Memorable Sea Days

Julie and I love the Love Boat.

That's obvious based on how many times we have returned for "life's sweetest reward."

As some of you may know from your own experiences, our ships quickly become our home away from home.

If you aren't careful, the days can start to run together a bit, especially if you've seen similar entertainment on another ship within the same family, much less the exact same ship.

I confess that after a few weeks away from a cruise, my memories have bled together.  However, I remember distinctly that after cappuccinos and breakfast on the sea day after our surprise landing in Normandy, Julie and I went out to walk laps around the Lido and Sun Decks.

With rain forecast for our next port, we expected a chilly, probably rainy day at sea, and had planned accordingly.  There would be a port lecture at 10, so we wanted to get some laps in regardless of the weather before that.

To our delight, the captain found sunshine on our route. We lay down in lounge chairs to appreciate the comfortable conditions.

With travel videos of various regions playing on the huge Movies Under the Stars screen, we settled in, getting up only occasionally for trips to our room and to get snacks or beverages.  I think we saw a movie, but I really don't know which one.  Maybe a recent Bond movie?

In any case, our plans to have lunch in the dining room were replaced with burgers and fries from the Salty Dog Grill.

Ideally, every cruise includes some time by the pool doing this kind of stuff, so we're happy we took advantage of that sunny day.

The weather wasn't as cooperative the next day or on our other sea day later in the trip, so we were happy we took full advantage of cruising in the sun while we could.

Mike and Linda had a full schedule of activities, including the port presentations and a get-together with military veterans, an event they attend on presumably every cruise, because Mike is a Vietnam vet.

LInda took this photo of Mike (third from right) at Vet's Meetup

Mike and Linda are generally more inclined to gravitate toward those social aggregations than Julie and me.  In any case, they enjoyed a wonderful day in their own way.

We met at Skywalkers every day for Happy Hour.

Caribbean Princess' Skywalkers has survived remodeling that stripped it from similar ships.  This nightclub on deck 18 is reached by a moving sidewalk. In the ship's profile, it looks sort of like a race car's spoiler.

We like the panoramic views from our perch above the rest of the ship.

Evenings for us on Princess start at the Elite Lounge gathering, wherever that may be designated.  Hosts prepare a tasty buffet of complimentary hors d'oeuvres.

Linda persuaded Julie to experiment with different cocktails over the course of the cruise, including a search for the missing perfect Cosmo they had enjoyed on our shared Princess Cruise through South America and Antarctica.

Limoncellos and Bailey's Irish Cream also made their way into the mix.  I revisited Negronis, which I first tried on last summer's cruise.

We all probably drank a little too much, but no one was driving.

We then headed to the dining room.  By the second night, the hosts recognized us, and by the fifth night or so, we had our own table where they always put us, despite the fact that we were on anytime dining, which generally does not include that on a full sailing, which this was.

The meals were again great throughout the cruise.  On the second sea day, we went to the chef competition against the head of hotels, a funny show that includes a few ad libs.

Usually, it's a good idea to get an early seat for cooking demonstration show, but there were a few empty seats.

Something Mike and Linda love to do on Princess is participate in game shows.  Mike is the most likely to take the stage, while Linda cheers him on.

They persuaded me to take the stage for a name-the-decade music trivia game.  It sounds easier than it is to identify songs from a particular decade.  Some are obvious, but I knew I would have problems with anything past the 1980s, as they all kind of run together after that.  I was surprised how hard it was with some early crossover songs?  1961 or 1959...or 1947?  Hard to tell.

I made it through a few rounds but eventually went against the majority (1970's or 1980's) and lost after a few rounds in.  Mike ended up winning that game, reaping rich rewards...or something.

Mike as last contestant standing with fun game show hosts.

It's a lot of fun when someone in your group is willing to get up there and possibly look a bit foolish by going out on a limb.

Other nights we participated in games from our table, where we wrote or shouted out our answers.  Less pressure, although we did shout out the wrong answers a few times.

Julie and I did a bit of dancing, captured on video by Mike and Linda.

I must say that I don't look nearly as smooth on the dance floor as I feel.  After watching this video, I'm going to get a little looser with my movements next time.

Even before the first sea day, we enjoyed Skywalkers at sailaway.