Cruise Log: Day 3

Today we stopped at our first island, Princess Cays,which is a private island in the Bahamas owned by Princess Cruises. We tendered {took a smaller boat from the ship to the island} ashore & it was beautiful. White sand, clear blue water, brightly colored cabanas, festive music, and plenty of lounge chairs. Just how I envisioned a tropical island to be. We spent the day soaking up sun, swimming in the ocean {it took me a minute to get used to seeing all the fish swimming around}, watching the fruit carver, exploring the island, looking at the shops, and resisting the temptation to get my hair braided {c'mon- don't you think I would have looked fab in some sweet corn rows?? not!}.


After returning to the ship we hung out on the lido deck {and partook of our 215th diet Coke with lime since boarding the ship. Those drink cards are a must!} for awhile before getting ready for dinner. The night before we decided to request the same table every night in the Michelangelo Dining Room, mostly due to the location of the table {by a lovely painting of a man wearing a loin cloth & making an interesting face, and something to do with a fish} and Ferdie & Riza, our servers from the Philippines. Tonight was Italian night, and all the servers were dressed up as elves {okay, they were supposed to look Italian.......red & white and green & white striped sweaters with scarves tied around their necks- they looked a little elvish to me}. We also had individual mug shots taken by a photographer who Matt accidentally insulted- "Photographers don't have to be super models" you know.

I'll take time now to talk about the food. Matt & I had so much fun at mealtimes! We always looked forward to seeing the menu & deciding what to try. It was great to be able to get an appetizer {or two}, salad, soup, entree, and dessert {or three} every night. Everything was delicious and we tried a lot of new things including (but not limited to):

• barramundi
• turbot
• smoked duck breast
• escargot
• pheasant
• sweet breads
• pate
• tripe soup
• mussels

I also loved getting the assorted cheeses with bread & grapes on an almost nightly basis. Yum! We quickly learned that the dining room was the way to go- for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Why go to the buffet and serve yourself when you can be waited on hand and foot for every meal. No need to even place your napkin on your lap- they'll do it for you! Our motto became "screw the lido deck".

Another thing we learned quickly............avoid the elevators. It was amazing how many people used the elevators to go up or down one floor. I know you're on vacation and all, but come on!

After dinner we headed up to the Explorer Lounge to see comedian Rollin' Jay Moore. He was pretty funny, especially his nose-whistling joke. Our nightly pizza run & some games on the lido deck and it was time to hit the sack.

The waters started getting rocky in the evening, and it was funny to try to walk down the halls without bumping into the walls. The pools on the lido deck turned into wave pools. I was worried that I'd get sea sick, but after watching the waves from our bedroom window for awhile I fell sound asleep.