Thursday, February 19, 2015

Day 118: St. Thomas


I woke this morning determined to do...something today. First order of business was, of course, to get the blog post written for yesterday. I simply can't let myself get behind on those!  It was nice to have unlimited internet today to post it, and also the ability to phone Mom, who is doing remarkably well despite the fact that she is living in an untenable climate. After a quick...late breakfast?  Early lunch? we walked off the ship into the hustle and bustle of Havensight with two mega ships (the Regal Princess and the Norwegian Getaway), and a big ship (the Caribbean Princess). 

We walked up the street to the Pueblo Supermarket and, right across the street from it caught a local bus (which looks amazingly like an open air taxi but is filled with locals instead of tourists and costs about 1/4 as much). We could have gone all the way to Red Hook for $2, but our goal was to get to the almost-new KMart to get some more guafinisin (I've been eating them like candy) and also to check for those darn Swimways floats that we can't find anywhere but that won't be in the stores at home until June. Once again we had no luck with those, but we still enjoyed the ride to the eastern part of the island and back. 

We were dropped off along the waterfront in downtown Charlotte Amalie where we watched the float planes landing and taking off, then stopped by the souvenir stands on our way back to the ship. The walk through Yacht Haven Grande is always pretty, but I think that the day was hotter than the forecasted 79 degrees. Much hotter. Thankfully, the Caribbean Princess was at the first berth on the pier, which reduced our walk by at least ten minutes. 


I thought this photo of the Charlotte Amalie harbor on Princess@Sea today was very pretty.




Float plane taking off in Charlotte Amalie harbor with Caribbean Princess, Norwegian Getaway and Regal Princess docked at Havensight.

Once back on the ship, we didn't have much time before we had to start getting cleaned up for tonight's Captains Circle party. We invited the couple we closed out last night's MTP party with to sit with us, and had a fun time. Band Fresh Power played, and they are definitely growing on me. They're just so different than Epithanie that it took me a few days to adjust. 

Dinner was a quick couple of courses; Captains Circle host Yuki asked if we would mind coming to the second Captains Circle party tonight also. It was funny...we accepted our glass "major award" and our bottle of champagne at the first party for the photo and then gave them back to her to present to us again at the second party.

We received a generic "Princess" major award, as we already have the Caribbean one. 

Party obligations tonight prevented us from seeing either of comedian Mike Moreni's two shows, and there was no third one tonight because of the Love Boat Disco Deck party around the Calypso Pool. Last cruise's party had been rained out and relocated to the Piazza, and it lost a lot in the move. It's definitely a production- video on the MUTS screen, the singers and dancers, the Caribbean Princess orchestra AND party band Fresh Power. It has to be seen on the pool deck to really get the full impact. This was the third time we've seen it (once on the Grand Princess and twice on the Caribbean Princess) and this was definitely the most enjoyable. 


We then went down to the Wheelhouse Bar to listen to the Massina Duo. It is after 1am, and I feel like we are living in a party on this ship and the ports are just an afterthought. We're partying like it's 1999...or, tonight, the height of disco in 1978. Unfortunately, we're 15 and 36 years (OMG) older now, and it's catching up with us. I was feeling better tonight, and hope that bodes well for a better night's sleep.