Day 16 - At Sea

We woke up this morning to the ship rocking in the same 10-12 foot swells it left us in last night.

But this time, the ship's navigation channel told us the outside air temperature was only 52 degrees -- a 40 degree drop from the previous ports. A little extreme. And likely contributed to Emma getting sick a couple days after we got home.

After some breakfast, we went down the Princess Theater for a comedic culinary demonstration by the Executive Chef and Maitre 'D. Watching them prepare a caesar salad, pasta and tiramisu actually turned out to be pretty humorous.

The crew-produced show was followed by a stirring rendition of "My Way," sung by a member of the wait staff -- which closed the demonstration to a standing ovation.

Immediately afterwards, we were fortunate to be a part of a tour of the ship's main galley. The galley boasts 4,800 square feet of food prep space (or three times the size of our entire house). Crazy. Oh, and there's an escalator in the galley too.

The tour also included some fairly disturbing consumption facts. Like that 1,200 pounds of poultry are cooked. Daily. And that's along with 1,800 pounds of vegetables. Daily. Annnnddd 2,000 pounds of fresh fruit are served...alllll to amount to 60,000 dishes washed. Daily. To me, those are some pretty astounding figures.

We tried to walk around the Promenade Deck, but our tropical weather disappeared and was only replaced with 50 degree gale force winds...with large, loud swells. Not exactly great for walking. But on the after terrace of the ship, there was little wind -- which made relaxing a bit easier.

Throughout the cruise, the Cruise Staff held a series of "Amazing Race" competitions inspired by the reality show on CBS. Today was the finale -- which meant we watched as two elderly couples tried popping balloons stuffed inside sumo (wo)men outfits by jumping on one another. But only jumping one each other after they took the glass elevators to Deck 8, ran around Deck 8, then ran down the stairs to the bottom of the Atrium on Deck 5. All while fellow grandparents watched in shared shock and confusion.

It's a somewhat fantastically hilarious sight watching as somebody's grandfather yells to his wife (as he's dressed in a a sumo outfit), "Hit me!!"...and she proceeds to hit him with her boxing gloves-covered hands....right before she jumps on him while he's lying on his back in the ship's Atrium.

Later, with some free time (and no good weather to relax outside with), we went down to the Explorer's Lounge to watch the final art auction of the season. And while I doubt it was influenced by the flowing free champagne, we watched as a man confidently purchased a $20,000 Pablo Picasso sketch. We were shocked.

Did I mention that up in the Horizon Court this afternoon was the dessert buffet? Basically, you could have any dessert you wanted -- they were all lined up for your taking. So Emma made me take a plate so we could collectively have as much as possible. Gluttonous...

For our final (spoiled by the dessert buffet) dinner:

Emma

Appetizer: Watermelon and feta

Salad/Soup: Caesar salad

Main Course: Linguine with clams

Dessert: Love Boat Dream

Ryan

Appetizer: Shrimp cocktail

Salad/Soup: Grilled vegetables

Main Course: New York strip steak

Dessert: Sweet mud pie

As we wrapped up dessert, the lights dimmed and members of the waitstaff gathered for the presentation of the Baked Alaska -- a dessert and Princess staple -- parade. It wasn't as visually impressive as it could've been if the desserts had a real flame, instead of a battery-powered light, but the thought and attitude of it all was great.

After dinner, we caught a showing of "It's Complicated" -- which was actually funnier than I thought it would be. But it was more interesting listening to 600 audience members laugh hysterically at parts of the movie I didn't necessarily find all that funny. Age gap I suppose.

Wrapping up the night, we walked down to the Universe Lounge and caught a few songs by the Princess orchestra doing some standards as a part of the Ballroom Blitz show.

Which was followed by Princess Pop Star -- a version of American Idol at sea. We stayed for 2 1/2 of the 6 final contestants. The 1/2 was the nail in the coffin and signaled our escape. Really, really bad. Just awful.

Photos from the Day

Tomorrow: Los Angeles