Day 126: Dominica

Prepared Wednesday evening, March 5th

First, before I forget to mention this, it was astonishing to me how quickly last night's blog post, containing no photos, was published. Twenty or so seconds and it was done. Compare that to Aruba evening, when publishing the post with 18 photos took more than 10 minutes.  The contractors who were stringing wire around the ship are now gone, so what we have is what we have. I can't say that I notice a huge difference between before and after. I was hoping for the pipeline to be expanded considerably, and I don't believe it has been.

So, on to today...

It was nearly 9am before we awoke this morning. Well...we were up late last night, attending the 10:15pm performance of Disco:  Blame it on the Boogie. THAT was a lot of fun, and the cast, while remaining professional, turned it into a big party. I'm glad we were there. 

We returned to our cabin just as the 11pm showing of Gravity was beginning on Channel 37, so, for once, we watched it from start to finish. Luckily, it's only about 90 minutes long, so by 1am we were finally falling asleep. I remember hearing the Emerald Princess dock this morning (scheduled arrival was 7am), but quickly fell back asleep after it was secured to its berth. Thus, we missed breakfast in the dining room altogether, and had a quick breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet (and I'll spare you an editorial on that).  In fact, we were so late to breakfast that we dined with several of the old cast of dancers. Yep, we're keeping dancers' hours today. 

The weather in Dominica today was partly cloudy, most sunny and HOT. Without even seeing a calendar, we can tell it's March; the weather is getting noticeably warmer. We like it. (Something tells me we're going to suffer when we get home!). I spent part of the day as planned, sipping coconut rum and cruising the net. No sooner had we left all that luscious free wifi at Starbucks on Aruba than an iOS update was released, and I wanted to get that downloaded. G popped on and off the ship, walking around the waterfront, but I pretty much stayed put once I was set up and internetting. 

My right eye is better. In fact, the swelling is almost gone, though the sclera hasn't fully recovered.  I received an email from a blog reader asking if I had glasses. No; my vision isn't correctable with glasses, only with hard contacts. Frankly, I'm loving this "no reading glasses" thing, and the dizziness is abating a bit, too. 

We were on the Promenade Deck for sailaway at 4pm.  Dominica was looking her best today, in the sun, though we did catch a couple of rainbows as we cruised north up the western coast. 

We stayed on the Promenade Deck until we ran out of island to look at, then went to Dinner with Darko. Komang is a bit under the weather and so we had a different assistant waiter tonight, Sergii from the Ukraine, and we had a chance for a brief discussion with him about the situation there. Just as with the cyclone in the Philippines last fall, to watch the news on TV is one thing; to spend our days with people whose lives are so immediately impacted is quite another. 

This cruise's Most Traveled Passengers party was held at 7:30pm in the Adagio Lounge (cutoff was lowest of the winter:  360 or so days), so we finished out our evening there. Entertainment choices, should we have chosen to avail ourselves of them, were Bobby Brooks Wilson in the Princess Theater and Country Western night in Club Fusion.

Tomorrow, in St. Thomas, I'm quite determined to get to a beach. Or at least do something to remind myself that I am on a cruise in the Caribbean. While I've enjoyed my reading and listening to audiobooks these past couple of days, I am ready to dig my toes into some soft, white sand. 

Day 104: Dominica

I had been looking forward to this day for several months (which I bet you never thought you'd hear me say about a day in Dominica). While I was still at home (last year and what seems like a lifetime ago), I was following the Cruise Critic roll call for this cruise, and was instantly interested when I read that fellow cruiser Carolyn was putting together a group to participate in a Dominican cooking experience, at a private home in the mountains just south of Roseau, where the cruise ship docks. I knew several people who had done this last year and really enjoyed it; in fact, cruise friend Alice was doing it for the second year in a row. I signed up, but this just is not G's thing, and so we had separate plans for the day.

What I didn't know, when I signed up for this tour months ago, is that it would be in a morning following an MTP party and four Breeza Marinas. I set the alarm for 6:30am and, sometime during the night changed it to 7:30am, and when it went off, hit snooze twice so that I finally got up at 7:48am. (And even that was a challenge).  I prepared for what I knew would be twisty-turny roads on Dominica by skipping breakfast coffee and instead drinking iced peppermint tea, and ate only fruit and cereal. By 9:15am, I was walking off of the ship and meeting up with the other members of our group, 17 in all. We were divided into two groups for the minivan ride to the home of Daria and Michael Eugene.

First, though, we drove through the Botanical Gardens that G and I have walked through in the past, and up to the Morne Bruce overlook at the top, which we've reached in the past via Jack's Walk. FINALLY!  I was one of those sweet smelling and non-sweaty tourists at the top of the mountain, instead of the woman crawling on her hands and knees as she struggled to the lookout. 

We left Morne Bruce and made our way back down to the coast. I must comment here about Dominica's roads. They are bad. Really bad. They are quite often one lane wide with a mountain wall on one side and a storm sewer or drop off on the other. Upon threat of being sick on, the others in the van gave me the seat of honor...the front passenger seat, and I was armed with Altoid mints and soda crackers to keep any car sickness at bay. After not too long, we turned left off the coast and headed up to Michael and Daria's home high in the mountains, with both gorgeous mountain and Caribbean Sea views. 

The first floor of their house had been configured as an outdoor kitchen with a large counter around which we could all gather. 

We were first greeted with passion fruit juice, and allowed some time for strolling around the beautiful grounds. This home felt a world away from Roseau, where the cruise ship docks. 

Daria has herbs growing everywhere, in tubs, in the ground and even in an old wheelbarrow.

Eventually, Daria called us over to begin. First up was some education about the vegetables and herbs we were going to use in our lunch.

It's safe to say that Daria was the ultimate locavore...most of the items came directly from her own yard. 

At this point, I must inject an honest confession. I am not much of a cook. I've come a long way in the past few years...for much of my marriage, when I worked long hours in an office, I would actually just dust my stove, rather than clean it. It never got dirty because it never got used. I'm slightly better now, but still stick to mostly Mexican food and Italian pastas. When you spend so many months a year in a cruise ship, it's hard to be incented to perfect your cooking skills. Dieting skills, yes. Exercise skills, for sure. Cooking skills...not so much. 

But, perhaps because of just that, everything Daria showed us and demonstrated wowed me. Freshly dug ginger root. Cocoa pods. Bay leaves from a bay tree in the yard. 

It was even better than watching the Barefoot Contessa (no throaty laughs) or Giada (no toothy smile) on the Food Network, because we participated too. For example, I dumped a bowl of chopped parsley and celery into a pan to make the Creole sauce for the marlin, but Ron (aka Fish man), really pulled that one together, layering the Creole sauce and marlin pieces to be sautéed. 

Meanwhile, beans and rice were steaming in coconut milk on the stove, while Daria showed us how to make a pumpkin drink with lots of spices. After it was blended, it was served over ice with rum. 

And, speaking of spices, did you know the red outer skin of a nutmeg is mace?  News to me, but what a valuable nugget of knowledge that is!

Somewhere in this timeframe (it's starts to get a bit fuzzy here, for reasons that will quickly become obvious), Daria brought out several bottles of rum infused with various ingredients for us to sample. I went first for the lavender rum, because, well, I liked the smell, but wasn't too impressed with the taste. The rosemary rum was lovely, and the taste of the rosemary was more obvious.

While some participants built a salad and prepared grapefruit with rum for dessert, I was enlisted to slice plantains, and then dredge them in flour in preparation for being dipped in a batter and covered in shredded fresh coconut (no bags of sweetened coconut here!) and deep fried. This was my finest hour, slicing the slippery plantains after sipping rum, and then flouring them enough, but not too much. I was so proud...and lucky that I wasn't doing the subsequent deep frying.  ;-).

By then, the wonderful smells were making us anxious to eat. We sat at the beautiful tables that were dressed in Dominican madras and decorated with wild ginger, and enjoyed the fruits of our labor.  It was all delicious, and Daria will be emailing the recipes to us so we can reproduce the meal at home.

Right. I'll make it for our first dinner after we return home, 'cause I have cinnamon bark and fresh soursop at home, just waiting for my arrival. ;-)

But the best part: Daria's daughter's boyfriend did the dishes (I love that in a man!). 

 

The food was too soon eaten and the fun too soon over. We made the trip back down the mountain and returned to the Emerald Princess, where I actually napped for a bit before dressing for dinner.

After a dinner with Darko, we were anxious to watch tonight's performance of production show Boogie Shoes to see if singer Janeta was feeling well enough to perform. Sadly, no, but company performance manager and dancer Astrid was once again great as her understudy, and any required choreography changes were undetectable even to us. 

There was no alternative show in the Explorers Lounge tonight; the 50's Rock and Roll party is being held instead. After fuzzy water and popcorn, we returned to the cabin. I knew it would take a bit of time to prepare this post, but G is considering going back out to watch the movie Las Vegas on MUTS. We arrive at 7am in Grenada tomorrow, but we have no plans for the day. 

Two days of excitement in a row are all I can handle. ;-)

Domincan Cooking Experience

Daria Eugene, Managing Director

Email:  jtas@cwdom.dm

845-367-4264

Day 84: Dominica

I had a restless night- a few too many hills yesterday had taken a toll on my lower back. At 2am I still hadn't been asleep, and pondered the idea of getting dressed and going down to the International Cafe just for a change of venue (open 24/7 since the Horizon Court Buffet no longer is). But I must have finally fallen asleep shortly after that. Obviously, pay back came in the morning, and I didn't awaken until the Emerald Princess started making her gyrations to dock in Dominica around 8:30. The Maasdam is at the freight (aka bad) pier today, but luckily we are at cruise ship (aka good) pier in Roseau.

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!!

;-)

Day 66: Dominica

It rained on Dominica today. And rained. And rained. There were a few moments of sun, but they were few and far between, and mostly after we sailed. While rain in a rainforest is not unusual, I couldn't help feel sorry for those passengers who made their first and perhaps only visit ever to Dominica today. The sunny Dominican days that we've had already this winter are rare, and we were reminded of that all. day. today.

We were up very late again last night, watching that exciting Orange Bowl and that lucious OHIO STATE DEFEAT (and, oh yea, that Clemson victory. But, really, that OHIO STATE DEFEAT). In case you're wondering, I went to Michigan but was raised in Toledo, Ohio, the epicenter of college football's greatest rivalry. But, anyway, back to that OHIO STATE DEFEAT...the exciting 4th quarters of these BCS games don't make for a calming pre-sleep routine. The games are finishing up here after 1am, and sleep follows much later. 

Regardless of bedtime, we had another scheduled early arrival at 7am in Dominica. The shaking of the rear thrusters once again proved to be an inescapable alarm clock (6:21am today), but after they finally quieted once we were docked, we did manage to fall back sleep again. We awoke at 8:40am, and G raced down to the DaVinci Dining Room for breakfast, to get the juices, orange segments and mixed berries he needs to start the day. (Actually, we've eaten all the raspberries and blueberries and are now down to strawberries instead of mixed berries until turnaround day). 

Much later, just before 10am, I made it to breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet for what I believe is only the third time this winter. No, it's not our favorite place, but I was only having cereal and fruit anyway. What I really missed was the brewed decaf from the International Cafe but didn't think it was worth the walk down there just for that.  G joined me and we watched as wave after wave of pelting, blowing rain moved over Roseau, Dominica, where the cruise ship docks. Our only real plan for today had been to possibly do Jack's Walk again (no chance of that) and to pay $3 to use unmetered wifi at Ruins Rock Cafe, but we quickly talked ourselves out of even leaving the ship.

We returned to the cabin (I'm in the yucky, coughing part of my cold and am happiest away from people) and G snoozed and I read until he found a replay of the 4th quarter of the Orange Bowl on ESPN2, and we had to watch that exciting OHIO STATE DEFEAT just one more time. ;-)  Everytime we changed to Channel 40 (the "front of the ship" channel), there was rain running down the webcam lens, which absolutely zapped any energy we had today. 

Eventually, we got hungry, and went up to get pizza. It was funny; sitting where we were at a covered table by the MUTS pool which is open to the sky, one minute we'd see the sun shining, then we'd see it pouring and then we'd see both at the same time, and spotted a full rainbow (which Dominica features in abundance) right over the pier. 

Intermittent rain and sun at sailaway spells hot tub for us (and for about ten of our new BFFs) and so we watched sailaway from Deck 17 on the back of the ship and were treated to a full-and-a-half rainbow right off the back of the ship (too close to get it all in frame for a photo). 

We were at Dinner with Darko at 5:30pm, and ate lightly. First, we hadn't done much today, but following dinner, at 7:30, was this cruise's Most Traveled Passengers (MTP) cocktail party in Adagio, and they serve wicked good hors doerves and dessert items. (Cutoff for this cruise's MTP:  434 days on Princess. Wow. It hasn't dropped below 390 or so all winter). We sat with cruise friends Phyllis and Jim, with whom we've cruised for two holidays in a row, and once again closed down the party, and only then because I was anxious to get to the Saints v. Eagles wildcard playoff game on MUTS, which is where I'm finishing up this post. 

Also on MUTS today:  the Compass Bowl (Vanderbilt v. Houston) at 2pm and the Chiefs v. Colts game at 5:30pm. 

Captain Nick told us, in his Dominica sailaway announcement, that we would be bumpy again en route to St. Thomas tomorrow morning, and that winds would be 45 knots gusting higher during squalls. He said tonight that we face a rocky seas for the next several days, into the next cruise. This time, the weather in the northeast is holding this system over the Caribbean. The Christmas winds are definitely overstaying their visit this year!

Well, it could be worse. The Queen Mary 2 has been delayed on its transatlantic voyage due to the weather in the northeast, and has an accumulation of snow on its Promenade Deck. At least we don't have to shovel wind and rain. ;-)

Day 44: Dominica

Our 9am arrival gave us a chance to sleep in a bit after last night's football game, and we were finishing up breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room just as it closed at 9am. We took a few minutes for a walk on the Promenade Deck before settling inside in Crooners and catching up on news we'd downloaded yesterday in St. Thomas. While we were there, we chatted a bit with bar waiter Renan from the Phillipines about the Tagalog language and he came back a bit later with roses made out of bar napkins to thank you for trying to use his language. Sweet!

It was nearly 11am before we walked off the ship with no particular plan in mind; we just wanted to get some exercise.

Lunch menu

We don't need to climb down hills to slip and fall. Here's a typical sidewalk in Roseau.

Crosstalk

Force of habit had us stopping into the grocery store where we remembered we needed to replace a small hairbrush that G had lost when it slipped out of his pocket. Though we checked at the grocery and the pharmacy store, it became obvious that hair implements on Dominica are of a different sort than G was looking for (although if I need another pick for my curls, I'm all set). 

Catsup in bags

Powdered milk (there aren't a lot of cows here)

 No shortage of these, but no small brushes

Finally we settled in the Ruins Rock Cafe, drinking rum and using $3 all day wifi of a fairly good speed. It was harious to see the cooling misters come on and off right over laptops and iPads, and it made me thankful for my waterproof iPhone case. 

The second story of the cafe

We also met several of the cruise staff there, so you know the drinks are good!

We walked back on the Emerald Princess just as afternoon tea began in the DaVinci Dining Room, and, knock me over with a feather, G thought we should grab a quick bite there to tide us over until dinner (generally, hot tea is not his drink of choice). We followed that up with a serious haircut for G; none of this "quick trim" stuff we've been doing lately. It was a good time for it...the Emerald Princess was docked in Roseau until 6:00pm and so was nice and steady. 

Despite having just had tea, we were at dinner by 5:45pm, and watched the lights of Dominica fade into the distance as we sailed. Generoso told us there will be three Chefs Tables on this cruise, and the first one was tonight. It's always fun to walk by the beautifully set table on the way to ours nearby, and Darko does not have a late seating at several of his tables on Chefs Table nights to cut down on the activity surrounding that area (he calls it a holiday). 

We went to the 7:15pm performance of production show Disco:  Blame it on the Boogie, and we shook up things a bit by sitting in the front row (as always) but in the MIDDLE of the row, not the left side. It seemed a whole different show from six seats down (and I'm only half joking about that).

Finally, we're back in the cabin where I'm silently willing G to fall asleep so I can switch to the news he refuses to watch tonight. Once again, news of the real world has reached us in the midst of a utopic winter.

Life is sad tonight. 

Video catch up

I have good wifi in Dominica (Ruins Rock cafe across from the ship) and so posted a couple videos to YouTube.

First, dancing in Skywalkers ;-)  It gets shaky up there!

And, just a quick clip of what it's like on the islands...and why I'm happy I have a Lifeproof case on my iPhone even when I'm not on a beach. Ruins Rock features $3/day wifi...and misters to keep things cool.

A few more photos from Dominica yesterday

Because it was such a beautiful day!

Day 24: Dominica

As you know, Dominica can be a tough island for us, particularly when it rains, as it so often does. But we got lucky today, and Dominica was looking her finest, all sunny with clear blue water and green mountainsides. 

We were in bed early last night, so early that, had we still been on the Allure, we wouldn't have even had dinner yet. But that's ok...we need to pace ourselves. Part of it was the walk in yesterday's heat, but part of it (for me) was that I was anxious to get back to the cabin to try the mattress on my bed that had started out on G's bed. My bed had had an excellent mattress, but it was just cushier than G's, whose was very firm.  I had been living with whatever I'd encountered on the Royal Princess and the Nieuw Amsterdam and Allure, because, for a week, who cares?  But here on the Emerald Princess, we needed some tweaking and now we're good to go. 

We both slept hard and still slept until 7am. We're quickly falling into a pattern:  go down to the IC on Deck 5 for brewed coffee to go, walk up the stairs in the Piazza to Deck 6, say hi and complain to the folks at the Passenger Services Desk that we have nothing to complain about, and then go to the DaVinci Dining Room for breakfast. Today again we were seated at a table for four next to window with just us, and our waiter was our same dinner waiter Corn, who already knows that G gets four different juices and which ones they are, and that I like a big bowl of salsa with my egg beaters. Corn asked today if I always get the same thing, and I said yes, usually, even at home, though there I have to peel and section my own oranges and never have three different kinds of fresh berries at one time.  Our junior waiter for dinner, Immanuel, made a point of coming over to say hi, and it suddenly occurred to us that we're going to have another wonderful winter waitstaff-wise. 

By 8:50am (a little early), the Emerald Princess was docked and cleared in Roseau, Dominica, and we went to the forward port (left) side of the Promenade Deck to try to use the Fort Young Hotel's free wifi, but they've finally cracked down on the cruise ship crews and passengers using up their bandwidth and have locked it all. (G later found a bar in Roseau that is offering it for $3 without purchase, free with purchase that we will use if we need it in the future). No matter today; having been on St. Thomas yesterday our lives are under control from an Internet-need perspective. 

We were in the mood again to walk, which is good because it is one of the only things we can do on our own in Dominica. We set out with water bottles and my collapsible walking stick (which is really a necessity to navigate Dominica'a horrible sidewalks and streets), and walked through the busy streets of Roseau, the capital city of about 17000 people. Coupled with its deplorable street condition, Dominica is a member of the British Commonwealth and driving is on the left. 

Saturday is market day in Roseau, and the streets were busy with shoppers. We stopped into "grocery store" simply because we find them so fascinating. I'm always taken aback by the prices. 150 ounces of Tide was almost US $40; a dozen eggs were US $2.66. Dominica is the poorest island we visit..how do people survive here?

For the first time EVER we made our way correctly right to the Dominica Botanical Gardens. We've been here several times before, but have always come in a back or side way. Not today...we actually came in where an entrance sign is. Go us!  We watched a team of young boys playing cricket for awhile (which, along with soccer are the big sports here), and I couldn't help but think that Saturday mornings all over the world are busy with kids playing sports...different sports, obviously, but still sports. We also walked into the bamboo house-cave-tunnel (I'm not certain what to call it, and this being Dominica, there wasn't an abundance of signage...or any signage at all except on the entrance gate). Mom, do remember the bamboo garden we visited in southern France?  It brought back memories of that. 

More memories- lots more- were drummed up when we walked up the steep trail through the rainforest called Jack's Walk. Dad was a walker of the highest order, and would have loved the challenge of it. In fact, we talked about him on the way up, which was fitting; I might have had more years walking with Dad but G certainly logged a lot of miles with him too. The path was dry today, and so it was a perfect day to make the hike (we know we can't count on another day like this all winter), but it was still a bit tough. It was like a hot house under the canopy of the forest and I was drenched with sweat by the time we made it to the top. It didn't help that G lives for this sort of thing, and, hiking ahead of me, would excitedly announce that the next part was particularly steep and proclaim that he loved the tight switchbacks the best. I mean, who does that???

When we got to the Morne Bruce overlook at the top, there were lots of our fellow passengers up there taking photos, brought there courtesy of taxis, and they all looked fresh and smelled nice. Oh well, it was fun to tell them we had climbed up there from the ship, and were walking back down. 

Down. That's always the killer. It might tax the heart and lungs to hike up, but the knees cry all the way down. I had worn my Teva Toachis, and tightened down the straps to keep my feet from sliding, but it was still easy to trip on the heavily rooted path and I had to keep reminding myself to Pick. Up. My. Feet. or I'd fall flat on my face. In the end, I did fall (but not on my face) on the steps of the steepest part. Luckily, I was already crouched down picking my way down the steps when my foot slid out from under me on the dirt and -splat- I went down on my back and slid the rest of the way down that section. 

I was fine, wasn't hurt at all, and couldn't understand why everyone who saw me on the walk back to the ship expressed concern and asked if I had fallen. When assured I was fine, one local lady told me Jesus must love me a lot (Dominica is heavily Christian and mostly Catholic). I'm sure He does, but He really loves my mom, who worries endlessly about us and prays for our safety night and day. Keep it up, Mom...it's working!

Even the ship's security was concerned when we reboarded and asked if I was alright, but it wasn't until I returned to our cabin and peeled off my drenched T-shirt that I understood why I had been a spectacle on the walk back to the ship...my shirt was solidly black in the back, reflecting that quick but wild ride down the hill. I hit it with Shout stain remover and hand scrubbed it with Tide before showering with it. I have to get it clean enough to wash in a washer!

G beat me to the buffet for a late lunch, the first time we've eaten there this cruise. It's not my favorite (and is certainly not nearly as nice as on the Royal Princess), but the salad bar is always good, and I added some fish and vegetarian curry. And three big glasses of fuzzy water. I was so thirsty!  We sat with Sandy, of Gene and Sandy, who we had met at the manager's cocktail party at the Embassy Suites and who are on the Emerald Princess for three cruises back to back. We have really enjoyed getting to know them, and are thrilled to have made new cruise friends. 

I returned to the cool darkness of our cabin to begin this post; G was headed to a hot tub but decided, half way there, that the cabin was more inviting. As I typed, he caught part of an indeterminate Tom Cruise movie. When he said it was good and he was sorry he missed the beginning, I responded that that was too bad, because he'd never get another chance to see it again. That's a joke...we'll see this same movie over and over and over and over again from now until we disembark. We'll see the middle part, the first part, the ending, we'll know the script by heart but we will never, ever see it from beginning to end in one viewing. That's the reality of TV on the Emerald Princess (and I'll have more TV-related thoughts it an upcoming post). 

We were dressed for dinner and in Skywalkers at 5pm. Dominica was putting on a show for us, and looked absolutely spectacular from the ship. I don't recall many (actually any) prior visits where we didn't have at least a drop of rain from arrival to departure in Dominica, so those passengers for whom this was their one visit of the year were very lucky. 

Jefferson from the Philippines is the cook who prepares our Skywalkers hor doerve spreads this winter (as Gerry did last year), and, like Gerry, he is a talent with fruit and vegetable carvings and sushi prep. He is also the ice carver on board, and I was talking with him about it yesterday. He said his dad was an ice carver on Norwegian Cruise Line years ago, and when I told him we had taken an NCL cruise is Alaska years ago where they fished a small iceberg bit out of the water and carved it on deck, he said that that glacial ice is the hardest ice to carve because it is so hard. Makes sense!

So, anyway, tonight's drink was the Japanese Slipper (too sweet for me- I had fuzzy water) and sushi and the display was gorgeous. Princess might not offer us free drinks every night (work on that, Princess, won't you?), but the hors doerves are far beyond those on the Allure. We have to be careful not to fill up before dinner. 

We moved from Skywalkers to sunset, which we walked from outside on the Promenade Deck about 5:30. The Emerald Princess had not yet sailed from Dominica, so there was no wind at all. What a gorgeous start to the evening!

Dinner in the DaVinci Dining Room with Corn and Immanuel is becoming a treat. They are providing G with his special brioche rolls that he loves, and me with my plate of veggies every night (we alternate broccoli, spinach or brussel sprouts), and know we drink two fuzzy waters (me) and Cokes (G) and that caffeine is my kryptonite. We're all settling in just fine. 

We have been eating really early, at 5:30pm-ish for several reasons:  1.) we're still laying our scent at that table for two by a window; 2.) we've been going to the early (7:15pm) show in the Princess Theater; and 3.) we're hungry by then but don't want to fill up on tea time or Skywalkers' hor doerves and then not be hungry for dinner. We're back to being the boring, early to bed, early to rise cruisers we usually are, and are feeling much healthier if not happier for it. 

The show tonight was Disco:  Blame it on the Boogie, the one that was new last winter (though they're still trying to get away with calling it a "new" show. Not quite, Princess). Not our favorite but always fun and especially enjoyable to see performed by a new cast. No second show in the Explorers Lounge tonight, but the Emerald Princess orchestra was playing big band dance music in there tonight so we swung In there to listen (not dance) for awhile. G had recognized the keyboard player from last year and had a chance to talk with him today. Apparently the new cruise director (JJ) is not a big jazz fan, and is not scheduling any "Jazzio in the Adagio" sessions during these cruises. Hmmmm....may have to get my letter writing pen out and make a suggestion. We adore Jazzio in the Adagio!

We took the elevator up to the Lido Deck 15 just as a Bruce Willis movie, Red 2, was beginning. G was instantly interested, and so I returned with popcorn and fuzzy water to the cabin where I'm watching Girl with the Pearl Earring (much more my style) for the eleventy-hundredth time. I simply don't grow tired of Colin Firth, even when he's reticent and in a wig.

Tomorrow:  Grenada. After two days of walking, I think I could warm (ha!) to the idea of a beach day. It's an "early arrival-early departure" day, but, weather permitting (and if it's like today it will be perfect) we may get to Grande Anse Beach by water taxi.