Friday, December 14, 2018 – At Sea – Pacific Ocean – Chilly – 60F

A cloudy and chilly first day at sea.

The seas are smooth (almost like a lake).

Our officers's cabin is comfortable and quiet.  

We are located in the bow of the ship - to get to Horizon Court, you just have to exit the crew area via the deck door and then walk the length of the ship to the aft section to access the elevators up to Deck 14.

I had my first breakfast of this cruise up in Horizon Court – oatmeal and a waffle – the cottage cheese and sour cream are “cruise versions” but, combined with jam, it all works.  The servers bring around coffee and I had a window seat (even though it was dark outside).  Breakfast is clearly the best meal up in the buffet.  The hand washer monitors were on the job and people were complying.

I had my first iced decaf skinny mocha latte (IDSML) in the International Café at New Grounds – my discount worked and the drink was OK but I will need to give them more prep details next time.

Princess has a cool app on their ship WiFi that will let you track your account and also the events of the day.  Very handy.

Lunch was also in Horizon Court - salad bar and some source of protein will most likely make up the bulk of the lunches during this cruise.

The first talk of the cruise was scheduled for 2:30 PM in the Vista Lounge.  “Forensics and History:  The Mystery of the Romanovs” drew a large audience (approximately 90 plus percent full (a big surprise).  The audience was interactive and chatty.  Hoping that the series has legs during this long cruise.

The ship does a very good job of advertising the presentation - for example, they put the program on their princess at sea intranet app.

Even though it was only the first day of the cruise, we went to Friday night services in Hearts and Minds on Deck 15.  The service was very quick but we did meet some interesting people and had Manischewitz Wine and pretty good challah.

We had dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room (anytime dining) - Cesar Salad and Salmon are always a good choice.

Steve Cauoette was scheduled to do his Second Show on consecutive nights.  We opted not to go.

We discovered Steven Jaymes (from New Zealand) – piano vocalist in the Crooner’s Lounge.  He does a lot of Elton John and Billy Joel – he is a piano man after all.

Seas are smooth and the room is quiet.