CanadianBurger

Today was Crete (changed from Santorini). I’ve been in the graphic arts/printing industry for almost 40 years. To find a Museum of Typography on Crete, only a five minute taxi ride from the port, had me more exited than all the ruins we saw.

Grabbed a table at O’Malley’s, and will be having a casual dining late lunch here when they start serving food. There’s a limited amount of Guinness on board, so they’ve limited availability to this pub. And it’s bottled… 😞

I wandered by the Spa today and asked. The answer may cause a firestorm like the Sanctuary… 1. Pricing IS dynamic. She couldn’t give me a price per day on a future cruise because she said it changes based on demand. 2. Single-day passes for the Thermal Spa are NOT sold for sea days. Only port days. 3. A day pass for today would have been $49. From today to the end of the cruise was a “special” of $149, for the three days left. I guess it would be the only way to use the Thermal Spa on the sea day tomorrow. The prices below seem crazily out of whack, but then I’m a guy, so what do I know…

The MDR dining room menu is in the app, so here’s tonight’s. You can compare it to the Reserve when I post it later.

We did not bid on an upgrade. It was an unexpected surprise. And there was no extra charge.

Ignoring the French onion soup, the rest of dinner was the best yet. The beef welly was the best I’ve had in over two dozen Princess cruises. Unbelievably tender.

I’m putting the “new take” of the French onion soup in its own post because it’s so bad. Epic fail. The bowl comes with a piece of bread with a bit of cheese. Then the soup gets glopped on top. What a hot mess. All the soups on the Sun are now served at the table in a small pitcher poured into the bowl. IMG_3384.mov

Someone ordered “The Revenge of the Kraken” at Wheelhouse.

Our headwaiter showed us tonight that the new silverware on the Sun all have a heart when viewed on end.

Only 10 and 11 are accessible to passengers. The forward-facing cabins on 12 are officer’s cabins, and along with the access door to the outside deck, are behind a Crew Only door. I peeked for a second. 14 doesn’t seem to have the access doors. I watched sail away from this area on 11 tonight. Keep the interesting places to explore coming!

Traditional Turkish rugmaking. The amount of work one of these takes is astounding.

The single column left standing of the Temple of Artemis

Ephesus pics. It was far more impressive than the Acropolis.

Basilica of St. John

Patter for today in Kusadasi, Turkey

ODY•C played a second night in the Piazza. Unfortunately, their fourth member, Evelina, was sick and lost her voice, so instead of the vocal harmonies we got more of a piano/vocal concert. Still very enjoyable. One thing I noticed is the acoustics on the lowest level of the Piazza aren’t the greatest. My Movie 3.mov

They had a silent disco in the Piazza which was one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever witnessed. Once I grabbed headphones it made a little more sense. The benefit of this is it doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the Piazza. The piano guy was playing at Crooners at the same time. IMG_3215.mov

The act got even more amazing. He made an instrument out of laser lights that he plays by touching the beams with his hands! The dancer is his wife. They met on a ship where she was a production show dancer and he was performing music. I would definitely go to see him again. He got a standing ovation at the end of his show. My Movie 2.mov

David Meyer, the entertainment in The Arena, was amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. He’s built his own xylophone synthesizer, or xylosynth. I put made an edit of some of his pieces. My Movie 1.mov

Tender ports only.

Dear Princess: While I like the idea of water pitchers on the tables in The Eatery, could you please find lids to put on them? I have witnessed people sneezing and coughing up a lung right in front of them. I don’t particularly want to drink that water after several different parties have been sitting at the table.

If you’re walking along deck 9, and want to continue forward past the Piazza, it’s not exactly obvious how, and a little hidden. I’ve put arrows for where to go.

Posting this out of order while I catch up. Tried the door to the Cabana Deck, and it wasn’t locked, so went for a look. Confirmed that I would never want one on those cabins where the balcony and the deck are essentially the same.

I happened to wander by there yesterday, and while I couldn’t enter, I did see children through the glass door.

What a difference a day makes. Dinner tonight was absolutely perfect. The pasta was excellent, and the pot roast was unbelievably tender and tasty. No knife required. Melted in your mouth. The desserts were to die for, especially the chocolate caramel torte.