Day 58: At Sea

This has been the best day of several best days on our winter. It has been absolutely perfect from start to finish, and, let's face it, even on a cruise that's a fairly rare thing. 

I started this post early, while sitting in the Sanctuary following a wonderful breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room (still stollen!). The Emerald Princess has been much calmer as the Christmas winds have died down considerably (I guess thanks to the same winter storm that has left half a million homes without power in the northeast. Not exactly a fair trade-off, is it?), and any winds still around are at our back as we head northeast. The sun was shining brightly, but was mottled through the canopies covering the Sanctuary, and, honestly, it was an entirely different sport today than it was during the first two sea days when I huddled in wet towels and wool blankets. This I could learn to love.  (Insert deep sigh of contentment here). 

Because it's less windy, we're sleeping better every night (well, G's cold getting better deserves some of the credit for that, too). I've always known, but have been recently reminded, that I do not function well without eight hours at night. People say that, as they get older, they sleep less at night and more during the day. If that's any measure of aging, I am happily still in the midst of middle-age. At any rate, life was good this morning. 

In case you think I've been coy about how long our winter at sea is going to last, those closest to us can vouch for the fact that we honestly don't know. In fact, now that G is again healthy enough for the argument, we've picked right up where we left off before he got sick, with debating, debating, debating just how long we'll be here. This discussion, which happens year 'round in jest (I say 100 days and he says 150; I say 110 and he says 150; I say 120 and he says 150...a compromising man he is NOT) has intensified now that we are making final payments for the March cruises. And we actually have flights to return home on three different dates in March, and into April.  Darko is well aware of our dilemma (actually, MY dilemma...G could happily stay until the Emerald Princess leaves for Europe in mid-April, and we are booked out that far) and thinks we should all leave together on March 29. This would mean that we arrived on the Emerald Princess on the same day, and would leave on the same day, basically keeping us here for (as the crew loves to tell us) "one European contract".

Now that we've effectively used Princess Vacation Protection's "cancel for any reason" coverage (to cancel those two Royal Princess cruises in November), I'm a small bit more settled about committing to more cruises. Cancel for any reason coupled with fully refundable Southwest flights (booked with points) provide a measure of comfort. Things have gone shockingly well so far this winter (wonderful service from our waitstaff AND our cabin steward, just one cold each and no Code Red norovirus outbreak in sight, Zappos delivering shoes to my cabin) and, between you and I (because G NEVER reads my blog)...yeah, I might commit to ten more days.  Stay tuned...

For the first time this cruise, I wore a swimsuit and coverup to the Sanctuary, and took frequent cooling dips in the Lotus pool just one deck below. G popped in a couple of times, finally staying for the lunch we ordered from the Sanctuary menu. (Greek pinwheels for me and tostito chips and dip for him...$3 per person delivery charge). 

Today is what the Sanctuary was made for, and, for the first time this cruise, it appeared to be fully attended. I think it was nice enough today for us to forget the hurricane of the early days of this cruise and consider re-booking for next cruise (where the kid count will drop from 350 to 250). G laughed at me, reclining in my lounger, not even lifting my head, while I popped slices of Greek pinwheel wraps into my mouth like I was an extra in a Cleopatra movie while the sun sparkled off the water 17 decks below. (Insert second deep sigh of contentment right here). 

Nice as it was, G still insisted I attend this cruise's wine tasting with him, so at 2:30pm I dragged myself back down from heaven and returned to the cabin to shower. We have this wine tasting thing down: I give G my whites and he gives me his reds and he gets the final dessert wine and we're both happy (well, I would have been happier up in the Sanctuary, but...). The shoebox from my new sandals makes a good storage box for the complimentary shooter glasses, and I've even saved the tissue paper the sandals were wrapped in to wrap the shooter glasses in.

We came out of wine tasting right in the midst of fruit and vegetable carving in the Piazza, and Jefferson and Cecil there carving and trimming and pounding in skewers as fast as they could. Jefferson told me we'd be seeing his carvings later at the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers, and I am going to try to note how many days they're able to be used. 

We had just enough time for a quick rest in the cabin before dressing for the evening (smart casual on a sea day...what a treat!) and heading up to Skywalkers. The ocean was flat today like we haven't seen for weeks. Every so often there was a wisp of white on the surface, but that was it.  What a change from a few days ago!

At the last minute, G decided to go back to the cabin to get a bottle of champagne to take to dinner, and told me to go ahead and he'd meet up with me. I was seated for just a few minutes when he arrived with the champagne and told Darko we'd like it with dessert. Because ship time right now is an hour ahead of the time zone we're actually in, sunset wasn't until 6:16pm, and it was spectacular and on our side of the ship. 

And at the very end of it. I saw the second green flash of my life. That's exciting!

But the thrills were just beginning. Headwaiter Johann surprised us with cannolis, a treat from Maitre d' Generoso, and then Darko delivered the desserts we had ordered, and the champagne...AND a small gift bag "from Sir". Huh?  I was shocked...what was going on?

Well, it seems that G had stopped by. Facets fine jewelry store on the ship and picked up a gift for me:  an ammolite pendant. He's always been fascinated with the geological origin of ammonite, and I love that it's a 75 million year old stone, and that it's so colorful. It's the only stone we've ever looked at in port, and even then just casually (you know that I am not a shopper). 

That was the whole reason for G's coming to the dining room after me...He snuck the bag to Darko to be delivered with dessert and champagne. Darko loved it, I loved it, G loved it, the pendant is beautiful and the cannoli was delicious. What more could I ask for?

But the evening was still young, and while the second and third and fourth acts paled a bit in comparison, they were still fun:  the production show Disco:  Blame it on the Boogie; Team Rootberry juggling in Explorers Lounge, and the Emerald Princess orchestra playing big band music in the Explorers Lounge. We're back in the cabin now, watching college football (Syracuse v. Minnesota) on TV. I love an exciting fourth quarter. 

I loved this entire day. Don't tell G, but I'm softening my stance on staying an additional ten days. I'd hate to miss the opportunity for another day like this. :-)

Day 55: Barbados

Well, if there was any remaining doubt about the fact that where a ship is docked in any given port can change at the last minute, the Emerald Princess' experience today should end it...on our first sea day, at our Cruise Critic meet and greet, Captain Nick said that there would be three cruise ships in Barbados today, but that the Emerald Princess would get the close (aka the good) berth. Then at the Captains Circle party, he said that, because one of the other cruise ships, the Costa Mediterranea, needed to load some freight containers, the Emerald Princess would instead be docked on the breakwater (aka the bad dock). And, here we are, sitting smugly, aft first, in the good dock while the Costa Mediterannea is at our bow, further from the terminal. In a first for us, the smaller cruise ship from yesterday in St. Lucia, the Croisieres de France Horizon is on the breakwater but close in, on the angled part of the dock. Apparently, it's short enough to squeeze in there. 

And, as it should be, a freighter has been relegated to the bad dock. All's right in our world after all.

Well, almost.  G has been successful in getting a cold that he's been working at for a few days. The timing is perfect...he's been slowing down at the same time I've been wanting to stay on the ship and use the Sanctuary, and it's really fortuitous today, as I can leave the cabin for him to rest and have somewhere nice to retreat to.

So, because of that, our schedule was a bit turned upside down today. I had cereal and fruit in the dining room and then did a load of laundry which I hung on the clothesline in our cabin to dry (good to put some moisture in the air). I then alternated between the Sanctuary and returning to the cabin to check on G and bring him some sustenance. It was hot and sunny early in the day, but as the afternoon went on, the skies clouded over. I felt sure that we were going to get some rain but, nope, it stayed overcast but nice the rest of the afternoon. 

All on board time today was 3:30pm, with sailaway at 4pm. Usually, Barbados is a port where I wish our visit was a couple of hours longer, but not so today, first because we didn't get off the ship, but also because there were so many Christmas things on the schedule for the afternoon and evening:

10am and 5pm:  that same A Christmas Carol movie with Jim Carrey on MUTS

5:30pm and 8:30pm:  Emerald Princess crew caroling in the Piazza

7:15pm and 9pm:  Holiday Wishes show with the Emerald Princess singers and dancers in the Princess Theater

7:30 and 9:30:  Elf with Will Farrell on MUTS

8:15pm:  reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by cruise director JJ in the Piazza

10:15pm:  Christmas Eve interdenominational church service in the Princess Theater conducted by Father Thomas O'Donnell

11:30pm:  Christmas Eve Catholic Mass in the Princess Theater 

I grabbed a piece of pizza for lunch and took it back to the Sanctuary, and spent the afternoon 1.) staying out of G's hair (because when I'm sick I want to be left ALONE) and 2.) truly enjoying the relaxing experience. I won't say I'm good at this Sanctuary thing yet, but I'm making progress. I logged onto Internet and downloaded Christmas greetings sent via email and generally didn't feel even a bit remorseful that I would not be home for Christmas, which, if you remember the trauma of the early years of winters at sea, is major progress. Yay me!

I stayed in the Sanctuary long enough to enjoy afternoon tea...er, our 4pm sailaway. Now, I had forgotten that, once early on when we were sitting in the Sanctuary and G was looking around, he commented that the ship's horn was located right above. I gave it little thought; I thought I'd never be up there for sailaway because we generally watch sailaway from Skywalkers or the Promenade Deck...until today. I was happily consuming my second cup of tea after having consumed two glasses of cucumber water and was intently watching from the best seat in the house at the front of the ship while the Emerald Princess pushed away from its berth...and BLAST, followed by two more blasts and it was at that moment when I realized just how far it is from my chair in the Sanctuary to the closest bathroom. Yikes!

I returned to the cabin to find G up and showering for the evening, so a down day was just what the doctor ordered. We were sitting in the Piazza on Deck 5 (right next to that lovely gingerbread village) by 4:45pm, listening to Christmas carols being played on the piano and securing for ourselves a good viewing location for the upcoming singing of carols and what we hoped would be Christmas snow in the Piazza. 

Well, there was more mist than snow (that really hasn't worked well on the Emerald Princess since 2010), but the caroling was fun and heartfelt (video to be posted later).  By then, it was time for dinner with Darko, and I just wanted to eat healthily tonight and so had a watermelon starter with salmon and spinach as an entree. There will be plenty of time for splurging tomorrow!

We left the Michelangelo Dining Room and immediately went to the Princess Theater for the 7:15pm Holiday Wishes show. It was really nice; no huge production value but that was part of the charm of it. First the dancers performed in those cute holiday costumes we've seen in prior years, then three of the singers (and one of the dancers) sang. Next the passengers who were part of this cruise's Princess Pop Choir sang. Then there was a hilarious cruise ship parody of the 12 Days of Christmas with the Staff Captain and several members of the ship's company from different departments each singing a different part. Finally the little ones from the Princess Pelicans program came on stage to sing, with live music provided by the Emerald Princess orchestra. And it was fun to see all the re-purposed set pieces (like the stairs from What a Swell Party) and even the leather chairs from the Wheelhouse Bar on the stage. It was simple and fun and perfect for Christmas Eve. 

We raced back to the Explorers Lounge (well, that's not quite right...Deck 7 was packed with people and still we had to contend with two sets of sales tables AND a photo backdrop) to see Timm Metivier, billed as a comedian-magician. (The things we do for love!)  Actually, he wasn't terrible and was pretty good in parts, especially when a 9-year old passenger was asked up on the stage (THAT one has a real future in comedy!). 

G had reached the end of his day, and we returned to the cabin to find a Christmas stocking filled with candy canes, mints and chocolates. I want to stay up for midnight Mass, but my contacts might have other ideas. Luckily, another one is being offered Christmas morning, early, before Santa makes his appearance. His route is being tracked from the bridge, and periodic update announcements will be made Christmas morning until he lands his sleigh on the ship. 

;-)

Day 54: St. Lucia

Aaahhhhhh, sweet sleep. We finally got some last night. The ship was still a bit bumpy but not the kind of "this is the worst we've ever seen in the Caribbean" kind of bumpy we've been having for the past several weeks.  We've had worse seas, of course, twice in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, and once off the west coast of Africa, but those bouts were short-lived, and within three or so days we'd sail out of them. I think it was the duration of what we've been experiencing, even more than the severity, that started taking a toll on us.

Unsurprisingly (Captain Nick had warned us while remaining hopeful that things might work out differently), the Emerald Princess was docked at the freight pier in St. Lucia today. I knew this for certain before I even got out of bed, because when I turned on our TV to the "front of the ship" channel, I was thrilled to see that the Emerald Princess was docked stern in first, with its bow facing out to Castries harbor, but I could see the P&O Ventura spinning into place to the right of the screen, which meant they got the good dock at Pointe Seraphine. Oh well...my only plan for the day was to practice relaxing in the Sanctuary, and, since Internet had returned to the Emerald Princess last evening, I didn't even need to leave the ship for that. 

The P&O Ventura at the "good" dock at Pointe Seraphine. 

But wasn't St. Lucia looking beautiful this morning?

G was already off the ship (he just HAS to do that, even if he just walks around the pier area) and back on board having breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room by the time I made an appearance. We had a leisurely breakfast,,,(my usual orange segments, mixed berries, scrambled egg beaters, fresh salsa and, of course, waiter Alvin found me to make sure I received my Christmas stollen. I will miss that when it's gone!

After breakfast, I returned to the cabin for that 9am pill taking activity, and then gathered up what I'd need for a morning in the Sanctuary but also my Sally Hansen Complete Manicure nail polish in Gold Rush, a bottle of pure acetone and a handful of scratchy cotton pads. These last things I delivered to an officer who will remain unnamed for purposes of my blog, but who gets to wear civvies, including nail polish, on Christmas Day. My nails have caused no end of excitement among (mostly) the young, female members of the ship's company.  Really, if they knew I wore glitter polish just because it doesn't need to be applied perfectly and I can do it myself, because it wears like iron and lasts at least one cruise, and this particular polish because it was on sale at CVS, they'd be far less impressed.

That duty completed, I made my way up to the Sanctuary, which, for the first time this cruise, was NOT windy. However, as I Komang, a serenity steward, informed me as he was picking up sodden towels off loungers, it had just minutes earlier been raining "cats and dogs" (I love it that the crew knows English euphemisms). Luckily, he had already prepared my lounger with dry towels, so I sat down, ordered a cucumber water, and immediately noticed a third cruise ship, the Horizon from the Croisieres de France cruise line making its way into Castries harbor. St. Lucia was really packing them in today!  I believe the Horizon is the old Celebrity Horizon, especially since, not only did they not rename the ship, the name Horizon appears in the same block white letters on the bow that Celebrity still uses on its ships. 

I can imagine that the bridge officers on the P&O Ventura were hanging out on their bridge wings watching closely as the Horizon squeezed in behind it. It must be a bit like when you return to your car to find that someone is parking too closely in the spot next to yours and you pointedly stand there and watch and silently dare them to even touch your car.

Three cruise ships in St. Lucia and intermittent rain showers moving through...it was a good day to stay on the ship and a better day to sit in the Sanctuary. 

And so I sat in the Sancturary relaxing as noise bled through from the movie A Christmas Carol (Jim Carrey version) on the big screen (MUTS), occasionally drowned out by the sound of forklifts on the freight dock, and I was forced to wonder when, WHEN in the Sanctuary are we going to experience the glorious wind-free, sunny days filled with New Age spa sounds and my fellow beautiful and well-toned passengers moving in smiling slow motion up there; you know, the way it is in the Princess marketing videos.  Because, although it's very nice, and certainly a respite from all the activity on the open pool decks during this busy cruise, it's been either windy and/or rainy and/or cold and/or noisy. In fact, right at this moment I was hearing, simultaneously, the movie, the beep beep beep of a forklift backing up and a police siren. Oh, and then a truck horn honking incessantly. An oasis of tranquility it was not. 

Finally I started to get hungry, and since G wasn't showing up to spring me, I checked myself out and returned to the cabin, where I found him engrossed in the movie Jobs. Now, when it comes to movies, we are generally the only people in the English speaking world who haven't seen any particular one, and Jobs is no different. I entered the cabin during the turbulent John Sculley years and stayed until the end of the movie, and so still need to see the first 75% of it (no problem, that...it's cruise TV, and I'll be able to see it the rest of the evening and all day on Day 5 of next cruise.)

By the time the movie had ended, we were both starved and so opted for (no surprise) pizza. You know, I never, ever had pizza on a cruise ship until Princess discontinued serving lunch in the dining room on port days, and now it's our choice at least half the time. I backed mine up with a small salad from the buffet, but didn't want to eat too much...I needed to save room for tea served in the Sanctuary!

Finally, G escorted me back to the Sanctuary and then went on his way to do whatever. And I continued to enjoy lounging in the shade but with sun on my legs (that "tanned is thinner" theory) and, once I plugged in my ear buds and continued to listen to an audiobook (Paris in Love by Eloisa James) to drown out the noise bleed of the Bon Jovi concert on MUTS, it turned into a really gorgeous afternoon in the Sanctuary. Tea was served promptly at 3:45pm and that has become one of my favorite parts of the Sanctuary experience. 

Served by I Komang from Indonesia

And, speaking of Christmas movies (we were, weren't we, several paragraphs ago?), in the interest of accurate Christmas reporting, in addition to Jim Carrey's A Christmas Carol shown at 10am on MUTS, Christmas with the Kranks was shown at 1pm in the Princess Theater, and Scrooge (from 1970) was shown at 4:15pm and 6:15pm on MUTS. Also shown on MUTS:  Monday Night Football, the 49ers v. the Falcons at 9:30. 

At 4:30pm, I left my sanctuary in the Sanctuary and returned to the cabin to get ready for dinner. We weren't sailing until 6pm and so there was no compelling reason to go up to Skywalkers for the Elite Lounge (and I'm starting to think that we'll be skipping it a lot next winter on the Royal Princess when it's held in view-less Club 6). Instead we just went straight down to dinner. 

At dinner with Darko, we held it to just an entree (orange roughy for me) and dessert (vodka lime sorbet, one of my favorites). We didn't want to fill up too much...the cruise's Most Traveled Party (MTP) was held tonight in Adagio, and we wanted to save room for what turned out (for me) to be three Breeza Marinas and great conversation with the Chief Engineer's wife who came on board yesterday. 

Desserts from the MTP party

Once again, we closed out the party, and then returned to our cabin after procuring fuzzy water and popcorn. There is so much going on tonight:  tropical deck party, football on MUTS, but we've chosen to watch Jobs from the beginning on our cabin TV, and it just started again at 9:40pm. 

Arrival tomorrow in Barbados is early- 7am- and our current plan is for a beach day. Captain Nick warned that tonight could be bouncy again, but, really, this is NOTHING compared to what we've had recently. I predict good sleep and, hopefully, a wonderful Christmas Eve day on Barbados. 

Day 53: Antigua

I started this post sitting in the Sanctuary looking out over the city of St. John's, Antigua. It was calm and sunny and, for the first time ever, I actually heard some of that relaxing New Age music playing in that area, and it was all just as nice as it could be, and then a sudden rainshower blew in, and I got a bit wet, but the sun came out again and, I must say, when the ship is docked, the Sanctuary really is quite wonderful. 

When we arrived in Antigua at 8am, we were still in bed after a mostly sleepless night. We're just not getting good sleep, and it's starting to take its toll. Even after hearing the announcement that the Emerald Princess had been cleared by the local authorities and passengers were welcome to go ashore, we lingered a bit, slow to start our day. Therefore, we arrived in DaVinci Dining Room for breakfast shortly before it closed at 9am, and I kept my order to just cereal and mixed berries...and stollen, of course. 

Internet was still out this morning, and I was beginning to have visions of Mom falling on the ice while making her way to Mass, and still lying there and...well, the mind can start playing tricks on you when you're sleep deprived. We needed to get off of the ship today if for no other reason than to find wifi. 

We walked first over to Redcliffe Quay to find the wifi that's usually available at the Big Banana restaurant, but either it wasn't working, or we couldn't get on it because so many crew members had beat us to it, because we got no where there (but it was certainly peaceful and pretty in that little courtyard this morning). 

We next headed back towards the ship a different way, cutting through some of the cobblestoned alleys that date back hundred of years, but still finding no wifi along the way. We thought that Kings Casino was closed on Sundays, but saw someone coming out of it and so walked in. Finally, success. Their wifi is never fast, and several crewmembers were already there making Internet calls home, but at least they had it, and immediately 57 emails popped up on my iPhone to be read, and I honed in on those from Mom, who is fine and didn't appear to be one bit worried that she hadn't heard from us since Thursday. She's a busy woman! ;-)

We sat there for a couple of hours, and I was able to publish the blog posts I'd written for the past two days. We checked things at home (all fine) and financial accounts (all fine) and heaved a sigh of relief. 

We had no real plans for the day (frankly, I just wanted to be on a non-moving surface), and, though it was mostly sunny, occasional brief showers passed through. Being Sunday, we didn't want to risk trying to take a local bus anywhere, and it wasn't looking to be the best beach day. Instead, we dodged some rain drops and returned to the ship and our cabin, where we opened the second box of mail from home that arrived on the Emerald Princess on turnaround day (thank you Martha!). Great fun...we had a few early Christmas cards, including one from Mom with a picture of herself that was taken recently for church- just beautiful, and it's fun to have a photo of her with us on the ship. 

(Shayla...OMG such amazing news about Zak! Congrats; as you once said about G, Zak's mother raised a good son!  Please email me...I don't have a good email address for you. It's only fitting that you're cruising along with me; I think of our world travels so often when I'm here!)

We were in the mood for food by then, and since a brief rainshower was passing over at that very moment, decided to go down to the International Cafe (IC) for lunch instead of up to the Lido Deck for pizza. While we get our coffee (actually, G's been getting hot cocoa) in the IC every morning, we don't generally go back there to eat again later in the day. Well, lucky us!  Today they were actually preparing penne arrabiata right there, and so we started with that, and then I had some of my favorite shrimp and fennel salad, and decided to splurge and have that chocolate pudding (that used to be call Gianduja pudding) for dessert. Well, thankfully, what used to be like eating fudge in a bowl was now horribly disappointing, which makes it just that much easier to stay away from it. 

G stayed behind to talk to Andre and Angela, on for 50 days and last cruise's most traveled passengers but this cruise's second-most traveled, and I returned to the cabin for a bit of iPhone charging and took advantage of that time to call Room Service for the trade out of some of our minibar items. Every cruise (so, for us, every ten days) we get delivered to our cabin a complete complementary minibar setup, including...oh, I don't know for sure, but I think it's 8 tiny bottles of liquors and two beers and four sodas and two Perriers and two bottles of water. Something close to that, at least. Well, we both also purchase, every cruise, either an unlimited soda package for $4.50 a day or the Ultimate Kids' package, which includes the sodas plus unlimited virgin drinks and milkshakes and hot cocoa for $7 a day (G got that one this cruise). So, aside from a few beers that G tries to drink, and the water bottles that I use on the islands, we really don't drink a lot from our minibar. It helps that we can exchange items...the four cans of soda, for example, were traded for water bottles, and the liquors for beers, but I'm here to tell you, this stuff is piling up and taking over the cabin. I think we will have to skip it next cruise in lieu of two coffee cards, and try to get caught up. We're falling horribly behind ;-)

Once I had a bit of battery life, and the minibar items were taken care of, I made my way up to the Sanctuary. I might have enjoyed one of the NFL games being shown on MUTS:

2:00pm:  Panthers v. Saints (I needed my sports advisors to tell me who to cheer for)

5:30pm:  Patriots v. Ravens

9:15pm: Bears v. Eagles

but I'm a bit leary to venture out based on the reports of physical altercations (really) over deck chairs. There's a reason G wanted me safely ensconced in the Sanctuary this cruise. So I went up there, and it was quite nice, but still surprisingly windy even with the Emerald Princess docked.

When will the winds finally end?

I stayed long enough for tea time (not that I needed more food, but it's just so very decadent to be lounging back while tea and sweets and sandwiches are delivered), but returned to the cabin by 4:30pm to shower and change for dinner. We wanted to watch sailaway from Skywalkers, as Antigua is one of the prettiest sailaways we see on these itineraries. It wasn't until we got up to Skywalkers that we remembered there was no Elite Lounge up there tonight because of the Captain's Circle parties being held tonight in Club Fusion. That's ok...drinks and hors doerves or not, I love being in Skywalkers for Antigua sailaway. Even though it was a rainy one, it was still beautiful. 

Then it was dinner with Darko and the Captains Circle party. We're waiting for the 9:30pm show by comedian Peter Sasso to begin, which will be followed by (weather permitting) the Bears v. Eagles game on MUTS and a late bedtime. Captain Nick promised us tonight that the Christmas winds would start to die down over the next five days as there was some weather system in the northeast US to affect them. It's funny to think that snow in New England might allow us to get some sleep.

:-)

 

Photo catch up

I have no idea when we'll be getting Internet back on the Emerald Princess, but while I have wifi in Antigua, I'm posting a few photos. 

The Christmas decoration on our mailbox (G added the stocking we received last Christmas)

Please note that the Royal Princess resides in our inside cabin (G's had that out there for awhile now, removing the name label that's usually there) ;-)

"My" chair in the Sanctuary

"My" view while the ship is docked in St. John's, Antigua

Chairs that are unrented for the day have a towel rolled up on them. Rented chairs are covered with the towel. It's pretty swanky, and the service is divine. 

Day 52: At Sea

Prepared Saturday evening, December 21st

We have been Internet-less since late yesterday afternoon, and I'm not entirely certain why. This has happened to us once before already this winter, when it was out for over 24 hours, so it's not unheard of, but I can't help but wonder if it's related to the fact that the Emerald Princess seems to be bouncing like a cork across the swells of the Caribbean Sea. I can't imagine we can lock in on a satellite feed for even two seconds. I'm slightly concerned about Mom (she emails every morning) but otherwise am surprisingly unconcerned about being detached from the world. Maybe the Sanctuary is working!

And speaking of bouncing corks, wow- did we ever have a rough night!  The ship was rolling side to side, so that the hangers holding our clothes in the closet didn't bang, as they sometimes do, but squeaked, rubbing back and forth around the hanger bar all night long (where's a bit of WD40 when you need it?).  Sleep really wasn't much of an option, and I couldn't help thinking, several times over the course of the night, that the Royal Princess will surely be much more stable next winter, as it seemed to be when we were on it in late October, and that is another plus for that ship. 

In the end, I didn't even need to set an alarm this morning...we never really slept deeply at all. Finally G got up and said he was done trying to, and so I decided I was, too, and we were in the DaVinci Dining Room for breakfast early, and which allowed me to be the first one in the Sanctuary when it opened at 8am. 

It seemed sunnier and calmer first thing this morning, and I immediately asked for and was brought a blanket, and I had come a bit more prepared, with my fleece pullover this morning. There was a beautiful display of fruit and I was offered a beverage and it did seem very welcoming and, well, relaxing this morning.

I could hear my audiobook without pressing my earbuds into my ears, and, when the first squall moved in, I was grateful for the fact that G had selected a lounger location for me that was mostly covered by the steel structure of the ship overhead. I scooted my lounger forward a few inches to avoid the rain dripping off the edge of it overhead, and didn't get too much blowing in from the openings in the glass in front of me and I put on my fleece pullover and cuddled up in my tartan blanket and thought it was all rather cozy.

G came to visit me mid mornng, and the serenity stewards pulled him a chair up beside my lounger and it stopped feeling cozy and started to feel a bit creepy, like I was a patient in a hospital and he was sitting next to me, holding my hand at my final hour, which was a bit unsettling, so we moved over to the center seating area and chatted before he headed out to Chief Engineer Roddy McConnell's technical department lecture for this cruise. He mentioned that Captain Nick had just made an announcement that, because it was so rough, most of the pools were closed for passenger safety (and to drain some of the water out of them so it wouldn't splash out and flood) and that he anticipated the whole day would be rough and that we should be prepared for  frequent jolts as the Emerald Princess dipped into troughs and climbed swells. 

As the morning went on, it grew windier and windier in the Sanctuary, but I stayed bundled up and really did enjoy it. But, good grief, I am getting tired of the Christmas winds!  G came back to check me out of the sanitarium...er, take me to lunch, and we walked across Deck 17 to reach the stairs to Deck 16, and (I kid you not) the wind was so strong it nearly swept my feet out from under me and I was reminded of that scene in the Poseidon Adventure of that little boy clinging to the haindrail as he climbed the steps on the bridge before the "big one" struck. I have to believe that many passengers are feeling the effects of the rough water. Captain Nick had told us yesterday that when passengers wear those patches behind their ears, some start hallucinating and seeing things like yellow trains passing by the ship while at sea, but, really, I wouldn't have been a bit surprised if the Polar Express itself blew by, driven from the North Pole by the force of the wind. 

Though we had a couple of squalls move through during the morning, the afternoon was sunnier but still ridiculously windy. Still, I stuck it out in the Sanctuary, mostly because, despite the wind up there, it was a sanctuary today. G regaled me at lunch about a verbal altercation that he had just witnessed at the Terrace Pool when some people had finally had enough of the families hanging out back there and the kids using the adults only pool for cannonballs, and spoke out and the parents fired back and...well, G got out of there before it got worse. Aahh, the joys of a Chistmas cruise. 

Actually, speaking of Christmas, the gingerbread house decorating contest was held today, there was a holiday card making class and the movie Polar Express was shown on MUTS and in the Princess Theater. The Las Vegas Bowl was also shown on MUTS, and- YAY- there IS a Catholic priest on board as promised. 

We were dressed formally and went to dinner early, at 5:15pm because the production show I Got the Music was first performed at 6:45pm. Darko told us tonight that someone who reads my blog asked for him as a waiter and has our table each evening after we leave. I need to pop into the Michelangelo Dining Room later to see who it is. I'm confident that they will enjoy having Darko as a waiter as much as we do.

As for I Got the Music...by show time, the seas were so rough that I could barely get to a seat in the first row of the theater. That these dancers can do what they do when the stage is jumping up and down is really quite amazing. But, I suspect that, as ready as we are for the winds to abate and the seas to calm, after several weeks of this, I bet the dancers are even more anxious for this to be over. 

Afterwards, we sat and chatted with Bob and Mary during the Captain's Welcome Aboard champagne party (and, once again we were so busy talking we missed the introduction of the officers), and then we rushed to the Explorers Lounge and got the last two seats for impressionist Michael Wilson's second show. Then it was popcorn, fuzzy water (the only bar open in the evening on the pool decks is the Calypso Bar under the MUTS screen because all the bartenders have been moved to Skywalkers to handle the holiday crowd up there), blog (and who knows when this will get published) and bed. Tomorrow-FINALLY- we reach land, and, after four bouncy sea days out of the last five days, I'm ready for my world to be still. 

Day 51: At Sea

Prepared Friday evening, December 20th, but Internet has been down since the afternoon

I awoke this morning turned round in the bed, head to feet, and, for the life of me, I can't figure out the how or the why of that maneuver. But despite what must have been a slightly restless night, I awoke early and ready to GO to use my Sanctuary chair. I couldn't right away, of course, as breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room was waiting for me, and I wanted to share it with my loving husband. And then I couldn't go because this cruise's Cruise Critic Meet and Greet was being held at 10am in Skywalkers, and G had set this one up, and I certainly didn't want to miss that, nor miss seeing friends we'd cruised with over past Christmases. 

It was a fairly small turn out, as it typically is for the Christmas cruise, but we were thrilled that Captain Nick made an appearance and cleared up exactly what had happened yesterday as the Emerald Princess was scheduled to leave Port Everglades. Apparently the manifest list of passengers on board was sent to Homeland Security an hour before sailaway, and one passenger on the list had a warrant out for his arrest. It could have been something as innocuous as a bench warrant for an unpaid traffic ticket, and it perhaps could have been settled on board but this guy chose to run and hide and was found not on the Terrace Deck (as the rumor mill had decided) but in Club Fusion. Captain Nick said that they had several more levels of missing person alerts to begin if they had had to (searching storage lockers and food lockers and entertainment lockers, etc.), but, thankfully, he finally surrendered and it didn't have to go that far. Now, to make up for lost time, we are running on five engines instead of four, and it would be quite bumpy, Captain Nick said, until we hit the shelter of some smaller islands about 2pm. 

Honestly, this ship has been really bumpy for weeks. 

Afterwards, we had a $9 per person slot pull, for which I had done the accounting, so you know that the gambling started long before we even arrived in the casino. ;-) It moved much faster than a $15 per person slot pull, and we were able to lose our money much more quickly and move on, poorer but momentarily entertained.

By then it was nearly time for lunch and I figured, what the heck...the beauty of having a chair in the Sanctuary is that it is there, waiting for me. Right?  Of course, we did have to be seated with our first really slow waiter this winter, and I was starting to go a bit crazy when our lunch stretched over an hour (for soup and veggie burritos?) thinking about how I really needed to be in my Sanctuary lounger, relaxing.  G suggested that, perhaps, just maybe, I was missing the whole point of the Sanctuary, when he saw me getting out my iPhone calculator and figuring out the rental cost per hour of that lounger. 

Finally, about 1:30pm, 5 and a half hours late, I made it up to the Sanctuary and saw the very nice lounger G had reserved for me for the cruise. Really, it was nice up there.  It's windy, of course. Windy and a bit chilly. Windy and chilly and so loud from the wind whistling that I have to press my earbuds deeper into my ears to be able to hear an audiobook. But it's relaxing. Really.

Honestly, the best part of the Sanctuary during a holiday week is not what it has, but what it doesn't have, mainly kids jumping and playing and screaming in the adults-only Terrace Pool. I think I would be even more stressed putting up with that than I am stressed from trying to learn to relax in the Sanctuary. And the serenity stewards (really, that's what they're called) did come around with tea at tea time and that was very nice. 

Sure, I enjoyed hot tea wrapped in a towel trying to stay warm. And dry, when it started to rain, but it was wonderful. Really. And I found out when G came up and saw me wrapped and shivering in a towel that there are blankets available for Sanctuary guests to use, and I don't have to use a wet towel. I just have to ask for a blanket. See, I'm not very good at this at all. So tonight I'm setting my alarm so that I can be up there promptly at 8am when they open and ask for a blanket and relax, damn it.

After a hot shower, it was time to eat again, and so, of course, I did, but only a big salad, because, really, tea (and scones and cookies) at 4pm doesn't leave me much of an appetite at 5:30pm. 

We followed up dinner with impressionist comedian Michael Wilson's show at 7:15pm. I'm not certain what else we'll be doing tonight, but I have to get to bed before too long. 

I have to get up early to start relaxing. 

;-)