Day 41 ~ Sailing the Andaman Sea with Special People

Never go on trips with anyone you do not love. ~ Ernest Hemingway

During the night we passed through the Malacca Strait and entered the relatively shallow Andaman Sea. The water is still blessedly calm, but at breakfast, we noticed a band of white caps, followed by another stretch of barely perceptible wavelets, then another strip of higher waves which almost immediately settled back into the lovely duck pond-like water we’ve been enjoying. Apparently, there are a few ridges beneath the surface that cause those bands of rougher water.

Speaking of breakfast, I thought I’d share a few of the people who make our days on the Pacific Princess so very pleasant, starting with the crewman who makes my omelet when we decide to breakfast at the Panorama Buffet. This is Anthony whipping up my mushroom, onion and sausage omelet, but some days, it’s Sherwin. They are both expert omelet makers and I get a kick out of watching them flip the egg in the pan!

Anthony & his magic omelet pan!

If we want to linger over breakfast, we go to the Club Dining Room where we are waited upon hand and foot! However, today we had church at 8:45AM and couldn’t dally. Every Sunday at sea, we have an interdenominational service. Today, Debbie from Sioux Falls, South Dakota played “This is My Father’s World” beautifully on her flute. Pretty appropriate for a world cruise, huh?

Next, I decided it was time for an experiment. I had signed us up to visit the Elephanta Caves, home to some breath-taking 6^th century carvings, when we get to Mumbai, but I noticed on our tickets that it’s rated as a strenuous excursion because we have to climb 120 steps. I needed to see if I could do that, so the DH strapped on Backpack Herkimer and we climbed from Deck 3 to Deck 10. My O2 levels dropped below 90 twice, so I had to stop for a minute or so to catch my breath a couple of times, but I was able to do the climb. 

However, I wondered if I’d have to keep up with a group’s pace or if the steps going up to the caves were wide enough to allow me to stop without inconveniencing a lot of other people. So we went to see Veniesa, our excursion specialist, who has been so very helpful to us. We booked all our excursions with Princess and any time we needed to make a change or had any questions, she's been terrific.

Vaniesa from Brazil

She emailed the tour operator with my questions and it looks like this may not be the excursion for me. They said they couldn’t wait for me when I have to stop, which I totally understand. And when we reached the top, we wouldn’t have as long to view the carvings and our tour likely wouldn’t be guided. So one door closes and another opens. I get to pick a different adventure for us. The point is, I still plan to have an adventure!

Then we played trivia with our usual gang of Kristy & David, Brian & Mary. I’m sorry to report we did not win, but we’ve won so many times during the cruise, the ship has run out of different little prizes for us to rejoice over. We play strictly for pride’s sake now. 

Unfortunately, trivia has a way of keeping one humble!

Next was choir and I’m tickled to tell you that there were no strong perfumes or aftershaves near me today! It was a fun rehearsal with minimal coughs. This is our kind and patient director, David Craythorne (I swear every third man on this ship is named David!) He makes the rehearsals fun and the music accessible to everyone, even those who’ve never sang with a choir before. Our next concert is the day before we reach Dubai.

After lunch, the DH took a nap and I continued to work on the PDF of The Singular Mr. Sinclair. I should finish it tomorrow and be able to send the corrections back to editor for a July release date.  Then the DH went to walk on the track out in the blazing sun and I opted to walk the halls here on deck 7. (My final step count for today was 6350!) 

Ramona always has a smile and a cheery hello for us!

One cabin steward, Ramona, makes our life so pleasant here. She always seems to know our schedule and slips in while we’re gone to refresh the room beautifully.

This handsome fellow is Raj. 

Every evening, two young men make our dining experience special and full of laughs—Rajesh, our waiter, and his assistant, Kadek. We see them serving at the Panorama Buffet for breakfast or lunch or both. Kadek is often our waiter when we have breakfast at the Club Dining Room They must sleep standing up. Raj just got a haircut and I can’t imagine when he had time to do it.

Kadek is so sweet. He always tells us to "Enjoy please!" after he places a beautiful plate of goodies before us.

I’d be remiss in this tour of the folks who make our journey full of fun and friendship if  I didn’t include our table mates! He Who Must Not Be Named took a really good picture of the group during the Singapore sail  away using the longest selfie stick I've ever seen. He tried to send me the pic, but my aol address is so slow, it didn't even know it had a picture attached. I asked Craig to resend the photo  to the DH's gmail addie and when it comes, I'll post it here. Spending time with these wonderful people is the highlight of our day!