabaret Lounge for a singing and dancing show featuring old hit songs from the 60's and 70's. It was well attended and had great energy.

To round off a perfect evening there is nothing finer than taking a walk on deck in the warm Mediterranean night air

Here are the videos from today.........