Days 5 & 6 - At sea

We enjoy sea days and never really seem to get bored.  The biggest problem for many people is not so much what to attend, but what NOT to attend. There are clashes galore so you may well have to choose between indoor bowls in the atrium at 9:15am, or the excellent port lecturer/advisor Deborah Shields at 9:30am in the theatre.  Deborah’s port talks are extremely popular and the theatre is usually filled to capacity.  Deservedly so, as her information is usually wide ranging, but particularly useful on taxis and local transport options.  If you do miss her talks, they are normally played on the in room TV later, as are other lectures.

It was standing room only but Paula stayed for the Lombok lecture, so I retired to the cabin to try and keep up with the blog.  I hope you all appreciate the sacrifices I make for your insomnia cures.

At 10:30am, we had our Cruise Critic group meet and greet in Jammer’s nightclub – the Dawn Nomads, just in case you missed it earlier. Just to show how supportive the Dawn Princess is, there were about a dozen of their senior staff present, from Cruise Director Mark and Hotel General Manager Osvaldo, through to the food and beverage officer, Senior Chef, Maitre D, front desk and tour staff.

Thanks to Ros, we had a great meet with each couple introducing themselves, so at long last, we were able to match names, message board user names and faces.

Our first on board dancing class was taken by deputy cruise director Corey (NZ).  We’d seen him on the morning Wake Show and didn’t know what to expect.  For Foxtrot 1, he moved pretty quickly, maybe a bit too quickly for one or two beginners, but it was fun, though we just sat and watched.  

This was also our first formal night of the cruise.  There are six formal nights between Sydney and Venice so out came the glad-rags, dinner suits and bow-ties, for those who elected to support it. Unlike some cruises, Princess doesn’t require dressing up every night so six nights out of 45 is fine and many love it.  The champagne fountain is a Princess staple and several opted to join in before and after the Captain’s welcome.  Captain Ivan Jerman did a great job as always.  He leaves us in Singapore unfortunately.

Our table group looked extremely smart but the ship’s photographer who came into the dining room wouldn’t take a group pic (we have to wait for formal night two for that) and he only took individual portraits. (There is always an opportunity to have a picture taken in the atrium, with several choices of back drops.)

After the usual excellent meal, we went to Donna Campbell’s “Dolly Parton Tribute Show” in the packed theatre.  A top class show and very informative about Dolly Parton’s life too. 

I should mention here that orchestra leader Sarah on piano and keyboard, has to be one of the most talented musicians I have ever come across.  As the bass guitar play was absent (not sure why), she managed to play his bass part of the score with her left hand, on the keyboard, whilst playing her piano part with the right hand.

Donna wore a Dolly wig, wore the country dress and sang very well and as we hadn’t seen her before, this was another 9/10 score.

We ambled into the casino just to say hi to friends who were at their own table playing snap or something.  On the roulette table, there was just one player - who seemed to be supporting the casino profits on his own, as I saw him lose several piles of chips – twice…  I might have a restrained gamble one day, to see if my very modest system will work.

Day 6

Nothing much new to write about but Marcus has his own take on some English pronunciation. When asking what Ruth Ellis’ claim to fame was (she was the last woman to be hanged in the UK), his pronunciation wasn’t executed as much as executed as in the way you’d pronounce the executor of a will!

Corey’s Foxtrot 2 class was another enjoyable one - though numbers had dropped a bit from day one, so at least there was space on the floor.

We didn’t win the trivia quiz…

We went to the early show again, this time a combination of the full orchestra, the string quartet and starring Vov Dylan on violin. New to us and another great 9/10 show.

Most of the Australian contingent were out on deck to watch the state of origin, rugby league, between Queensland and New South Wales.  We weren’t. We had our normal dinner but just Anthea and Dennis (Kiwis) with us.  The dining room was very quiet.

Afterwards, we went back to the Vista lounge for the film “Quartet” – which we thoroughly enjoyed, then on to a little bit of dancing to the “Crimson Duo” in the Wheelhouse Bar until 11:30.

So, two days of the six at sea now down, four to go.