Deluxe Balcony and our first sea day

Here is what princess says about our deluxe balcony: Deluxe Balcony Spectacular Views from Your Room Choose this enhanced version of a Balcony stateroom with more space and a comfortable sofa bed. Enjoy a larger balcony with more room to view the beautiful scenery as you sail from destination to destination and take in the ocean breeze for a wonderful and romantic evening or morning. Approx. 233 to 279 sq. ft., including balcony Balcony with 2 chairs and table Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors Sofa bed Comfortable queen or two twin beds▲ Refrigerator Flat-panel television Private bathroom with shower 100% cotton, high-thread count linens 24-hour room service† Spacious closet Desk with chair Hair dryer & bathroom amenities Digital security safe. I am still hoping to be able to get some pictures downloaded but so far no luck. We had a busy day. I tried to blog when I got up at six with no luck. I am still getting a alphabet soup instead of a photo. I got Ken up so we could head out to breakfast. We went to Allegro and had a very nice breakfast. The fruit plate starter was amazing. All of the fruit was at the perfect stage of ripeness. But as usual the toast was cold, over cooked and hard. You can't have it all. Then we returned to our cabin and got ready for the Home Town gift exchange. Over 40 had signed up for this and the variety of amazing gifts was surprising. The idea was to bring a gift from your home area to exchange. Each gift had to be wrapped and had to be valued at between 10 and 15 dollars. I brought bags of Brookside blueberry chocolates. We got a variety of items from Minnesota . There were 3 candies and wild rice and span , all of which were produced in Minnesota.That was the first time we had taken part in that activity. It was a lot of fun After the gift exchange we went up to Deck 16 and collected blankets. We want to have them for viewing the glaciers from our balcony. better to have them now rather than find there are none left when we want them. As we waked around we could see people bundled up watching a football game on the big screen. They looked COLD. We also saw a display of pool animals so I had to take a pictur of them.

We went back to lunch and this time we have company. Well not really but there was a guy seated next to us. He was from Arizona and he told us he had not been home for 16 weeks. He cruises with Princess and said he had over 300 cruises. He asked if we went to the Captain Circle parties and said he would likely see us there. He never did tell us his name. We decided that a short nap was in order. I took time to hide 3 ducks and to check out the big sales. Because this is the final trip to Alaska for the Royal they are trying to get rid of stock. So many jackets and vests etc were on for 75% off Those of you who know me well know that resisting these bargains took all of the will power I could muster. So far I am winning but I do not guarantee tomorrow or the rest of the cruises. Our cabin was still chilly so I called customer services and reported the problem. After the short nap we went down to find a machine where we could print out our bill. I always check to see the charges. I was surprised to see that we were being charged for tips and we had already paid them, the same was true of shore excursions. So we got in line to ask for help to correct this. I was expecting this to be a big deal but much to my surprise it was fixed in only a few minutes. Next we went to the internet cafe to check on service and Ken's phone. That took a while but I think we learned a little. These teck guys are amazing and they do not appreciate that we old folks do not appreciate they way they fly from one step to the next thinking that we know what they are doing . This was the time when the repair people came to try to get the heat in our room. Two young men worked for over and hour and when they left they said it was rapaired. We were not entirely convinced. By then it was time to get dressed for dinner. This was a formal night. Ken wore his white dinner jacket and he was the best looking man on the ship even if I say so myself.I was disappointed to see how many people ignored the formal night dress rules. There were even people in jeans and sweats and ball caps.

Dinner was fun, the menu was fantastic and we are now at an assigned table next to people who we think will be great travel partners. One couple is from NFLD and on the other side of us is a watercolor artist.Both couples are so much fun to visit with.

I do not know if you remember me singing the praises of a waiter with a magical voice. His name is Emile and he will be our waiter.I recognized him from the world cruise and other cruises. I even send a video of him singing Its Time to Say Good-bye at the end of the cooking show just before we disembarked the world cruise. He seemed really pleased that we remembered him. He has been with Princess for more than 25 years. He asked if this cruise was to celebrate anything, we told him that we were celebrating 2 birthdays. He brought the Princess birthday cake and sang for us. This was picture night also we just may get this one if we like it. We have not gotten pictures in a very long time. . Then we walked to the other end of the ship, past all of the folks attending the champagne waterful and all of that fuss. Tonight's show was featuring vocalist Trina Johnson Finn. She did all songs of Whitney Huston. The music was too loud as usual but otherwise it was good. She had the crowd eating out of her hands. At the end of the show we headed back to the cabin. Much to our surprise and pleasure our room was warm when we arrived. We changed, put out the order for breakfast and called it a night. Of course I had to work on the blog before turning in. Tomorrow we are in Ketchikan.