20240425 Sapphire Princess South Pacific Cruise Day 22 - Sea day - rocking and rolling and an imposter ship

Sapphire Princess South Pacific Cruise Day 22 - Sea Day - more of the same, but with waves

Yesterday, the Captain gushed about how nice the weather had been and how smooth the seas were. He then talked about how we should have favorable conditions all the way to Tahiti. He lied.

Today, we awoke to a low overcast and rain. We've been in and out of the rain all day. The seas got a bit angrier as well with at least 10-footers or better bouncing us around. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad and we certainly aren't impacted at all. I actually like a bit of ship movement. But... many on this ship look like they don't appreciate it at all. Here in C-115, we feel all the impacts on the front of the ship, usually with a little rattle of the cabin walls. This ship doesn't have a bulbous bow like many more modern ships do. My understanding is that the bulbous bow reduces the feel of the impact force when the ship slams into a wave along with a significant improvement (10%-15%) in fuel efficiency.

The day started just before sunrise as Princess conducted a sunrise ceremony to recognize ANZAC Day, April 25. It is a day set aside to recognize those who served and those who died in the military forces of New Zealand and Australia. Unfortunately for us, sunrise usually involves faces pressed deeply into pillows so we missed it. Still, it was a nice gesture on Princess's part to hold the ceremony.

On the way to breakfast, Arlona found this.

Cruising ducks have become a thing. Folks bring little rubber ducks on cruises and hide them in plain sight all over the ship throughout the cruise. Folks that find them can keep them or rehide them to continue the fun. It's like Jeep ducks, but without the Jeep, and with a cruise ship. OK - they're nothing like each other, except the ducks.

Arlona is contemplating whether she is going to keep it (we need more clutter) or hide it for someone else to find and enjoy. (I think she'll hide it, but she's figuring out how to be sneaky about it)

At breakfast, I took a detailed look at the tables in the buffet.

A heavy stone top with a removable center section

A control panel under the surface

The bases were large, square, and had vents. It was then I realized that I was looking at - a fire table. It sure seems odd on a cruise ship. Someone noticed me looking at it and explained. This ship originally sailed the Asia market. The tradition includes cooking right at the table so these were used. I can't imagine they use gas so I expect they are electric, but still, it sure seemed odd at first. Given that explanation, it made sense.

The guest continued to explain that while we are on the Sapphire Princess, we really aren't on the Sapphire Princess. Sister ships, Sapphire Princess and Diamond Princess were being built simultaneously. Sapphire Princess was to sail first and its inaugural cruise was sold out. Shortly before it was supposed to sail, it caught fire in the shipyard, disabling it. Because the ships were essentially identical, they took all the badging from the Diamond Princess off replacing it all with the badging from the Sapphire Princess. The two ships swapped identities before sailing. The new Sapphire Princess sailed, and after repair, the new Diamond Princess went into service as well. She said an engineer confirmed this story and that in the engineering area, it is listed as the Diamond/Sapphire Princess.

The on/off rains today did a number on our deck, depositing enough liquid sunshine so we have our own wave pool throughout the day.

You can see the one small drain to the right. The water never seems to make it over there.

Trivia was rough today with tougher questions. Our failures throughout the day:

• What is the largest maritime port in France?
• We guessed LeHavre - it was Marseilles
• Which way does the Jack of Hearts face?
• We guessed left - it is right (technically to his left, but that argument didn't work)
• Where was the first electric traffic light installed?
• Cleveland, Ohio
• What island did Napoleon die on?
• We guessed Corsica - it was St. Helena
• What British explorer first circumnavigated Antarctica?
• Cook - he really got around
• What is the actual color of the Sun?
• White - the yellow/orange color comes from Earth's atmosphere
• What was the length of the Titanic?
• 882.5 feet (this was a tiebreaker for other teams)
• What well-respected actor was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, Jr.?
• Michael Caine
• In which year did Amelia Earhart first fly solo over the Atlantic?
• 1932
• How far away can you hear a lion's roar?
• We guessed three miles - it was five miles
• In an interesting one, we were asked the square root of 700
• Arlona dug deep and used the long-hand method of calculating square roots and came up with 26.45 - the correct answer to two decimal points - woo!

The Captian reported that the cases of gastrointestinal distress continue to decrease. He said that during our stop in Papeete, Tahiti, the entire ship would go through a complete disinfection protocol. We continue to be impressed with the Captain's candor and transparency as well as Princess's situational response.

Our progressive speed trivia is held in the Wheelhouse Bar every 12:15 on sea days. The trivia is fun, but here's why it is awesome.

Meet Judith

That is Judith and her friendly smile and professional service bring a smile to everyone every day. She is a great example of an exceptional crew member here on the Sapphire Princess. By the second day, she knew everyone's name and what they liked to drink. She lights up the room and makes every day a little bit better for everyone who sees her.

We had a quick lunch in the buffet before heading to the room for a bit. 

I opted for a little soft-serve for dessert

Arlona ate one of her available daily specialty desserts

Arlona is still coordinating our neighborhood weekly golf reservation so she needed to get the request entered this afternoon so it would be in before midnight on the East Coast. As we were getting bounced about the room with every crash of a wave against the bow, driving sideways rain appeared, even though the sun was shining. I popped out and caught this extremely bright rainbow just off the deck.

It's hard to compare ship movement days apart, but to our seasoned sea legs, today's movement is roughly the same or perhaps a little more than we experienced when we departed Los Angeles. We are certainly moving around and up front, where our room is, we hear and feel the waves breaking on the bow. Nothing is moving around the cabin so it isn't huge movement as saying movement goes, but we're definitely moving with some authority.

We stopped at the Explorers Bar for a pre-dinner drink and then enjoyed dinner. We both had the chicken satay with peanut sauce appetizer and chicken chili for the main course. It was on the spicy side, but tasty.

We returned to the Explorers for a round of automobile logo trivia. Unsurprisingly, the two of us along with bar buddy, JJ, got a clean sweep 25/25, including logos from Bentley, Mini, and Aston Martin (all similar), plus Skoda, Smart, Land Rover, Citroën, and more. All wording was removed from the logos, making it more of a challenge. 

We lose another hour tonight, moving to UTC-10 (Tahiti time) or six hours behind the U.S. East Coast. Tomorrow is our last sea day before reaching Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia.