Day 58: At Sea

This has been the best day of several best days on our winter. It has been absolutely perfect from start to finish, and, let's face it, even on a cruise that's a fairly rare thing. 

I started this post early, while sitting in the Sanctuary following a wonderful breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room (still stollen!). The Emerald Princess has been much calmer as the Christmas winds have died down considerably (I guess thanks to the same winter storm that has left half a million homes without power in the northeast. Not exactly a fair trade-off, is it?), and any winds still around are at our back as we head northeast. The sun was shining brightly, but was mottled through the canopies covering the Sanctuary, and, honestly, it was an entirely different sport today than it was during the first two sea days when I huddled in wet towels and wool blankets. This I could learn to love.  (Insert deep sigh of contentment here). 

Because it's less windy, we're sleeping better every night (well, G's cold getting better deserves some of the credit for that, too). I've always known, but have been recently reminded, that I do not function well without eight hours at night. People say that, as they get older, they sleep less at night and more during the day. If that's any measure of aging, I am happily still in the midst of middle-age. At any rate, life was good this morning. 

In case you think I've been coy about how long our winter at sea is going to last, those closest to us can vouch for the fact that we honestly don't know. In fact, now that G is again healthy enough for the argument, we've picked right up where we left off before he got sick, with debating, debating, debating just how long we'll be here. This discussion, which happens year 'round in jest (I say 100 days and he says 150; I say 110 and he says 150; I say 120 and he says 150...a compromising man he is NOT) has intensified now that we are making final payments for the March cruises. And we actually have flights to return home on three different dates in March, and into April.  Darko is well aware of our dilemma (actually, MY dilemma...G could happily stay until the Emerald Princess leaves for Europe in mid-April, and we are booked out that far) and thinks we should all leave together on March 29. This would mean that we arrived on the Emerald Princess on the same day, and would leave on the same day, basically keeping us here for (as the crew loves to tell us) "one European contract".

Now that we've effectively used Princess Vacation Protection's "cancel for any reason" coverage (to cancel those two Royal Princess cruises in November), I'm a small bit more settled about committing to more cruises. Cancel for any reason coupled with fully refundable Southwest flights (booked with points) provide a measure of comfort. Things have gone shockingly well so far this winter (wonderful service from our waitstaff AND our cabin steward, just one cold each and no Code Red norovirus outbreak in sight, Zappos delivering shoes to my cabin) and, between you and I (because G NEVER reads my blog)...yeah, I might commit to ten more days.  Stay tuned...

For the first time this cruise, I wore a swimsuit and coverup to the Sanctuary, and took frequent cooling dips in the Lotus pool just one deck below. G popped in a couple of times, finally staying for the lunch we ordered from the Sanctuary menu. (Greek pinwheels for me and tostito chips and dip for him...$3 per person delivery charge). 

Today is what the Sanctuary was made for, and, for the first time this cruise, it appeared to be fully attended. I think it was nice enough today for us to forget the hurricane of the early days of this cruise and consider re-booking for next cruise (where the kid count will drop from 350 to 250). G laughed at me, reclining in my lounger, not even lifting my head, while I popped slices of Greek pinwheel wraps into my mouth like I was an extra in a Cleopatra movie while the sun sparkled off the water 17 decks below. (Insert second deep sigh of contentment right here). 

Nice as it was, G still insisted I attend this cruise's wine tasting with him, so at 2:30pm I dragged myself back down from heaven and returned to the cabin to shower. We have this wine tasting thing down: I give G my whites and he gives me his reds and he gets the final dessert wine and we're both happy (well, I would have been happier up in the Sanctuary, but...). The shoebox from my new sandals makes a good storage box for the complimentary shooter glasses, and I've even saved the tissue paper the sandals were wrapped in to wrap the shooter glasses in.

We came out of wine tasting right in the midst of fruit and vegetable carving in the Piazza, and Jefferson and Cecil there carving and trimming and pounding in skewers as fast as they could. Jefferson told me we'd be seeing his carvings later at the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers, and I am going to try to note how many days they're able to be used. 

We had just enough time for a quick rest in the cabin before dressing for the evening (smart casual on a sea day...what a treat!) and heading up to Skywalkers. The ocean was flat today like we haven't seen for weeks. Every so often there was a wisp of white on the surface, but that was it.  What a change from a few days ago!

At the last minute, G decided to go back to the cabin to get a bottle of champagne to take to dinner, and told me to go ahead and he'd meet up with me. I was seated for just a few minutes when he arrived with the champagne and told Darko we'd like it with dessert. Because ship time right now is an hour ahead of the time zone we're actually in, sunset wasn't until 6:16pm, and it was spectacular and on our side of the ship. 

And at the very end of it. I saw the second green flash of my life. That's exciting!

But the thrills were just beginning. Headwaiter Johann surprised us with cannolis, a treat from Maitre d' Generoso, and then Darko delivered the desserts we had ordered, and the champagne...AND a small gift bag "from Sir". Huh?  I was shocked...what was going on?

Well, it seems that G had stopped by. Facets fine jewelry store on the ship and picked up a gift for me:  an ammolite pendant. He's always been fascinated with the geological origin of ammonite, and I love that it's a 75 million year old stone, and that it's so colorful. It's the only stone we've ever looked at in port, and even then just casually (you know that I am not a shopper). 

That was the whole reason for G's coming to the dining room after me...He snuck the bag to Darko to be delivered with dessert and champagne. Darko loved it, I loved it, G loved it, the pendant is beautiful and the cannoli was delicious. What more could I ask for?

But the evening was still young, and while the second and third and fourth acts paled a bit in comparison, they were still fun:  the production show Disco:  Blame it on the Boogie; Team Rootberry juggling in Explorers Lounge, and the Emerald Princess orchestra playing big band music in the Explorers Lounge. We're back in the cabin now, watching college football (Syracuse v. Minnesota) on TV. I love an exciting fourth quarter. 

I loved this entire day. Don't tell G, but I'm softening my stance on staying an additional ten days. I'd hate to miss the opportunity for another day like this. :-)