Monday night I didn’t sleep well. I was streaming YouTube videos from my phone and the time got away from me. (I LOVE the MedallionNet WiFi onboard!) I think I realized the time around 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning. It shouldn’t matter since I’m on vacation, have nowhere to be (Tuesday is a Day at Sea) and I’m in an inside cabin with no window to see the morning sun. But, of course, I wake up at my normal time of 6:45AM. And I couldn’t go back to sleep. I checked my email, and then got ready to walk around the ship.
I wasn’t hungry, so I skipped breakfast. It’s never really my favorite meal of the day anyway, so no big loss. I went live on Facebook just to see if I could (no problem there) and just sort of hung out until 11:00. That’s when Alfredo’s opened. I was in the mood for some pineapple pepperoni pizza, and that is what I got. So, so good.
Here is where it gets interesting. During lunch, the Captain came on the intercom and announced a man overboard. On the Regal Princess, Alfredo’s is in the main atrium of the ship, there was a dance class going on. Loud, but not obtrusively so. Upon this announcement, the entire “hub” of the ship became deathly quiet. No one was making a sound and everyone was hanging on every word the captain said. Towards the end of the announcement, he let it be known that we were being diverted to search for this person, and that it wasn’t anyone from our ship.
During this time, I was finishing lunch, and texting several friends at once. The Captain came on about every 10-12 minutes with an update. The next announcement let us know that a light aircraft had went down and that we would be searching for two people. I am IMPRESSED on how the Princess Captain and staff kept us informed at every possible moment. After lunch, I headed up on the top deck to see what was going on.
By the time I got up there, we had arrived near the location where the life raft was, and in the far distance I could see them.
You can’t see much in the above picture, but the raft was tiny. (It’s in the middle of the picture, towards the top 1/3 of the water). I looked down at my phone to send a text and when I looked back up, I couldn’t find the raft. It had floated far away. I couldn’t believe how fast it had moved.
It was so scary thinking about the ones in that raft, surviving a plane crash and then in a raft in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. I bet when they saw our big ship coming their way, they were thrilled. There was a Coast Guard plane circling the skies. I’m assuming they are the ones that found the raft and directed our ship to the location. In just a few moments, the Princess Crew sent out a lifeboat to bring them to the ship for medical attention. Everyone on deck cheered as they got close to the ship, as the survivors were waving at everyone on the ship.
The entire way through the Captain kept up his announcements, letting everyone know what was happening. After they made it back to the ship, he even came back on to let us know that they were in good condition, and receiving medical attention and that the Princess crew went back and picked up the raft “for environmental reasons”. It was scary and exciting. I’ve never been on a cruise that turned into a rescue mission!
At 3:00 today, I did one of my favorite things on a Princess Cruise…I had Afternoon Tea. I love the white-gloved service, and their scones. Their scones are amazing. I sat with the nicest family from Ohio. We talked for about an hour. One of the things you probably don’t know about me is that I’m super shy around new people. It’s very hard for me to just start up a conversation with strangers. It’s so stressful. I am very introverted…if you’ve met me, that may come as a surprise. I’ve been in sales all my life, so I guess I hide it well. This is the main reason I’ve never sailed on a cruise solo before. I knew I would eventually have to share a table with people and make small talk. Kill me now.
But, I had a truly lovely time. Amazing. After tea, I came back to the room to get ready for formal night. I didn’t bring my tux this trip, I knew I wouldn’t be taking any pictures (enough were made on our first Princess Cruise last November!) so I just brought what I like to call “Church clothes”. I wore dark trousers, white shirt, tie and a sweater vest, and I was dressed better than half of the ship. There were many people in evening gowns and in tuxedos, but the vast majority were just in nice clothes and some people were just in (extremely) casual wear. I know some people are hesitant about booking a Princess Cruise because of their formal nights, but I wanted to make sure that I was comfortable in “regular” clothes during their formal night and not feel out of place. I sure didn’t want to steer a client wrong…No worries there!
For dinner tonight, I sat with a table full of strangers. One couple cruises often, about 9 times a year. There was a group of three sisters that cruise Princess regularly, about once a year, and a couple of women cruising for their first time. Amazingly, all of these people were Canadians. And, all of them were very nice. We had a great dinner and they all thought it was laughable that I moved to south Florida from Georgia to Escape Winter. Lol, I don’t like the cold. At all. They were on the ship to escape their winter. I can’t even begin to imagine what they go through during January or February. So, once again, I survived dining with strangers. And I actually enjoyed it.
I had the French Onion Soup and the fish. Both were very good!
Tonight’s dessert was a “Chocolate Journey” and it was amazing. Here’s a link to an entry I’ve previously done on Princess Cruises’ Chocolate Journeys: Chocolate Journeys
After dinner, I went straight to the atrium to see the Champagne waterfall. I’m not sure why, but this fascinates me. I will probably watch this every time I’m on a Princess Cruise!
After the champagne waterfall, I went to see tonight’s 8:00 production show, “Born to Dance”. About 20 minutes Before the show, this older couple sat down next to me. The woman asked me a question. I answered. Even though I had enjoyed tea and dinner, I was about done with small talk with strangers. She asked another question. Oh lord, I thought, she’s a talker! She asked me where I was from, I said South Florida. I asked her and she said Orange County. And then added that they only get cruises to the Mexican Riviera where they live. It then dawned on me that she meant Orange County California and not Orange County Florida. I made some sort of comment that I love Disneyland. She then said, well you should kiss my hand, I used to be Maleficent at Disneyland back in the day. She met her husband while they were both cast members, and they still live less than 5 miles from the Happiest Place on Earth. She told me that I was lucky to live near Walt Disney World. I came back with “yeah, but y’all have In-N-Out”. She laughed and agreed with me. We talked Disney until the show started. I guess leaving one’s comfort zone is a good thing from time to time (thanks, Christine!). So, I had three conversations today with complete strangers with two being from groups of strangers. I’m still an introvert, but today was a good day, and I’m really happy I’m on a Princess Cruise!
By the way, I liked the show so much, I went back to see the late show at 10:00pm. On my first Princess Cruise on the Island Princess, I really thought the shows were fantastic. I have to say that the talent may be even better on the Regal. So far, I’ve seen three INCREDIBLE shows here on the Regal Princess.
Well, it’s late. I’m off to bed, or to read my kindle, or to watch “A Star is Born” with my on-demand stateroom television. Or, I may go down to the International Cafe (it’s open 24 hours) for cheesecake or a chocolate mousse. I’m on vacation! I hope you’re enjoying my blog so far. I’m enjoying writing it!
TTFN
Cleared For Take-Off! 