Our morning was at sea; our scheduled arrival in Kralendjik, Bonaire was noon. We did the usual...International Cafe for coffee and DaVinci Dining Room for breakfast with Joel and Erika. I had a goal this morning to do my nails...and it turned into a frustrating and time consuming activity. I was using Sally Hansen nail strips in glitter for the first time; bad, bad, bad. 30 minutes after I applied them the corners were peeling off. It was quite a disappointment after the non-glitter ones lasted two weeks without chipping, and I'll be placing a call to Sally Hansen on turnaround day to tell them all about it.
I finished them up the best I could just before noon (three hours. I spent THREE HOURS!!), and pulled my snorkel gear out of the beach suitcase under the bed, applied at least 1/4 of a tube of sunscreen and then put a rash guard and swim skirt on over that. We were meeting Bob and Janet and Ross and Claudette to take a water taxi over to Klein Bonaire to snorkel ($20 round trip, leaves Bonaire on the hour and Klein Bonaire on the half hour). We enjoyed the best weather we've had all winter today in Bonaire, and this was the perfect day for snorkeling. The sun was bright and the wind was relatively mild (for Bonaire).
We drift snorkeled over and over again, and on our last run saw an illusive sea turtle.
Hungry and tired, we caught the 3:30pm water taxi back to Bonaire, and returned to the cabin to rinse the snorkel gear and shower. As much as I LOVE snorkeling on Bonaire, it leaves our cabin a wreck until everything drip dries. We were at the Michelangelo Dining Room for Dinner with Darko when it opened at 5:15pm and- joy of joys- it was Italian night! Penne arrabiata with chicken and brocolli was the perfect meal after being in the water on a lunch-less day. We ate quickly and left the dining room by 6pm to go back on shore and take some photos of the Emerald Princess just before sunset.
Earlier in the day, we had seen some kids writing their names on the sidewalk in coral pieces. Fun!
Back on the ship at 6:30pm, we watched the beautiful sunset from the Promenade Deck as the Emerald Princess sailed...
...and then returned to the Michelangelo Dining Room for dessert and coffee. No entertainment for us tonight (production show Disco: Blame it on the Boogie was in the Princess Theater; it's 70s night in Club Fusion)...all I want is fuzzy water and bed.
First, though, and of interest only to future cruisers on the Emerald Princess, I must report in the demise of wine packages on this ship. They will not exist after this cruise, for how long I'm not certain. They could not keep all the wines on the wine list in stock, and passengers would get upset when, after purchasing the packages, their favorite wines were not available. I'll let you know if the packages are sold again, but if you'll be on the Emerald Princess in the near future, I wouldn't count on purchasing a wine package.
