Breakfast for two....
There were more plates and trays of food to start our day. But the day had come late due to Room Service personnel oversleeping. (Or, that's the excuse the man gave.)
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We were awakened by someone calling from New York, trying to get RQS to accept a dental appointment for cleaning only, as her dentist would not be there. As usual, the person was acting with a pre-set agenda and wasn't listening to RQS. RQS wanted to see the dentist as part of her regularly scheduled appointment. But RQS made herself clear and got the appointment she wanted. As for me, I could have used an hour or two more sleep.
When were finally moving, we had to wait more time than should have been necessary for breakfast, as Room Service was running late. By the time we finished breakfast, it was lunch time - a meal we decided to skip in favor of afternoon tea later in the afternoon.
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Afternoon Tea....
Around 3 pm, we went down to the dining room for afternoon tea. There was not enough room in the area outside the restaurant to hold all of the people waiting to get in for tea. At 3 pm sharp, the restaurant opened to let everyone in. RQS and I were seated at a table for 2, a table off the beaten track of wait staff flow. This wasn't the problem that made tea unpleasant. Instead, it was the loudness of our area. We had to shout to hear each other speak. Unlike tea on our Norwegian Fjord cruise, the small finger sandwiches had almost no flavor. Was it us? Or was it the ship's environment that caused us to give a "thumbs down" on tea? Who knows? But I won't be in any hurry to go back there again for afternoon tea.
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Dinner....
We got dressed in our nicest clothes for formal night, and left early for dinner. This would give us some time to get formal pictures taken of us before we went to dinner. After walking around for a few minutes, we found a place where we wanted our pictures taken - and did so. Then, it was off to dinner.
Arriving at the restaurant a few minutes early, we asked if we could be seated at a table where our favorite waiter was working. They hemmed and hawed a little, and seated us at another shared table. Then Marco showed up, and greeted us warmly. We love his touch in serving us at our table. (Now, I understand why my uncle was once upset at not having his favorite waiter serve my dad when he visited him in the Hamptons one year.) Across from us was a couple from Turkey who could barely speak English. Shortly after we ordered, two ladies were seated next to us, and we had a great, non serious chat with them. I suggested the Orange Duck, and she was glad I suggested it. Our dishes came. First was the crab cake, then the ravioli, followed by the duck. Yum! The orange sauce was not as pronounced as I'd make it, but it was good. Finally, dessert was served, and I had the creme brulee.
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When we finished dinner, we decided to do almost a week's worth of laundry. One of the nice things about a Princess cruise ship is that most (if not all) have self-service laundry. Two problems: the token dispenser didn't work, and the soap dispensing machine was empty (or, we thought it was). So each of us had to make our way to Guest Services for help... multiple times.
All in all, this was a good sea day....
