Monday On the Pacific ~~ 3/1

SAILING ALONG ~~ Monday, March 1

What a memorable start to March 2010~~ steaming through the Pacific toward Hawaii. We had a wonderful night’s sleep as the ship listed (is that term correct, John?) from one side to the other. Sleeping in a free-flow waterbed for the past 25 years seems to have prepared us for the ship’s motion. Anyway… here’s a snapshot of our past 24 hours:

Sunday, February 28:

11:30: Checked out of our Marriott Room and waiting to board the bus to the ship. Spent time on the internet while waiting, so the time passed quickly.

12:55: Boarded bus #3 and headed to the ship. The route to the ship took us on THE 405, which is quite well known.

2:00: Made the bus trip, checked in at the princess desk at the pier, onboard the ship, and in our room. Very nice and love the balcony!

2:30: Went to the Horizons Buffet to catch a late lunch. During the meal, we met three other couples who were from Florida, Massachusetts, and Ohio.

3:30: The mandatory muster drill.

3:55 Back in our room to await our Sail-Away and enjoy our evening. (We weren’t hungry so never went out for dinner.) The wave action lulled us to sleep.

Monday, March 1

5:45 a.m. AWAKE! We studied the day’s PRINCESS PATTER to make some plans for our day.

7:30 a.m. BREAKFAST! We went to the Donatello Restaurant for a delicious breakfast. We both had a “Caribbean” pineapple ring filled with tropical fruits and topped with yogurt with an Eggbeater omelet. See, girls… I’m trying to pace my eating so that I don’t myself in. HA! (We had the 2:00 lunch on Sunday and didn’t have dinner so this was the first bite of food I had eaten since 2:00 p.m. YAY!) At breakfast, we met a nice couple (Duke and Carol (couple from Iowa) and then Janet and her daughter Sadia from England. (Janet is 76 and her daughter is 53.) All were nice breakfast company.

9:00 a.m. We headed to the Princess Theater for a lecture given by John Maxtone-Graham. It was a very good talk about life aboard the great North Atlantic liners of the past. He was a good speaker ,and it was very interesting with the pictures and drawings shown throughout.
After that talk, we stayed for the “Port Talk” by our Cruise Director David Cole. He introduced us to our first port-of-call: Hilo. It was very interesting and gave us great pointers on what to see and do when we arrive in Hilo on Friday.

10:00 a.m. The Captain came over the ship wide PA system to let us know that there is a low pressure area that is affecting us and that with the strong wind and high waves, the ship will pitch and roll for the next hour. We were in the Princess Theater during that hour so didn’t feel anything more than the “rolling” we have felt since sailing out last night. The Dramamine seems to be working just fine!!!! (Please keep praying!)

11:30 a.m. We returned to our room for a while before lunch. I am enjoying typing for the blog.
WEATHER: I was very overcast when we woke up and through the morning but just now, the sun is breaking through the clouds. Our balcony door is open so that we can enjoy the sight and sound of the ocean and wind as the boat steams through the water. We are beginning to think a bit about lunch, but we want to pace ourselves so that we can enjoy afternoon tea at 4:00. (I really am trying to stay on program, Jennifer. Please pray for me regarding that, okay?)
We hope that some family and friends have emailed us when I am able to read the emails that we down-loaded. I will be able to reply so feel free to email us at long4heaven@cox.net to let us hear your news. (I won’t reply to comments on the blog but will enjoy reading them for sure.)
By the way, we have FOX NEWS on the ship so thank the Lord we are able to stay abreast of the news in a fair and balanced way.

Posting this with much love to all of our family and to our friends and with a special “shout out” to Brian, Amy, Jarrett, Isabella, Josh, Jaden and to Chip: We love and miss you and wish you were all here with us!