Sea Day #3

Today was all about keeping on a schedule. One of the things Ed and I like to do when we spend months at a time on a ship is….

Absolutely nothing. 

We make sure we have breakfast and dinner at about the same time but otherwise we do whatever we want whenever we want. We get the Princess Patter (it has the rundown of the day’s activities) and we never look at it. NEVER. But this cruise I’ve been working hard at putting myself in the shoes of those folks who do just one cruise and try and cram everything in. And today wound up being one of those cram-it-in days. 

Breakfast was another omelet. Here’s a tip about eggs when sailing on Princess…whether eating in the dining room or buffet, ask for your item to be made with fresh eggs. If you don’t, you’ll get the liquid “crap”. There’s a world of difference between the two. 

From breakfast I went to my secret seat on Deck 16

Don’t put baby in a corner? Oh, this one wants to be. 

where I watched a little bit of Top Gun at Movies Under the Stars. 

No dilly dallying there for long because my next appointment was quickly approaching. On some Princess ships (could be all but I haven’t been on all so I don’t know for sure) you could be one of the lucky ones to get an invite for a tour of the Bridge. If you’re staying in a suite or sailing for a special occasion like an anniversary or honeymoon, it never hurts to ask and you might get your chance. By the time I got up there the weather was just spectacular. 

Hawaii, here we come 

After the Bridge it was time to go back to the cabin and get changed for the Most Traveled Guest Luncheon. It’s a special lunch for the top 40 guests onboard with the most days sailed with Princess. I’m approaching a milestone and was congratulated by several staff members on the way in. (I’ll share the milestone on the exact day it occurs.) It was a good table of conversation for lunch so I somehow missed taking a picture of the appetizer and sorbet. 

Sea bass. I always choose the sea bass.

Too much chocolate for me

Back to the cabin again for another clothes change, this time into a swimsuit. The weather was amazing so back to my secret seat for some sunning. Then back to the cabin for another clothes change for formal night. I had planned on skipping dinner to have drinks with a friend. (You do shots with someone in Mazatlán and you’re instant friends.)

Lemon Drop Martini

After two martinis I thought it best to go to dinner after all. Since I had fish for lunch tasty beef was my choice for dinner. 

Then straight from dinner to the casino for the invite-only slot tournament. I sucked. It was my first slot tournament ever and I learned something for next time. Press the button FAST. 

With my tail between my legs I decided to try some fast spinning on a non-tournament slot machine. On $200 I won almost $400 and then a few minutes later this happened. 

$1759.20 of real money

A full, nonstop day. I’m so ready for yet another sea day where I plan to go back to doing nothing at all. 

Sea Day #2

No post right now as when I sat down to write tonight I found out two unusual and unexpected things:

*I can’t access the internet on my computer anymore. 

*I’ve been locked out my bank account - even on my app. 

Today was such a good day. But now I’m extremely stressed so I think it’s best I go get myself a strong drink or two and spend my night working on straightening things out.

Hopefully I can come back and fill in the details of today - and tomorrow. It’s going to a fun filled one. That is, if I’m not up all night. Ugh. 

MORNING UPDATE: SOLVED!

After spending much more should-be-sleeping time than I wanted to, I think I may be good to go. The computer issue eventually resolved itself on its own this morning (what's up with that?), and with the bank issue it seems the little birdie left at home had been involved. I was able to re-secure the account and now I'm good to go there. Whew.

So back to sea day #2.

As predicted, our weather did turn off a little rough. Where yesterday I had sunshine at breakfast, this day's view was nothing but clouds and rain.

Bumpy seas, too

As much as the ship was moving it wasn't surprising when I went to breakfast on Deck 16 aft I was the only person in the restaurant the entire time. Thankfully over the years I've been able to grow sea legs and they served me well today.

Yummy blueberry pancakes for breakfast

After breakfast I went to the presentation on Maui. I got lots of history but still don’t know the best way to get around the area. Ships still aren’t calling on Lahaina (my favorite Hawaiian cruise port) so we’ll be in Kahului which is more industrial. When we were in Kahului years ago we rented a car for a couple days but that’s not an option this time so we’ll see what I can get figured out. 

Love the clearly marked accessible spacing in the theater

I also attended a hypnotism for pain relief presentation. This wasn’t the typical spa pitch, but an actual enrichment presenter doing the session. Interesting, intriguing, informative. There are more full-on sessions over the next couple days I hope to get to. 

It was cooler outside and the pools were closed because of the rough seas so I spent my outside time out on Deck 7. 

Love the no-threshold doorway to the Promenade Deck

The chairs were all wet from the rain and sea spray and the front of the deck was closed but it didn’t stop me from rolling around to both sides. 

Aft view from Deck 7. The water is getting bluer!

I had another tasty lunch in the dining room (chicken with chimichurri - oops, forgot to take a picture), made an ok choice for dinner,

What would you choose?

Double Pork Chop for me

and once I returned to my cabin for the evening came back to a little buddy 

and flowers. 

Which leads me back to where things all fell apart and I about had a melt down. But all is good, at least for now. 

See you later for Sea Day #3.

Sea Day #1

There are pretty much three words to sum up my entire day. By noon all three of them had made an appearance.

In the past we've always know the first few days out from San Francisco to be cool, cloudy, and breezy. Being I'm in an inside cabin with no windows I didn't know what the day looked like so imagine my surprise at breakfast when I had this sunny view out the window.

My breakfast view

My breakfast choice. I passed on the hash brown.

After breakfast I tried to make my way to the seats I saw out the window but found the doorway had quite a high threshold, one where I would have to carry Scooter across. I passed. But I found another spot on Deck 16 and camped out in a lounge chair tucked out of the wind and in full sun.

It was in that lounge chair I sat instead of going to Speedy Sudoku. Instead of the Hula class. Instead of the crafts class. It was in that lounge chair I stayed and watched a movie on the big screen (Movies Under the Stars). Escape from Alcatraz, how fitting for where we just came from. It was in that lounge chair where I fell asleep for a bit. And got a sunburn.

Word #1 - Sunshine

After the outdoor movie I headed back to the cabin to cool off a little bit and started watching the movie Wicked on the TV.

Word #2 - Movies (Two movies in one day, even.)

And then word #3 made a grand entrance. After a filling breakfast, I decided to go to lunch to do a taste test. I'm not a big lunch eater so I typically stick to appetizers. More than once I've ordered the wrong spring rolls so today I decided to order both at the same time so I could decide which one is the one I've liked. Thai Spring Roll or Summer Roll?

The Thai Spring Roll is served hot

Summer Roll is served cold. Look at all those veggies!
I don't like veggies so this is the wrong one. 

I also wanted to check out the Colossal Fries. On the Discovery Princess the fries have an extra crispy coating and are tasty. Here on the Ruby Princess they are just plain fries with the dips. Won't be ordering these again here.

After lunch I finished watching Wicked and finished up with Word #2. 

But Word #3 popped back up at dinner. The restaurant manager was doing table side preparation of some pasta. OMG, so tasty. I'm glad I asked for just a few bites but I certainly could have made it my main dish.

Instead my main dish was a special one for the specific dining room I'm in. The land and sea had some of the tastiest shrimp and steak I've had in a while.

And I followed through with the dessert routine Ed and I established when we wintered onboard the Discovery Princess. Blueberry sorbet.

The lighting in the dining room is throwing the actual color off

So Word #3? That would be FOOD. Way too much food.

And yet...as I was typing this blog I had room service knocking on the door and delivering an order from a special friend. No need to leave the cabin for a midnight snack now. And more bottled water? Bonus!

Yep, Sunshine, Movies, and Food is how I spent the day. (I would admit I went to the casino, but like any gambler knows some secrets are better left untold.) I'm not sure what tomorrow will hold, but the Captain tells us we're in for some weather and rough seas. They've even gone ahead and cancelled formal night for tomorrow night, just in case. 

One more note - last night we had a sick passenger onboard and had to turn around and go back to San Francisco. The Captain kept us updated into the night until the Coast Guard helicopter arrived and completed the airlift. 

Embarkation Day

Hello from the Ruby Princess!

I see my ship from the bus!

Just like we've experienced so many times before at the cruise port in San Francisco, embarkation took forever. But I made it onboard and that's all that matters.

Finally onboard for a 1:08 lunchtime view. Can’t beat it!

After lunch from the buffet (a taco and triangle of quesadilla) I spent some time soaking up the sun before heading to my cabin. I’m on the Lido deck (yay) in a standard inside cabin. An inside cabin isn't exactly a yay, but I’m on a cruise to Hawaii so yeah, let’s make that a yay.

I then hit a treadmill with a view of Alcatraz. Just 10 minutes worth, but I'll get there! By the look on his face, I’m certain the fitness instructor at the door was confused why a lady on a Scooter zipped by him in the gym. 

Can you spot Alcatraz?

I finished just in time to go to the "Welcome to Princess" presentation. The description stated:

“Don't miss this engaging 20-minute presentation with your Activity Team, aimed at maximizing your Princess vacation!” 

Uh, no. The Activities Manager was late and the presentation lasted maybe 8-10 minutes, definitely wasn’t engaging, and didn’t tell me how to maximize my vacation. It was a waste of time but I was mostly there for the thing coming up next, the “It Pays to Plus” AKA the drink package giveaway. While I didn’t win, it was much more engaging. There was also free champagne and appetizers. I didn’t partake but the server insisted serving me anyway. 

From there I went up to deck 16 for sailaway, scoring one of the few remaining loungers there. The weather was wonderful. Be sure to turn your volume on for this video so you can get the full effect of what makes sailing from San Francisco unique.

I ran into several people working on this ship who I know from other ships. One of them is going above and beyond to make sure I'm well taken care of and now I'll be going to the dining room instead of the buffet.

Appetizer of seared garlic prawns

Main of Hawaiian Luau Pork

Dessert of Sugar Free Lemon Cream Pie

A trip back to my room after dinner has made me decide to hang out here the rest of the evening. Write the blog, unpack the luggage, and come up with a plan of how I want to spend the next four days at sea. As the ship is gently rocking I think my eyes may be closing sooner than anticipated.

See you tomorrow.

San Francisco, California

My original plan for San Francisco was to behave like a tourist and stay down by the pier and Fisherman’s Wharf like we do 99% of the time, but I changed my mind at the last minute.

At half the price I would have paid in the tourist area, I booked an airport hotel where I got a free airport shuttle, free room upgrade, free breakfast, and a discount to the restaurant across the parking lot for the other meals. Cheaper is better these days, right? So after a quick evening flight, quick shuttle ride to the hotel, and a good nights sleep I’m camped out watching trash TV (Catfish this time) like I always do on the first day my solo adventures. 

Room upgrade scored at the Holiday Inn Express, South San Francisco

While the free breakfast was nothing to write home about (except I guess I’m doing that right now), having my lunch/dinner at nearby Max’s restaurant made up for it. A yummy tropical Daiquiri 

On the rocks, not frozen

and a yummy patty melt

Look at those delicious grilled onions

along with some pretty flowers on the way out

with a detour out back of the hotel for some plane spotting. 

All made for a pleasant afternoon 

Now one more good nights sleep and I’ll be ready to join my new home, the Ruby Princess, as we head to Hawaii. See you tomorrow onboard!

Deb's Monthlong Cruise on the Ruby Princess

Here I go again! It’s time for my 2025 solo adventure (read about the 2024 solo cruise here and the 2023 super solo here) and this time the on-my-own cruise starts from this city I took a picture of on my flight in.

Hello, Golden Gate Bridge!

I’m doing three consecutive cruises (called back to backs) with the first one going to…

HAWAII!

Then down the California coast

And then up the coast. 

I’ll add links to the blog posts right here so you can join me as I sail along. Bon voyage!

San Francisco

Embarkation Day

Sea Day #1

Sea Day #2

Sea Day #3