Sea Day #4

 

Another relaxing Sea Day...  Mary got this sunrise picture  since we were up a bit early today. A few shipboard activities and plenty of time to relax while enjoying these amazing smooth seas.  

After Sudoku, we went to the port talk for Charleston, SC.  The travel consultant had some good insights into what to do, including visiting a rather large craft sale very close to the ship.  Next was a bridge talk, by two of the 3rd officers.  They are on duty on the bridge for 4 of every 12 hours, 7 days a week for 4 months.   But if there's a drill, when they are not on the bridge they often have to participate.  They have 2-3 months off before their next assignment, but sometimes have to do a week of annual requal training during that time.  One person asked about work-life balance; the best answer to that question was by the female officer who had her boyfriend on board! 

During lunch they made an announcement that the Emerald Princess would be passing us on its way from Charleston to Norfolk.  We finished our dessert and headed out on deck to watch for it.  The two ships sounded their whistles to greet each other.  We sailed on that ship twice, once in 2009 and again in 2010.  

I tried my hand at beanbag toss against the assistant cruise director.  Mary got this picture of us playing.

Tonight was a formal night.   "Land and Sea" was on the menu, featuring a beef tenderloin and a lobster tail.  But our special dining upgraded us to a rib eye steak and lobster tail!  YUM!  My dessert was a pistachio dome (formerly a Chocolate Journey for any Princess cruisers).  Very delicious!

The production show "Encore" was put on this evening. It was not one of our favorites, but Princess has reworked it and it is much improved!  The original one had the dancers just posing at times, and in this version they had some fabulous expressive dances. 

On to Charleston tomorrow!