Coastal Cruise Pt 4

Next port call will be Santa Barbara after a full day at sea. Personally I love the sea days as a great day for relaxation. No time to be up, no time to go to bed, eat a meal when ever you are hungry. Sadly my body clock does not endorse my lazy day plan and fully wakes me between 5:00 and 6:00 AM. ARRRG!

Still fully showered and dressed shortly after 6:00 with my wife and kids still sound asleep, I head off to the Horizon Court for some breakfast and to enjoy the view of the sea. Scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, some fresh fruit and a couple glasses of water. On a cruise, experiencing a little dehydration can occur fairly easily especially if the cruise were to warmer climates than we are used to. I always try to drink a little more water than usually the week prior to a cruise and try to continue the higher water intake throughout the cruise, consuming even more water when I choose to enjoy a few of the fancy cocktails.

Late in the morning the sun starts breaking through the cloud cover and the temperature would eventually push to about the mid 60's. With the sun shine comes the sun worshipers who gradually begin lining the pools with lounge chairs. Now this is beginning to look and feel like a sea day although most loungers opt to lay out in their clothes. By lunch time the music is flowing and the pools and hot tubs are now hubs of activity. As lunch time passes and the beverage servers get busier and new friends are being made. RELAXATION.

I believe I mentioned in an earlier segment that I prefer to leave my dining time as open seating or "Any Time" dining. I hate to be locked in to one of the traditional seating times and feel the need to break off a good time (like a sea day) just to use the dining room. During the length of this cruise we ate as early as 5:45 PM to as late as 8:30 PM depending on what we were all doing at the time. During the rest of the day you can always find something to eat, in fact from 6:00 AM until 11:00 PM on Princess the Horizon Court is open, rolling from breakfast to lunch to afternoon snack to dinner. You will not go hungry on a cruise ship.

This sea day was a day of relaxation and to cap it off after a late dinner, we made a visit to the casino. I am a craps player and my wife loves the slot machine action. I have a theory based on my observations on many cruises that the slot machines are much looser on the first night or two of the cruise and tightens up toward the middle and end. No one in the casinos acknowledges this but it certainly appears that way. Still my enjoyed her time on the slots. The craps table is the place to be and the game that provides the best odds to the player for those who understand the game. The game can be fast paced and with a lively crowd can be a great time. The casino also has roulette and several kinds of card games open to the card players. The one draw back of a cruise when it is in U.S. waters is by law the casino must close by midnight. Don't know what antiquated law that is but sure enough, at 11:45 the staff began announcing the imminent closing.

During the late evening and into the night, the captain made excellent time as he was trying to keep ahead of a low pressure system that was heading toward Northern California. Consequently the Crown Princess anchored in Santa Barbara Bay sometime after 1:00 AM. All the guests woke to a beautiful sunshine morning shining on the gorgeous Santa Barbara hills and marina. The warmer weather saw many more people opting for shorts both on the ship and on the shore tours.

I heard many guests talking of the Solvang tour or the Santa Barbara Wine Country tour on the tender from the ship to the marina. Both are good tours if one is new to the area. Now, without a pricey cruise line tour, Santa Barbara Transit offers trolley-looking buses that travel along the shoreline and into the downtown area for a few dollars each and they know when the ships are in the bay and line up the trolleys for continuous departures. About one half of a mile east from the marina is Stearn's Wharf where those who must have souvenirs can find a good variety of Santa Barbara branded items.

After a couple hours walking around and hanging out on the wharf, I make my way back to the tender marina for the ten minute trip back to the ship. A couple more glasses of water and then off to the upper deck to watch the last of the tender operations as the ship prepares to sail away for San Diego. Slowly slipping off into the sunset as Santa Barbara grows smaller minute by minute. Beautiful sail away with an ice cold Sea Witch IPA.

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