Day 41: Super Bowl At Sea

5:57am.

That’s when I heard the cabin door click. I pulled off my sleep mask to be greeted by a room full of light and G asking me to spell him in 15 or 30 minutes so he could get a cup of coffee. 

5:57am!

And we weren’t even the first people claiming seats at the MUTS pool. 

!!!

Super Bowl spectatorship on MUTS is not for the faint of heart. But it can be oh-so-much fun, kind of like when you’re camping as a kid and your dad wakes you up before dawn to climb the nearest fire tower using flashlights just to watch the sunrise. 

Unfortunately, today was not one off those oh-so-much fun experiences. Today was NOT the best day ever. 

But I didn’t know that yet at 6am. I also didn’t know what the day’s temps would be, but it didn’t matter; our cabin is literally right under the Calypso Pool area so we’d be close for clothing changes. More accurately, our cabin is literally next to the Calypso Pool, along side the pool walls. The swells had returned overnight, and, because the pools had been filled during yesterday’s reprieve, we heard heavy sloshing all night long. It was exactly like sleeping on a beach, and wasn’t at all unpleasant…except for the eleventy-seven times I had to get up to use the bathroom during the night. The suggestive sound of moving water!

So, anyway, I dressed in slacks (those same pants must have gotten a little stretched yesterday, because they felt great today) and a long sleeve T-shirt and stuffed my new sweatshirt into my backpack, along with AirPods, sunscreen, 15 Wet Ones packets and our battery backup and did actually manage to spell G in under 30 minutes. He made a coffee run and thus began our day. 

Loungers were never set up (they take up too much space) but G had settled in at a table with chairs. Another table was already occupied and the Lido dining crew was busy setting up an extra charge area on Deck 16 that we didn’t even know about until today. Apparently, this was being sold on embarkation day, but as we didn’t go through normal embarkation,  we had missed it entirely. It cost between $395-$495 for a table for four and included a table cloth and food service delivered to your table. I don’t think it included drinks, though (special Super Bowl drinks were priced at $18). 

Setting up the conspicuous Super Bowl viewing experience

We were plenty happy in the cheap seats. Even though the sun (supposedly) rose, it started feeling even chillier, and I put on my sweatshirt and then pulled up the hood and added a pool towel around my shoulders…and fell back asleep sitting up in a chair. 

 The sexy reality of Super Bowl spectatorship on MUTS

 

At 8am, MUTS started broadcasting Tai Chi, and I opened my eyes to see that we were surrounded by a few people partaking in that. G went to the International Cafe to get those muesli cakes we enjoy so much and I switched to drinking hot water with lemon and the hours passed.

All the tables and chairs from the covered seating area were moved to have a clear view of the screen

Unfortunately, rain showers passed over every so often and we traded wet pool towels for dry pool towels over and over and over again and it all felt very familiar. This was definitely not our first rodeo. In fact, we were remembering back to being on the Grand Princess for the first Super Bowl ever shown on MUTS, out of Galveston in 2005. There was a huge marketing campaign, that you could watch the Super Bowl on a drive in movie-type screen on a cruise ship, and it sure sucked us in. 

Good times. 

Finally, the air started feeling even cooler and the rain became heavier and steadier. I traded out 31 pool towels (really!) as they all became soaked, and my clothes became damp in spite of the towel changes and, no, this was definitely not oh-so-much fun. But by noon the game was still more than two hours away and we looked at each other and decided to throw in the towel (haha). Two minutes later we were back in our cabin and turning up the heat and taking hot showers and willing ourselves to warm up. We hung up our wet clothes on our stretchy clothesline and it sagged under the weight of them. 

I was able to go to my ukulele class dry if still not warm, and that cheered me right up. We ended up in the Piazza today, as Club Fusion was being used for the game, and learned three more chords. Progress is being made (and my fingertips don’t hurt at all at this point)! 

We watched the first three quarters the game on our cabin TV and at that point decided to go to dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room. I mentioned that it was obvious the Patriots had already lost, and G finished with “their will to live”, and yes, I expect they were maybe feeling that way but luckily for them they didn’t have the first ever shut out in Super Bowl history. But, good grief, that was one boring game. 

I wonder how those people who paid $495 for a table fared in rain.

Gloomy dinner view tonight

We dressed in our warmest clothes and ate comfort food at dinner and our resulting full bellies made the day seem much better. So did tonight’s Princess Theater show, the return of singer Gen Maldonado who we had seen at the beginning of last cruise. My God, what a voice, what a talent, what an entertainer. 

We took a peek at the dessert menu before we went to the show to determine if we wanted to return to the dining room for coffee and dessert, but we really weren’t hungry enough to do that, and so we ended our evening early, at 8pm. 

Just one more day until Hawaii, and (even better) a stable ship!

Life, even when it rains during the Super Bowl, is good. :-)

Day 40: At Sea

Today was the BEST day. G tells me that I say that all the time, and I probably do say it too much. But, really, I think there are worse problems in this world than having a wife who says “Today was the BEST day” a few times too often. 

A huge part of it was that we both took a melatonin last night and slept like babies. It also helped a great deal that the bounciness calmed down overnight. In fact, when we first woke up and laid there in bed (I don’t think I’d even taken off my sleep mask yet), I said, “Is it my imagination or has it finally stopped?” And G assured me it was not my imagination, and, though it hadn’t totally stopped, it was much more tolerable. Hallelujah! 

It was also warming up outside (my watch said 70° at noon), and people are spreading out around the ship. It was brightly sunny, the pools were filled and open and the cruise seemed to change tone overnight as a result. Just for the record, I still didn’t wear shorts today, although I could have. I wore my ‘travel’ pants, which are my least forgiving pants (in a roominess-sense), in the interest of seeing if they were still comfortable. I usually wear these on turnaround days because they have large zip pockets that hold my passport, but it was warm in LA on turnaround day, and I wore shorts instead. That left me wondering if I could still tolerate my tightest pants; hence wearing them today. (G weighed himself today in the fitness center and took an average of the 12-pound range on the scale as the ship moved for a similar reason). I’m happy to report my pants still fit, albeit a smidge less comfortably than they did when we left home on November 30. I’m not counting the nine days at home over Christmas, because, truly, those are as bad as being on a cruise when it comes to eating sensibly.  Cruise on!

We met up for breakfast on the Terrace Deck (very comfortable in the shade, dressed as I was). If I felt 100 years old yesterday, trying to weave my way around the ship, today, with smoother seas I felt as nimble as an athlete. 

I was especially loving the views of the sea today, and these pics will prove that. 

I went to Club Fusion at 10am for astronomer Fred Cink’s lecture on Cruising to the Moon. Cruise Critic’s Astroflyer had given me a heads-up about this  enrichment lecturer being on board for this cruise, but I somehow missed his first presentation two days ago (and I don’t think he gave one yesterday), and it was everything I’d hope it would be.  I nearly ran (being so nimble today, and all) down to the Princess Theater for naturalist Daniel Gohkind’s next lecture on the Hawaiian islands. I’m not seeing those in the right order at all, but by the end of this cruise should have heard them all. 

I took note of Tsiolkivsky’s name during Fred’s lecture and, it being a Saturday, texted it to McGee (who is studying some kind of rocket science -AI meld) to ask if he had ever heard of him. His response?  “Of course I have NeeNee. We studied him two years ago.”  Okkkkkaaaayyyy then. I’m guessing he won’t be needing any further Algebra 1 help from me. 😉

Then it was time for lunch in the Botticelli Dining Room with G (we both had the Cobb salads with yogurt parfait for dessert…yes, it was definitely weight reality day for both of us).  Once again, pinch me at the beauty of the sun sparkling on the water. That’s what I will miss most when we are home. Well, that and the variety and ease of food access and live entertainment and lectures, and twice daily housekeeping service and…

Ukulele was up next and we learned four new chords that we performed in a song during class, but, if we felt defeated by that effort, Brian then returned us to the familiar C-F-G7 chord combo of Jamaica Farewell and life felt safe again. 

Finally, I was able to get back to the cabin where I caught Fred Cind’s first lecture that I had missed two days ago on our TV and recharged my social battery a little before the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers. 

I really needed to just skip dinner after this, but, of course, I didn’t. Those pants still fit, after all!

More ocean views

Guitarist Dennys was performing our favorite hits from the 60s to the 80s during the Elite Lounge

Santiago, who makes our Elite hors d’oeuvres dreams come true

Veggie korma, of course, for me

It’s not chicken korma but it’s delish 

Dinner view

We can’t currently see the sunset from our dinner table, but we were up on the Promenade Deck in time to catch the afterglow before heading to Club Fusion to get seats from comedian Carl Strong’s 8pm set. He went on for 50 minutes and had us roaring with laughter. 

And then it was up to Adagio where we are waiting for the Imperial Strings Duo to perform their Candlelight Concert show. 

Do you see why I started with “This was the BEST day”?  

And tomorrow is another big day, Super Bowl LX on the Emerald Princess. Allow me a minute of self pity while I contemplate what could have been, what might have been, had one broken ankle not stood in the way. 

Sigh. 

G is already planning our day, starting with staking claims early in the day on two loungers. We may actually be too old for MUTS Super Bowl viewing (it’s not as easy to sit in a lounger for hours on end as it used to be), but, fortunately, unlike in the Caribbean, the game will be over and done by late afternoon. Let’s just hope for some really good football, because we then enter the Dark Ages, a sports drought until the craziness of March Madness.

Day 39: At Sea

Last night went from classical (the concert) to rock and roll in a heartbeat.  As Captain McBain had announced, the Emerald Princess encountered the first of the weather disturbances last evening and the bouncing grew worse overnight and throughout today. The walls and ceiling of our midship cabin were creaking and groaning, and it was definitely a “tuck in the sheets” night to keep from falling out of bed. 

As a result, we didn’t sleep very well, but that was fine, because the only two things on our agenda for today were ukulele (me) and a military get together (G). We ate breakfast in the World Fresh Marketplace and didn’t eat lunch at all (and it was actually nice to have an appetite for dinner tonight). 

The bounciness we’ve been dealing with is being caused by deep swells coming from hundreds of miles away.  Despite the rough seas, it was sunny today with temps in the mid 60s, and wasn’t even horribly windy. Some people were sitting on the open decks, but the pools were all partially drained and netted over.

Our ukulele class is moving along quickly, and today we played two four-chord songs. I am no longer struggling over the G7 chord, but still choke when I have to go between G7 and G. Thankfully, my finger tips are getting used to the pressure of playing. We found out today that our MTG luncheon won’t take place until after the Hawaiian ports, which means I won’t miss the same lesson I missed last cruise. That’s a plus; I felt like I never caught up to the rest of the class. 

G was cleaned up for the evening by the time I returned to the cabin, so I took advantage of the time he was at the military gathering to do the same, and took what was a real one-handed shower as I held on for dear life with the other hand. G texted me a photo from the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers and told me not to come up there; a stack of plates had just crashed to the floor, followed by still more. He said it was difficult to even walk in Skywalkers. 

We met up for dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room and, despite my appetite I ate lightly (salmon Caesar salad), not wanting to tempt fate as I sat in the Princess Theater for tonight’s show. Generally the front of the ship really bounces when it gets rough like this. 

G swing by the Captains champagne waterfall for the standard glass of…well, whatever that vile stuff is, and I went to the theater to get our seats. Tonight’s performance was production show Sweet Soul Music, one of our favorites. I have no idea how the dancers managed to stay upright for the show, and we’re familiar enough with the show to spot any significant choreography adjustments, and didn’t see any. Even the back flip was done by one of the dancers. 

Then we returned to the Michelangelo Dining Room for the coffee and dessert we skipped to get good seats for the show. Our waiter Richard actually has an empty table for two at late dining, and that’s where we sat. It works well. We love Richard and Anthony. In fact all the waiters have been simply the best. Ivy, our junior waiter for two cruises saw me today and came running to give me a hug, and we can now count on the waiters to point out to one of us where the other is sitting in the buffet when we’re searching. This is the first time since COVID that we’ve cruised long enough for that to happen, and it brings back fond memories of Emerald Princess and Pacific Princess seasons from years ago. 

And by then last night’s light sleep was catching up with us and we returned to the cabin. It’s still creaking and groaning, but we are hoping for a calmer day tomorrow (though there’s a second, less severe disturbance out there somewhere that we still have to cross). 

Day 38: At Sea

We are back in a sideways, mid-ship cabin on Riviera Deck, right next door to the cabin we had for Emerald Princess cruise #2, and perhaps it was that familiarity that led us to both sleep so well last night. In fact. We didn’t wake up until after 8am and took our time to get moving. The cabin TV said it was 62° at that time, so I dressed in yoga pants and a long sleeved T-shirt and we started out with coffee on the Terrace Deck until it was just a smidge too nippy to linger there. We moved inside and grazed a bit in the mini-buffet in the back of Deck 15 and had a seat inside, with this as our view. 

The sun glistening on the water never gets old. 

And that is how I came to say those words that seem to get said at least once every cruise season:  “Hurry up and finish eating so we can go to lunch”. And we did, having a quick lunch in the Botticelli Dining Room so I could get to the first ukulele lesson of the cruise. 

I enjoy these lessons so much, I really do. Hawaiian Ambassador Brian makes us feel like we are really making progress as he had us playing two songs on our first day.  I’m definitely going to buy a ukulele when I get home. Even more people on this cruise brought ukuleles from home. People seem to do this cruise year after year; next year, we hope to be among them, and I hope to be bringing my own ukulele on board.

G eventually came to Club Fusion to observe, but didn’t participate (not that he exactly participated before, either😉). I get the feeling he wants to be involved but doesn’t want to actually get the sore fingers that inevitably result from practicing. But the concentration required to make my fingers form those chords exhausts me, and we returned to the cabin to rest and watch the first of the enrichment lectures on our cabin TV. 

Elite Lounge in Skywalkers featured Emerald Princess show band guitarist Andrew playing (he confided to me) the “spa music” he’d been requested to play. No doubt he’d rather be rocking out the way he did during Jason O’s Elton John tribute show, but I enjoyed both kinds of music. 

We told waiter Richard last night that we would always eat lightly and quickly and be out of the dining room early, to get our desired seats for the Princess Theater shows that start at 7pm. He was definitely up to the challenge and we were walking out of the dining room at 6pm. I had the beef ramen tonight and the flavors were spot on. 

Tonight’s Princess Theater show was comedian Carl Strong. He was pretty good, a little dated, I thought, but he got a standing O, so he was well received. We swung by the World Fresh Marketplace for the coffee we skipped after dinner (so many people playing games and cards in the back section, just as there are in the Michelangelo Dining Room during the day). 

And then we went up to Adagio for a candlelight concert by Evgeny who is the pianist in the Emerald Princess show band and is also the ship’s music director. It was very well attended, so I’m definitely not alone in enjoying this type of entertainment.  

Evgeny was classically trained in Russia and performed music primarily from the classical, romantic and impressionist movements, including Chopin, Schubert, Mozart and DeBussy (Clair de Lune, natch) and the unusual harmonies of Saties’s Gymnopédies and Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-Sharp Minor and…I could go on and on here.  Clearly, Evgeny is hugely talented. Hugely. 

Ballroom dancing last night, a candlelight classical piano concert tonight; I am in heaven. 

Captain McBain said, in his pre-noon announcement today, that there are two storm systems to the north of us, and, as a result, the Emerald Princess is on a course about 300 miles further south than originally planned. We will pass by the first storm tonight (and the back of the ship in Adagio is definitely moving right now) and by the second, smaller storm in two days. If this is as rough as it gets, I’ll consider that a win. We had sun all day, though it was breezy, and I’m hoping for warmer temps tomorrow.

Day 37: Turnaround Day

My emotions on most turnaround days run the gamut from “I’m so homesick; I just want to go home” to “I can’t believe I get to do this again!!”  Today was no different. 

I’m not a big fan of the 6am wake up that is required on turnaround days, but that’s what it takes. I wasn’t hungry enough for breakfast in the Botticelli Dining Room and so I just grabbed a light breakfast in the World Fresh Marketplace and moved along quickly. 

My current favorite breakfast in the buffet:  yogurt parfait, muesli and chia sludge mixed together and a green smoothie side

When housekeeping came to our cabin to move our things, I actually let them today. A move from one cabin to another on the same deck is easy; having to use an elevator on Embarkation Day morning raises the degree of difficulty quite a bit. However, the guest in our new cabin chose to stay in it until after 9am. I sat in the unlocked balcony cabin across the hall with my stuff until she left and I could store my luggage and hang up clothes in the new cabin before it was even made up to get to the in transit meet up for immigration at 9:30am.  G opted to move himself and it was probably easier to just do that. 

G was intent at being in O’Malleys (our meet up location) at 9:30am; me, not so much. We could tell that disembarkation had fallen behind, and I knew we’d be waiting. And we did, nearly 90 minutes. 67 people weren’t getting off the ship as they should. Grrrr… But we finally got through immigration in the most convoluted way possible. They paraded us through the terminal where the new guests got all excited about why these people (us) were being allowed to board when they still couldn’t.  We finally got back to our cabin where I quickly unpacked before going down to lunch in the Botticelli Dining Room. 

On the way, I swung by our muster station in Explorers Lounge to satisfy that requirement. We hadn’t needed to do muster check in since December 30, but could tell from our cabin TV that we needed a refresher today. 

Embarkation day lunch is always the best, though it’s getting increasingly crazy as more and more people take advantage of it. We finally left before G got his soufflé for dessert; we both needed to make some phone calls this afternoon. 

And then all the day’s hard stuff was behind us.  I got cleaned up for the evening and we went out to the Lido Deck for the Sail Away party, which gets more fun each time we see it because we know more of the cast dancers and singers. It was a beautiful day for the party, sunny and about 80° in LA. Captain McBain did say, in his welcome aboard message, that we will be facing a weather system to the north on our crossing to the islands, and we can expect some movement, but that they are taking a more southerly route to avoid the worst of it. 

We went right up to Skywalkers for our actual sail away (as opposed to the sail away party) and the Elite Lounge. What a view we had!  We had to back up almost to a large freighter and let me just say that I’m glad I wasn’t responsible for steering. We were close!!

It’s always a little weird to go to the same dinner table but our waiters and neighbors have changed.  We now have waiter Richard from the Philippines and junior waiter Anthony from India, and it’s going to be a wonderful 16 days. Tonight’s dessert menu featured the flourless chocolate cake with macadamia nuts and, oh my, it is the BEST dessert I’ve ever had on Princess. It’s like the old flourless chocolate cake but even better, with macadamia nuts. 

Book an Emerald Princess Hawai’i cruise for this dessert

Thank me later

We went to the Princess Theater for tonight’s performance called Dance Fever. We really didn’t know what to expect with this. We had ballroom dancers doing shows in the Explorers Lounge late last cruise, but we never made it to one. This is the first time they’ve performed in the Princess Theater (that I know of). Katia and Zhenia from Belarus left us all amazed. If you love Dancing with the Stars, you’d love this show. The costume changes alone were unfathomable. 

Then we still had room for coffee in the buffet before we called it a day. We are settled in for our last cruise of the winter. 

Life is good. :-).