0
0
Friday 26th August
Weather: Clear morning
Sea Conditions: Gentle sway!
We lost an hour of sleep overnight but we still had a lie-in compared to the previous days. We woke up at 8am and headed down to breakfast in the main dining room. Fried egg on toast with bacon for Jon, Smoked Salmon Bagel and scrambled egg for me and Mushroom Omelette with bacon for Callum.
Callum’s turn to do something special today – he was taking part in the Junior Chef @ Sea morning. He was going into the Galley by Michelangelo Dining Room to ice and decorate a cake. First, he had to don his chefs hat and apron, wash his hands and then don gloves.
There were 10 kids taking part along with the parent (just the one annoying stereotypical American woman – she accused Callum of taking her daughters piping bag – if she had bothered arrive on time rather than expect everyone else look after her kids whilst she was tracked down, she would have seen the chef had used it for the demonstration!).
Anyway, the pastry chef had shown the kids what to do – take top off the cake, drizzle orange syrup over the base. Spread with icing and chuck a load of sprinkles, marshmallows and chocolate chips. Add the top. Spread the icing over the top and the sides. Use piping bag to pipe stuff around the edge. Then chuck whatever is left in the decorating pots on top of the cake. Callum did a pretty good job.
[easy-image-collage id=1259]
Junior Sea @ Sea was really well organised – it cost $25 to take part in and limited to 10 people. Callum got to keep his chefs apron and hat plus received a photo of him, the pastry chef and Joel, the Executive Chef plus another group photo. In fairness, the Princess photographer was really good and let the parents take the photos they wanted before they moved in to take the shots for their photos.
Cake will be delivered to our cabin at 4pm!
Whilst I was with Callum in the galley, Jon listened to the next installment of the Naturalist talk – this time on the wildlife of Alaska. Again, another really interesting talk … and we need to keep our eyes open for Orcas around Victoria. After this they showed the video of our transit down Endicott Arm. The videographers said that Grand Princess hadn’t yet made it down Tracy Arm this season due to all the ice. Had it been able to enter, we wouldn’t have got as close to the Sawyer Glacier as we did to Dawes.
Jon said the video was really well done and the time lapse video of our Endicott Arm cruise. They even captured the Glacier carving .. BUT you had to buy the set of all four videos in the series costing $60.
We met up in Vines (one of the few places with reasonable internet access!), grabbed Callum from Kids club and a sandwich from the International Cafe for lunch. Callum was desperate to play Monopoly once more, so as we would need to drop him in kids club just after 2pm, we agreed. Jon didn’t get as good a start as last time so it was pretty even until 2pm when we drew the game to a close. Jon had slightly more money than Callum and I … but had more property so he was declared the winner.
Callum off to Kids Club and Jon and I were booked up for another Wine Tasting with Alejandro, Franco and Daniel. Again, really good (apart from the tables that wouldn’t shut up talking through the wine talks!) Wines were very different to what we would normally try and some were really nice.
We collected Callum in time to take part in the Trivia Quiz. We did quite well – 18 out of 22. Winners got every single question right.
Back to the cabin to enjoy the last little bit of sunshine on our balcony whilst getting ready for our formal night. We had an invite to the Captain’s Circle Cocktail Party. We haven’t cruised with Princess before but the cruises we’ve done with P&O are recognised by the scheme and we’ve jumped in at Platinum level (just Elite above us!). We checked with reception that Callum can come with us and they’ve said yes, so we’ll see what happens at the door.
All dressed up and Callum looked very smart in his waistcoat and bowtie. We headed over to the Vista Lounge. There was a lot of people there but still some seats for us. Callum was given a mocktail and the waiter went to fetch a glass of wine for Jon and I. The band that usually plays in the Atrium of an evening were playing away and a lot of people dancing at the front.
Cruise Director Dan made the introductions and the Loyalty Manager announced which passengers were the most travelled on this cruise (yes, they really do make this presentation!). In third place was a couple with 900 and something cruise nights, second place was a young couple with 1,200 and something nights but the winners had over 1,350 nights under their belt. All three were presented with a bag of something and a bottle of Dom. The raffle was worth hanging around for – three more couples won bottles of Dom, drawn from the invite handed over when you entered.
Cocktail party over and we headed to dinner. The Michelangelo Restaurant was pretty much empty. Couldn’t understand why people hadn’t come as the menu was fab.
Callum chose Escargot (snails!) for starters while Jon and I stuck with the shrimp and lobster cocktail. For mains, we all had the Lobster and Tiger Prawns. For puddings, Jon continued with his cheese & biscuits whilst Callum and I had the chocolate dessert. A fantastic meal.
A quick drink before bedtime and an earlyish start for us in the morning as we were arriving in Victoria bright and early in the morning. We got back to the cabin and Callum found Abraham had him left a friend for a sleepover!!
