Day 16: Home

It is actually two days later as I write this post, not because we were so overwhelmed with things to do when we returned home (as we are when we’ve been gone for months) but because I have been so caught up with football and celebrating McGee’s huge success at the state’s cross country championship. 

Plus, I’m just a bit weary of typing posts on my iPhone and had to psyche myself up for this. 😉

We were up at 6am and ate a quick breakfast in the World Fresh Marketplace on disembarkation day. I fear Sabatini’s has spoiled us forever, as a previously perfectly acceptable breakfast in the buffet suddenly felt like “roughing it”.  We were scheduled to meet at 8am in the Casino to be in the first group to disembark after walk offs (people who packed lightly and who can simply roll their luggage off the ship themselves). We spent the last of our on board credit to purchase a Princess transfer to the Fort Lauderdale airport but we won’t make that mistake again. It turned out to be pretty awful. 

First, we were delayed about an hour getting off the ship because they were having trouble offloading the luggage. I guess that’s not a huge surprise; the Emerald Princess was the first Princess ship disembarking guests at Port Everglades since the shut down. The driver of the bus to the airport seemed out of practice, too. He took forever to load the bus, and then took us to the wrong level at the airport and dropped us off between terminals, causing some of the people on the bus to have an absolute meltdown. Apparently some people have lost all filters and curse out anyone not doing things their way. It was quite ugly. 

Luckily the security line at FLL moved quickly, and, though our flight was 100% full, access to live TV, including the Michigan v. Michigan State game, made the hours go by quickly. About the same time Michigan lost the game, I started receiving texts about McGee at the state championship. It simply couldn’t have gone any better, and he led his team to the win. Yep, I was glad my double masks were soaking up the tears in my eyes. Interviews!  He is now giving post-race interviews!  When did he learn how to do that with such poise and humility?

Our driver picked us up exactly as scheduled, and we returned home on a warm and beautiful Saturday afternoon, which was nice because it’s been pretty dismal since then. Still, no sign of that four letter word (snow) here…yet. 

As for future plans, once again I can honestly say we have nothing on the horizon. I received word from a fellow cruiser about a Crystal Endeavor expedition cruise to Antarctica for about half price on November 17, and that was tempting, but I am scheduled to fly to Arizona in two weeks for McGee’s Nike Cross Regional race. Then reader April kindly shared with me information on the Windstar Wind Breeze cruise in French Polynesia starting November 22. That’s still a possibility, but we have to wait until we get my knee figured out before we book anything. I see an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow and she’s certain to order an MRI. Say what you will about US health care, but I’m sure I’ll get an MRI tomorrow or Wednesday and have some answers. Everything, including the trip to Arizona, depends on the outcome. 

It was never in our plans to spend a lot of time cruising this winter. I want to be home for the basketball and track seasons; this is the boys’ senior year and my last chance to see them compete. Travel, and specifically cruising is certain to be a lot easier a year from now. 

But we consider ourselves so lucky to have had three weeks in Alaska, and the utopic cruise experience on the Emerald Princess. We will never feel that celebrated and spoiled again, and those are some wonderful memories to keep us going until the next time.  Thanks for following along!  Stay safe and stay healthy!

Day 15: At Sea

Sigh. Our final day. This has been one cruise that we wish would never end.  And, somehow, this last day was the best day of all. 

We started the day with our final Sabatini’s breakfast. We know that, while we can look forward to potentially enjoying the Sanctuary on future cruises, breakfast in Sabatini’s is likely out of our league. Unless we make it to 1500 Princess days (not likely). We have really enjoyed celebrating this milestone cruise on a 15-day cruise with a lot of sea days (remember, it was originally going to be on a 3-day cruise. Quite a difference!). 

Mrs. Doppelgänger attended today’s culinary demonstration in the

Princess Theater and kindly shared the handout with me. 

I had to do some running- well, walking- around the ship today to clean up unfinished business. We each got $25 in cash from our refundable OBC (I had brought extra tip money from home but not enough to compensate certain crew members for all they have done for us). This left enough in our account for me to purchase one tub of Clinique Take the Day Off makeup remover balm for less than I can get it anywhere else. The last one I bought was on the Majestic Princess in Australia…but there hasn’t been a lot of makeup in my life that needed to be removed since then. (No makeup, no earrings, no rings…I never spent the day in jammies during lockdown but was otherwise pretty lax). I started throwing clothes into a suitcase and when I was sufficiently on top of that, headed up to the Sanctuary.

It was sunny and warm today, but windy at times. We rotated between our loungers in the Sanctuary, and the Lotus Pool and hot tubs. Life is pretty darn good in the Sanctuary!  When it was time for lunch, we ordered street tacos and chips and guacamole using the Medallion app, and it was delivered promptly (the Dopplegangers waited about 40 minutes for theirs just a little bit later). And we added a key lime custard, simply because we had had it on the Majestic Princess. It’s much bigger and better on the Emerald Princess!

Street tacos and chips and guacamole in the Sanctuary

Key lime custard

Day 15 lunch menu

Finally, about 3pm a fierce wind blew in, strong enough to blow a full glass off a table. G and I left, and, walking across Deck 16 on the open decks, were amazed that, by the time we reached midship there was no wind at all. We sat on our balcony (also calm) until it was time to get ready for dinner. The Doppelganers joined us on their way to their Club Class dining and helped us drink our last bottle of champagne (and we had given our award champagne away last night). There has been no shortage of champagne this cruise, and I am, frankly, champagned out until probably New Year’s Eve. It was hard to say goodbye to them. Isn’t it funny that, somehow, when you least expect it, friends just appear in your life? We met on Day 3 of this cruise, and have enjoyed each other’s company immensely.

It was also very hard to say goodbye to Restaurant Manager Francesco and waiter Ricky. If we return ti the Emerald Princess before the end of February when Francesco goes home to Italy, those two will be the reason. We showed Francesco a photo I’d taken of him on the Emerald Princess in December 2011. We’ve known him a long time. And Ricky showed us a video he had taken with us saying hi to his family when we were in Hobart, Tasmania in 2019. Isn’t cruising just the best?

Francesco, 2011

Ricky and us in Hobart, 2019

Day 15 dinner menu

Afterward we went to the Wheelhouse Bar to listen to guitarist David Barrett. Why, oh why, does it take us until the very last night of a cruise to find entertainment like this that we like so well? He is from Ireland, and we asked him to play some Irish ballads.  For one of them he used a whistle, a long recorder-type instrument with a soulful sound. 

And that was the end of the day for me. I wanted to finish my packing before G started his, so he is out at tonight’s Princess Theater show (a female vocalist) and I am setting the last things in my suitcase. We will be taking a Princess transfer to the airport tomorrow in Fort Lauderdale and will be leaving the ship about 8am. 

Weep!

Day 14: At Sea

We had, simply stated, the best, most relaxing day at sea imaginable. We have honed the “direct to the Sanctuary from breakfast in Sabatini’s” routine to the point where we go to breakfast prepared to spend the entire day away from the cabin. This is cruising on a level previously unknown to us. 

We like it!

The Lotus Pool below the Sanctuary is now fully open and like bath water. I lost count of how many times I was in and out of it today. The air temp was right on the border of feeling too warm, but a quick dip in the pool was all it took to cool off for an hour or so. But those teak handrails along the steps leading to the pool?  Oooh baby, they were too hot to touch today!

With not much else to report for today, I thought I’d share a pic of the recycled plastic wrist band I bought on the second day of the cruise to hold my Medallion (Princess’ key card replacement plus more). I love it. I simply never take it off, and never have to think about whether I have my Medallion with me or not. 

The recycled plastic Medallion wrist band

However, I noticed yesterday that it is already starting to discolor a smidge in a few places (the loops especially). So I’d love to recommend it but I’m not entirely certain that I can. Is the discoloration from sunscreen? Salt water?  I’m not sure, and I’m not certain if it will get worse over time. The band is made from plastic; I’d’ve thought it would hold up to anything. 

Look carefully, and you can see some discoloration already appearing after less than two weeks. 

Sanctuary Supervisor Alvarro and his team of Serenity Stewards continue to do everything they can to make every minute up there incredibly relaxing. We don’t even leave for lunch any longer. Sometimes, along with our doppelgänger friends, we order from the special spa menu. Sometimes we use the Medallion app to order other things (ie “Hmmm, I’d like chocolate chip cookies”) and -voila- they are delivered to our lounger. It’s really pretty amazing. 

Lunch in the Sanctuary with some Prosecco that was delivered to our cabin earlier in the cruise. Not exactly sure why, but it’s been that kind of cruise. 😊

Day 14 lunch menu

We stayed in the Sanctuary until about 4:30pm, and returned to the cabin for a quick rest. We decided to skip dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room (just not hungry) but still got dressed formally for tonight’s 7pm Captains Circle party, where we were honored to be this cruise’s most traveled passengers (numbers 2 and 3 had about 1000 and 900 days). We were also honored for our 1250 day milestone cruise, as were the number 2 couple with 1000 days and a guest with 500 days. The Doppelgängers joined us for the party, and we really appreciated that. We will miss them!

Pre-sunset from the balcony as I was dressing for the evening


Day 14 dinner menu

We wasted no time changing into shorts and Ts, and heading up to the Calypso Pool for tonight’s game. A few nibbles of food from the World Fresh Marketplace, and popcorn to munch on and this day was as good as it gets from start to finish. 

Thursday Night Football on MUTS in lieu of production show Disco: Blame it on the Boogie? 

Even I can’t believe it. 

Day 14 Princess Patter

Day 13: Aruba

We had the BEST day in Aruba, and, once again I’m fairly wiped out tonight, but the entertainment in the Princess Theater is a ventriloquist and you might know how I feel about that, so I have an extra hour of energy I will spend writing a blog post instead of sitting through a ventriloquist. 

We had a much earlier start today, but it really didn’t matter, since we had fallen asleep so early last night. I grabbed a quick breakfast in the World Fresh Marketplace but G managed to squeeze in Sabatini’s between 7:30an and 8am. At 8:05am we were walking off the ship. 

Interestingly, but also sadly, there were two cruise ships docked in Oranjestad, the Oceania Insignia (exactly like the Pacific Princess) and the Norwegian Sky (we were on that ship when it was new in 2000). Neither ship is in operation yet. It’s one thing to hear about the cruise ships all around the world that have not re-started after COVID, but it’s quite another to see these ships sitting there with a minimal number of officers and crew on board. We had also seen the HAL Noordsm in Puerto Vallarta in the same position. 

We had originally booked a sunset sail in Aruba because we were to have been there until 9pm, but when our itinerary changed, we lost the late night here but picked one up in Curaçao. As a result, that excursion was cancelled, but we still wanted to take a catamaran excursion today. We chose a catamaran sail, snorkel and beach time excursion, and it was a blast. 

There were only 12 of us on a boat that would normally hold about 36, with the captain and two attentive crew, and beverages were served the whole time (alcoholic after snorkeling). I hadn’t had my head in the water since Fiji or New Caledonia in early 2020, but I hopped off the boat right behind our guide. He looked at me, told me that it looked like I knew what I was doing, and to come back when the horn blew in 45 minutes and I was on my way. It wasn’t the best snorkeling I’ve ever done (far from it) but it was snorkeling, and there were a lot of fish, especially yellow ones. I was among my peeps…sort of, and in my happy place. 

I had been a bit concerned (more than that, really) about getting up the ladder back onto the catamaran, given that I really can’t do stairs right now, but where there’s a will… Nothing was going to keep me from snorkeling today. 

We next stopped at Palm Beach, and, like yesterday, there was a special area with sanitized loungers (they said) for us to use. The crew continued to serve us rum punches on the beach, and that “numb lips” feeling and powdered sugar sands sure bought back memories. On the return to the ship, I sat on the webbing in front and reveled in the moment, once so familiar but recently just a memory. It had been five years since we were in the Caribbean, and I had forgotten how much fun the open bar on these excursions can be. It’s not like that in the islands of the South Pacific. 

Pelican tours ran the excursion, and we were able to use a pier to get 

from the boat to Palm Beach instead of swimming to shore

Gorgeous Palm Beach

Along with Eagle Beach next door, there is a 6 mile stretch of beach like this.

G with new friend Dwight. He and his wife Wendy were on our excursions both yesterday and today. 

A wise woman would have turned down that last rum punch offered when I was sitting on the webbing, but I was not a wise woman, and stumbled back onto the ship and right up to the Sanctuary where I promptly fell asleep in a lounger, then woke up and had lunch. We stayed there until 3:30pm or so when it started to rain and get windier and it chilled me. 

We did make it to dinner tonight in the Michelangelo Dining Room with Anil and Verna (the bouillabaisse was the bomb), but were content to go up to the Adagio Lounge to listen to  the Emerald Princess band play two jazz sets. G convinced himself that he needed to see the ventriloquist, but I’ll have the dual satisfaction of 1) not seeing him and 2) publishing this blog post. 

Day 13 dinner menu

A sure sign it was a beach day- money laundering in the cabin. 

Day 13 Princess Patter

Day 12: Curaçao

I am completely wiped out from our wonderful day in Curaçao. I will publish a blog post, either tomorrow night or the following sea day, but for right now I’ll use this as a place holder.

Oh, and I’ll post today’s dinner menu (we ate in the World Fresh Marketplace and promptly fell into bed) and Princess Patter for your perusal. 

Ok, it’s the next night, and, after a busy day in Aruba, I could easily put this off for another day, but then I’d never catch up. 

When we missed our first slot for the Panama Canal transit and changes were made to the remainder of our itinerary, the one port day that didn’t change was Curaçao, although our time in port did change. We arrived at 9am, and were scheduled to meet our excursion group in the pier at 9:50am. That left plenty of time for a Sabatini’s breakfast. 

Our tour was Curaçao highlights, the Blue Curaçao liqueur distillery and then Mambo Beach. Frankly, it’s little unusual for us to do a ship’s tour in the Caribbean, but these are unusual times, and I’m not quite comfortable hopping on a local bus and making our way around these islands as we’ve so often done in the past, especially as Curaçao and Aruba both are Level 5 on the CDC’s COVID list. 

Also, after everything I went through last year getting back our refundable on board credits from the Ruby and Majestic Princess in Australia, we decided to never EVER again have to go through that. (Which, of course, is exactly what Princess hopes we will do.) So, ship excursions in Caribbean ports it is. 

Pilot boat helping to set the lines as we arrived

For the first time since we boarded the ship in LA, I stepped on terra firma. 

For the first time in over 20 months, I was in a country other than the US. 

We boarded a large bus for our tour, and were required to keep masks on from nose to chin the entire time. We first drove through the Otrabunda area of Willemstad and had a quick look at the Queen Emma pedestrian pontoon bridge, Fort Rif, and the colorful Jewish neighborhood near the ship. We then crossed the high Queen Juliana Bridge over Sint Anna Bay to the Punda area. 

The Emerald Princess in Willemstad. 

Our first stop was at Landhuis Chobolobo to see the distillery operation of the Senior brand of Blue Curaçao liqueur. This orange flavored liqueur is made from the peels of the laraha, a bitter orange found on Curaçao. I don’t like it at all, but their tamarind and chocolate flavors are quite nice. There were samples available, and - surprise!- a shop where bottles of the liqueurs could be purchased. 

On the way to Mambo Beach, we drove by some luxury homes and resorts (OMG the infinity pools were amazing, and an entire home would be designed around one). I have been to Curaçao many times, and had never seen this area, so that was interesting. 

But finally we arrived at Mambo Beach, where there was an area roped off with sanitized (we were told) beach loungers just for us. I wasted no time getting in that warm blue water, my first salt water swim in a very long time, and, Sis, all that was missing was you and Cuba. The guys would have floated and solved the world’s problems and we would have gotten caught up on too many years apart. 

We had a couple of hours at the beach, which was plenty, as we had no shade, and then headed back to the ship about 2pm. 

We went right up to the Sanctuary to see our doppelgänger friends and that was when I became aware of an unfamiliar feeling. I was hungry!  I was actually having hunger pangs. What a pleasure that was, but, of course I messed it up when we ordered lunch. At least it was a healthy one. 

Lunch served in the Sanctuary

G was then convinced that he needed to walk back across the pedestrian bridge to the Punda area, which was exactly what my knee really didn’t want to do, but I also couldn’t let him go alone, so there I was hobbling along the flagstone path along the water.  The waves were fierce from the high winds (luckily the beach had been protected and was perfectly calm), kind of like watching fireworks as they crashed on the rock sea wall. 

The Queen Emma floating pedestrian bridge

The asbestos-ridden Scientology cruise ship Freewinds was docked in the harbor by the Queen Julianna Bridge

We walked down to the canal where the floating market was for years…and the floating market is no longer. Its demise even pre-dates COVID, and was politically driven, as the boats that would tie up and form the market stalls selling fresh produce and spices were from Venezuela. Now the site is just the home of more souvenir stalls. Too bad!

Near where the floating market used to be was a most interesting pedestrian drawbridge where the sections that raised up were wider, and therefore heavier, closest to the hinge that lifted them (so kind of triangle-shaped). Very clever!!

We were lucky walking back to the ship when the Queen Emma pontoon bridge opened (it actually started to open while we were on it) to let a freighter into the inner harbor. It swings on its pontoons to one side, rotating on an axis at one end. 

The bridge opening

We only had to step over about a one foot gap but some people were stuck on the bridge while it opened. 


The bridge becomes almost parallel to the water’s edge

The pivot arc 

It was after 5:30pm when we re-boarded the ship, and we were far too salty, sandy and sweaty to do anything but grab a little dinner in the buffet, shower and fall into bed. And that’s exactly what we did. We were asleep long before the Emerald Princess sailed at 9pm and didn’t even wake up when it did (which might tell you just how tired we were). Our days spent doing nothing but alternating between Sabatini’s and the Sanctuary really zapped my stamina. 

Day 12 dinner menu

Day 12 Princess Patter