We made it to breakfast in the dining room by 8:30am, and service was better today. I had my usual (fruit, scrambled egg beaters and a lot of salsa), served by waiter Leslie from India who we hadn't seen in three years.
Instead of rushing off the ship immediately afterwards, we chose instead to continue exploring, particularly the back of the ship on Decks 17, 18 and 19 (the fitness center, jogging track and golf green). There is an incredible number of deck loungers on this ship. Most of them aren't around the pools, and they may or may not be in the shade, but I have never seen so many deck chairs on a ship. Love it!
We realized we're running out of time on this ship, and spent over an hour walking up and down the passenger deck corridors viewing the gorgeous travel photography submitted by Princess passengers. I think this is one of the best decorative features on this ship; it certainly turns a normally boring area (the long hallways on either side of the ship) into something to enjoy. The problem is that, unless you set aside the time to walk the halls, most of us will miss the majority of them. I really wish Princess would publish a book of them...THAT would be a money-maker!
Before we knew it, it was time for lunch and so we went to the Horizon Court Buffet for our first meal there. The salad bar was wonderful, and I had a huge salad topped with carved-to-order roast beef. And today the Pasry Shop featured the "once or twice a cruise" chocolate fountain. It wasn't nearly as good as last night's chocolate fondue, but that didn't stop us from enjoying chocolate dipped pineapple chunks. Yum! While we still find the buffet a bit overwhelming, I can't wait until next winter when we'll get it all figured out. It's a far cry from the slice of pizza and salad that I generally have for lunch in the buffet on the Emerald Princess.
Finally we headed off the ship. The beauty of Grand Turk is that the ship docks at a long pier constructed by Carnival Cruise Lines in 2006, and passengers walk just a few hundred feet to the cruise center, home to lots of shops, a long stretch of beach with free loungers and Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville with a large pool and flow rider. For the first time, we went right instead of left off the pier, and discovered that's where all the crew likes to go with their limited time off. Lots of free loungers, crystal blue water and palm trees for shade. Lovely. We bypassed all this, though, to walk along the shore down to and around the southern tip of Grand Turk. It's not at all far, and much of it is within sight of the cruise ship.
After awhile we climbed up the dunes along the beach, thinking we'd cut across the island to the ship, but the small airport runway is right there and is fenced off. We backtracked to the area where the crew had been, but most of them had returned to the ship by then, and we grabbed two loungers in the shade and enjoyed the waves and view (it was Princess Cays all over again).
We returned to the ship just after 4pm; all on board was 4:30pm. As I passed through security, I heard "Mrs. X, Mrs. X!" The security officer was Jamon, who we knew well from last year on the Emerald Princess. It was so good to see him again; he is the most smiley security officer ever.
We were at the Platinum and Elite Captains Circle party in the Vista Lounge at 5:15pm (Crissey Reid does such a nice job with it!), then went to dinner in the Concerto Dining Room immediately afterwards. We've been very lucky this cruise with the friendliest waitstaff ever, April and Michael, both from the Philippines. April has 2- and 5-year old daughters staying with her mom while she's in contract; every time I wonder how the crew does it, I remember the moms in the military doing the same thing. Incredible people!
We had just two courses (the famous and always delicious twice-baked goat cheese soufflé followed by diver's sea scallops for me) and made it to the Princess Theater in time for vocalist Mark Preston's performance. We had seen Mark several times last winter on the Emerald Princess, and I believe he'll be on the Emerald again this winter, but we never tire of listening to him. Once again, he received a standing ovation. A nice bonus: he's quite easy to look at.
We stopped by the Wheelhouse Bar to listen to pianist Valerey "Something with lots of Ys". Really, that's what we call him, because we can't begin to pronounce his last name. Entertainment was a bit light tonight due to the Latin Night party up on the pool deck. I don't know if this is a holdover from Europe or if it's going to take the place of the Tropical Deck party held on most Princess ships. But there was a movie in the Vista Lounge, and Ray Cousins was not playing tonight in the Wheelhouse. So, of course, we ate again. ;-) (In the buffet...watermelon and some Stilton for me).
The Horizon Court Buffet at dinner is nothing short of incredible. I can see us eating there several evenings during a winter on the Royal Princess. Compared to the Cafe Caribe on the Emerald Princess...well, there's no comparison.
Finally, it was time for the deck party and we made our way outside to the main pool area. It turned out to be similar to the Tropical Night party on other ships, but different too, and we actually enjoyed it more, simply because it was something new. While we were out there, G tried the "Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ" from the Trident Grill. He had really been looking forward to that (along with sweet tea, he could happily live on Carolina BBQ). Well, it was good, and it was pulled pork...but it wasn't even vaguely Carolina BBQ. It was pulled pork cooked in McCormick's taco seasoning. No, definitely not Carolinian in origin.
It was at some point this evening that I stopped resenting the fact that the Royal Princess was taking over the 10-night Caribbean itineraries next winter and started to realize how much I'm going to miss the Royal Princess when we disembark on Sunday. Really. We like the ship that much. Is it perfect? Of course not. But a key thing is how uncrowded it feels compared to the Emerald Princess. Not to mention all the food choices, the entertainment options, the improvements in our inside cabin, that outdoor exercise equipment, all the outdoor conversation areas, the cookies at the Princess Live Cafe...but I'm getting into ship review territory, which I wanted to save for the next two days. So I'll end it there for now.
It was another wonderful day on the Royal Princess!
Photo 1: the Royal Princess docked at Grand Turk. This is how close the ships docks to shore!
Photo 2: Now we know how sea grapes get there name
Photo 3: G with a "conch tree" on our walk
Photo 4: my view for part of the day
Photo 5: Mark Preston performs in the Princess Theater.
