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Ruby Princess Day 7 At Sea Saturday March 17, St. Patrick's Day
Our last day found us up early for breakfast in the Da Vinci dining room, with a whole sea day before us. The weather was glorious, as it had been the whole week. One of the entertainment staff told us we had been lucky because the week before it had not been so nice!
After the usual morning trivia, and a quick look at the "outlet" shopping extravaganza in the Michaelangelo dining room (mostly jewelry, bags, clothing and ship souvenirs from European ports of call), we headed out in the sun for the rest of the morning.
I even got to watch a little of "Puss 'n Boots" on the giant screen TV by the Calypso pool.
As it was St. Patrick's Day, all the bars and lounges were decked out in green decorations, balloons, streamers, signs, etc., and as it was a sea day, the Wheelhouse Bar was not just a
British Pub for lunch, but an Irish one!
On the menu was Fish 'n Chips, Scotch Eggs and Chicken Curry, not to mention green beer!
There was a bit of a wait for the food, as it was very busy, but we passed the time enjoying a beer, a wine and the live music.
We split up after lunch to do our own thing; James likes to pack early, so that's what he did, while I spent every last minute on deck, soaking up the sunshine, enjoying my book, my music, and the sights and sounds of being at sea....
One of the interesting things I saw on the pool deck in the late afternoon was the "Cookies & Milk" duo. Two servers, in paper ice cream hats, pushing a trolley around the pool deck,
offering afternoon milk and cookies to passengers. The kids, (and many adults too) loved it!
I got my last minute packing done in a whirlwind just before dinner. On the Ruby, we were asked to have our suitcases out in the hall by dinnertime, instead of 11pm so as to avoid the noise and disruptions late at night.
For the very first time in a week of anytime dining, we had to wait to get into the Michaelangelo dining room on this last night. We were given a buzzer and waited in the Piazza, enjoying a glass of wine and the lovely relaxing music of the resident pianist.
While waiting, I also noticed the HUGE St. Patrick's Day cake on display at the International Cafe.
When we got into the dining room after about a 30 minute wait, there was a large display for St. Patrick's Day, with buckets of Irish Whisky , coffee beans, whipped cream,and lots of shamrocks.
I guess Irish Coffee was the special of the night!
As for dinner, mine was outstanding, as it had been all week, but on this final evening, James was not so lucky.
To start with, he ordered the Pepper Pot Soup, but was told it was no longer available, replaced with celery/fennel soup. It was good, but not his preference.
Then he ordered a peppercorn NY Strip Steak which was so tough and rubbery he couldn't cut it, much less chew it. He sent that back and ordered instead, "homestyle" meat loaf.
That was chewable, but tasted horrible, and although our waiter wanted to replace it with something else again, James politely declined.
My meal on the other hand, was great. I started with grilled vegetables on iceburg lettuce, followed by Tom Turkey with all the trimmings. I decided to go with the Love Boat Dream again for dessert, and James joined me, enjoying at least the last part of his meal!
We passed on the Baked Alaska, which of course was paraded through the dining room by all the waiters, and even passed on the Irish Coffee, as we wanted to get to the St. Pat's
party on time, over in Club Fusion.
The music playing in Club Fusion was just like being home in the Maritimes, lots of lively Celtic music, fiddles and drums. One of the entertainment staff was giving Irish dance lessons, actually, more like line dancing Irish style, and I participated in that, it was a lot of fun! James was busy videotaping this, but didn't get any still photos.
Unfortunately, we had to leave early in order to catch final theatre show, featuring comic Steve Moris and magician David Cats, both of whom are on the list of finalists along with
Bert Stratton, for the Princess Entertainer of the Year Award. The final contest and voting will take place on the April 8th sailing of the Ruby Princess.
After the show, we spent a few minutes speaking with our lovely Cruise Director Sam, telling her how much we enjoyed our cruise, and all the entertainers on board, and what a
teriffic staff she had. She was delighted to hear it.
Finally, we ended the evening by heading to the Crooners Lounge to see Bert one last time.
As soon as Bert saw us sit down, he said "Where have you guys been the past few days? I've been saving a song to play just for you..." and he proceeded to play my all-time favourite,
"Words" by the Bee Gees. It was so sweet of him to do that, I can't believe he even remembered from 2009!
When his set was over, we said our goodbyes, wished him luck in the Entertainer of the Year contest, and posed for a final photo. He is such a sweetheart!
A perfect ending to a perfect cruise.....
Tomorrow, disembarkation and final thoughts....
__________________
Royal Princess Innaugural Caribbean
Royal Princess Back-to-Back
Last edited by rollerdonna; March 30th, 2012 at 08:56 PM.
Wow! That was great. I've really enjoyed reading your day to day activities on Princess! I am cruising Caribbean Princess next week. Thanks for sharing!!
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Ruby Princess, Day 7 St. Patrick's Day
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