Cleone and Dan both had bad nights. They think it’s due to their colds but surely fried food factored in there somewhere. Our last day at sea was part work and part play. There was the issue of squeezing in trips to the dining facilities between packing, watching football on the big screen on deck, and a cooking demonstration featuring the head chef, head pastry chef, and maitre d’.  the demo was funny and fun all in one. The chef’s pronunciation of veg-uh-TAYbles always made me smile. Before we headed off to tour one of the ship’s five kitchens, the headwaiter, Hector, stepped forward and closed the session much as you might anticipate … by singing F. Sinatra’s old stand by My Way. Really. He got a standing ovation in recognition of his wonderful voice, rousing rendition, and courage to pull of the unexpected.

Dinner was delicious, as usual, with the added surprise of the parade of baked Alaskas, a Princess Cruise Line staple we were told. The lights were dimmed and we all waved our napkins above out heads for the duration. When the Alaskas were off the floor, Hector (head waiter…cooking demo…remember?) took the mic and belted out Time to Say Goodbye to a very enthusiastic crowd.

The entertainment for our last day at sea was fabulous. We were not expecting world class, as-seen-on-prime-time-TV marionettes, but we got them. The Huber Marionettes to be exact. They were amazing!!!! times two. The guy manipulating the zillions of strings was able, among other things, to make a clown walk a tightrope, an acrobat do tricks on a metal ring, Liza Minnelli sing, and a guy from the Ming Dynasty turn into a dragon, and a Pinocchio looking fellow play the violin. We really were spellbound.

Favorite part(s) of the cruise
Hettie: ports and camaraderie
Ronnie and Dan: ports of call
Walter: getting away
Cleone: being with the group
Schele: ending each day with a triple date: dinner and a show. No worries about traffic, parking, ticket price, etc.

Favorite stop
Hettie and Ronnie: Shetland Islands
Walter, Cleone, Dan: 2nd stop in Iceland
Schele: 1st stop in Iceland

Suitcases had to be in the hall before we headed to bed, so we left our rousing discussion of the trip to tend to finishing touches for disembarkation. We all agreed it had been a wonderful trip with good, olddddd friends.