Crown Princess - Day at Sea (1)

Today started with a wonderful “sleep in until 10AM”. I made my way to the Horizon Court for a “traditional breakfast buffet” and after selecting Eggs Florentine, some sausage and fresh fruit, was flagged down by Mom. Enjoyed a leisurely breakfast by the window. Mom said that the strawberries were wonderful, and Aunt E. mentioned that the pineapple was good also. Mom talked her way back in to the buffet from the exit gate so that she could get the fresh fruit.
I went to the Princess Theater for the 11:30 am Enrichment Lecture: Christopher Columbus: the Discoverer of America (or Not?) presented by Kathleen Wulf. She discussed the four voyages of Columbus and the fact that he never made it to the main land of USA. Her presentation was complete with slide shows, maps, and photographs. After the show, I sat outside on the Promenade Desk in a classic “deck chair” and stared at the Atlantic Ocean. I saw a flying fish and two porpoises. About 1:00 I made my way back to the Princess Theater to see the Enrichment Lecture: the Only Way to Cross, part 1 presented by maritime historian John Maxtone-Graham. He discussed the life aboard the early great North Atlantic liners. He is both an author and presenter, British, dressed smartly in a blue blazer and white slacks. He will present all week and I put him in my calendar to be sure to catch all of his lectures. While there, I found Mom and Aunt E. After the presentation, I mentioned the International Cafe and their salads, sandwiches and pasteries. We went down to Level 5 (base of the Atrium) and found a table in the Piazza. I had a vegetarian salad with roasted eggplant and peppers. As we sat, “Hula Hoop Sensation Aleysa” performed all of her wild moves. It was soon time for the 3:30 $1,000 Jackpot Bingo and the sisters went off to conquer. I went to Deck 16, found a lounge chair, and took a nap underneath overcast skies. Lovely sea breezes added to the ambiance. (Note to self: Need to start the day with sunscreen incase I find my self wandering up to the deck again.)
It was soon time to gather for dinner and we decided to go for a sit down meal at Michelangelo's. For appetizers we had Duck Terrine,

Fresh garden salad,

 chips/salsa, and

Grilled Calamari.

For soup we had a nice cool melon soup.

 The main courses were Fetticine,

Coq au Vin,

Veal, and

Tiger Shrimp (accompanied by a lovely bottle of Chateauneuf de Pape).

For dessert we had creme brule and warm apple strudel with vanilla cream sauce.

The evening entertainment was in the Explorers Lounge on Deck 7 starring Comedian Tom Briscoe. He was very funny, told jokes mostly about being a husband, and was a hit.  Then we stopped by another venue and listened to music.

A quick stroll on the Lido Deck to check out the "Movies under the Stars" and sunset.

Done for the night…set the clocks ahead one hour as we slip in to a new timezone.