Day 56: Raiatea, but really Taha'a

We had another nine-hours-off-the-ship day, our eighth port day in a row. Not that we're counting, but just 24 hours from now, we'll have a sea day to look forward to, and a morning to sleep in.

We were up at 5am today, and on the open decks for a beautiful sunrise. We cruised south along the western coast of the island of Taha'a and through narrow Pai Pai Pass, which has become my favorite passage through the reef to the town of Uturoa on the northern coast of Raiatea. It was exciting to see the Windsurf Wind Spirit just ahead of us, sailing through Pai Pai Pass to anchor off the coast of Taha'a today. It was quite a picture with its tall masts reflected in the mirror-smooth sea. 

Windstar Wind Spirit transiting Pai Pai Pass

We docked in Uturoa at 7am, and grabbed a very quick breakfast in the Panorama Buffet. We were meeting our tour operator in the visitors center at 8:15am to complete paperwork, and by 8:30am were on a motorized outrigger with Tyronne, our boat captain from September who had taken us up the only navigable River in French Polynesia in Raiatea. We had made an arrangement at that time for a transfer to/from the neighboring island of Taha'a 2.5 miles away and a car rental for the day on the island. Today was the chosen date because we weren't sailing tonight until 9pm. 

G helping to raise the flag

Tyronne's boat holds 12 people, so, with just the two of us, we were able to move around and take photos of that beautiful lagoon. It was only a 12-minute ride to the southern point of Taha'a, where Tyronne and his dad own a dock. We met his dad and his young son and he walked us to a nearly new little manual drive Fiat. Armed with a map of the island (really, there are just two coastal roads in a figure 8) we set out, heading first counterclockwise around the northern part of the island. 

Along the way we stopped several times for photo ops, and then at a wonderful vanilla farm where we received a personal tour (while the large ship's tour was in a different group about 10 minutes ahead of us). The entire vanilla bean production process is extremely labor intensive (it is an orchid plant that must be manually fertilized) and takes as long as two years from rooting to drying the beans. We also saw the process of extracting oil from Tamanu nuts, used for its medicinal topical properties

The man who owns this vanilla farm, called Vallee de La Vanille, was a Dane who had served in the French Foreign Legion in French Polynesia and the  retired to Taha'a before the age of 40. On his farm, he has planted all sorts of fruit and nut trees and flowers, but his vanilla plants are grown in the traditional way, where the vines are trained to grow up trees and the leaves of the trees provide the shade the plants need, and their roots are mulched with piles of coconut husks. 

Any tree with leaves can be used as a vanilla vine trellis. The leaves shade the plant while coconuts are used for mulch to keep the roots cool.

Drying tables for the vanilla beans

Some of the 60 plus motus off the coast of Taha'a

Our favorite village name

We continued along the coast, stopping many times for photos. There are over 60 motus located off the coast of Taha'a, and most of these are off the eastern and northern coasts.  Eventually the island of Bora Bora came into view as we rounded the northern end of Taha'a and provided even more photo ops. We stopped at a pearl farm where we received yet another education about the cultivation of Tahitian black pearls. I am in the market for a pair of earrings to go with the bracelet and necklace I purchased last year on Moorea and Bora Bora, respectively, but G wants them to be blueish-green to match my eyes...and I want them to be cheap. We didn't find any that satisfied both requirements, so we moved on. 

Bora Bora from Taha'a 

Off the western coast of Taha'a is a motu that is home to one of French Polynesia's most exotic resorts, Le Taha'a Island Resort and Spa. Since Taha'a doesn't have an airport, it is only reachable by boat transfer from the Raiatea airport...or private helicopter transfer. 

By the time we completed the northern circuit of the figure 8 coastal road, it was after 1pm. I directed G to go counter clockwise around the southern circuit, but, while the road on the northern portion was in perfect condition, there were some spurs off the southern road that were in very bad shape. I was trying to get us to a place that Tyronne had marked on the map with an X, thinking it was something we needed to see, but after trying to navigate lots of rocks and ruts, G pointed out that the X meant we should stay off that road. Moving on...

Fellow passenger Peggy from Sydney, who is on this cruise with her husband David and son Justin, has read my blog, and knew that G misses his salty snacks when he cruises. She was so sweet to bring us two bags of Australian potato chips, and one of them was especially intriguing:  hot dog flavored potato chips. We had packed it in our bag this morning, and stopped at a tiny store on Taha'a to get water and juice and had a great time eating those potato chips as we drove around the island. It was a good thing we had taken the chips, because we didn't see any open restaurants today where we could stop for lunch. 

The entire island is only home to 2500 people and, especially on a Sunday, very much struck us as 'Mayberry goes Polynesian.' We stopped outside a church to listen to the beautiful (really spectacular) singing that was taking place inside during the service. Families were walking home from church with the woman and girls dress in traditional Tahitian attire, covered neck to wrist to almost the ankle in a homemade floral dress with a straw Minnie Pearl-type hat with a crown of flowers. We saw groups walking home singing along to one person playing a ukulele. Later in the day, large family groups were gathering along the water to have BBQs and play volleyball and lawn bowling and sing. Tyronne had told us that Taha'a was like Moorea was 50 years ago, and I've heard it said Moorea is like Hawaii 50 years ago, so I guess that means Taha'a is like Hawaii 100 years ago. We loved it. 

Very common scenes in French Polynesia:

That's a French bread box, not a mail box in front of the house

In the front yard...Gramma and Gramps and a copra (coconut) drying shed

The drying copra up close. This would be transported to Papeete to the coconut oil mill in the port area

The entire island of Taha'a is one coastal road and then steep mountainsides in the center of the island. There are eight very small villages dotting the coast (our favorite village name was Patio, closely followed by Hamane, which we nicknamed Ham and Eggs) We saw several copra (coconut) drying sheds all around the island, several family graves in front yards, as is typical everywhere in Polynesia, and vanilla beans grown on trellises enclosed in screened cages, which we were told is a trial sponsored by the government to find a more efficient way to grow the beans. 

Though not nearly as developed as Rarotonga or even Rapa Nui (really!), we saw lots of similarities among the islands in terms of many roosters, hens, dogs, cows, and even some goats. There is no industry of any kind, and very limited tourism. Most people work at subsistence farming and fishing. 

We eventually changed drivers, and, since we had some time left, I drove around the southern coast road first one direction and then the other, having fun with shifting that little car on the few hills and many curves. Tyronne picked us up around 4:45pm, and it was after 5pm by the time we got back to the ship. We were hungry, tired and in need of showers, and skipped tonight's on board folkloric shows to go directly to the Club Restaurant for dinner and then right to bed. 

We have another full day excursion tomorrow in Huahine (help us!) and then that wonderful sea day to keep us going for two more port days on this cruise. We know we will have just one more day on most of these islands, and are trying to squeeze everything in at the end. I can promise you one thing...you will not hear me complain one bit about our ten sea days back to Los Angeles in just over a month.  We may order breakfast in bed for every one of them! 

Day 90: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day)

When was the last time we did something for the first time?  Today, about 6am, when we slept right through the Emerald Princess spinning into position to dock at its berth at Pier 2 in Port Everglades. Unbelievable. We awoke at 6:22am, turned the TV to Channel 40 (the "front of the ship" channel) and saw that we were already docked. As G said, "We gotta find out who parked this boat today". Indeed, whoever it was did it without copious amounts of thruster action, much to the benefit of those in the back of the ship, which lasted only until the slamming of the cabin doors began. But still...that was an extra 30 minutes of sleep. Nice!

While I immediately ran down to the laundry room to start two loads of laundry (and I was trusted with some of G's race T-shirts...make a note of THAT), he traded used towels for fresh ones from Raymond and made the beds. Neither one of us can make them look as smooth and crisp and inviting as Raymond can...but, then, we don't get the practice he does either. We watched the sunrise from the Promenade Deck and were at breakfast in the Botticelli Dining Room just after 7am, and having just a bowl of cereal allowed me to get back to move a few items to a dryer, and hang the rest on our clothesline.

By 8am, the laundry was done, and we were getting passports and new ship cards and our shopping list together before walking off the ship.

Things continued to go smoothly in the terminal; with five ICE agents, immigration was a walk-through, the fastest we've seen this winter.  (Ain't it always the way when we're not on a schedule?) We started on our list of errands, stopping first at Walgreens to check out the ad (home or cruise, we are value shoppers), and then G wanted to stop at each hotel on the south side of 17th Street to get some information about them for the future, mainly, whether their rates include transfers between the hotel and the airport/Port Everglades, and whether they include breakfast. This took a bit of time, but it was a beautiful morning for a walk. Sunny and warm (the east coast chill apparently didn't reach that far south), and with only one cruise ship in port, walking down 17th Street was a different sport today. 

We went as far as CVS and then backtracked to Publix, Office Depot and Walgreens. I found a perfect New Baby Congratulations card for Komang, with the Earth on the front...

...we got an HDMI cable, coffee creamer was on sale at Publix and Mountain Dew was on sale at Walgreens. It was a productive mornng, but we were so laden with liquids that we were anxious to get back to the ship to dump our purchases in our cabin and head to lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room. 

After salmon and frozen yogurt, I grabbed a charging cord and went up to my favorite spot in Adagio to plug in and make some phone calls and do a bit of work. I'm pleased to report that Sally Hansen is mailing me coupons worth $22 for the defective nail strips, that our investments, though down a bit after last week, are still up from when we left home (cruise on!), and that things are fine at home. I'm sorry I ever doubted G's wisdom in installing that Nest thermostat; it's a prize, and hasn't failed us yet.

This is all seeming too easy this year, isn't it?

Before long, the emergency signal was sounded, and things got loud as the muster drill announcement started. That was my signal to head back to the cabin to shower and dress for sailaway and dinner. I left a note for G that I was up in Skywalkers (we miss all our friends!!!!) for sailaway, and it was a beautiful one today. The ocean was flat as we left Fort Lauderdale behind us. Flat!  We are loving this weather!

Thank God we can still count on Dinner with Darko and Komang. It was wonderful to see their familiar faces. I took a photo of G at dinner, wearing a black Diamonds International pullover and a necklace I got him last year on Bonaire with a square-shaped coin.

I  told him for the eleventy-hundredth time that he looked like a priest in that outfit, and he told me I needed to teach him some Catholic "slogans" he could say if anyone said the same thing to him.  "Catholic "slogans?", I asked, confused.   "You know, those things priests say". You mean prayers? "Well, yes, and those things priests say in church, and people say "You too"". Now, by this point, I was pulling myself back up off the floor, I was laughing so hard. It suddenly occurred to me what he was talking about. "You mean, "And also with you", in response to "The Lord be with you"?"  Yep, that's what he was thinking of. Well, that, and prayers. I will NEVER say that again without thinking "you too!" :-)

I miss Jim and Marcia, but dinner with G is never, ever dull.  

I owed him for the laugh, and so accompanied him to the Princess Theater for the Welcome Aboard show. We always enjoy the singers and dancers, and love when they are accompanied by the Emerald Princess orchestra.

Comedian AJ Jamal finished out the show, and, hand to heart, I thought he was funny.  This was also only the second time we saw him this winter, another plus. 

Cruise director JJ told us to expect some hoo-ha on Super Bowl Sunday.  The Super Bowl!  I had forgotten about it for 17 minutes, and as soon as JJ mentioned it, I could feel my stomach clenching.  This will be a tough five days.  I need to start saying some "slogans" each evening, asking for a Broncos win. 

;-)

Sunrise: Day 61 (Fort Lauderdale)

Another turnaround day, but this is a busy one, with eight cruise ships in Port Everglades today. If you watch the webcam (http://www.portevergladeswebcam.com) today starting at 4pm EST, it should be quite a show.
Sunny and cool-ish (mid-70s) today in Fort Lauderdale. We'll walk over to Walgreens to get a couple of things, but mostly we're hoping to get our box of mail (with the resulting work it will bring, I'm sure).

Sunrise: Day 60 (At Sea)

Can you believe we're at day 60, with "only" 40 more days to go?

We were up early yesterday morning to walk, and catch this gorgeous sunset off the back of the ship. We spent the day being a bit lazy, but also getting some housekeeping and organization done.  We're expecting (hoping for!) a box of mail to be delivered to the ship on turnaround day, and are trying to make a list of phone calls and Internet things we need to take care of while we're in Fort Lauderdale and once we get mail. While most of what we do is automated or on the Internet, certain things, like community dues, are due in January and hadn't even been finalized when we left home in November.

Luckily, although Princess Customer Service in the US had told us there was no way to get mail or packages delivered to the ship, once on board we found out otherwise, and are putting that to the test. Friend Martha has sent us a big box of first class mail which we're hoping appears some time while we're in Fort Lauderdale. Thank you Martha!! And I have a box from drugstore.com somewhere in Fort Lauderdale which I'm hoping makes it on board during our next turnaround. Life on a cruise ship is wonderful, but thank God we're organized people!! It would otherwise be kind of tricky.

We did have some excitement last night when the captain came over the PA system with an announcement that there was going to be a Coast Guard helicopter doing an emergency airlift off our ship. This was only the second time in 50 cruises that we've had this, and it was unusual in that we were less than 12 hours from Fort Lauderdale when it occurred. We were in Skywalkers, and although it was after dark and the pool decks are closed off and all items secured for safety when the helicopter hovers and drops a paramedic and a basket on the ship, we could see the helicopter then circle the ship for about a half hour. Once the passenger was stabilized and in the basket, the helicopter returns, hovers over the pool deck on Deck 15, and retrieves the passenger and paramedic. I can't imagine the skills required to plan for and execute this sort of thing. We did see that the cruise ship did a perpendicular turn, probably to accommodate the maneuver with the winds, but never actually stopped in the water.

We did also hear that, while the passenger wasn't in a life threatening situation, she was in a limb threatening one. One can't help but think about that person, and her spouse, who can't accompany her off the ship, and had to wait until today to fly to Nassau, in the Bahamas (o wherever she is) to meet up with her.

Another reason to cruise while we are still young and healthy enough to do so, I guess.

Sunrise: Day 50 (At Sea)

Today marks the halfway point of our season at sea, and we have been talking about how that feels. I anticipated that we would be dismayed, as in "I can't believe it's already half over". Instead, the feeling is quite the opposite. We feel that we've had such an amazing time...and now we get to do it all over again!
This Christmas cruise had (we got the official count) just over 400 kids on board, and it wasn't bad at all. Kids are kids, and there have been meltdowns in the dining room and pranks throughout the ship (removing room service breakfast orders from doorknobs, and switching the Privacy signs on cabin doors to instead read 'Please refresh my room'). But it's been fun to see the many little ones in strollers, and all the activities geared to kids and families.
This next cruise has 650 kids. This surprised me; I thought that many kids would have to start back to school before it ends on January 7th. Hopefully, it will be just as uneventful.
We were up early today, and caught this beautiful sunrise directly off the back of the ship. Unlike yesterday, today the sun wasn't blocked by any clouds, and we decided to enjoy some time by the Terrace pool, and so ate breakfast from the buffet while sitting in loungers with exactly that sunrise view. We changed into swimsuits, and G headed to the hot tub while I lay in the sun and listened to a book. It quickly got very hot, and before noon we both came inside to shower and go to lunch in the dining room. We love the sun, but are adamant that we not get burned again, and so have to take particular care in the early afternoon. Unless we were in the water, it really was uncomfortable to be in the sun. The noon report from the bridge stated that the weather tomorrow in Fort Lauderdale is forecasted to be sunny, but only 66 degrees. Is that possible, given how hot today is? We'll see...

Sunrise, Day 41 (Fort Lauderdale)

Our very active days have us sleeping in a bit more everyday, although it's hard to sleep in very late on turnaround day...the sounds of the ship as it navigates into Port Everglades and spins into position is heard throughout the ship. Our neighbors' cabin doors begin opening and slamming around 6am. So we were awake early, just not motivated to jump out of bed. Instead we found an episode of circa-1961 Bonanza to watch on TCM on our cabin TV (REALLY slim pickings, cruise television programming!!). Finally, there was no delaying it any longer and we headed up to Deck 19 to see all that was going on.
Today is forcasted to be the busiest day in history at Port Everglades, as there is a record number of passengers disembarking and embarking cruise ships today. With most of them flying in and out of Fort Lauderdale, the airport will be an absolute zoo, with standing room only, and then only curbside, not even in the terminal.
How do we know this? Because the busiest day in Port Everglades to date was in December 2003...a day that we were returning from a cruise and flying home. The wait for a taxi was three hours, and we would have missed our flight had G not implored a chartered shuttle van to add "just a few more passengers". We were perched on our luggage, with more luggage on top of us, for the 10 minute ride to the airport. And once there, it was even more chaotic.
That's a huge part of the reason we are staying on for the holidays this year, and not flying home for a couple of weeks as we did last year. Delayed for two hours on the tarmac last year by a heavy thunderstorm, in danger of missing our connecting flight, G looked at me and said, "We are NOT doing this next year."
I guess he meant it.
Although I'm quite sad not to be at home enjoying the holiday with friends, I'm also excited about my first Christmas cruise. We've decided to sit back and enjoy the spectacle of 400+ kids and multi-generational family groups on board. We know there will be kids in the adult hot tubs endless games of Marco-Polo around the pool, elevators arriving with all the buttons pushed, and privacy tags on the door turned to read "refresh my room please".
Pray for us.

Sunrise, Part 2

St. Lucia is a beautiful island most well known for the towering twin peaks that grace its southwestern shore, Gros Piton and Petit Piton. The Pitons were barely visible in the distance as we approached the port of Castries, about one third of the way down the western coast, early this morning.

Sunrise, Day 35 (St. Lucia)

I am well enough to walk again, and be up in time to see the sunrise! Luckily, the sunrise was at 6:25am, and not earlier, or I'm not certain I could say that.

I skipped all shows last night in favor of an evening stroll on deck, slept soundly and awoke naturally at 5:55am, well rested and ready to start the day.

This is our first visit to St. Lucia this winter, although we've been here many times in the past. For some unknown reason, on our first Eastern Caribbean cruise that began November 18, Dominica was substituted for St. Lucia. No matter- we'll be here FIVE times this winter, including today's visit.

Sunrise, Day 30 (Princess Cays)

For whatever reason, the ship did not move its clocks back an hour to EST last night, and so sunrise occurred quite late, after 7:30am ship's time, which was 6:30am Bahamas time. Sound confusing? It is.
The day promised to be bright and sunny, and we were ready for another beach day. So we went to breakfast in the dining room quite early, just after it opened at 7:30am, and then returned to our cabin to gather up our beach paraphernalia and set out for Deck 3 and one of the very first tenders heading over to the island.

Sunrise, Day 28 (St. Thomas)

I forgot to mention that yesterday was our 500th day on a cruise ship!!! It seems like just yesterday we were recognizing our 365th day on cruises- and it really wasn't very long ago. We are cruise addicts!
This morning was very overcast, so there wasn't a true sunrise. Still, the clouds were interesting. It was funny to immediately notice, when I went up to Deck 19 to walk, that we were approaching St. Thomas from a different direction. It makes sense; we're doing this itinerary in reverse order, but it's amusing to think that I've been to St. Thomas so many times that I can tell the approach is different.
You can see the big, sweeping turn we made to pass between Water Island and St. Thomas.

Sunrise, Day 25 (Bonaire)

Bonaire is only a short distance from Aruba (and Curacao is right in between the two), so we were able to sail late from Aruba (at 7pm) and arrive in Bonaire at 7am. In fact, the only reason we left Aruba as early as we did is so the ship's casino and stores could be opened, and drinks sold.
It was a slow, easy sail to Bonaire, at least for most of the night. Sometime between 4am and 5am, G was awakened by the ship making an abrupt turn and leaning quite a bit. He got up and dressed and went up on deck to see if he could see something that the ship had had to avoid, but he saw nothing. Of course, I slept through all of this. When he told me this morning what had happened, I wasn't sure I believed him. There would be no reason for the ship to turn abruptly...any necessary change in direction would have been programmed in gradually. I thought that he was once again teasing me when he said he nearly rolled out of bed...until we walked past a shop on Deck 6 and saw displays tipped over and jewelry on the floor. We later learned that the big Christmas tree in the Piazza had also toppled. We're seven decks higher; no wonder G felt it.
Anyway, we were both up by 6am and out on deck to see our arrival into Bonaire. The sunrise was very cloudy, but still beautiful, and the effect of it on clouds to the west was particularly interesting.

Sunrise, Day 23 (At Sea)

We continue to sail along to Aruba, which is well over 1000 miles from Fort Lauderdale. The weather has been sunny, hot, and as calm as it can be. It's hard to remember we're even on a ship (no fun at all for those of us who like a little adventure).
I was up early for my habitual sunrise walk. It was another beautiful one, and I really enjoy my time up on Deck 19. It's kind of funny- generally, the only person I encounter is a member of the crew who is up there early, every morning, scrubbing every inch of that deck in great detail. (It's amazing how clean this ship is, but if it wasn't cleaned like this, after only a few days there would be a salt crust on everything). At the beginning on the second cruise, he looked up to acknowledge me (we've never talked), and he seemed taken aback to see me still on the cruise. At the beginning of this third cruise, he looked up again and gave me a big smile. I wonder what he'll think after 7 more cruises, assuming he's still on board?
G joined me for a few laps, then went down to Deck 16 aft to claim two loungers. We were in a perfect position overlooking the ship's wake. We brought food from the buffet out for breakfast, but he finally decided he wanted to also go to breakfast in the dining room, and so he did, leaving me sitting out back. Friend Suzan from Arizona (she and what she did for me is a while other post, closely related to the contacts post) joined me and we chatted for a long time, before she went to lunch with her husband (also a G) and I decided I'd had enough sun. I never did catch up with my G (he ate lunch in the dining room) and so I showered and grabbed salad and gazpacho in the buffet. I met up with him at 2pm for a rum tasting presentation (yum!) and then I went to another line dancing class. I hadn't been going to any classes on these cruises, not wanting to get bored with them, but have been enjoying them this cruise. We're currently resting in our cabin, with me getting caught up on my blog, before Skywalkers and dinner. My favorite entree ciappino (seafood stew) is offered tonight- can't wait!

A day at sea

Tuesday, we attended an 11am get together of over 100 people we had 'met' over the Internet who were going to bs on the cruise. It's always good to see old friends and meet new ones. Mona and Adelle, who I met on last year's cruise, and I went to line dancing in the afternoon, and learned some party dances too that we'll be doing at our island night party later in the cruise. We were all sweaty after 45 minutes of dancing- it was a workout!

Formal night was once again upon us, which meant 1.) tux and patent leather shoes for G; 2.) something fancy for me (I chose the always comfortable gold and black net two piece dress and my beautiful new dress sandals (one of the new pairs of shoes I bought over the summer and the most expensive shoes I've ever purchased but they are comfortable and G said that he wasn't spending this much on a trip and having me complain about my bad foot and i HAD to keep them and so I did and they are gorgeous); and 3.) chocolate covered strawberries delivered to the room about 4pm.

We both chose filet mignon for dinner, the only time I eat beef during the entire cruise. There was a beautiful sunset from our window (see picture).

We then joined Mona and Adelle and their husbands and Nancy and Roger and sat in Crooners for the captain's welcome aboard champagne toast in the Piazza and another champagne waterfall. Luckily our seas have been bathtub flat this cruise (no wind either- isn't it funny how that can change from one cruise to the next?), so there was no collapsed waterfall. We sat for quite a while (and must have taken 10 photos of our dressed-up selves with various cameras) before they all went to dinner (late seating) and we went back to our cabin to change.

We then went to the Cafe Caribe, because we had seen people in the elevator with plates of monster (and I mean huge- about 4" long) shrimp that they were serving up there last dinner. I then had dinner #2: four huge shrimp, and, as always, popcorn from MUTS. Several from our group were getting together at 11pm for dancing, but there was no way we could make it. My contacts had been giving me fits the entire day (honestly, I will someday write an entire post about THAT issue), and I wanted them out, and to be in bed.

Sunrise, Day 22 (At Sea)

It has been so good to see cruising friends from prior years on this cruise. People tend to take the same cruises at the same time, year after year, and last year we were on this ship on a cruise also starting 11/28, so we're seeing lots of familiar faces.
Dinner last night was in the dining room, and I had what has become my second favorite entree on this ship (after ciappino). It's barramundi prepared in the most delicious way, and I'll try next time to get a photo and a more complete description from the menu. G, of course, had the prime rib, after having beef tenderloins for lunch. It's all beef- all the time for him. We chose to skip all shows in favor of musical entertainment in the Piazza. Then it was fairly early to bed as we were moving clocks ahead an hour last night. I wasn't certain when it would be, as we are at sea for two days and time doesn't have to align with any land standards. It did result in a sunrise at 7:40am today, but I slept until 6am and then caught what I could before we went to breakfast.

Sunrise, Day 21 (Fort Lauderdale)

Sunrise, Day 20 (At Sea)

I was up early to walk again today. Thankfully, sunrise wasn't until 7:15am, so I was able to sleep in a bit. Tomorrow will be tough...we set clocks back an hour tonight, so sunrise will be shortly after 6am. No matter- it is turnaround day in Fort Lauderdale, and there is no sleeping in for anyone that day.
After breakfast in the dining room, I grabbed a lounger on the back of the ship and G headed to a hot tub. I love listening to my audiobooks when lying in the sun. It's much easier on the eyes. Two cruises down, and I've already listened to four books.
We cleaned up for lunch in the dining room (paella for me, with fresh strawberries for dessert) and then listened to piano music in the Piazza. The seas are a calmer today, but things are still bouncy. I will spend some time in the spa this afternoon, and will skip dinner in the dining room tonight in favor of watching the Broncos game on MUTS.

Part 3 of today's sunrise

Sunrise, Day 19 (At Sea)

Another spectacular start to the day. Walked 4 miles and am now firmly affixed to a lounger on the back of the ship alongside G. We are skipping breakfast in the dining room this morning for nibbles from the nearby buffet. On tap for today: wash out all swimsuits and Tilley hat, wine tasting at 3pm and formal night tonight. The Help is being shown on MUTS tonight, and I may change into comfy clothes after dinner and stretch out on a lounger and watch it, in lieu of a live show (Motor City again tonight in the Princess Theater and a male vocalist in the Explorers Lounge). The always amusing Newlywed-Not So Newleywed game is later tonight in Club Fusion so that's a possibility too.
Sea days are wonderful!