Day Two At Sea

 Saturday, December 23, 2023

 

After the hectic start to our cruise on Friday, Saturday the 23rd was quite relaxed.  Our first full day at sea!  We got up and had a leisurely breakfast in the Allegro dining room (it's on deck six, but you can't get there from elsewhere on deck 6 - you have to go up one flight of stairs to deck 7, walk aft, and then come back downstairs (essentially walking 'over' the kitchen/galley!)

Breakfast was done after 9 a.m. and we wandered a bit.  We had some business at the guest relations desk and then we had a presentation for 1st time Princess cruisers to get us a little more familiar with the cruise line and our ship.  I learned a very helpful thing to help keep me oriented on the ship.  On the decks with staterooms, the carpet in the hall on the left side of the ship is blue.  Since our cabin is on the left side, that's a handy reminder which way to go when I get off the elevator (I am TRULY directionally challenged!)

In the afternoon we took advantage of the ship's laundromat (one on each stateroom deck).

Carl in the laundromat on Deck 14

Since I had done most of the laundry our night in Alice Springs (wasn't done until 11:30 p.m.), Carl offered to do most of the laundry yesterday (I have a GREAT hubby). The laundromat has about 6-8 washers and the same number of dryers.  There's a machine that dispenses tokens for the washers/dryers, as well as for packets of detergent and softener. Each token is worth $3,00 AU and it takes one token per washer or dryer.  You just hold your medallion up to the machine that dispenses the tokens, select the # of tokens you want, and it just gets added to your ship account.

The laundromats also have ironing boards and irons to use (no charge).  I relieved Carl after he'd gotten the first load washed and dried and the 2nd load was in the dryer. I had a pair of pants to press but by the time I was ready to iron them, all the ironing boards were in use, so I had to wait a few minutes. 

Tonight was our first formal night on board (they generally only happen on at-sea days).  They had photographers stationed all over the ship down by the piazza/atrium taking formal photos, so we had several done (we'll get to download them all digitally before the cruise is over).

In the piazza they had a champagne pyramid set up for a captain's champagne pour that was, unfortunately, scheduled for while we were at dinner.  Apparently, they were going to let folks climb up on a platform and pour champagne over the top of the "fountain" and then you could get your picture taken with the captain.

Champagne Fountain in the Atrium

At 6 p.m., our dinner on 12/23 (Saturday) was one of the earliest I have scheduled for the cruise.  That meant we had alot of families with young children in the dining room at the same time as us.  We were seated at a table for two next to a window (I guess, technically, it's a porthole) in the Symphony dining room. Had a lovely, tasty dinner, and I finished up with a "Love Boat Dream" for a dessert - wonderful presentation - along with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Love Boat Dream Boat Dessert

After dinner we wandered over to the shops where Effy Jewelry was doing a big reveal on a collection of new zultanite gems.  I'd never heard of Zultanite before.  It is a color-changing gem (sometimes green, sometimes, champagne, sometimes picking up highlights of red).  It is mined from a single mine in Anatolya, Turkey.  I was keen for the reveal and the settings they had with zultanite and diamonds were exquisite (but Carl has already bought me some beautiful jewelry on this trip).

The only bad note for the evening, is that I seem to have developed a nasty respiratory virus.  I was starting to feel bad and do alot of coughing at dinner.  Anyway, after the little show at Effy Jewelry, I told Carl I needed to go back to the cabin and go to bed.  So Carl stayed back to wander the ship, and I went back to our cabin.  I had a HORRIBLE night, coughing and blowing my nose all night! When I got to coughing, I was coughing so hard my chest hurt!  Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night.