Day 9 & 10 – Sea Days

So now I finally have some down time to TRY to catch up on the blog. The real question is, how successful will I be?

I spend the morning of day 9 wandering about searching for a reasonably quiet area. Although there is an enormous choice of locations, near a window or not, outside or not, beside a bar, or not…the list goes on…finding one that is somewhat secluded is sometimes a challenge.

Well why not simply stay in your very nice mini-suite? Peace and quiet are in abundance, a balcony is right there beside you if the outdoors beckons… How difficult can this be?

Fair point, but I don’t really mind a certain level of ambiance and passengers/crew/surroundings provide the appropriate measure. With that in mind I make my way to a tried and true location, the Wheelhouse Lounge.

It has window seats (not for me today thank you), as well as plenty of space within a somewhat intimate environment. More importantly the seat I choose, right beside a wall, has an electrical outlet which will help keep my laptop functional should the need arise. 🙂

Massaging the pictures and choosing which of the hundreds taken are most relevant to include takes a good amount of time. Oh Look!!! It’s lunch time. 🙂 Guess that means I will have to go to Ocean Terrace to have a little bite.

Momokawa organic sake. Not Daiginjo or Junmai Daiginjo but a Great accompaniment to the rest. Yellowtail sashimi and the torched shrimp and scallops sushi. The Wasabi was hot enough to get your immediate attention yet not so hot to leave your tongue and throat a flaming inferno.

If you don’t like raw fish, avoid here. But for those of us that do, it is certainly worth the extra monies. The yellowtail was exactly what you would expect, mixed with Serrano and Fresno Chillis, truffle oil, green onion, Yuzu and Tobiko. You can use your tongue to chew.

Torched shrimp and scallops exactly that. Very lightly torched on top, resting on sushi rice. Perfect!

Seaweed salad and ginger to pair with.

Was it good? Well…the only proof I would have would be the empty plates but he took them away so no pics of those. However…I Do have the much more important info…

We may not be in Japan, but I have to say they do serve up a mighty fine sushi/sashimi plate along with very acceptable Sake. This little gem has do-over written all over it.

Back to Wheelhouse with more work yet to do. The text portion is not very difficult, it’s the selecting and preparing the pictures that is the real work.

And now, yet another interruption. I had (almost) forgotten about the Wine Tasting event we are attending shortly. Guess I better get down there and take care of business. There is usually two different tastings on a Princess cruise but I have decided, some time ago, the better of the two is that for a reason. Hence I forego the other.

This is a decent tasting however I found, this time, I was happier with the whites that I was with the reds. A bit unusual for me as I do have an overall preference for red. But…I am totally ambidextrous in that I can drink either happily…with either hand. Or both.

The canapé pairings were spot on however. The starter, Nicholas Feuillatte Brut Champagne, was matched very well with a white cheese mousse. The first white, a 2019 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, combined nicely with a tuna mousse. The second white, a very nice 2016 Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, complimented the shrimp exactly the way it should. All three of these surprised my palate, especially the Cloudy Bay as I’m not normally a huge fan of New Zealand wines. Always happy to turn a new leaf however.

Now the reds. I had high hopes for the 2018 Masi Campofiorin together with the salmon ceviche. The combination was great, the wine by itself was just…ok. The second red was a 2018 Caro from Mendoza, Argentina. With the cheese slices it matched properly but again, on it’s own, not outstanding. Good, certainly, but not one I would seek out. The last was to be the star of the tasting. 2016 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon from California. Definitely the best of the reds and worked perfectly with the chocolate at the end. Yet, once again, one I would hesitate to buy compared to other Cabernets I have had from California. Let me be clear however. These are My Own personal opinions…likely to differ wildly with your own.

A bigger problem is the very slow and spotty internet. With the upcoming stopover in Montenegro, we were warned the this was a very likely occurrence. Regrettably it is an accurate assessment and it has started with our entrance into the Adriatic Sea. This makes the uploading of pictures to this blog an arduous task.

As luck would have it, the two days spent getting to Montenegro are NOT conducive to getting caught up at all. The trip itself takes us from the Tyrrhenian Sea, through the very narrow Messina Strait between Sicily and the toe of Italy and up into the Adriatic. That interesting little passage was during the late-night, very early morning hours so not a lot to see. 😉

Day 10 is pretty much a repeat of day 9. If the weather wasn’t so great and the seas so calm I might actually have something to complain about. Ok…the internet connection…there, I’ve complained again. But everything else is just outstanding.

The majority of this day is one of finishing the text for Livorno, finalizing all the minor editing of the pictures and S L O W L Y uploading them to my blog. Reminding myself that I am right in the middle of a rather significant body of water with nary a cell tower/internet provider in sight helps keep things in perspective. Princess has not yet paired up with Starlink but given that other cruise lines have, it’s likely on their list of things to do.

The food has been a) more than we need…b) all very good…c) non-repetitive given the sheer number of places to eat… The drinks have been the same way. The weather hasn’t changed since we left Barcelona – 20+ C everyday, almost totally cloudless skies, little wind.

And not one snowflake!! (Does that rank as a complaint?)

At some point I expect things will change. For our luck to hold out for an entire month is a totally unrealistic expectation but I will certainly keep you well informed.

The next post will be Kotor, Montenegro…depending entirely on wireless connectivity.