It was a pretty lazy sea day for us on board the Royal Princess today. Of course, we slept in once again, still trying to catch up on our sleep from being on the go for all of the days in Rome, and the four consecutive port days on the ship.
I went and picked us up two yogurt parfaits from the International Cafe, and I also got a Cappuccino. I carried these back to the room and did a little blog work on the computer while Stephanie slept.
We both got showers and were ready to head out by about 10:30 AM. However, since we had eaten the yogurts, we did not have to spend time going to breakfast.
The sun was out a little more today, but the wind had picked up and the seas were much choppier than yesterday. It was still too cool to be outside, especially if it was not protected from the wind, which was still coming off of the bow. The wind speed was and the speed of the ship were opposing, making it quite windy on deck. Each day we have been hoping for warmer weather, but the temperature never gets above 70 degrees, and with the wind, it is just too cool to sit outside.
We tried several locations to see if we could find a place in the sun, without much wind. We did find that it was pretty calm on the stern of the ship, and since we are heading almost directly west, the sun is directly behind the ship in the early afternoon. We got a couple of chairs from one of the outside tables, and set them up behind a small wall that protected us from the wind. We stayed there for about 45 minutes, enjoying the sunshine and the view out the stern of the ship.
We did not have on any sunscreen, so we limited our time there, realizing that with the cool breeze, we could get sunburned easily without feeling it.
We headed to the buffet for lunch and then spent some time wandering through some of the stores on Decks 6 and 7. We went to the Gelato bar and had a couple of scoops of chocolate and cookies and cream gelato. It seemed to be a lot better than we remembered from before, maybe they are actually making real gelato now, they should be with all of the Italian cooking staff on board. The gelato is included in our beverage package, but we have only had it twice before because it had not been that good.
Later in the afternoon we went to Bellini’s Bar to have a glass of wine and ran into our bar buddies from Flagler Beach, Scott and Deborah. Of course, we also spent some time talking with the bartender there, Nemo, and learning about him and his dad in Serbia. His father raises queen bees to sell to other beekeepers, it is more profitable than selling honey.
Stephanie had wanted to attend the Elite Lounge Reception, held each day between 5:00 and 7:00 PM. They serve complimentary hors d’oeuvres, and have drink specials, which we don’t need to take advantage of with the beverage package. There are different hors d’oeuvres each day, with a repeating menu after seven days. Today, they were serving marinated goat cheese, with crisp rosemary flatbread and Tomato Bruschetta, which is something that she wanted to try.
We went back to the cabin to change into better casual clothes, and then headed to the reception. It was not very crowded by the time we got there, and Stephanie was initially disappointed because there was no goat cheese to be found. We got a few of the other sliced cheeses, and I asked one of the wait staff about the goat cheese. Apparently, it had run out, but they were in the back preparing more to bring out. He went into the kitchen area and brought out a small plateful for her. It was at least 10 minutes later before they actually brought any more out and placed it on the large serving tables with the other hors d’oeuvres. It was a little strange that it took so long, it must be hard to crumble it into serving form.
We had thought about going to the dining room tonight, but after the hors d’oeuvres, we were not that hungry and so we opted for the buffet so we could get smaller portions. They had a couple of good items, one being carved prime rib. It was a little overcooked, and I had to convince the carver that it was not roast beef, and that I needed a lot thicker portion that he initially wanted to slice off.
After dinner, we headed to the Vines Wine Bar and had a glass of wine while we listened to one of the bands play music in the Atrium. They were playing some older tunes from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. After their show ended, we went up one deck to Bellini’s, also in the Atrium, and met up with several other couples that opt to hang out there each evening, including Scott and Deborah. We talked with them for a while before they left to go have a late bite to eat from the hamburger station out by the pool. We were planning to go back to the cabin but looked at the entertainment schedule and saw that Tyrone, the steel drum player, was playing at 11:00 PM, so we stayed until he was finished and called it a night.