Day 13 At Sea

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."  I was reminded of this quote while sitting in the Caribbean Princess Theatre, listening to Destination Expert Lance Schuler share his insights about our next two ports. The quote was once said by Andre Gide, the French author, essayist and Nobel Laureate in literature. I think the quote summarizes a good part of why I love to travel. The quote reminds us to step out of familiar surroundings to see the world and grow. 

So about three of hours of my day onboard were spent in education lectures. While many folks spend hours by the pool in the sun or finding shade somewhere on deck or playing cards or Bingo,  I prefer learning stuff!

J tried to find partners for a game of bridge today but they only had three players!

We had a Cruise Critic Meeting in Skywalkers this morning. The organizer of the event is in the green T-shirt here and she is standing with some of the ship's officers in attendance. 

The two women on the left stood out. Jennifer Sesic is the Hotel General Manager. She has worked 26 years with Princess and started at the bottom and worked her way to be one of the three most senior people below the Captain. Next to her is Gabriela de Melo (Gabby) who is Guest Services Director. 

We had a really great conversation with Gabby talking about some of the challenges we were having with our future cruise planning for 2027. She created some really fun banter with us saying how she looked forward to retirement when she had such problems where she could actually cruise for fun (not work). She reminded me of what our oldest son had said to us in the past - "First World Problems Mom!" Yes indeed, we realize we are privileged to travel as much as we do. 

I did praise Gabby for how she handled some challenging questions from guests at the In Transit meeting a few days ago. She was concise, professional and clear in her expectations when dealing with what some might say were grumbling passengers. 

We did find a few minutes to go up and deck and collect some Vitamin D!

Champagne Waterfall ready and waiting. 

Captain Stephen Lewis at what will be his final night of command on the Caribbean Princess. He is going home to his family tomorrow and our new Captain will take over. It was formal night tonight. I will share menus with you here:

Our ship's officers shown today. Tomorrow we will have a new Captain to reveal!