2015 Christmas Cruise, Day 3

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Today was the second day of the cruise.  Its was another day at sea, with all the attendant lectures, contests, shopping, crafting and napping as time allows.  The next days schedule is delivered to our room after we go to bed so we plan our day after we get up the next morning.

DeeAnn attended the Knitters and Natters while Kent attended the shops tour.  We started off by visiting the bridge and meeting the Captain, Tim Stringer.  He explained the operations of the ship and how they can elevate the number of officers on the bridge from 4 (minimum staffing) up to 8. We posed for a photo with the Captain which was delivered to our room later in the day.  Then we visited the galley to see where the food was prepared.  I was impressed with how clean and organized it was.  We posed for a photo with the Executive Chef and enjoyed a non-alcoholic drink and some treats.  I learned that all the breads and rolls we enjoyed at dinner are all prepared daily on the ship.  That's a lot of rolls!  Then we went to the Medical Center and met the ship doctor.  She showed us around some of the exam rooms and even showed us the ship morgue!  Then we visited the back stage area and heard from the senior producer.  I learned that if a performer gets sick, someone else takes their place and lip-syncs the lyrics but still has to do all the dancing. We got to pose with a couple of show girls.  We next visited the room where the ship anchor and mooring lines were kept.  It was interesting to see around but as a sea day there was not much happening.  Another picture with the officer.  Next stop was in the engine control room where we met some of the staff who oversee all the power, water, and electrical systems.  We posed for a photo with the Chief Engineer.  They then took us to the Print shop to see where the daily newsletter, Princess Patter, was printed.  We also saw how all the photos were printed and readied for passengers.  I learned that they keep the images for about 30 days after the cruise in case someone wants a copy of a photo they didn't purchase.  We next visited the laundry and was show all the operations needed for washing drying and folding all the sheets and towels, plus the uniforms of the crew.  We also saw they had a separate dry cleaning area for selected crew uniforms/costumes and passengers clothing.

On the bridge with the Captain

Show girls, back stage

Engine Control room

with the Chef in the galley

in the room with the ship anchor and mooring lines

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.  We joined our friends in the dining room for dinner.

Dinner selections

stuffed pepper

Dessert selection

Candied pineapple

Dinner selection

Available every night, Fettuccine  pasta in a Parmesan shell

Ship log:  Throughout the day we maintained a South Easterly heading paralleling the coast of Baja California, Mexico on our port side.  Noon position: 25°18.6' N - 116°31.1' W.  Temperature 24°C (75°F). Wind north westerly force 4.  Barometer 1018.6.  Sky partly cloudy.  Despite being part of Mexico, Baja California is separated from mainland Mexico by the Gulf of California.  Baja California ranges from 25 miles wide at its narrowest point to 200 miles at it widest point and has almost 1900 miles of coastline as well as 65 islands.