Day 65: Rangiroa

Nothing. I got nothing today. Well, almost nothing.

As I've mentioned in the past, I am a very good wife, and have graciously shared my cold with G. And then, so he doesn't feel lonely in his suffering, I managed to have to visit Dr. Tim for the first time, as my cold seems to have morphed into bronchitis. We spent the day alternating between the Promenade Deck and our cabin, tucked in with the two extra blankets steward Douglas has kindly brought us.  Until sailaway, our meals today were skipped except for the occasional cups of tea or soup we fetched for ourselves from the Panorama Buffet (we are not room service people).  We re-lived the bombing of Pearl Harbor at least three times (it just had to be Tora! Tora! Tora! Day on TV, didn't it?) and watched four episodes of The Love Boat. 

Even discounting our maladies, we have truly suffered. 

Finally, by 4:45pm, and with a fourth viewing of Tora! Tora! Tora! starting, I could bear it no longer and announced I was going up to the back of the Panorama Buffet to watch our final sailaway ever from Rangiroa. G decided that he would join me about 5 minutes later, and we watched as Tiputa Pass disappeared in the distance and the Pacific Princess began to sail west along the north coast of Rangiroa. 

We stayed out there for awhile, eating a small dinner from the choices at the buffet (I have consumed enough soup for a lifetime!) and then, just as the opportunity for a good sunset seemed to disappear into a dark cloud, light started appearing on either side of it, and we went up to Deck 11 to sit in two chairs for an hour and watch as the sky changed from one color to another. The sunset alone made this a good day, but even better is the fact that we are both recovered a bit tonight, and are into the less sneeze-y, sniffle-y, cough-y part of our illnesses. Tomorrow is another day at sea (our last for this cruise) so our recovery should be complete by the time we reach our next island (which I think is Raiatea) in two days, and our appetites restored by tomorrow night, when we dine at the steakhouse on board. 

This little chain of uninhabited islets is all that comprises most of Rangiroa 

And I've already started a shopping list for the Hilo WalMart:  Sudafed, guafinisan, dextramathorphan, throat lozenges, nasal saline...and a small box of tissues with lotion would be nice, too. 

The Royal Princess sails away from St. Martin at sunset

So pretty it deserves its own post!

Sailaway from St. Thomas

Once onboard, we headed to Skywalkers for sailaway, and pre-dinner drinks and conversation. Now, following a wonderful dinner, we're in the Princess Theater, awaiting the start of another Beatle Maniacs show.
Maybe I AM a groupie...
I told G today that this was the best day EVER. He said I say that nearly every day. I guess it just proves that we're not tired of this yet. Not one bit.
:-)

One more of the sunset

Prettiest sunset yet. One of the few times I wished I had something more than an iPhone to photograph it.
Sitting in Skywalkers drinking a margarita, watching that sunset, beginning another cruise.
Are we tired of this yet?
Not even a little.
:-)

Protection at sailaway, and sunset

An automatic weapon manned at the front of a coast guard ship. Of course, as soon as we reach the open ocean, we're on our own.
And what a gorgeous sunset tonight!! This was our calmest, least windy and rocky, most beautiful sailaway yet!!

Day 52 Sunset- leaving Princess Cays

After we returned to the ship, we immediately headed up to the hot tub for a long soak, then later to Skywalkers for pre-dinner drinks and another beautiful sunset. After a wonderful dinner, we are tucked Into bed early, tired from a busy day.

Sunset: Day 51 (Sailaway from Fort Lauderdale)

Tonight's sunset was the most beautiful of the cruise to date. It had been a sunny but cool (70ish...I guess the forecast from yesterday was correct!) day in Fort Lauderdale, and we walked over to Publix and Walgreens after we had passed through immigration this morning. We returned to the ship in time for lunch in the dining room, but by the time we were done, there wasn't enough time to leave the ship again for a longer walk. Instead we used a hot tub while the rest of the ship was at muster drill (we haven't had to go again since our first cruise in November), then showered and headed up to Skywalkers. Sailaway was chilly enough that Skywalkers seemed the best place from which to watch it. I talked to friends and my mom, enjoying the last few minutes of AT&T cell service until Saturday in St. Thomas.
Walking down to dinner, we stepped out onto the Deck 7 promenade to watch this sunset. And what a treat it was!! The skyline of Miami can be seen in the distance.

Sunset: Day 49 (At Sea)

I have nothing exciting to report for today, except to say that it was a truly relaxing one. We went to the wine tasting at 3pm, and Skywalkers about 5:30pm, but are foregoing formal night and wearing regular dinner clothes are having dinner in Cafe Caribe, the dinner buffet. Luckily for me, they had seafood stew (ciappino), my very favorite, so I'm happy. We watched this beautiful sunset from the Deck 7 promenade before dinner, and are going to see Motor City tonight, followed by the Saints game on the big screen.
Tomorrow: another day at sea, and then turnaround day in Fort Lauderdale. Can we handle 50 more days of this? Oh yeah!

Two ships, pirate and cruise, on Christmas Eve

Sunset: Day 47 - Christmas Eve

After our walk, we came back on the ship about 3pm and immediately made our way to a hot tub. By then, the sun seemed to be out for good, and we enjoyed a long soak while watching the Bonaire waterfront from the ship.
We had to put together a plan for the evening that would allow us to fit in everything we wanted to do on our very first Christmas Eve on a cruise ship. So we went to dinner as soon as the dining room opened at 5:30pm, had just the entree, and then walked off the ship for some beautiful sunset photos from shore. We weren't sailing from Bonaire until 7pm, so we had a chance to also get some photos of the ship with all its lights on.

Sunset: Day 45 (leaving Dominica)

Of course, despite the all day rains, it became sunnier just before sailaway, and we had a gorgeous sunset, as seen from the Deck 7 promenade on the ship.

Day 42- Sunset (leaving Princess Cays)

I haven't been up for many sunrises lately. We've been so active on the islands that I don't have energy to get up early and walk on Deck 19 before we start our days. Luckily, the days are so short right now that we can watch the sunset before we go to dinner at 6pm. And here's tonight's sunset, as seen from Skywalkers, where we went for pre-dinner drinks.

Sunset, Day 39 (At Sea)

We spent the day at sea doing...nothing. We had breakfast in the dining room and then soaked in a hot tub to ease any aches as a result of yesterday's walk. After that, I took advantage of the day 'off' to give myself a manicure and pedicure. I've been wearing a glitter polish, which is very forgiving and wears well, but darn near takes a blowtorch to remove. Half a bottle of acetone and 40 cotton pads later, it was finally all removed. Then I reapplied four new layers, which should last for at least 20 days. I hope. 'Cause it's a lot of work to get it off.
We had a wine tasting in the afternoon, and then dressed for formal night dinner (which also meant chocolate covered strawberries delivered to the room). We then headed up to Skywalkers for sunset and pre-dinner cocktails.

Sunset, Day 34 (St. Kitts)

We didn't do a lot today. We had breakfast in the dining room, and then walked off the ship into the port area. I was able to get a free wifi signal strong and fast enough to call Mom on Skype. It was nice to talk with her during the 6 days in a row without AT&T cell service. She said she was getting ready for church, and I had to ask her what day it is- I really did not know. On a ship, days of the week mean nothing. All the matters is sea day or port day, and which port we're in. Even the invitations we get to various parties on board, although they will state a day and date, always put the port in parentheses. That's all we really look at anyway
We walked around a bit in port, but then headed back to the ship with plans to gather our things and take a taxi to a beach. However, the day didn't start out optimistically, and there were intermittent light rain showers before we even left the ship. So we adjusted plans, and settled down by the MUTS pool to watch football games on the big screen.
The sun did finally come out, very hot, and we sort of roasted watching the Saints game (GO Saints!), but by the time it finally got really interesting, in the fourth quarter, the heat of the day had passed and after the Saints win we showered and dressed for dinner and the sunset. We're sitting here right now on the Promenade Deck watching that and a big storm in the distance.

Sunset, Day 31 (Turnaround Day, Fort Lauderdale)

I was up early this morning and watched a beautiful sunrise while we were docked in Fort Lauderdale, but I was too busy talking with Mom to get a photo! No worries...I have 70 more chances to photograph sunrises.
When I went out on the Promenade Deck this morning to make phone calls, I was immediately stuck by how cold it was. It was 60 degrees in Fort Lauderdale! After my calls, I returned immediately to the cabin to put on the clothes I'd worn to fly from home 31 days ago. If Fort Lauderdale follows last year's patterns, I may have to wear them several more times.
After breakfast we went through immigration and then walked over to Publix, Walgreens and Payless, where G had to replace a pair of sandals that didn't survive the first month of cruising. It turned out to be a beautiful day, sunny, dry and in the mid 70s. We ate a late lunch in the dining room and then I returned to the cabin to color my hair, which was getting blonder by the minute. G used the hot tub and we both showered and went on the upper decks for sailaway.
It is still a huge thrill to embark on a new cruise, and we especially love the sound of the ship's horn as we leave the channel of Port Everglades and enter the open ocean.
It had begun to rain just before sailaway, but we were happy to see that it quickly cleared and the sailaway party was able to be held on the pool deck. During the party, we met Hotel Director Peter Hollinson's wife and 9 month old son, both of whom live on the ship with him while he is onboard. The officers (especially) and the crew lead such interesting and international lives!
After dinner in the dining room, we are early to bed. The illness that I have been fighting for a week has, in my typical pattern, taken full hold and I may end up at the ship's doctor tomorrow. We have two days at sea for me to get better, so I can be ready for a beach day on St. Kitts.

Sunset from our dining room table

We left Aruba late tonight, at 7pm, so we were still docked when we went to dinner. Luckily, the sunset was on our side of the ship.

Sunset, Day 23

There was a spectacular sunset tonight. The first photo was taken from the Promenade Deck on the way to dinner. The second photo was taken through the window next to our table in the Michelangelo Dining Room in Deck 5.

G saw the green flash at sunset for the first time tonight! I've never seen one yet, but have heard about it for years. Maybe someday...

Sunset, Day 21 (Sailaway from Fort Lauderdale)

The Miami skyline is in the distance.

Champagne with friends at sailaway

We saw some cruise friends from Scotland while leaving Skywalkers, and they invited us to their favorite spot for sailaway and sunset and to share a bottle of champagne...but it was BYOG (glass). So we stopped by a bar to pick up two chilled flutes, and joined them on Deck 17 forward (or, as we called it, the balcony for those of us who book inside cabins). While up there, I took some pictures of areas I'd not yet photographed, forward (the Lotus pool is under the area with the lights) and aft (the Neptunes pool and behind that the Calypso pool and the MUTS screen).

We enjoy all of this so much that we made a decision Wednesday to pay for a tenth cruise, from February 6 to 16. Thanks to those (especially you Mom!) who encouraged us to do this. We took your advice to heart, and so will be spending 100 days straight on the ship- almost a World Cruise without leaving the hemisphere.
Will we get tired of this? Well, time will tell. But we do know that we have never left a cruise ready to return home; we were always wanting to continue. And we hedged our bet by buying insurance for every cruise. We can cancel a cruise up until sailaway for any reason and get our fare applied to a future cruise. If we decide it's time to go home, we can.

And we can all be shocked.

Sunset over Montserrat

Montserrat has a still-active volcano.  We would love to go there one day!