After what seemed almost like three sea days in a row (Grenada, Dominica and St. Thomas...but we really weren't off the ship all that much), another, full fledged one was in store for us today. Last night's bouncy seas continued through last night, today and are still going strong, although we woke to a bright, sunny and hot day today. I certainly hope that bodes well for Princess Cays tomorrow.
This morning we saw the first evidence of dry dock related work in progress. A good portion of the carpeting in the DaVinci Dining Room was replaced overnight (by just 2 or 3 men...we've heard both numbers). We didn't even notice it until a headwaiter pointed it out to us. Also, talking with some passengers at a near table over breakfast, they complained of hearing construction noises all night long from their cabin on Caribe Deck. Other people we've spoken with agreed that they're hearing construction noises on Caribe Deck, but only during the day.
Honestly, if a headwaiter hadn't drawn our attention to the carpet change out, based in our own experience during this cruise we would be oblivious to the fact that a dry dock is imminent.
We have heard that there will be some renovations taking place in the crew quarters, and those affected crew members will be temporarily moved to passenger cabins, but our cabin will remain empty during dry dock. Despite that, we can't leave any items behind, which is understandable, for security reasons. Still, it would be nice...it's quite strange to be packing up knowing no one else will be here until we return on December 17th.
After breakfast in the dining room, I moved immediately to Club Fusion for Ryan's last Zumba class of the cruise. Today's was an hour long, and I went right from there to the fitness center to do weights. The population using the fitness center has definitely dwindled from the start of the cruise to now. That's pretty typical- everyone starts their cruise committing to a new workout regimen, and energy levels sag after five port days in a row- but I can't help but wonder if part of it isn't due to the URIs running rampant on the ship.
Speaking of the latter, we are increasingly astounded at the number of deep, hacking coughs we're hearing throughout the ship, among passengers and crew. We're hearing about more and more quarantined passengers, and our own dear Steward Nazi appears to be affected too. It's not surprising...we have two quarantined cabins in our immediate area. But I do feel incredibly bad for him. He must feel like crap and keeps working through it. Again, this is not the Norovirus; it's bad colds and influenza. Perhaps it's a good thing the ship will be out of commission for 10 days. Certainly, a hit to the momentum of this illness will help.
But we personally are doing better and better. We had all intentions of making it to lunch in the dining room, but the menu didn't really appeal today (my appetite is still suppressed), and instead we dropped by the Back Stage Tour for this cruise for just a short time. About then, G realized that there was a special Mexican buffet in Cafe Caribe today ending at 2pm, and raced that direction at about 1:58pm. I went through the regular buffet and joined him in a quiet area in the back of the buffet seating area, where we discussed packing plans over lunch until it was time for this cruises's wine tasting at 3pm.
In between all this, I've done quite a bit of work today. Collectively we have almost six hours of free Internet left which will disappear sometime early Friday morning. Tomorrow the Internet will move at a snail's pace due to all the passengers logging on to print airline boarding passes, so today was the best time to get some things done.
It was formal night tonight. We stopped briefly in Skywalkers (and to prove just how suppressed my appetite is, I bypassed shrimp, tonight's appetizer. And the world tilted on its axis). I did enjoy a goat cheese soup at dinner, an item on the new menus (loved it, except for the tempura grapes in it), and made up for the skipped shrimp by having lobster and prawns for dinner.
We went to the early performance of the production show Disco: Blame it on the Boogie, and it continues to grow on me. I love the music, love the costumes...there's just something about the choreography that precludes me from endorsing it wholeheartedly.
Afterwards, I returned to the cabin to get some more work done. G decided to go to a second show tonight, a performance by someone billed as a comedian/magician/ventriloquist. Frankly, I would find that tortuous, but G was game. Over dinner he was contemplating just what form this show might take and decided it would be someone joking about a disappearing dummy.
Now, THAT is hilarious (harious in our house).
Somehow today, I also squeezed in the packing of most of my clothing. I've decided to pack liquids and toiletries in several carry on bags. With no airline security issues to deal with, it's nice to have that option.
Tomorrow we'll be at Princess Cays for the second time this season. We plan to go ashore, providing the weather is nice. Hopefully the seas will calm enough to allow us to tender over. Otherwise, it will be still another sea day.
Somehow, this cruise, those haven't seemed so bad.
Photo 1: I guess this will be popping up weekly until we return home
Photo 2: can you see which is the new carpeting, and which is the old?
Photo 3: the new carpet layout eliminates the borders, which, I would imagine, is a huge cost savings with zero passenger impact
Photos 4 and 5: waiter (and friend) Suttipong. Today (December 5th) is the birthday of the king of Thailand, a national holiday. There just happens to be a small group of passengers on board this cruise from Thailand. In fact, they are hear to celebrate the retirement of one of them...he was the head of Thailand's military (or police...I'm not sure which). He brought these pins for all the Thai waiters commemorating the king's birthday. Apparently, this passenger has frequently appeared on TV in Thailand, and the Thai crew all recognized him immediately. This has been a VERY big deal for them, and they are having their photo taken with this man tonight in the Piazza after dinner service is done.
Of course, all this has prompted me to want to know more about Thailand's government. All those remaining Internet minutes are coming in handy tonight.
