Ship Happens

Thursday, December 28, 2023

OK - Not a very original title for my post, but December 28 (I'm writing this on December 29) was an at-sea day aboard the Majestic Princess as we cruised the coastline of New Zealand enroute to our next port of call - Wellington (the capital of New Zealand).

We had a lovely, relaxed day aboard ship.  We went down to the Allegro dining room for breakfast and then  aftewards, headed up to the Hollywood Pool & Conservatory on Deck 17 for pool & hot tub time.  Both were SO nice.  Entire time was nice until we got the family with the screaming girl who threw a temper tantrum over who knows what.  Took WAY too long for parents to finally remove her from the pool area!  Don't get me wrong, I love children, but I love parents who actually parent their children (which includes disciplining them when needed).

At lunch time we wandered down to the Piazza and each got a cheeseburger pot pie (sounded better than it tasted), some apple slices, and, due to a mix up in ordering, three separate slices of chcolate mousse cake and 3 slices of raspberry shortcake!  I had the pot pies and all the desserts loaded on two trays while I sent Carl to the counter to order us two coffees.  Juggling the trays, I went in search of a table to sit at but as soon as I put down the tray, I noticed I had chocolate smeared all over the front of my white t-shirt!!!  I dashed off to the closest restroom to quick rinse out my shirt. Thankfully, the chocolate hadn't set , so rinsing got rid of all the chocolate.  Unfortunately, it left me looking like I had just come from a wet t-shirt contest!

We sat at a table at the edge of the piazza and watched folks learning line dancing.   That got me inspired, so while Carl went off to find a restroom after lunch, I got up on the Piazza dance floor and did my best to learn the line dances.  It was fun, but trust me, I won't be joining any professional dance teams any time soon!

Around 4 p.m. we wandered up to Effy Jewelers on Deck 7 (they've gotten 'some' business from us on this voyage - more on that when I'm home in the states) for a VIP reception for their "valued customers."  I talked Carl into buying me another jewelry set (Tanzanite), which entitled us to more raffle tickets (they do a raffle every evening at 8:15 p.m. on days when we're "at sea" and give away prizes (alas, prizes are non-jewelry).  So we went back for the night's drawing at 8:15 p.m. and - I WON a signature Princess stuff bear - Captain Stanley!  He's so cute!

Cuddly Captain Stanley Bear

Dinner was in the Symphony Dining Room again.  They're finally getting to know us and our preferences (like hot coffee and keep it coming and lemon slices for our water).  I had a BBQ pineapple wedge with salsa and balsamic vinaigrette - very unusual (but tasty) flavor combination.  We both had the pork chop with ratatouille and roasted potatoes for our entree (definitely delicious).  We finished the meal with a warm chocolate fudge cookie with chocolate sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

On our way to our evenings' entertainment, we stopped at the Princess Live theatre on Deck 7 where the cruise director was leading a game event called "generation gap," She had the audience divided up into traditionalists (generation before baby boomers), baby boomers, gen X, millennials, and gen Z.  She'd toss out questions with video clues for each generation and if that generation couldn't answer it, it got thrown open to all the generations to get the answer.  Topics ranged from icons, to music, to TV shows and theme songs, "items in the attic" (things you might find in the attic of each generation), and generational music and dances (from the twist to the "floss" - I'd never heard of the floss!)  It was rowdy and fun and full of alot of laughter!

Our evening entertainment was a singer by the name of Dale Burridge.  He's a baritone (I think) and did alot of show tunes from Le Miz, Phantom of the Opera, and Man of LaMancha, as well as some classic Sinatra pieces and a couple of nice pieces I'd never heard before.  He combined his songs with some nice inbetween banter.  A very enjoyable show.

We toddled off to bed around 11 p.m.  But my cold symptoms were back with a vengeance last night and I guess I didn't have a good CPAP mask seal either.  Carl got up in the middle of the night due to all my snorting, snoring, and other breathing issues, as well as the fact that he got cold and tried sleeping on the couch in our stateroom (sorry about that, Carl).