Day 02 - Sunday - 3/16/25 - At Sea to Honduras

 Sea days on these short Caribbean cruises are much different than sea days on the long voyages that we typically take. As a general rule for sea days on Caribbean cruises, there are very few learning activities such as lectures. They are filled with all sorts of activities related to shopping and relaxing around the pool or lounging in bars and lounges. It was a very sunny day, however, there was a very strong headwind.

As for us today, we took the opportunity to really relax for the first time in a while. We didn't get up terribly early and it was nice to have a longer sleep. For breakfast I tried out the Eatery, which is the buffet on deck nine. I found my typical breakfast of congee which was a bit challenging in that nobody seemed to know where it was. But once found, it was delicious and I rather enjoyed it. A lot of today's activities were held in the Piazza and I started the day out watching a game of officers versus guests in a game called water pong. This game involves trying to pitch ping-pong balls into cups partially filled with water. In the end, the officers won.  Later on I watched the Deal or No Deal game show which I rather enjoy on Princess ships. One contestant won a little bit of money but the second contestant won only a penny.

Afterwards, we went up to deck nineteen and did a mile walking around the jogging track on the aft of deck 19 (6 laps) It was quite windy and we decided to drop down a deck or two and walk in a more protected area. I ended up in the bow of the ship under the protection of the glass and enjoyed watching the sea, and even took a short nap. Our cruise host, Don Terris, had a reception in the Dome which was well attended, and there were nice hors d'oeuvres and free drinks. In the raffle, I won a Sun Princess T-shirt, and all participants were given a really nice coffee mug with the picture of the ship and our route imprinted on the side.

Given that we had such a late breakfast and then hors d'oeuvres at the reception, we elected to skip dinner, even though it was formal night. We found seats on level seven in the Piazza and watched the Captain's formal welcome and introduction of his senior staff. Captain Craig Street was personable and very gushing about being the Captain on this the largest of Princess' ships.

Tonight was the premiere for this voyage of the production show Viva La Musica in the Arena. From everything I've read about the ship I was apprehensive about being able to find seats, but we showed up about 40 minutes before showtime and there were plenty of seats. However, the theater did fill up rapidly and was entirely full for the performance.  The show was a high energy, well choreographed performance, although it would not be my first choice in music. Also, I would note that in my opinion this venue really does not support well these kinds of shows. There are many seats which have very poor site lines. Also, in my opinion, the venue is terribly undersized for the size of ship this is. But if there's a long-term plan for the ship is to do the short Caribbean or Mediterranean cruises (one to two weeks) then this small venue will probably work for them.

Afterwards, back in the Piazza, we watched the Yes No game show which on other ships is typically held in the Princess live venue. It turned out the first three contestants were lawyers, and they all were able to win the top prize of a bottle of bubbly. The host then found their grooves and they proceeded to eliminate most of the following contestants.  They did bring back the fellow who scored the least amount of time before being eliminated and he got the opportunity to eliminate the Cruise Director, Jason Douglass, in around a minute and a half.

We ended our evening watching an Irish duo in the Irish pub, and I found them quite enjoyable. Afterwards Angela elected to participate in karaoke while I came back to the room to update my blog.

Tomorrow we're projected to reach Mahogany Bay in Roatan Honduras around 10 AM with a 7:30 PM on board time. We have a snorkeling trip planned, which will take most of the day and hopefully we can find some corn beef and cabbage back on the ship to properly celebrate St. Patrick's Day. We were in Mahogany Bay last year on the Regal Princess and did a different snorkeling trip so we're looking forward to seeing the difference in the two snorkeling venues.