20240406 Sapphire Princess South Pacific Cruise Day 3 - Bouncing around the Pacific

Sapphire Princess South Pacific Cruise Day 3 - Hoping for improvements - getting more of the same

We awoke with high hopes that the account issues had all been taken care of yesterday. Unfortunately, along with those high hopes, Arlona also awoke with a screaming migraine headache. She gets these every so often. They usually come with her getting sick and then sleeping for a few hours. Today was no different. She was able to get some breakfast down before coming back to the room and zoning right out on the bed. The fact that the ship was bouncing around all night and continued into the morning didn't help matters. While it was bright and sunny, it was still quite cold and windy outside, which added to being uncomfortable.

On the way to breakfast, we stopped at the Calypso Bar to get our morning caffeine jolt - Diet Coke. Once again, we were greeted with, "You don't have a drink package." So, all the high hopes that Princess had gotten its act together and got us what we paid for were once again dashed.

I vacated so she would have some quiet. I sat in on but didn't participate in morning trivia. I came back up and she was still out cold. I grabbed my Kindle and went to the Wheelhouse Bar to sit and read for a while. She texted me a little before noon to let me know she was awake.

I came back to the room before heading to cruise-long speed trivia. I joined a team of folks and we will play together on every sea day for the whole cruise. All scores will be added and a cruise champion will be crowned. Arlona went to the Wheelhouse bar for group ukulele lessons. She said they were a little disorganized, but she hooked up with some folks who were already somewhat accomplished players. They encouraged her to come back tomorrow and they'll help her out.

We met afterward and headed to lunch. We got a burger (me) and a chicken sandwich (Arlona) at the Trident Grill. For dessert, we decided to avail ourselves of the daily specialty desserts that are included with our plus package. Arlona went to the ice creme parlor and picked one of the dishes. She was met with...say it with me..."You don't have the package." After much back and forth, she got the dish and we split it.

All in all, it was pretty good but I wouldn't pay $12 for it if we didn't have the package

One thing I forgot to mention was dinner reservations. I talked about our inability to get into a restaurant last night. They advised calling the Dine Line (3463 or DINE) in the morning, so I did. Amazingly, they were able to get us into Vivaldi, one of the main dining rooms at 6:00. We found that interesting since the Princess application and the TV showed zero availability. Wow. But, they can only make one reservation at a time so we will have to waste time calling every morning or just eat in the buffet.

One other thing that is supposed to be included in the package that we paid for and sort of have - two "casual dining" meals. We were unable to find anything in the app that explains where those dining venues are or what a "casual dining" meal means. With questions about our still incomplete account, casual dining, and our inability to make dining reservations, it was time for a return visit to Guest Services.

We waited about 20 minutes in line to talk with a rep. He was very nice but obviously frustrated because Princess does not empower their crew to actually resolve anything. Everything involves an email shoreside and empty promises of resolution. As we waited in line, we met several other guests who had incorrect charges applied, had paid packages that didn't appear on their accounts, and so on. So, like yesterday, it isn't just us. There seemed to be a long line of people with account issues.

He got us set up for dining in one of the main dining rooms at 6:20 every evening, so that was one major issue resolved - we thought. It showed up in the app at 6:40, not 6:20, and only for a few days here and there. So, that will be another visit. He was able to explain the two casual dining venues, so we could check that one off. We finally showed where in the app where our package should show, but doesn't. It does show on our folio, but not in the app and that's why the bars and such can't see it. He reversed off bar charges that were erroneously applied because of the missing package. he further explained that shore side should get it resolved in a couple of hours. As I type this, it is over six hours later and we still have account issues.  Wow.

We played afternoon trivia and came close to winning - not bad for just the two of us. Here is an aggregation of missed questions from throughout the day:

• What animal has the largest eye?
• Colossal squid with an eye the size of a football
• What animal makes square poop and where do they live?
• Wombats in Australia
• What is the oldest lake in the world?
• Lake Baikal in Siberia - it's also the deepest
• How many rings does Saturn have?
• Eight main rings
• What is the state flower of Hawaii?
• Yellow Hibiscus
• Who published the HDI - Human Development Index
• The United Nations Development Program
• What is the longest river in the U.K.?
• River Severn
• What fashion house markets the fragrance Light Blue?
• Dolce & Gabbana
• What war began with the Japanese attack on Port Arthur in 1904?
• Russo-Japanese War

We did dine in Vivaldi tonight and it was fine. Nothing remarkable, but a good meal. We ate quickly as we planned to attend the 7:30 show - singer / impressionist / ventriloquist Michael Minor.

Michael and Screech

Michael and Clarence the Moose

Michael and Guido the rat

He did a combination of singing and ventriloquism, working in a few impressions along the way. The show was entertaining.

We hit up the buffet for a late dessert of pineapple flambe (Arlona) and chocolate chip cookies (me). We were both a bit tired - Arlona from the after-effects of her migraine and me from not sleeping well last night. We decided to call it a very early evening given that tonight will be our first time travel. We set the clocks back one hour tonight - the first of five such one-hour jumps back before we reverse course and lose all those hours again.

I'm thinking of opening up a betting pool on whether Princess will get the account issues resolved, and if so when.

• Before Hawaii
• Before Samoa
• Before Fiji
• Before French Polynesia
• Before we disembark
• Never

The smart money is on "Never".

Tomorrow is another day. We're hoping that the temperature starts to warm and the seas calm. As I type this at 10:00 PM, we're still moving a bit, but nothing out of the ordinary for a cruise ship so I expect the worst of the ocean motion is over, right on schedule as the Captain predicted. We'll see what tomorrow holds.