Tuesday

Tuesday

First of all, let me bring you up to date on the Sisler Luggage.  It arrived in our stateroom around 7 p.m, filled with way too many clothes, and clean underwear for the duration.  Earlier in the afternoon, our cabin steward, Jismon, asked if there was anything he could do for us, and we said, “Find our luggage.”  Off he went, and when we got back from supper, Viola!

Another housekeeping update from yesterday.  When we got to our cabin, in officer’s quarters, we discovered that the traditional plastic cards with the magnetic strip would not open our stateroom.  This door takes a regular old key.  And said key was no where to be found.  A search of several decks and interviews with several officers produced a response that caused me to raise eyebrow – logical, flawlessly logical.  “Push on the door and see if it opens.  Those keys are to be left in the cabin for the next Destination Lecturer.”  We went back to our room and pushed on the door – and would you believe it? The door was unlocked and the keys were on the desk.

One of the first purchase we made on the ship (after Bonnie’s Coca Cola card and my coffee card) was the purchase of an Internet account.  If you think your dial-up connection or your cable modem are expensive, join us here on the Grand Princess.  Random use is 75 cents per minute.  I bought a package which lowered it to 30 cents a minute.  Divided by our 14 day stay, that gives me about 30 minutes a day online, so no web surfing or online game playing.

We went to one of the dining rooms for breakfast this morning and asked to be seated with other people so we could enjoy the fellowship of other travelers.  Tom and Jane are from Chicago, and Helen and Jim (“Your name is Jim”) hail from the Left Coast, somewhere near to Pasadena.  Helen is an episcopal priest, and Jim is a clergy spouse.  Jane runs a health spa and Tom is a management consultant.  For breakfast, I had eggs scrambled with Alaskan salmon.  Tom ordered eggs benedict with Hollandaise sauce.  And yes!  I told them “The Hub Cap Joke.”  Their appreciation was on a par with many of the good folks at Macedonia.  If we see them again, I will tell them about the little princess potato wanting to marry Tom Brokaw.

I did my “Pirates of the Caribbean” talk this morning.  At one point I was listing the places where Pirates had called home – the Dutch, Welsh, Irish, British, etc.  I told them one of the most famous Pirates ever hailed from Puerto Rico.  Roberto got a well-deserved round of applause.  I concluded with the story of an Irish Pirate captain who was aided by a Polish member of his crew in crushing dread invaders from the North.  Danny Murtaugh and Bill Mazeroski and the victory of the Pirates of Pittsburgh over the Yankees of New York.

Tonight we will go to our first formal meal function, joining the good folks at Botticelli’s for the second seating.  Menu to follow tomorrow.