Being here with the Maasdam reminds me of our 24 nights on that ship three years ago. We were docked in Dominica, at the same pier the Emerald Princess is at today. It was later in the day, and G had walked back off the ship in search of Internet. I decided to get showered for that evening's formal night while he was out of the cabin. As I was stepping into the shower, there was a fire alarm, and the accompanying announcement said that the fire was outside a passenger cabin on Deck 4, right around the corner from us. It also said that we would be updated, but needed to do nothing right then.
I thought about it for two seconds, and decided that naked and wet was not what I wanted to be with a fire just three cabins away. I got dressed and opened the door to leave the cabin, just as a crew member in full fire regalia was coming to knock on the door. "Go up, go up". It was a several hours before we could return to our cabin, but we were very lucky...the next week's electrical fire was on a different deck and therefore didn't displace us. :-)
We stayed busy today on the ship, walking on Deck 19 and doing laundry and using a hot tub and even sewing a button on G's shorts. The old button had cracked, and Raymond the Great had found a new one for us. I broke into the last of my Princess sewing kits, which used to be an Elite amenity. It even had a tiny button spacer, and lots of pre-threaded needles. I've taken one on every trip I take. I miss getting them. :-(
Captain Nick had predicted rain for most of the day, but, though it rained as we arrived, the day turned gorgeous. The difference in our weather compared to the last time we were here: night and day.
We met friends for drinks in the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers and Dominica looked her best for us. I continue to meet fellow passengers who read my blog (Hi Janet!) and it's very nice to know that someone besides Mom is reading along. It was sushi night in Skywalkers, so I wasn't hugely hungry for dinner. Still, I enjoyed the tempura vegetables as starter and then the orange roughy, one of my favorite fish dishes.
I know G isn't fond of production show Boogie Shoes, but the alternate entertainment tonight was comedian Al Katz. So G saw Boogie Shoes. ;-). Once again, we shifted to the right, and it's quite fun to see things differently.
I think I spoke too soon yesterday about this winter going so smoothly...we went to lunch in the Horizon Court Buffet today and saw no silverware and salt and pepper shakers on the tables. Ruh roh. We all know what that means: there's norovirus on board, but we're not yet at Code Red. Nip it, nip it, nip it! (We've added Wet Wipes to our turnaround day shopping list).
And, finally, I forgot to mention yesterday that the Most Traveled Passengers party was held last night, and for the first time in two winters, we didn't make the cut. G had nailed it...he said on Day 1 of this cruise that the passenger demographic was much older and he thought we might not get an invite to the MTP party. I just rolled my eyes at that; first of all, the instrument has yet to be invented that can measure my indifference to all this, and second, we've been ranking well above the cut off all winter, despite the fact that the cutoff has been significantly higher every cruise than at the same time last year. But there are over 500 Elites on board this cruise, and 80% of the passengers have sailed on Princess before. On a Caribbean cruise. This is a shocker. Anyway, our 537 days on Princess was 21 days shy of the cutoff, and since we've run into couple after couple who is staying on for 40, 50 or 60 days, I'm not sure we'll make the cutoff anymore this winter.
Horrors!!
;-)
