On the way to Shanghai...

Saturday, March 07, 2009 – in the China Sea
Sunny and cloudy – about 55 degrees
Hurried to a 9:15 appointment to see the various categories of staterooms and toured the Princess and Queen Grill areas. There are some great staterooms available in all categories which offer great value for the money…there are secret bargains on the ship!
Also, for our next port of call in Shanghai, China, we had to be “seen” by the Chinese immigration officers -- which took approx. 30 seconds. Again, what a cushy job. Imagine what they tell their colleagues when they return from home after being onboard for 2 nights!

At 10:30, we enjoyed a private tour of the bridge (with 15 lucky others). The ship is actually steered with a joy stick, which is approx. the length of your finger!!! A 90,000 ton ship being steered by this little toothpick!! On each side of the bridge, is an overhanging wing with a glass floor so they can look out as we dock. The ship has azipods so it very rarely uses tug boats to push it in to and out of the dock; travels at approx. 23 knots; they do not use paper charts and there were so many technical and electronic pieces of equipment up there I did not know where to start! It was very interesting and since we are in the China Sea, we saw many Chinese fishing vessels – the sampan style ships. We steer clear of them, we were told, as they cannot be bothered by us!

After lunch, I rested for a few hours. I am still not feeling 100%. My voice sounds terrible and I have a cough. Gene went to the movies and dinner. We worked on coordinating the paperwork for our group tour tomorrow in Shanghai.

The show tonight is a flautist, but it has been suggested I rest, which I shall!