We moved clocks ahead an hour overnight, which added insult to injury. It wasn't until Captain Forteeze came on the PA in passenger cabins at 8:30am looking for a crew member (that's never a good sign, and the potential ramifications from that woke us up in a hurry) that we finally called it a night. We never heard any more about that, which I chose to take as a sign that everything is fine.
I wasn't going to eat anything for breakfast, then at the last minute dressed and went down to the International Cafe for a cup of coffee and the DaVinci Dining Room for a bowl of cereal. An MTP luncheon was scheduled for 12:15pm in the Botticelli Dining Room, and I'm always safest with a little something in my stomach before I start drinking wine. G never did join me, so I ate quickly and then returned to the International Cafe for a second cup of coffee and some people watching/ reading. And to enjoy the most stable location on the ship. :-|
G finally stopped by to get a cup of hot chocolate before he headed off to the Wheelhouse Bar for this cruise's Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. Please forgive me, but by this point in our winter I am feeling considerably less social than I did nearly 5 months ago. I stayed where I was and continued to read. At 9:50am, Captain Foreteeze came on the PA to read the now familiar Princess statement about the Zika virus. I have received just one mosquito bite during our entire time in the Caribbean, and I can't say exactly where I got it, but it was a couple of weeks ago and I'm showing no signs of Guillian-Barre syndrome, so I think I'm safe. But this must be a horrible thing for women of child bearing age to grapple with.
I eventually returned to the cabin to get cleaned up for our luncheon before G beat me to the shower. I also took advantage of his being out of the cabin to change polish (strengthener, really) on my fingernails ('cause you know how he enjoys the smell of nail polish remover). However, I will admit that we have reached the point, in this small cabin, where we no longer mention irritants like that. We simply say "Ditto" and move on.
There's been a lot of ditto-Ing going on in here lately. ;-)
While I was showering (with one hand on the grab bar to stay upright), I was thinking about an experience we had in Costa Maya that I have not yet mentioned. I wasn't going to make a big deal out of it, but was so struck by the kindness of people that I feel I must. Too often people go home from a wonderful cruise and remember only the rudeness and complaining of fellow passengers. In fact, some people seem to attract both behaviors and experience more of it in seven days than we have all winter. ;-)
Anyway, we were walking down the pier last week in Costa Maya, and it's a fairly long one. A tram is operated to transport people to the cruise terminal, and there was one waiting there that was quickly filling. At about that moment, I came up to a slow moving man using a walker and his wife using a cane. He was wearing a WW2 cap, and that always attracts attention. G moved ahead to save two spots on the tram for them but at the same time the local guy loading people onto the tram noticed this man too. And it was like the crowd just parted for him. Everyone slowed their pace and told the couple there was no need to hurry. Several people stepped up to help them onto the tram. And it was really wonderful to see.
Those are the sorts of things I choose to remember from our cruises.
It was a welcome thing to go down to the Botticelli Dining Room for the MTP luncheon at 12:15pm. Though it, too, is on the back of the ship, it is seven decks lower and that makes quite a bit of difference in the ship's movement. These luncheons always start at 12:15pm when Captain Forteeze is the ship's master; he likes to give the noon update on our navigational progress himself, and always adds a little nautical knowledge at the end.
We are the #3 MTP this cruise, and had coincidentally sat next to #2 Arlene and Joel at the Welcome Aboard show two nights ago. I think the conversation went like this, after the shopping host announce his shopping talk before the show started:
Me: I would never know what tanzanite was if I didn't cruise.
Arlene: Me neither. Nor Effy jewelry. And I cruise quite a bit! (They really do. They are 5 star in HAL's loyalty program. I didn't even know there was a 5 star level!).
At that moment I knew I had met a kindred spirit.
Along with Ann and Lee and Captain Forteeze, we had a lively and fun lunch. And the food..OMG, it was my favorite MTP luncheon menu. Accompanied by wines, it pretty much ruined me for the rest of the afternoon (which is my one issue with the luncheons).
Tonight was the first formal night of the cruise (our 397th of the winter) and I decided somewhere between my third and fourth glasses of wine at the luncheon that, if forced to go to dinner tonight, I would, but I was wearing exactly what I had on that minute (which was my nicest non-formal attire). G, naturally, didn't mind dressing in his tux and I am well past the point of trying to match him in formality. I had on something black and chiffon-y, and, frankly, that was formal enough for me.
G went to the 4:15pm veterans get together in the Adagio Bar, and then returned to dress for dinner and meet up with me. Dining tonight had nothing to do with hunger; I had soup and shrimp and G had more beef (of course) and bananas foster for dessert and we were stuffed. Still, he managed to drink a glass of the champagne that was offered during the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party and Champagne Waterfall. Captain Forteeze stopped to talk with us in the Piazza and I remembered to ask him about tomorrow's weather (good, but I can't imagine that with this wind) and where the Emerald Princess would be docked in St. Thomas on Wednesday (Havensight; the Regal Princess will be docked at Crown Bay).
We have a full day planned for tomorrow in St. Martin, and will be asleep early tonight (hopefully), after attending comedian Tom Briscoe's 8pm performance in the Princess Theater. We may need to keep the multiple layers of sheets tucked in tonight, if for no other reason than to keep from falling out of bed.
