Day 80: Antigua

Aaahhhh, what a perfect day this was.  First, we were in Antigua today, one of my favorite ports. Second, the weather was postcard-perfect, sunny, dry and about 81F. Then, of course, we spent the day on one of our favorite beaches. And finally we had a great evening with the Italian menu (soooo good after skipping lunch today) and with singer Mark Preston back to perform in the Cabaret Lounge. Oh, and Jere Ring doing Name That Tune trivia in the Pacific Lounge. It's hard to top a day like that. 

I should just leave it at that, and end this post now, but I (shockingly) still have a little energy left tonight, and so will go into a little more detail. 

We enjoyed a quick breakfast in the Panorama Buffet today (sitting on the Terrace, as it was so nice out) and walked off the ship fairly early, just after 8:30am. We hooked up with a rogue taxi driver almost right away, who offered to drive us to Fort James Beach for $4 per person. We took him up on his offer, but G reserved the right to instead go to Runaway Beach if Fort James looked too rough. Well, Fort James Beach near Miller by the Sea wasn't too rough but there was a large party setting up to take place there. Instead, we asked to be driven down closer to the fort, where G remembered seeing a beach bar with chairs and umbrellas the last time we were on Antigua. 

The bar/restaurant Beach Limerz was the ideal spot to spend the day. We shared an entire section of beach with just two other couples and a retired Catholic priest. It was quiet, it was secluded and the beach there was spectacular, with a pebble-free gently sloping entry. The color of the water in Antigua is the same all around the island, a nearly opaque turquoise blue green color. The sand is like powdered sugar and the waves are rough enough that the water doesn't have the same visibility as beaches on Barbados or St. John, simply because that light sand is so stirred up. 

 

 

 

I had forgotten until I was tumbled by a large wave that Antigua is the island where, last year, we returned from our beach day with Suzan and Greg and I peeled off my swimsuit in our cabin...and dumped a bushel of sand on the floor. I had had to leave Awesome Ambrish a note of apology for the sandbox he had to vacuum up that night. That didn't stop me from spending a large part of the day playing in the waves, but I did make an attempt to de-sand before I came out of the water the final time. 

We sat under an umbrella in the shade of a tree, in two loungers ($20 for everything) and that, in combination with copious amounts of sunscreen had us well protected from the sun. When I wasn't swimming, I was listening to an audiobook, and the day passed quickly. By 3pm we were getting pretty hungry and walked back down to the road to Miller by the Sea, where there are always waiting taxis. A driver tried to charge us $6 per person to share a cab with another couple but I would have none of that. In the end, we paid just $12 for all of us. 

We were back in our cabin by shortly after 3:30pm, hungry, tired and very sandy. I learned from last year's mistake and peeled off my swimsuit while standing in the shower, which certainly limited the mess but, darn, that Antigua sand is sticky stuff!  When we spent our entire season in the Caribbean, I always packed baby powder to help in sand removal, but we don't have such luxuries this year. Instead I used an especially long shower to achieve the same result. About 4:45pm, Captain D made an announcement that a late ship's excursion not yet returned, and because of having to wait for it, we had missed our sailaway position. Instead the Celebrity Equinox got our spot, and we were sitting in the Club Restaurant for dinner when the Pacific Princess finally sailed. Fortunately, our table is next to a window on the most scenic side, and it stayed light late enough to see us out of the harbor. 

Tonight was the Italian night menu, the best one after a lunch-less beach day. I had minestrone, spinach salad and spaghetti and meatballs and the meatballs were superb. Accompanied by merlot and followed by lemoncello sorbet for dessert, it was a spectacular meal. The Pacific Princess showband started playing in the Cabaret Lounge at 7:15pm, and so we went to the lounge early and listened to them while awaiting the start of Mark Preston's 7:45pm show. He was great (as usual) and received a standing O (as usual), and told us after the show that he'll be doing a second' different show in two night's time. I especially like that one; he sings Lady which is a favorite of ours. We next went up to the Pacific Lounge to listen to Jere Ring's Name That Tune trivia. We didn't actually play, but enjoyed testing ourselves and his music and sense of humor. 

At 10pm we are back in the cabin to get some much needed sleep before another beach tomorrow and then New Year's Eve celebrations on the ship. Just one more day, and we can sleep in on our final two sea days back to Fort Lauderdale. Something tells me we'll have no trouble at all doing that. 

Blizzard relief :-)

Fort James Beach on Antigua

Day 91: Antigua!

Given that it was nearly midnight before I wrapped up the publication of my blog post last night, it was just a tad difficult to roust myself out of bed when the alarm went off at 6:30am. I hit snooze, then hit it again before I finally woke enough to tune the TV to the front of the ship channel. Holy hot dog! We were already docked in St. John's, Antigua!  We hadn't heard a thing while it was docked; it's a good thing I had set an alarm. 

We didn't know, until this morning, that breakfast is served in the DaVinci Dining Room on port days from 7am to 9am, instead of the sea day schedule of 7:30am to 9:30am. (We really need to start reading the Patter!!). With a little time to spare (we thought), I started to get packed for a beach day, and went up to the Horizon Court Buffet to get ice for our metal water bottles. I had just finished filling them (I use a cup to get the ice from the machine and then fill the water bottles from it) and was a screwing the lids back on when who do I see coming toward me with outstretched arms but headwaiter Luis from Portugal. Luis was our headwaiter during our second and third seasons on the Emerald Princess, and I can't tell you how nice it was to see him here. With Francesco (from our first and second seasons on the Emerald Princess) and Luis from our second and third, this really does feel like a homecoming for us. 

When we went down to the DaVinci Dining Room at 7:30am for breakfast, we noticed that people were already in there eating. That's when we found out about the earlier hours on port days. We both ordered oatmeal and G got bacon and I asked for an egg white veggie omelet (still trying to find some way to have a healthy breakfast entree) and it was delicious. Colorful, and full of spinach and peppers and tomatoes and potatoes...I think I've found my scrambled egg beaters replacement. 

We met Greg and Suzan in the International Cafe at 8:45am (and managed to be only two minutes late. Go us!!) and we walked off the ship onto Antigua for the first time in almost two years. We've missed it; this is one of our favorite islands. We squeezed into the smallest taxi ever for the short ($12) ride to Fort James Beach. We bypassed the chairs for $5 each and umbrellas for $10, and in no time at all our bags were settled on tarps and towels at the far end of the beach and we were all in that gorgeous blue water on Swimway floats (they're a very good thing). 

The waves were perfect (not too big and not too small) and Suzan and I played and talked and floated and talked and talked for over four hours. The guys occasionally joined us, G napped on the beach and they eventually took a long walk down the beach...and Suzan and I talked. They treated me to a rum punch at Millers by the Sea, the outdoor bar/restaurant right there (it was delicious but not quite as good as what awaits tomorrow) and around 2pm we started to pack up to take the same small taxi back to the cruse ship. All on board time was 3:30pm. 

Our weather had started out mostly cloudy, and we even had a few brief rain showers (it was very cool to watch the rain droplets bounce on the water surface while we were floating), but the day turned mostly sunny by noon and we knew we were in for a pretty sailaway. 

First, though, Suzan and Greg were on a mission to buy a local newspaper, so we temporarily parted ways in St. John's and were making our way back to the cruise ship when we heard saxophone music. We turned left onto that main road to the port and found the source, a two man band with saxophone and keyboard. They were so good we stood and listened and videoed for a long while before walking down the pier. 

I dumped everything in the cabin and met up with Suzan in the spa for a steam room visit... and more talking. Back in our cabin, I committed a huge faux pas when I peeled off my swimsuit and dumped (and I'm not kidding here) an entire sandbox of sand right on the carpet. Oh it was a mess!  Even after showering and loofah-ing, I think I can still feel sand stuck to my body. I left steward Awesome Ambrish a sincere 'I'm sorry!' note and rushed up to Skywalkers to meet G for sailaway. I was thrilled to see Terry and Sue from cruises past, and we were also joined by Greg and Suzan. 

Sailaway from Antigua is really one of the prettiest ones we see on this itinerary. To add to our viewing pleasure, it was Breeza Marina night in the PES Lounge (though it kind of always is) but we enjoyed herbed goat cheese and yummy crackers in addition to the usual offerings. The only downside:  they are seriously understaffed in there, and my drink ordered at 5pm took until 5:25pm to arrive. Dinner is at 5:30pm; that's clearly not great service.   

But we made it to the Michelangelo Dining Room just a few minutes after 5:30pm where we were met with great service by Victor and Darko (not that one!). G had the surf and turf and gave me his surf and  I had a seafood skewer and it was excellent. I had been so hungry (having skipped lunch) but quickly filled up so much (on herbed goat cheese and dinner) that I couldn't decide about dessert and asked Victor to surprise me with dessert. He brought two scoops of red currant sorbet...I think that sorbet is my favorite dessert is on my permanent Princess record. 

We went to the Princess Theater for production show Magic to Go an hour early, at 7pm for an 8pm show. The theater is just way too small to accommodate the guests who want to see the shows (this is a perpetual Princess problem). You might recall that Anytime Entertainment was introduced on the Emerald Princess a few years ago, and shows were shortened to 30 minutes to allow three performances every night. Well, the shows are still (mostly) 30 minutes long, but there are now only two of them. And only once so far (last night), has there also been a show in Explorers Lounge. However, we were happy to find out, especially as we had arrived an hour early to get seats, that Magic to Go is 53 minutes long. Woohoo!  Adult attention span-length shows!!  

I had brought my iPad to the Princess Theater and used that hour to get to this point on this blog post. Normally G dislikes when I do that, but tonight we were both so tired after our beach day that he didn't mind a bit. He chatted with the couple on his right and I typed away and, before we knew it, an hour had passed. I didn't really look up to see how the audience was filling, but was told later that, by 7:30pm, it was SRO. 

Magic to Do...what can I say about this brand new Stephen Schwartz show produced especially for Princess?  Well, first I can say that it certainly offset any fuel savings Princess might be enjoying this year. This had to cost a fortune, and it is a huge departure from the usual type of Princess entertainment, except for perhaps On the Bayou on the Island and Coral Princess. It reminded me a great deal of some of the shows we saw on the Allure of the Seas. Huge, highly produced, intricate costumes...I think that people who frequent Las Vegas or Broadway shows, or wish they did, would love it. I liked it a lot, and want to see it several more times because I'm sure I missed a lot of details. My husband did not like it at all, and never wants to see it again. And I think this 50-50 split may be fairly typical of the general audience reaction. I will say more about it in later posts, when I am not so tired. Plus, I've been discussing it with G for the last hour, and am kind of over it right now . Maybe tomorrow night at 10:30pm, we'll talk about something less controversial than 'what direction is Princess cruises moving and do we like it?', something like politics or gun control. ;-)

We left the Princess Theater and walked through the new gastropub in the Wheelhouse Bar called the Salty Dog ($19pp charge).  We saw a handful of people eating in there, and the 35 or so chairs with a view of the dance floor were filled. Band Domino Duo plays in there every night. We've heard several complaints from dancers about the increasingly limited places to dance on Princess ships (see above paragraph about the direction of Princess cruises). There is still a dance floor in there; there's just very limited seating. 

We next went to someone called the Magical Musical Mystery Tour with party band Soul Rocker in the Explorers Lounge. We had no idea what to expect, except that it was supposed to be keeping with the 'magic' theme. I had heard a lot of opinions about Soul Rocker; none of them good; and I have to say I kind of agree. And this show tonight was really just performing songs about magic, which would have been fun if the band was better, but they were trying to get the audience involved in different aspects of the show and that didn't work at all. This whole thing definitely needs some work. 

But we had a wonderful day on Antigua with friends, followed by a session in a free steam room that the Emerald Princess still has, then a beautiful sailaway and a great dinner. I saw a new show that I liked (a lot, but I can't say I love it) accompanied by the Emerald Princess orchestra, and listened to two additional bands perform. I had lots of hot water to shower and cool water to brush my teeth, the bushel of sand I dropped on the cabin carpet was cleaned up by someone else by this evening, and I will be asleep in two minutes on a most comfortable bed.

It was a good day. :-)

Day 133: Antigua

It's 10:39pm as I type these first words of tonight's blog post, so you know we had fun today. ;-)

Our excitement first thing this morning was to be docked across the pier in St. John's, Antigua from the 208-passenger Seabourn Spirit, a luxury ship costing several $100 to $1000 per person per day to cruise. The ship was so tiny docked next to the Emerald Princess that, from where we had breakfast, on Deck 6 in the DaVinci Dining Room, we were looking right out at their pool deck with breakfast dining on the aft open terrace. Quite curious, we surmised that they had about one waiter for every four or six passengers, and this small terrace had at least six waiters attending to their guests' every need. 

We were in no hurry this morning; although we had arrived in the dining room before 8am, we lingered over breakfast. G ordered papaya pancakes for the first time, and they were so good he might have to do that again. After breakfast, we walked along the Emerald Princess Promenade Deck (Deck 7), which was on the same level as the top deck on the Seabourn Spirit. And I took this photo of balconies that are even smaller than those on the Royal Princess...but the Spirit was built in the late 1980s, and so the balconies, such as they are, have almost certainly been added on since. 

We finally returned to our cabin, packed for a beach day and gathered up some of the flotsam and jetsam we'd accumulated over the winter (Princess beach bags and Elite amenities, etc.) to take to friends on the island. We hired a taxi to stop there first, to drop off the goodies, and then take us to Fort James Beach, the closest and easiest beach to the cruise ship pier. 

It was sunny and hot and breezy, a perfect beach day, and we settled in on the far end of the beach under a dilapidated wooden palapa. That high ledge of sand is still there, and G used it to his advantage, carving out a lounge chair with a back rest. 

The interesting thing is that all that sand that was carved out of the beach between November and January has made the entry into the water as gradual and kind as can be. In November, we had to pick our spot to climb out of the water; now it's an easy walk out. 

We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon there, G lounging and napping, me playing in the waves for hours.  I know much of the country was covered in snow today, but this is what March 12th looked like in our world:

About 3:30pm we gathered up our gear, talked a taxi driver out of the beach bar, and made the 10 minute ride back to the ship. Just as we were walking down the pier, around 4pm, a gentle shower moved over. Perfect timing!

I had thought my shorts felt a bit snug when I pulled them on over my Miracle swimsuit, but it wasn't until I peeled off my swimsuit in the shower that I became aware of the sand padding that was embedded in my skin under that damn suit. All those hours of playing in the waves resulted in my own personal sandbox, and even the force of the shower wouldn't loosen it. It took lots of loofah work to budge it, and we ended up with our own private beach in the shower by the time I was done. 

The cabin stewards must hate beach days!

We had time for a brief Skywalkers visit (it was Breeza Marina night and sailaway from Antigua at the same time, two of my favorites). It had stopped raining, but there were still low clouds as we sailed out of St. John's Harbour.

We were amused, at Dinner with Darko, to see those same holes in our tablecloth as we've seen in our clothes we've sent to the ship's laundry. 

And the longer days are providing more and more to see en route to St. Lucia. This was the view of actively volcanic island Montserrat from our dining room table. 

Following dinner, we went to this cruise's Most Traveled passengers cocktail party in the Adagio Lounge (cutoff was around 340 Princess days, which I think is the lowest we've seen all winter).  I was so pleased to meet our new Staff Captain Tony and his lovely wife Renee. Renee and their 10 year old twin daughters are on board for several cruises, and we chatted a bit about 10 year old twins and how they can be as different as day and night in personality.

I miss my guys!

And, finally, we are loving our new cruise director Kelvin Joy. After 110 days of no evening entertainment ever in the Adagio Lounge, Jazzio in the Adagio with Chuck Farmer and the Emerald Princess orchestra is back!!!!!!!  I can't tell you how we've missed it. We stayed for the first set, and the lounge was comfortably full, with not many leaving when the band took their first break.  Of course, for those of us who had played in the waves all day, drank Merlot at dinner and Breeza Marinas before and after, that break meant blog time and bedtime, in that order. 

Day 93: Antigua

We had a full and fun day on Antigua; in fact, it was so full that we had to set an alarm and get up before 7am to squeeze it all in. We were on a schedule, so I skipped getting my brewed decaf coffee from the International Cafe, instead going directly to the DaVinci Dining Room for breakfast. Junior winter Erika was so concerned about it that she went down to the IC to get me my coffee herself. Here's the thing: Erika was working on the other side of the dining room. She came over just to check on us and say hi.  And get me my coffee. 

Just call us spoiled (and we love it). 

Coincidentally, cruise friends Kitty and Jim, with whom we were spending the day, were sitting at the table next to ours. We've cruised with Kitty and Jim twice before, and Kitty had lent her support and some consoling words when Dad was failing. It was great to see them both again, and even better to be able to join them for the Segway tour they'd scheduled for today. 

We packed for some time on a beach to follow our Segway adventure, and met up at the IC at 8:30am. Lance from Segway Antigua met us just outside the secured area of the port, and we took a taxi for the seven minute ride to the Segway office on Fort James Beach. Though it had rained briefly as the Emerald Princess had docked, the day looked sunny and promising as we started out. 

We started our Segway orientation by watching the Segway training video. Finally, after five viewings of this video (once for each time G and I have done the tour), the stick figure falling over the Segway handlebar or falling backward off one before getting run over by it fails to scare me anymore. Only one thing still scares me...riding my Segway back across the arched Fort James bridge. But that was still a couple of hours in the future, so all was good. 

Kitty and Jim took to Segway-ing as if they'd been doing it for years (it really isn't that difficult, but they seemed unusually skilled), and we were soon heading off with guides Lance and Elizabeth, through a local neighborhood and north to Runaway Beach. Riding on the beach is a bit trickier, especially when my right wheel got into the water. But, oh, that beach, like all of Antigua's beaches, is sublime. The water is a color of blue seen only on Antigua and Bonaire on these itineraries.

Runaway Beach

Segway-ers extraordinaire Kitty and Jim. 

We had a quick water and photo break, and then headed back south to Fort James. No matter how often I do it, riding a 21st century vehicle though the huge doors of an early 18th century fort is always a thrill.  I even managed to get myself (and my Segway) up and over that evil arched bridge and into the center area of Fort James. Whew!

After a water, fruit kebob and suger cane break, we continued on, with some time for free styling (our favorite) as we made our way back to the Segway office on Fort James Beach. We enjoyed wonderful rum punches and the warm hospitality of manager Juliette (and some free high speed wifi that allowed me to call Mom to hear about her run in with the garage door) before we walked over to Fort James Beach. 

If I needed any more evidence that the Caribbean has been experiencing unusually strong tradewinds for a sustained period of time, Fort James Beach offered it. Huge amounts of sand near the water had been deposited under the wooden "palapas", causing us to bend over to walk under them and making for a high sand ledge running halfway across the beach. 

Even with shifted sands, the beach was still beautiful, and we enjoyed several hours there. Kitty had brought the same Swimways float we have with her on the cruise, and she and I spent- well, I don't know how long we were there, but I'm definitely cooked tonight- sitting in the water and discussing life. I have the BEST conversations with women sitting in the water on those floats!  Kitty, I enjoyed it so much, and, as always, appreciate your wise words. Meanwhile, Jim and G talked "man" talk on the beach, which I bet wasn't even remotely the same conversation we were having. And we stayed clear of Super Bowl talk; how could we have known when we scheduled this tour well over a month ago that their Seahawks would be playing the Broncos?

Finally, it was time to head back, and we took a small bus back to the cruise pier. There we met up with some of Kitty and Jim's friends and talked some more...until a dark cloud forming overhead started spitting rain. We made it back on the ship just as the rain grew more serious. Perfect timing!  We had had a beautiful day sandwiched between two rain showers. 

After we cleaned up (us and our gear), we dressed for the evening and made our way up to Skywalkers for the always beautiful sailaway from St. John's, Antigua. We were in port today with the P&O Azura, which, despite the fact that Captain Nick said "Azura" means "not as nice as Princess" ;-), was almost an identical twin of the Emerald Princess. It was fun to look down the length of the pier at the two bridge wings so close together. I could almost imagine our captain opening a window and leaning out to ask the other ship's captain, "Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon?"

Sunset is obviously occurring later and later, and I miss our Antigua sailaways in December were the sun was setting just as we sailed at 5pm. Today it was considerably higher as we left the south head of St. John's harbor behind us. 

After we left the harbor, we went down to the Michelangelo Dining Room for Dinner with Darko. We ate lightly tonight, because, once again this cruise, we made the cutoff for the Most Traveled Passengers (MTP) cocktail party. In fact, our 547 Princess days WERE the cutoff for the MTP party. We were couple number 20 this time after missing it entirely last cruise. These numbers are at least 100 days higher than they were on the same cruises last year, which implies to me that Princess's most traveled passengers are still going strong, with many cruising over 100 days a year. What G and I are doing seems unusual, but, honestly, it really isn't. 

No surprise: we closed the party, after being deep in conversation with Chief Engineer Roddy. We missed comedian AJ. Jamal's second night's performance, but didn't have the energy to stay up until his last show started at 10:15pm. There was no second featured performer tonight in the Explorers Lounge; it was Country Western theme night in there.

A day spent on Segways and a beach have worn us out. G was asleep before I finished my evening ablutions, and I'll soon be following. Following recitation of tonIght's "Go Broncos" slogans, of course. 

Day 34: Antigua

Wow...you've heard of six degrees of separation? Well, today I enjoyed just two degrees of separation from the Duchess of Cambridge. TWO!  Imagine the thrill of that for someone for whom royalty is a spectator sport (like me). But I am getting so far ahead of myself, because that was just the exclamation point on an oherwise wonderful day. 

People ask us all the time if we ever get bored doing Caribbean cruises over and over again, and we can't imagine that, and today was a perfect example of why. We've probably been to Antigua more than 20 times, and our day today will certainly stand out as a highlight of this winter's cruise. 

We did our usual morning routine- IC for coffee and then breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room- and I was walking through the Calypso Pool area to get a morning fuzzy water from the Calypso Bar (for that 9am "Take Pills" activity) when I ran into Suzan and Greg, and, honestly, they are staying right around the corner from us but that is the first time we have just casually met, yet other people we see nearly every day. Anyway, we confirmed our plans to spend the day together, and, with just a backpack, they said that they were ready to go. I went back to our cabin where we packed the beach bag and my backpack and could have pulled a trailer behind us to carry everything we might need for the day.  Light packers, we are not, be it for a day or a season. 

We met them again at the IC and walked off the ship. Despite a rain shower as the Emerald Princess had docked earlier this morning, the day looked sunny and not too hot. We took a taxi over to the Segway Antigua office just 10 or so minutes away where we were greeted first by Lance, who is a new member of their team, and then walked inside to see all the familiar faces. It was wonderful to see Juliette, who manages the business and meet her husband Kandesh, who handles the computer side of things, and Yandeen and Liz, who were our guides for our tours last year. Suzan and Greg, though the super-active people that they are, had never rode Segways, and, along with a group of four from England, we all watched the safety briefing video with that same stick figure doing all the wrong things (obviously he'd learned nothing in the intervening year), and were suited up with our safety gear of helmets and elbow pads.    We headed outside where we went through the regular practice session of getting on, going forward, stopping, turning and finally getting off the Segways. It didn't take long before everyone, novice and veteran alike, was up to speed and we took our practice session off road and then, in a single file, took off for our tour with Lance in front, Elizabeth in the back, Juliette providing the narration and Yandeen driving the sag wagon bringing up the rear. Juliette had told me before hand that we would be going on a new route today, and, boy, did we and it was fantastic. 

I'll provide just an overview...we rode Segways for more than two hours, on Runway Beach, to Dickenson Bay Beach, and then back north to historic Fort James (built by the British in 1706) and finally to Fort James Beach. We had stops for delicious snacks (sugar cane and fruit kabobs) and water, were rained on briefly, and always, always were provided with the most incredible overview of Antigua history, and geography, and flora and fauna and especially life in Antigua, all delivered by Juliette through a blow born while she rode a Segway alongside us. It was an excellent combination of adventure and education and I learn more every time I do this tour. How much do we enjoy doing this?  Well, I think this was our fourth time doing it. Yeah, we like it a bit. 

Runway Beach

Greg and G:

Dickenson Bay Beach:

Fort James;

Suzan and Greg so enjoyed it, and we loved spending the day with them (especially since it was Greg's birthday). We finished up our day on the island at beautiful Fort James Beach next to the Segway office, and had a bit more adventure in store when our taxi driver backed into large rock while we were leaving the beach. This being Antigua, he simply pulled forward and tried a different angle. When we got back to the port, I couldn't help but look to see what the damage was, but it was hard to determine which dents came from this particular accident and which came from all the others that came before it. 

Fort James Beach:

We stopped just long enough for some rum samples before boarding the ship. G and I were cleaned up and in Skywalkers for the Elite Lounge in time for sailaway at 5pm. Sailaway from Antigua at sunset is one of the prettiest we do and I took photo after photo of the same things I've taken photos of before. 

I had had a conversation with friendly headwaiter Luis from Portugal this morning inquiring if we should prepare ourselves for waiter Darko and junior waiter Kamong to disappear before our next cruise and he assured me that wouldn't be the case. That's good, because they truly are the sweetest, best guys and they are going to make this winter for us as Suttipong made the prior two winters for us.

We limited ourselves to one course (plus dessert, of course) at dinner, and then spent some very pleasant time listening to strings duo Playthoven before heading up to the Adagio Bar for this cruise's Most Traveled Passengers cocktail party (cutoff was 443 days, which is crazy...we first were invited to this party exactly two years ago this cruise with 268 days). There we met Deputy Cruise Director Lynn from California and she is a joy. She told us how she was a dancer and then dance captain in the production shows for ten years before recently joining the cruise staff. She is in the equivalent position as Frenchie last year, and I can already tell we're going to enjoy knowing her this winter. 

And, finally, I can finish as I began, and explain my two degrees of separation between the Duchess of Cambridge and me...our drinks tonight were served by friendly bar waiter Lazar of Serbia who saw G's Royal Princess polo shirt and told us he was on the ship even before it was launched and then for several months. I asked him if he had seen Duchess Catherine and he said that, not only had he seen her, he served her refreshments when she made her tour of the ship after christening it. His hand touched a glass touched by Catherine and a glass touched by me. 

I simply can't top that, and so will close the curtain on this perfect day!

Antigua- Part 2

Photos 1 and 2: those wonderful waves at Fort James Beach

Photo 3: quiet Fort James Beach in later afternoon

Photo 4: Rat Island Fort (the one we walked to last year) as seen from the ship at sailaway

Photo 5: Fort James as seen from the ship

Day 114: Antigua

Today must have been the funnest day of our entire winter, in a "laugh out loud good time" sense. I can't say it was necessarily the best day of the winter, because we've had so many truly excellent ones. But in terms of pure play pleasure, today has to top the list.

We enjoyed breakfast in the dining room (with blueberry pancakes!) before packing for a beach day and taking a taxi over to....the Segway Antigua office! That's right- for the third visit in a row, we had reserved a Segway tour. Hmmmm...do ya think we might enjoy it?!?

We like to go to the Segway office early. They have the BIG five of Caribbean Internet there: free, fast, cool, quiet and shaded, and are kind enough to let us use it. In fact, while we were in the taxi going there, we passed Juliette from the Segway Antigua office riding a Segway over to the pier to meet up with the others taking the tour with us. We stopped-she stopped, and she said she had left us a note at the office. When we got there, the other two members of the Segway Antigua team, Yandeen and Elizabeth, were out with the 9:00am tour, and with Juliette away collecting the other passengers, they would normally have locked up the office. But Juliette, knowing G and I as she does, left the door unlocked and the sweetest note, advising us to come in and make ourselves comfortable and giving us the wifi password.

We love these people!

We wifi-ed fast and furiously until the 9:00am tour returned. Jenny and Bill had taken that tour and we were anxious to hear how they liked it. Jenny had told us the cutest story about her 86-year old, 4' 11" mother riding a Segway in Florida, totally successfully. But the visual of this little lady looking over the handlebar just cracked us up. Well now, Jenny knows she can keep up with her mom!

The rest of our group turned out to be a family of six from England. We all watched the training video again (those stick figures showing what NOT to do still quicken my pulse), geared up and then went outside to train with the Segways. G and I were allowed to just get started and run them around, but we listened carefully to the dismount instructions. That's still the trickiest part ("Jenny's 86-year old mom, Jenny's 86-year old mom, Jenny's 86-year old mom" became my dismount mantra. If she can do it, I can do it!). Soon we were off, on a longer tour today, through some residential areas (dogs! Barking dogs! Another fear of mine!) while Yandeen took action photos and Juliette used a blow horn to talk about Antigua's history and culture. I actually heard a lot more today, probably because my brain wasn't stuck on "stay upright".

We stopped for a stretch and water break at beautiful Runaway (or it's also called Runway) Beach, just south of Dickenson Bay Beach, and noticed that the surf today was bigger than it had been on our previous, recent visit. Ooohhh, this looked like fun!

We headed back down towards Fort James. Instead of hyperventilating at the potholes, I was slaloming around them, having the time of my life. For the fourth time this winter, we visited Fort James (we went once on our own, plus the three Segway tours). G had made that a goal for this winter- to get to Fort James. Guess we accomplished that one! After a water-sugar cane-fruit kabob break at the fort, it was time to cross that damn arched bridge again to leave. That is a trick, and convinced I was going to fall backwards, and become the living representation of one of the stick figures in training video, I cried "help me!" and Juliette was there to keep me upright and save my life. With my legs like jello, we headed back to the Segway office where we were offered a local beer (Wadadli) or a local fruit drink, or both (they're good mixed together!).

Then it was beach time, and if scooting around Antigua on Segways hadn't been enough fun, I played in those glorious waves for over an hour (Sheila, it was Ilhabela, Brazil all over again), jumping and diving while G watched nervously from shore. Sorry, hon...I wasn't going to sit that one out! When it comes to bigger waves, I'm still a kid at heart, squealing and laughing and having a grand old time. What I didn't realize- then- is that every wave was filling my swimsuit with another bunch of sand. I was padded all over on the ride back to the ship, and it all dumped on the floor when I peeled off my swimsuit. THAT wasn't going to make for a happy Steward Nazi!

We just had time for quick showers before we dressed for dinner and went up to Skywalkers to watch sailaway from Antigua (one of our favorites because of the beautiful harbor at St. John's). Once again, I was struck by how much later the sun is setting. Instead of setting while we were still in the harbor, we had already gone to dinner when it finally set, beautiful with the island of Montserrat in the distance. Montserrat is the island with the still-active volcano, and we've set as a goal for next year to get over there somehow, even if it's just by helicopter from Antigua.

Following dinner, we went to this cruise's Most Traveled Passengers (MTP) party. (Cutoff was 368 days- one of the lowest of the winter). We're now 11 for 11 for this year in qualifying for that; although one time I think we were passenger numbers 39 and 40 on the list. Professional cruisers love these 10-night itineraries, and sometimes the top three couples all have over 1000 nights on Princess. Wow.

We met Captain Nick Nash, who now becomes the "resident" captain of the Emerald Princess, as Captain Pomata is moving to the Caribbean Princess. If our plans for next year don't change, we'll be seeing a lot of him next year. The three Breeza Marinas I consumed there marked the end of my evening, and entertainment was out of the question, although production show What a Swell Party was being performed in the Princess Theater and pianoman Kory Simon was in the Explorers Lounge. Segways, waves, beach and Breeza Marinas- I was done for the day, but what a fun way to get there!

Photo 1: Runaway Beach

Photos 2-4: Fort James

Photo 5: this is how close the Segway Antigua office is too Fort James Beach...it's right there!

Antigua- Part 2

Photos 1 and 2: Fort James

Photo 3: the ship The World of Residensea sailed from St. John's harbor while we were at Fort James

Photos 4 and 5: Fort James Beach (the closest beach to the cruise ship)

Photo 6: A new ferry dock was built in St. John's harbor, specifically for the possible evacuation of residents from nearby Montserrat in the event their active volcano erupts again.