At home

We’ve been home for four full days now, and it’s time to wrap this up. I’ve actually just taken a Valium (the reason why to follow), so we’ll see how coherent this post is. 😆 

Our alarm was set for 7am on disembarkation morning, and we were out of our cabin at 8am. We went to the World Fresh Marketplace with our large suitcases and just parked them against our table in the back. We hung out there until it closed at 9am and then sat in Club Fusion until the last and final call about 9:45am and at 10am were in an Uber to the Long Beach Airport ($34.34). 

And once there we waited for hours, but what a pleasant airport to wait in. We now know to go to the car rental building with easy access to comfortable seating and plug ins and clean bathrooms and quiet. Blissful quiet. No boarding announcements, no standby announcements, just quiet. That’s a very welcome thing after being on a cruise ship for 52 days. 

We arrived home just after 9pm, and, yes, there was a skiff of snow falling for the first time in weeks, but it was light and short lived. We reached 73° today, and so have none of that East Coast nonsense here!

Saturday was pajamas, grocery delivery and laundry day (while watching three college basketball games). Sunday was grocery pickup and mail day and I had three appointments on Monday (yesterday). I finally today cleaned out toiletry travel bottles, refilled them and re-packed everything for our April cruise. It was easier than putting away Saturday’s laundry, especially since I won’t be needing any of those clothes before we cruise again. 

Tomorrow is surgery day, because what would post-cruise life be without a surgery? Luckily, it’s just oral surgery. The crown that came off and was re-cemented in San Pedro on a Royal Princess turnaround day in December (did I mention that?) was a temporary fix. When I saw my dentist Christmas week, she said it was time for a root canal but I opted for an extraction and implant instead. That tooth has bothered me every time I have a sinus infection for nearly ten years. I was (and am) ready for it to be gone. I was taking a risk cruising for 52 days, especially with all the sea days, but I couldn’t start the process during those few days I was home because of the holidays. My dentist sent antibiotics with me in case it blew up in the middle of five days at sea to/from Hawaii, but I never needed them. Some days were worse than others but it never kept me from eating! 

I picked up four prescriptions today, one of them for two pills of Valium. The oral surgeon prescribed one for tonight and one for tomorrow morning. I asked if I really need them and they said I didn’t have to take them but it would help me sleep better tonight. I’ve not slept well since we returned home (too much on my mind) so for that reason more so than nerves I took one about 30 minutes ago. Things are feeling pretty mellow. 

I cancelled my flights and hotel to see McGee run in the indoor track conference championship this weekend, and will have to be content to watch online. I’ll be going to Stanford in early April for an outdoor meet and then cruising again in April (hence the re-packing). Our schedule is full between now and then; we just need to get tomorrow behind us. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the first 36 days on the Emerald Princess. The crew was just as special as I remember them being, the food was decent to good, the weather was amazing and the entertainment top notch. But, oh my, that last 16 day cruise to Hawaii quickly became an endurance contest. I’ve been in rougher seas before (the Tasman Sea and the North Atlantic in December on the little Pacific Princess) but I have never been in seas that rough for that many consecutive days. Even the nights between the Hawaiian islands were bouncy. The second of five sea days back to Ensenada broke me. I could feel my cruising spirit leave my body. I just wanted to reach port. 

We each actually had a couple days of mal de débarquement after we returned home, but that has thankfully passed. But, in the end, we are re-considering our plans for next winter. I was very happy with the Hawaiian Ambassador and Naturalist programs on the Emerald Princess, and absolutely loved learning how to play the ukulele, but G commented (many, many times) on the poor condition of the Emerald Princess (especially the public bathrooms) and the ship is not going to be any newer next winter. Neither of us wants a repeat of that last cruise. And that from someone with nearly 2000 days at sea. I felt so badly for our first time cruisers, the Hawaii virgins and anyone who traveled from the UK, Australia or New Zealand. Heck, I was actually feeling kind of sorry for all of us. The only happy note (and it was a very happy note) was that the harbor pilot was quickly plucked, uninjured, from the sea outside the port of Nawiliwili. In the end, that puts everything into perspective. 

A problem we face is that we are running out of winter cruising options. G does not want to fly to/from Australia again and, after four trips to South America, we’re really not that interested in returning there either. First world problems, for sure. I’m studying our cruise options every evening while we sit in the family room, and nothing better than what we have booked is jumping out at me. Is it time for an extended land stay in a warm destination?  Possibly. 

But, in the interim, we’ll be back at it again in April for a new experience and I will be blogging once again. The BlogTouch Pro app was finally updated and worked really well for me this cruise, which is why I faithfully blogged (after struggling with publishing posts from Alaska in June and the transatlantic in October, and giving it up altogether in December). So, if you’re interested in reading more, check back mid-April. And thanks so much for being here now. I’ve appreciated your emails and support!

Source: Instagram tbrealtormarc

Day 52: Ensenada (is out there somewhere)

It was almost exactly as predicted this morning:  58° (but kind of sunny), and we fell back asleep after the “the ship had been cleared” announcement at 9am and had the best sleep of the past week. I got dressed (in my travel pants…and the tight waist is penance for so the wild living) and my Mexico shirt and earrings one last time (because the shirt is pretty much my only clean one left to wear).

I then went down to Guest Services to apply a different credit card to our folio balance and zero it out. We have been doing that lately, and then block that credit card from receiving any further charges for a few months. We’ve had too many surprise erroneous charges appear on our folio the last night of the cruise, and even received an email stating they were charging us an additional $500+ weeks after a cruise was over. 

Watch your folios!  Take precautionary measures!

I caught the tail end of breakfast in the buffet (green veggie drinks, muesli, yogurt and chia seed sludge). I at least started the day in a healthy way. Eventually I connected with G and we were able to have lunch on the Terrace Deck. It was warm enough (just barely) to do that, though the sea gulls were giving me the heebee-jeebees. It started to cloud over and at that point really did become too cool to sit outside. 

I got most of my packing done this afternoon, although we weren’t going to set out our suitcases tonight, but instead carry them off the ship tomorrow morning. Our flight isn’t until late tomorrow afternoon, and we will simply stay on the ship until the last and final call, and by then it’s easy to roll luggage off. 

We went to our final Elite Lounge of the season, enjoying sail away from Ensenada, and then to dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room. 

Dinner service got bogged down in the whole dining room, and we had to eat our entrees and run, but did return again for dessert and coffee after the show. 

Tonight’s Princess Theater entertainment was not a variety show (yay!), but was Alex Yost. He was the country singer who performed the night of the Captains Circle parties, so we missed him then and it was nice to have a second chance. 

And, after dessert and coffee, we were early to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day.  We’ll have a long wait at Long Beach Airport before our flight, and it will be at least 9pm by the time we get home. 

But at least our world will be stable again, and that's a very good thing. 

Day 51: Eleventy-Seventh Day at Sea

I’m not joking about that. Today really did start to feel a little desperate. It wasn’t quite as bouncy as it has been but that’s speaking in relatives. It was still a whole lotta bouncy. The forecast for tomorrow in Ensenada is for a high of 58° and rain and I do. not. care. Rain and cold don’t shake the ship underneath me. Bring it on. 

Fortunately, today was a very busy day, which kept me from feeling desperate very often. We didn’t make it to breakfast again, nor did we order coffee in our cabin, but at 10am I attended Naturalist Daniel’s enrichment lecture on coral, which is one of my favorite topics. From there I fell into the galley tour line, as I haven’t seen the Emerald Princess galley in many years. We did the Chefs Table on the Emerald on its first cruise after COVID (October 2021), but the galley was not included in Chefs Table at that time (heck, we were wearing masks at all times outside our cabins and testing every so often. I don’t miss those days!). 

I got a piece of carrot cake from the dessert extravaganza in the World Fresh Marketplace and took it to the Botticelli Dining Room for lunch with G (just lentil soup for me). Yeah, my “I’m giving up sugar for Lent” vow lasted all of two waking hours today, but I did just eat seafood and vegan the rest of the day, so that part was Catholic-compliant. 😉

I had to eat that carrot cake fast, because today at 1pm in Club Fusion was the Aloha ‘Oe Hawaiian Farewell Show. I definitely hid in the back of the ukulele pack but was busy looking for G in the audience. You know those videos you see on social media where a kindergarten is performing and the child is in tears imagining mom and dad didn’t show up but then he sees them and his face lights up with a big smile?

Yes, exactly like me here (yellow shirt against the back wall on the left) when I spotted G

G wrote the chords for my songs today on my hand because I knew that music stands were going to be in short supply for today’s show and I thought I could get by as long if I knew the major chord order.

We had prepared three songs (Pearly Shells, You are my Sunshine and I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing) to perform, but I missed yesterday’s class for MTG and- surprise!- they added Tiny Bubbles. Now, I had never played that song, I didn’t even have the music in front of me for Tiny Bubbles, but, fortunately, I learned finger syncing from the best and pretended to strum every chord except C, which I played loud and proud.  

The hula dancers were very impressive and G (entirely unbiased, I’m sure) said the entire show was fantastic and he actually stayed afterwards even longer than I did taking photos and talking to other family members in the audience because I raced out to go to the Princess Theater to get our prime seats for the Voice of the Ocean. 

One singer (HJ, originally from the Philippines) was a clear winner with 86% of the vote for his rendition of Unchained Melody, but, as always, it was the comedic banter between CD Nathan and the coaches that was most entertaining. 

There was just enough time for a clean up before going to the Elite Lounge and then dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room. I haven’t been hungry in so long that I don’t even remember what that feels line. It is going to be a hard transition going home where there is almost no food in the house and we just might leave it that way for a couple of weeks. 

We finally had a sunset tonight!

After Ebony and Ivory’s performance, CD Nathan called up many of the ship’s crews and officers on stage for a final farewell, and that is always fun. 

We returned to the Michelangelo Dining Room for coffee and dessert (mandarin sorbet for me). I’ve received a couple of emails asking if that is an acceptable thing to do and, yes, it definitely is. Theoretically we should go to the DaVinci Dining Room (anytime dining) but we know that there are many empty tables in Michelangelo Dining Room for second seating, and, in fact, our unusual wait staff (Richard and Anthony) have an empty table and host Mark always seats us with them.  We don’t do this every night but probably every fourth night or so, because we nearly always leave the dining room early in time to get good seats for the 7pm Princess Theater performance. 

I am truly wiped out tonight and suspect I will sleep long past our arrival time in Ensenada off 9am. I think it will be another case of the best sleep being that which comes after the ship is docked and stable. 

Day 50: At Sea

I must start today by sharing news of the saddest kind. Two days ago, dear cruise friend Carole passed way after a valiant fight against The Disease That No One Wants. We cruised with Carole many years ago on the Emerald Princess, on one Emerald Princess cruise that stood out simply because of the wonderful friends we met on board and stayed in touch with for nearly 15 years. Carole’s smile could light up the world, and she was beautiful and stylish and oh so fun. 

Then, last night, friend Fungirl messaged me twice during the Captains Circle parties, but by the time I received the notifications it was late and we never connected. I laid down for the night, picked up my iPad, saw on Facebook that friend Nancy had unexpectedly passed away in her sleep, and my reaction was physical. Nancy was smart and fierce and feisty one of my biggest role models and cheerleaders, and my immediate reaction (after more than two years!) was that I just wanted to talk with my mom to be enveloped in her love and…life is moving on. Life has moved on. 

I wasn’t sure, in that moment, how I was going to make it to the MTG luncheon today, or finish this cruise’s blog, but, here we are. Thank you for listening. Thank you for following along. 

With that one hour ahead thing overnight, we were very slow to get moving this morning. Finally, at 10:30am I was the first to move. It was still bouncy, but slightly less so (at this point, we’ll take any improvement). Sleep has been difficult; we’re going to be playing catch up for days at home. We didn’t need breakfast; it was MTG luncheon day!

We always enjoy the MTG luncheons, and not just for the delicious food and attentive service, but because we love chatting with the officer at our table (in our case, Captain McBain) and our table mates. It was comforting to hear the captain admit that, while last cruise might have painted a rosy picture about the weather we could expect on a Hawaiian cruise at this time of year, this cruise has been far worse than usual. And it’s not that the swells on any particular day were the worst we’ve ever seen (they weren’t); it’s the fact that they have been unrelenting. We booked this cruise again for next year just two weeks ago; this week I was ready to cancel it. 

Fried goat cheese and baked apple starter

Seared tuna starter

Starter for those who don’t like goat cheese or seafood (G)

Halibut, shrimp and scallops entree

Lamb entree

Raspberry and chocolate dessert

The colorful chocolate wrap

Cutoff for the MTG luncheon was 795 days!!!

That luncheon (and the wine) always ruins us for the rest of the afternoon. We collapsed on the bed and talked about…the cruise we just recently booked for April. We already know that Michael and Zenny who were on the first two of these Emerald Princess cruises will be traveling with us and today we found that luncheon table mates Jeff and Desiree will be also. It’s always fun to see familiar faces on board. 

We stayed dressed for the evening, and went to the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers just for the musical entertainment and then to dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room, where we had no right to eat ANYTHING but did anyway (split pea soup just to warm up). 

Tonight’s Princess Theater entertainment was Jeff Tracta, an impressionist-singer taking us on a journey through pop culture. Ahead of the show, I believed we had seen him on the Royal Princess in December and liked him, but couldn’t figure out why a search of my blog didn’t turn up his name.  And then I remembered…I didn’t blog from the Royal Princess! Duh.  Sure enough, he was the same guy. His show is fantastic, and we enjoyed it just as much this time around. 

We left the theater and walked into the fun of the silent disco in the Piazza. We love this, and after 10 minutes of dancing, my Apple Watch asked if I wanted to record this workout, and heck yeah I did. I had had a relatively sedentary day up until that point. It’s like doing mild aerobics and my knees are going to let me know all about it tomorrow. When Shawty was getting low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low most of us dancing were ‘bout to never get up again. 

The pool next door, which was totally emptied for several days due to the rough seas is full again, and we definitely are hearing the water sloshing. Still, our cabin is as stable tonight as it’s been since we were docked in Honolulu, and I’m here for it. Two days ago I wasn’t thinking I would miss being on the ship when we return home on Friday, but tonight I’m almost certain I will. 

Day 49: At Sea

I decided last night to skip breakfast and have a lie in this morning. G had a bridge tour (I could have gone, too, but I’ve seen the Emerald Princess bridge a fair few times in the past. I’ve even seen the engine room (not just the ECR) but that’s a story that won’t get told here). Before he left the cabin I pinned G down (not quite- but almost- literally) to go over our calendar for the seven weeks after we get home, because it’s scary busy, especially our first week at home (more on that later). We need to be on the same page!

We actually had coffee delivered this morning, our first room service delivery in almost 50 days. It was nice, not necessary, not quite our thing, but we knew it would save us stumbling through the World Fresh Marketplace for coffee as soon as we woke up. While G was away, I used the time to get cleaned up for tonight’s Captains Circle parties and gather up a last laundry submission. We had received a notice in our cabin last night that it had to be given to our steward by 5pm today, but we don’t usually see Rocky by 5pm in the afternoon, so this morning it was. I needed one last laundry bag and form, but could hear Rocky singing Dancing Queen in the corridor 😆 and knew he was nearby 

I’m glad he was our cabin steward for two of these four cruises. He’s provided excellent service and been a lot of fun, too!

I met up with G in the Botticelli Dining Room for lunch, and today’s  menu featured an entree that was close to the old broccoli and cauliflower entree called the Floret Family or something similar that I used to love, so I ordered that and the teriyaki chicken because we never know about dinner on Captains Circle party nights. 

We had a combined ukulele and hula class today in preparation for our farewell show which will be held on Wednesday. Today’s rehearsal was a hot mess, and I will miss tomorrow’s (MTG luncheon), but I think the hardest part of this whole thing will be standing in one position if the ship is moving like it is today.

G was napping in the cabin when I returned and that was actually a good idea. I tried to do the same but I’m just no good at that. Sleep is a struggle; moving around the ship is a struggle, and I was reminded of the wise words of our Chief Engineer friend, Roddy McConnell (he is so missed!) today:  I’m not seasick. I’m just sick of the sea. Yep, that’s exactly it. 

We met friends Mary and Ed for early entry into tonight’s Captains Circle party, and then saw CD Nathan’s mom was there and invited her to join us as well. We were honored to be this cruise’s second most travelled guests. 

#1 2254 days

#2 1812 days

#3 1697 days

We returned for the second party and then grabbed a two course dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room. By the time we finished up, it was after 9pm and we move clocks ahead for the final time overnight. Luckily, we have no where we have to be until our luncheon at noon and I can already predict another morning sleeping in. 

With CD Nathan’s mom Lindsay