Crown Princess Sea Day #4

 By Glenn 

Yesterday was the final sea day before we stop in Hilo. Even though we had partly cloudy skies, it was still warm enough to enjoy out on the open deck. After a quick breakfast (they had Beef Tapas again), we got our table at the Mix Bar. Angie had some work to do and I checked in on my blogs. Then we played another game of Quirkle. I was doing pretty well and thought I was on my way to my first victory but then Angie had six Quirkles in a row and beat me by 20 points.  

A signature feature of Princess Cruises had been the British Pub Lunch. They stopped it for some reason, or at least it was on fewer sailing even before the pandemic. But I saw it listed in the program for this sea day so we had to go. It didn't disappoint. A tasty pea soup, savory bangers and mash and a crunchy Scotch Egg. It was just as good as I remembered.  

After lunch it was back to the Mix Bar for some cribbage. I had an early lead but Angie had some great game play and won. 

This cruise has two onboard Hawaiian ambassadors who have provided port talks, music, classes to learn the ukulele and dancing. Yesterday we decided to check out the Hula dancing class. 

They've had one each sea day and it is a progressive class. Meaning you learn the hand movements and steps in one class and then build on them in subsequent classes. We stayed in the back and just observed. There will be a show with the guests towards the end of the cruise.  

It had started to get a bit rainy so we took that as a sign it was time for a nap. Afterwards, we got ready for the evening. First stop was Vines. The tapas I included a fried shrimp with a glaze that was similar to teriyaki. This ship has had more types of shrimp dishes than I can remember having on any other cruise ship. I also tried a grilled brie sandwich and the lime curry chicken salad from the International Cafe. Both very tasty. We then moved on to the Happy Hour where they had even more shrimp. This time in a dill marinade.  

After that we decided to see the main theater show. It was comedy magician Jay Mattiloi. He was on America's Got Talent at least once (YouTube had a clip from 2009). I don't watch that show so don't know how well he did. I do remember seeing him on another cruise ship. He was very entertaining. I didn't see any tricks I hadn't seen before, but they were all performed well. He had some very good close up card magic. After the show we decided to call it an evening. We have an early excursion in Hilo to see some waterfalls and visit Volcano National Park. A full day ahead for our first time in Hawaii.