So instead, after breakfast in the dining room (our one and only less than positive dining experience so far this winter...the extra work caused by the Norovirus is taking its toll, I think), I returned to the cabin to set up my laptop and got to it, and was finished in about two hours. We met for lunch in the dining room and then I worked another hour answering emails out on deck (from my iPhone) and a couple of hours making phone calls (well, some of them were personal, not business. Most of them :-).) and before I knew it it was nearly 4pm. I had time for a quick walk on Deck 19- G had done his walking through the Crown Bay Marina looking at all the yachts in for the holiday- and then it was time to get ready for Christmas Eve and formal night.
Frankly, it was a good thing that we had had an easy day; our evening on board made up for it, and at 11:45pm, I am finally in bed and just beginning to type this blog post.
At 5:15pm, there was Christmas caroling in the Piazza with the production show singers and several officers, staff and crew. Every level of the Piazza was packed with passengers caroling along, and there was even some artificial snowfall (but it sadly wasn't too impressive). Snow in the Piazza on Christmas cruises was something Princess rolled out two or three years ago and it was a big deal at the time, but since then it's pretty much faded away, and I've seen it just twice so far this cruise: this evening and a bit during the Welcome Aboard Champagne Party.
Next up was dinner: escargot and lobster for me and Beef Wellington for G. We postponed dessert and coffee and went to the 7:15pm performance by singer/dancer Delisco. FINALLY!! Some entertainment other than production shows and the Beatle Maniacs that appeals to us on Princess! We hope he stays on over turnaround day and performs again next cruise.
By then, we were (barely) hungry enough for dessert and coffee, and so we returned to the dining room only to find 45 minute waits for a table for 2. However, we were ushered in to see headwaiter Robert, and, because we were going to be there just for a few minutes, we were set up at a table for four, just us. Thank you, Robert!
At 9:15pm, Assistant Cruise Director Alissia was doing a sort-of trivia in the Explorers Lounge: missing lyrics from songs through the decades. That sounded like fun-, so we went, and it was fun. We could have actually played to win this first time, but we just wanted to listen to the music and sing along. We consider ourselves disqualified from participating in this sort of thing on subsequent cruises, since now we know the answers. Not that we'll remember some of them. ;-)
Finally, the highlight of the evening: the crew Christmas program in the Princess Theater at 10:30pm. The singers all performed solos or duets, the dancers danced (darling costumes!), a couple of crew members performed (can you imagine singing a solo in a language not your native one in front of 900 people? Neither can I!). Accompanied by the Emerald Princess orchestra, it was a great show, and it was ended with more caroling. Fun stuff!
We tried to deliver a Christmas card to Rhea in Skywalkers at 11:20pm, but she wasn't on duty yet, and we didn't have the energy to wait for her, but we'll see her tomorrow too. G was asleep before I finished my nighttime ablutions, and I then picked up tomorrow's Patter to see what was going on.
Ruh-roh. BIG Ruh-Roh!! My growing suspicions of the past few days were confirmed. There is no Catholic priest on board. Princess says on their website that there will be a priest on board for Christmas and Easter sailings, and that's always been our experience. Usually, when a priest is on board, he'll say daily Mass. I hadn't been seeing this in the Patter, but when there was no Sunday Mass either, I hoped that a priest was coming on board today in St. Thomas. Obviously that's not the case.
This, I think, is going to be a big deal. A big, bad deal. The least Princess could have done is to notify people that they weren't living up to their promise and give people the option of researching whether there was a Christmas Eve Mass on St. Thomas early enough to attend before the ship sailed. Saying nothing and then leaving it until there are no other options is really unforgivable.
I am very disappointed in Princess right now.
On a brighter note, Captain Pomata announced that the number of Noro cases is dropping. Hallelujah! This ship smells like disinfectant. A "mini-turnaround" cleaning was performed today while the ship was in St. Thomas. While I was working in the cabin, all the glassware, tray, ice bucket, ice tongs and decorative pillows and bed covers were collected and not returned until several hours later when they had been sanitized. We were notified that, on turnaround day, after passing through immigration, all in transit passengers wanting to immediately reboard the ship will be held in Club Fusion until 1:30pm or so while the rest of the ship is extensively cleaned. Our plan? We're going to get the heck away from it all, go through immigration early and do some sightseeing in Fort Lauderdale, returning just before the ship sails. Hopefully, all these efforts plus most of the passengers leaving will clear up the problem once and for all.
Nip it, nip it, nip it!!
:-)
Photos 1 and 2: the caroling sheets handed out tonight
Photo 3: singer/dancer Delisco performing in the Princess Theater
Photo 4: a stocking on the bed tonight in lieu of chocolates (last year we got two)
Photo 5: the crew Christmas show (we were seated in the last row of the Princess Theater)