North Pacific Crossing
Highlights
Another late start this morning - @Mac’s turn for a sleep in and the penance was no breakfast at all. We had missed the restaurant and certainly hadn’t forgotten our last visit to "Horizons" so decided to get in to the #Princess Theatre and tune in to the @Ship Naturalist.
He is so good. He has almost a cult following on board and the #Theatre was packed.
Of course, we couldn’t get prime seats but squeezed in for a side view and lots of info. He also hides a couple of "cosmic" ducks around the ship and gives clues each morning to help you find them. We aew all clueless and duckless to date. Thought I had found them in one of the gaming rooms - but obviously misguided in my understanding of the task.
The only negative around his presentation was that he predicted deteriorating weather for tomorrow and his long range for our first land stop after this crossing is for torrential rain. Let’s hope he is as reliable as other weatherman we many have known.
Fronted up to the #Theatre again for more of @Dan to get an introduction to the entertainers on the cruise and then trekked with hundreds of others to have a look at the back stage area.
Still finding lots of new spaces on the ship. Crazy how you quickly get in a rut of "familiar." We even take the same lift banks, the same stairwells and passageways - so every day we are surprised with another view from another angle. Lucky stumble today was the #Seafood Shack area which is also home to the special #Sushi offerings. Going to have to work that into our schedule.
And because we do the "familiar," once again found ourselves as the informal participants in the #Pub Trivia in the #Piazza. Our usual haunt for coffee, it is the noisy place that has all the action that spreads up into the void over decks 5, 6 and 7. Has the dance floor, live music, spiral staircase, glass elevators, hosts dance classes, tai chi and group exercise - always something happening here and definitely not the place if you want peace and quiet. But the “numero uno” spot for people watching, conversation and a laugh.
Today was a little "extra" special and highlights how magnificent the staff are. #Trivia had been running for about 50 minutes and @Dan and @Kelvin were up to question 19 of 20 (some question have 4 parts to the answer all with different scoring methods ... very complicated.) Anyway, in rolls @Nancy. A passenger. Aged but nimble. She leans into the microphone and says "I’m Nancy and I’ve been married for 63 years. I’d like to sing a song for my husband."
To which @Dan replies "We've nearly finished #Trivia Nancy."
As if it hadn't registered, Nancy leant in and repeated, same tone and same expression, "I'm Nancy and I've been married for 63 years. I'd like to sing a song for my husband."
And @Dan just went into accommodation mode. So beautiful. Gave @Navy the microphone. Put a second microphone to the speaker of her phone and away she went. A love song in Chinese. @Dan even modelled the swaying of the camera light so that the 400 or gathered in and around the #Piazza joined in. On completion, @Nancy walked away and after about 8 steps turned back and started to repeat her introduction. @Dan had signalled for a staff member, and after @Dan thanked @Nancy and reminded her that she had just performed beautifully, the staff member came and walked @Nancy to find her husband. Coincidentally, they had been seated two rows behind us - her husband had been in the bathroom and missed the whole thing - probably explains why @Nancy had free reign of the deck.
Again, the whole attitude of the staff is amazing. Always accommodating. And as the Ship Manager had shared in his presentation earlier - crew are encouraged to have a mindset that makes everything possible for the guests.
The turning the clock one hour ahead each day really is a challenge - well, not so much a challenge as it just keeps you on your toes. Four days into the crossing of the International Dateline - then the two days that span the crossing - and another four days after that has us making manual adjustments to our phones and watches. We have lost the ability to pick some other country in the same time zone as we moved from Japan, then to Brisbane and finally Auckland time. Funny watching how the manual settings are playing havoc with the timestamp on photos and social media posts. Know it will all work out in the end ... but seriously, we are having to ask people at home "what time/day is it?" just so we can keep up.
Think we need to grab onto the shirt tails of the crew - they say they only know that there are three days: they are a sea day, a port day or a turnaround day. Makes it much easier than knowing the date or the name of the day - let alone the hour!
Needless to say we were keen to front up for lunch and did justice to all that was on offer. Confused our wait staff team a little at dinner time - when they came to take the order for dessert, I requested a ceaser salad. Did a little double take to ensure they had heard correctly. That’s the beauty of cruising - you can have whatever you want.
Did hop onto the #Theatre and took up a seat for @Ric Steel. A country musician who was singing the old favourites so we were able to join in. Seems every performer has a back story - he is a 71 year old (surely it’s time to retire) who was a chronic diabetic. Changed his lifestyle and habits and is "drug free" and has written a book entitled "Diabetes saved my life" documenting his story.
Well, that’s it - another day at sea with a late finish.
Weather: 8 degrees
Steps: 4 356
Weather:
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