We stayed out there for the rest of the morning; G got a bit to eat from the Cafe Caribe but I wasn't particularly hungry early on. The sun was bright and hot and I plugged in ear buds to listen to a new audiobook I downloaded from my local library while in Aruba (American Tropic, a murder mystery set in Key West during the- you won't believe this part- World Champion Power Boat Championships). G alternated between the hot tub on Deck 17 and the lounger next to me. We were enjoying watching the Island Princess, which had been in Aruba with us and was following the same route back to Fort Lauderdale, arriving with us tomorrow morning. First thing this morning, the Island was on our starboard side behind us, but by late afternoon she had passed us. I always wish there was more interaction at sea when sister ships sail so closely together, that they'd play some kinds of cruise ship games like horn blowing contests or follow the leader, but, alas, they never do. They don't even sail close to each other. But it's still fun to have a sister ship in sight on a sea day.
Finally, an announcement came from the bridge that we would be cruising through a brief rain shower in about 10 minutes. We stuck it out for that one, but when it became obvious that we were losing our sunny start to the day and the weather was taking a permanent turn for the worse, we gave up and came inside. It was lunch time by then, so we got cleaned up and went to the DaVinci Dining Room. I, of course, was starving, having not eaten for nearly 18 hours (on a cruise ship!), and was pleased to see spaghetti putanesca on the menu, and key lime frozen yogurt for dessert.
We took some time after lunch to admire the Thanksgiving Day display in the Piazza (like last year, it was turkeys playing fruit and veggie instruments), and something new this year: thankfulness trees. There were already many cards on the trees, and blank cards there to be used to add more thoughts. G seemed very interested in getting me to read the cards on one of the three trees...VERY interested. Like leading me with his eyes to one particular card. And then I saw it:
I took a moment while I was in the Piazza to check with the Internet cafe manager about what to expect with our free Internet perk for our next cruise, which was booked as a 20-night cruise instead of two 10-night cruises. Not surprisingly, we will get only 250 minutes each for the whole 20 days (instead of 250 minutes each for 10 days). But what was a surprise is that he said our leftover Internet minutes from this cruise will roll over. I remain skeptical but hope that's true. We both have between one and two hours remaining from our 250 minutes from this cruise.
Three NFL games were shown on MUTS today...
1:30pm- Packers v. Lions
5:30pm- Cowboys v. Raiders
9:30pm- Steeler v. Ravens
...but the weather was not cooperating. Huge wind and frequent rain showers kept all but the most ardent fans away, and at least the Cowboys-Raiders game was shown on our cabin TV ('cause we're watching it right now). This afternoon, I was surprised to see that the washers in the passenger laundromat on our deck were available, and so did a load of delicates. Our poor cabin steward Raymond took one look at the undies hanging on our clothesline from one side of the cabin to the other and left our turndown chocolates on the vanity. Smart man.
Thanksgiving dinner, for the second year in a row, was really nothing special. Sure, turkey was on the menu, but it's the same entree that's always on the menu on the last night of a cruise. G had the Virginia ham and said it was wonderful, as was the turkey, and we both had pumpkin pie for dessert, but it's a far cry from Thanksgiving on the Sapphire Princess in 2004 when the entire menu was Thanksgiving oriented.
We went to an early show in the Princess Theater- vocalist Jacqi Michaels. We had missed her first show two nights ago to attend the Most Traveled party, and that's too bad, because she was really good. I hope we'll see her again this winter. G mentioned tonight that the musical entertainment seems to be of a higher quality so far this winter, and I think so too. It makes us quite optimistic about what lies ahead.
The ship is really rocking and rolling tonight. We're back in our cabin to watch football and to try to fall asleep, which might be a bit of a trick tonight. We move clocks back an hour tonight, and may need that extra hour of sleep to try to get some quality rest. Well, I might. G's already snoozing next to me.
I wish I could do that!
