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 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 stay of 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 yes I did. I had had a renewable sedentary day up until that point. It’s line 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 Ricky 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 sound 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

Day 48: At Sea

We are continuing to bounce our way across the North Pacific…bounce being the key word there. I think it may have been a little better this morning, at least there were a lot of people walking in the sun on the Promenade Deck. But by early afternoon the sun was playing hide-and-go-seek, there were intermittent squalls, the winds had increased and the Promenade Deck was closed off. 

It can stop anytime as far as I’m concerned, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to. I think this whole crossing, both directions with the exception of one day is going to be like this. 

I was up fairly early today. I think the ship’s movement was on my mind; I was having a dream where the Emerald Princess was encountering turbulence as it sailed across the sky, and it ran into a bell tower in Italy and broke it off. Really. Yeah, I think it’s starting to get to me. 

We went to both breakfast and lunch in the Botticelli Dining Room and in between, at 10:15an, there was something called Hotel at Sea in O’Malleys. That sounded different and interesting, and we were happy to see F&B Director Roy and his Food Supervisor and Beverage Supervisor and they talked about provisioning (watermelons provisioned in Honolulu cost 5x as much as watermelons provisioned in San Pedro!). 

Last turnaround day they got a pallet of food at the Emerald Princess that was supposed to go to a HAL ship in San Diego. Actually, the truck driver was confused and started to deliver his food to the Emerald Princess and one pallet came off the truck and got mixed in to everything else before they figured it out. Roy said in his 40 years with Princess, no two days have been alike. 

They all talked about the three special events this cruise (Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day and Mardi Gras) and how they’ve planned things to make each event special, like the special desserts and drinks they featured yesterday. It’s been really nice. 

A breakfast bonus 🌈

Waiter Romeo at lunch provided entertainment with his folded napkin creations. So clever!!

Lunch was followed by ukulele (what else?) but I was delighted when new friends Mary and Ed showed up bearing gifts. Ed is a talent with a 3D printer and air brush, and prints and paints the cutest ducks and other items, like textured heart ornaments and iPhone holders to use on plane tray tables. It was like Christmas for me and even better when they stuck around for a few songs and cheered me on.

In fact, it reminded my a great deal (alert: incoming story) of when I was a kid and had to practice piano every day. I started taking lessons at 5 years old, and my required practice time quickly grew to an hour a day, probably before I had the attention span to actually accommodate that. But it was the 60s, and a different time, and parents- at least my parents who were paying for my lessons- didn’t spend a lot of time worrying about my attention span. I was going to practice, dammit, before I could go out to play. So my friends would play in our front yard where they could hear me, and applaud after each song to keep me motivated so I didn’t end up losing play time altogether and, yeah, Mary and Ed brought back some fun memories today. 

With my new duck from Ed and Mary 

Angry Duck looks like I felt practicing piano 60 years ago 😂

The act of getting around the ship is wearing us out, and we returned to the cabin to rest until Elite Lounge and that was an experience. We positioned ourselves in Skywalkers where we could watch down the length of the ship as the waves crashed over the bow. They were impressive, kind of like fireworks. To be fair, we’ve twice seen them larger, where they crashed well above the Promenade Deck, both times in the Tasman Sea, but these are definitely the worst we’ve seen in this section of the Pacific Ocean. 

At this point in the cruise, I’m generally having salad topped with a protein (salmon tonight) for dinner

We don’t need to eat for at least a week when we get home 

Tonight’s Princess Theater entertainment was a magician, so we went right to the Piazza where we snagged front row seats for tonight’s Princess World Orchestra. It was fun to watch them set up, especially since we know many of the musicians by now. 

The Imperial Strings Duo

Where we usually are for Princess World Orchestra

Then we went directly right to Club Fusion for another candlelight concert, this time by new (to us) Groovy Tunes Duo from Argentina. The guitarist’s skills are incredible, and they play more contemporary (ie Prince) music. If you get a chance to hear them on a ship…GO!  Truly the best duo we’ve ever heard on Princess. Such a great venue for this type of concert, too. 

Another great entertainment day on the Emerald Princess. But, please, make the bouncing stop!

Day 47: At Sea

Happy Valentine’s Day! ♥️

I was moving so slowly this morning that my husband was long gone by the time I finally left the cabin, and the first person who wished me Happy Valentine’s Day was dear cabin steward Rocky, but he is cute and always smiling, so that was good, too. 

Today was the day I decided that I am too damn old to sit in a chair on the beach for hours drinking sugary alcoholic libations and think that I am going to feel just fine the next day. But it was sure fun while it lasted. 

I skipped breakfast all together and instead went to Fred Cink’s enrichment lecture, today in Cruising to the Comets. And here I have to chuckle a little. There was a recent discussion on Cruise Critic about the value (or lack of it) of on board enrichment lectures and anyone who doubts their ability to attract cruisers and hold their attention while simultaneously educating them way beyond anything we could grasp from the internet has never heard Fred Cink. He was on last year’s (or was it two years ago?) total eclipse cruise and is already booked for two more and I can’t imagine a more perfect pairing. 

I finally met up with G for lunch in the Botticelli Dining Room and ordered chicken and potato curry only because the menu stated that it would be served with condiments. Condiments!!  I was immediately imagining chicken korma-style condiments, and when it was delivered, no condiments were offered. Upon closer examination there were no condiments in the curry, either, so of course I had to ask. It took a few minutes (I imagined a cook in the gallery furiously finely dicing onion, tomatoes and peppers), but waiter Mieddy appeared with that glorious tray of all the good things, and I took some of everything except raisins (of course) and then extra cilantro and was so so so happy. It wasn’t korma, but I decided right then that the best part of korma is the condiments. Who knew?

But, as always, I had to leave G at lunch to get to today’s ukulele lesson and we are now warming up with songs that I struggled with just a few days ago, and that’s a confidence booster, which is good because we’ll soon be performing en masse for our end of cruise program so confidence boosting is a welcome thing. 

I swung by the World Fresh Marketplace after ukulele because I had heard about all the Valentine desserts that were being offered there and had to see them for myself. Yep, everything had a heart on it, and there were cakes covered in Britto inspired fondant and I’ve been a big Britto fan since before Princess went all Britto-crazy so I really enjoyed seeing them. 

This red velvet cupcake was very good

Or so I heard 😉

The bounciness we dealt with all day intensified by mid afternoon, and we opted to skip the Elite Lounge and instead go to the Piazza for the group renewal of vows by Captain McBain. Actually, we got pics of the renewal for this blog but didn’t actually renew our own vows because 1) we’ve done that many times in the past; 2) we didn’t want to have to try to stand up for the whole thing; and 3) our old vows hadn’t expired yet (you get one guess to figure out who said that). 

Smiling F&B Director Roy Kelly

Love that guy!

Valentine’s Day on the ship was made very special. The decorations were beautiful but they really went above and beyond with the menu, food and displays. 

We even had double heart brioche dinner rolls!

Hawaiian Ambassadors Brian and Rowena performing hula and Hawaiian music in the decorated Piazza

The Princess Theater entertainment tonight was the last production show we’d be seeing this cruise and the last night this cast would be performing together before they return home for vacation. Luckily, it was my favorite Rock Opera with guest rock tenor Connor Bogart (my guess is we’ll see him in his own show before the end of the cruise). 

Darling dancer Jorge singing (but not really mic-ed) 😉

I would have loved to return to see their final performance at 9pm, but, damn, it was bouncy at the front of the ship. I’m always amazed the cast can even perform (and still keep the lifts in the choreography). 

Instead we went to the World Fresh Marketplace just for coffee and if we thought the front of the ship on Deck 6 was bouncy, we hadn’t seen anything yet. Deck 15 in the very back was downright dangerous.  This, of course, caused us to second guess our cabin choice for future cruises, so, when we left the buffet we walked down one flight to Deck 14 and even that was an improvement (but, seriously, the paneling in the stairwell was creaking and groaning). Still, we went down to the cabins on Deck 5 just forward of the Piazza and they were like being on a different ship on a different ocean. The air was also very stale down there, which was a surprise, but, in thinking about it, we have very rarely ever stayed on a deck with no balcony cabins, which certainly promotes air flow in the corridors. In fact, on our current Deck 14, we have balcony cabins and the door to the Terrace Deck at the end of the corridor. It makes a big difference. 

So we scratched Deck 5 cabins off our list. I guess we will just bounce our way through several cruises next year. 

We returned to the cabin where I finally finished and published my Honolulu post, still leaving me a day behind. Tomorrow will have to be a two-post day!

After several tries, I gave up trying to get the photo banner at the top of this page to scan.

I got no time for that nonsense!