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June 9

We got to take a deep breath on Sunday as it was our first full day at sea without a port of call. The girls slept in until 11:30 am, apparently completely overcome by the exhaustion of getting up every day at 7:30 am! It’s nice to have a break from the port-a-day shore excursion treadmill, and those early wake-up calls.

Gail and I love sea days because they’re a chance to relax, explore the ship, and get to know some of our fellow passengers, staff and officers.

We started our day at 10:00 am with a tour of the bridge with our ship’s second officer, Scott, who hails from England. Scott showed us the high-tech gadgetry on the bridge, including the Integrated Bridge System (IBS) which allows all the equipment to communicate with each other, and the Global Positioning (GPS) which is used as the primary navigation system. Wow….mindboggling stuff for a luddite like me who thought they still used protractors, rulers and dividers to plot their positions.

Using the nifty “Chart Pilot” program, the ship’s navigator can actually pre-plan the route from one port to another, and upload the program so the ship can run on autopilot. This explains why there were only 3 people on the bridge operating the ship, and why the Captain can attend various passenger functions – he is only needed on the bridge for more challenging tasks such as entering and leaving port, or navigating in difficult conditions. Fortunately I was not offered a turn at the helm – otherwise, we might be touring the Italian Alps right now!
 

At noon, we went to a private luncheon for frequent cruisers hosted by Captain Vincenzo Lubrano and his senior officers. Our table was hosted by the ship’s cruise director, the talented and charming David Bradshawe. David is a British actor who got his sea legs with P&O Cruises as a performing member of the cruise staff in 1991. He subsequently worked as an assistant cruise director with Princess, as a member of a performing repertoire with Crystal Cruises, as a cruise director on Cunard’s QM2, and since 2005 as a cruise director with Princess. (I’ll be posting a profile of David later in the cruise.)
 

After lunch, we went to outdoor mineral pool on the stern of the ship in the Princess Spa. For $15 per day, passengers can reserve a teak lounge chair in this private sunning area by the mineral pool away from the noise and crowd of the main pool on the Sun Deck. Normally, the main pool is the place to be, but on sea days it gets busy and the spa deck becomes a great alternative if you want to pamper yourself. We did!

As experienced cruisers know, there’s plenty to do on a ship when it’s at sea, and the Pacific Princess is no exception. For example, our day’s line-up included a line dancing class, a culinary cooking class, a tour of the galley, a cocktail making class, two bingo sessions, an art auction, a ceramics class, a port talk, a trivia contest, and a three-hour “outlet” sale at the onboard boutiques with savings up to 75% off regular prices. And, of course, don’t forget the yoga classes, the spa treatments and the workouts in the gym.

Before dinner, we attended the Captain’s Circle frequent cruiser reception, where we met several officers including Peter Pratt, the Passenger Services Director (I’ll be interviewing Peter later this week), our port lecturer Hutch, and Frankie, our delightful assistant cruise director. We also met several members of the dance troupe, who in addition to their performing duties, also help out the cruise staff with events and tours. They told us they were just coming off their contract at the end of this cruise, and had been at sea for 9 months! I said to Gail, “How come they can be on a cruise ship for so long without gaining an ounce when all I have to do is walk up the gangplank and look at a menu to gain 5 pounds!”

We’ve now been on the Pacific Princess for a week, and our lazy day at sea today was really the first opportunity we’ve had to sit back and appreciate what a truly great cruise this is. Our ship, the staff and the itinerary are fabulous. Our Maitre d’ Renzo, our head waiter Giovanni, our waiter Crispen, and our assistant waiter Mancel do a great job, and we look forward to seeing them each night. Mancel is also a budding entertainer, and every night after dinner he performs at our table, showing us how to fold napkins to make almost anything including the Statue of Liberty, and challenging us with some mind-bending tricks at our table. They’re all becoming part of our family.

As we’ve discovered, cruising is truly a great way for a family to share a vacation. As the girls said tonight at dinner, “The ports of call have been fantastic and this cruise has lived up to all of our expectations so far.”

The problem is they’re already starting to plan the next cruise – with our money!!!

We’re back on land tomorrow in Corfu, Greece, so please check in again for our next blog.