Sapphire Princess South Pacific Cruise Day 21 - Sea Day stories of heroism
First - illness on the ship. The Captain reported that the cases of gastrointestinal illness continue to decrease with only 11 in quarantine. It seems to be resolving itself, but mitigation procedures remain in place to ensure that this goes away promptly.
The Captain took some time to provide an update on the medical evacuation that took place on Dravuni Island. An 84-year-old man was found unconscious, floating face-down in the ocean near the beach on Dravuni Island. A combination of different crew members and guests retrieved the man and started performing CPR. They were able to resuscitate him and bring him to the ship, but he was still touch-and-go. The medical team on the ship was able to stabilize him enough to return him to the island for the airlift to Suva, Fiji. The Captain reported that the patient is in stable condition and continues to improve.
The Captain named multiple crew members who were instrumental in saving this man's life as well as recognizing that multiple guests stepped in as needed to assist in the rescue. It was a terrific message and a nice recognition of people who went above and beyond to ensure the safety of a guest in severe distress.
We awoke this morning for our second go-around on April 24th.
We've crossed the International Date Line for the last time this journey and are now back on the same day as the U.S., so no more confusion. Today is our second of four sea days en route to Tahiti.
It was another typical day with multiple trivia rounds, dining, drinking, and socializing.
At morning trivia, one of our partners got a tall drink with a straw. It seems that Princess has changed the straws. Does anyone see a problem here?
Arlona noticed this sign on the pool deck.
I point this out as a means to mention the atrocious communication on this ship. Yesterday, we got a disembarkation for asking for details about our travel plans when leaving the ship. It is so they can schedule buses, luggage handling, and so on. It says that if you want to use the transfer buses to the airport, you can't be flying out any earlier than 12 A.M. Huh? That's midnight. They meant 12 P.M., but nobody proofreads documents.
In the Princess app, today's dinner menu never got updates due to yesterday's change that moved formal night to today. It is a minor thing, but if you have an app that is supposed to provide the most up-to-date information, it should do that. It regularly seems to be off, showing different schedules than the printed daily Princess Patter schedule. It is the little things that differentiate poor, good, and great, and I wish Princess spent just a little more time on those little things.
We did fairly well today in our trivia competitions but didn't score a win. Here are the misses:
- What was the first country to ban smoking in the workplace (Belgium, Ireland, Sweden)?
- We had this before but forgot that it was Ireland
- What two South American countries do not border Brazil?
- Chili, Ecuador
- How many King Edwards has England had?
- We thought six, it was eight
- What country granted Madagascar independence?
- France
- What common fruit was close to extinction in 2003 due to no seeds being formed in its edible form?
- Banana
- What is the smallest island nation?
- We thought St. Kitts & Nevis - it was Nauru
- What did the first vending machine dispense?
- We guessed cigarettes - it was holy water!
- What country borders Zambia to the east?
- Malawi
- When did the construction of the Berlin Wall start?
- 1961 - we thought it was in the 1950s
- Who was the Roman goddess that started the Trojan War?
- Eris
- What was the first domesticated animal?
- We guessed cat, but it was the dog, over 15,000 years ago
It was formal night, so we dolled up and headed to the Explorers Bar.
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| Of course, a pre-dinner cocktail was involved |
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| Formal nights usually mean special menus with things like lobster and Beef Wellington |
After dinner, we returned to the Explorers Bar and watched the Marriage Match game - Princess's take on The Newlywed Game. Three couples - a newly married couple, a seasoned couple, and a veteran couple were selected. We've taken part multiple times on multiple cruise lines so we opted to not put our names in and just watch the fun.
A couple that we see almost daily did get chosen as the middle couple as they will celebrate their 32nd anniversary tomorrow. The newly married couple was married for just over two years. The veteran couple was married for 49 years.
The women put on headphones as the men were asked questions like:
- A new law requires that you take a second wife - what real person (celebrity, family member, etc) would it be?
- Where was your first kiss and how would you rate it?
- You won a million dollars, but to collect it, you have to place one member of her family on a rocket for a one-way trip to the moon. Who would it be?
- Rate her amorous actions (Wild Thing, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, etc)
After they answered, the headphones came off and the women answered the same questions, winning points for matching their husbands.
Then, they put the headphones on the men and asked the women:
- He comes out of the shower wearing just a towel. A breeze comes up and the towel drops. Describe his "personality" as one of the following vehicles (Ford dump truck, Mini Cooper, stretch limo, pink VW bug with two flat tires)
- Describe your first date using the following nautical terms (All hands on deck, Raise the Titanic, An Officer and a Gentleman)
- Where was your most memorable or unusual romantic encounter?
The men then had to answer, again gaining points for matching.
It was all fun and entertaining, and our bar friends won - a nice anniversary bonus.
We were ready to head to the room so we called it a day. There are no adjustments to the clock or calendar tonight, so that's a nice change. Tomorrow, we'll lose another hour as we continue toward Tahiti.
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