I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Day!! Our Christmas Day at sea was fantastic and fun.
It was after 1am by the time I finished my blog last night and posted it using the ship's surprisingly cantankerous wifi, and close to 2am before I finally fell asleep. When G was heading to breakfast at 8am, I mumbled a Merry Christmas and rolled over. When he returned two hours later, I hadn't moved. Those were the two best hours of sleep all night!!
Obviously, after a shower, I realized it had been 15 hours since I had last eaten, and regardless of how full I had been at that time, I was now hungry and ready for something to eat (which is a good feeling on a cruise ship). G was already out and about again, and as he had said something about getting photos of the gingerbread house decorating contest in the Michelangelo Dining Room, that was where I first went. I was just in time to hear the winners announced, but not in time to catch G; he was on the move again.
I returned to the cabin, left him a note saying I'd be in line for lunch when the dining room opened at noon, and went down to the International Cafe (IC) on Deck 5 for a second frozen coffee concoction of this cruise. Merry Christmas to me!!
I settled in Crooners, in a chair overlooking all the activity in the Piazza, listening to the recorded carols being played. G had said, in the short time I'd seen him, that it was sunny and beautiful on deck, and the loungers were filled, but somehow I wanted more of a Christmas atmosphere, and it was certainly prevalent in the Piazza. I had barely finished my coffee when it was time to get to the dining room for lunch. I predicted (accurately) another line to dine, but by being in it when the doors opened at noon, I was quickly seated. G caught up with me just as that happened, so we were able to enjoy a nice Christmas lunch together. Having just consumed that coffee, and in preparation for what I knew would be a huge dinner, I just had two appetizers and was done (see Photo 1), but wasn't one of them pretty?
We then settled again in Crooners. It was a wonderful place to observe all the activity without being in the middle of it. The Youth Staff was busy setting up tables for "Pelican Pete's Holiday Fair and Santa's Visit" in the Piazza, so there was a lot to watch.
Good grief. This was the second time in three days we'd been content to just sit and people watch (the other being on Grand Anse Beach on Grenada). We're getting old, folks. We're getting old.
BTW- due to the Norovirus, the ubiquitous sales tables in the Piazza and the final sea day "rummage sale" in one of the dining rooms had all been suspended. What a loss. See, even when seas are stormy, the sun is shining somewhere! ;-)
And, speaking of the Norovirus, the Emerald Princess did make the news in South Florida:
We continue to be unaffected (knocking on sanitized wood, then immediately running to wash our hands).
At 2pm, Pelican Pete's Holiday fair kicked off, started by (some) of the little kids onboard caroling on Deck 5 in the Piazza. They had obviously been practicing all cruise long (especially the tambourine players, enthusiastically playing them, and the little ham, err girl who monopolized the mike). The whole time, parents and grandparents stood all over the Piazza, recording the event for posterity. It made me miss the kids and the Christmas programs at school.
The crafts tables were then opened, and featured things like making Christmas buttons, decorating a Christmas cards and ornaments with markers, and balloon animals. There may have been cookie decorating too (I don't specifically remember seeing that this year), or it may have been nixed due to the Norovirus.
At 3pm, Cruise Director Lee read ''Twas the Night Before Christmas" with his young son on his lap (so sweet, and brought back some cherished memories for me of reading that for the twins for the first time about six years ago). But the big event is what came next....
An announcement from the bridge preceded it: Santa's sleigh had landed on the ship and he was making his way to the Piazza. When one of the scenic glass elevators stopped on Deck 7 long enough for everyone to see two red-clad legs, a squeal went up...Santa was almost there! Sitting in the leather chair (no doubt from the Wheelhouse Bar), Santa handed out a present to each child. I don't know what was in all of them, but I did see very nice Princess teddy bears being hugged.
It was all very sweet and just perfect and very nicely done by Princess.
By that time, it was 3:30pm and G was ready for a hot tub. I had a choice: go outside to a pool and then have to shower again, or just settle in the cabin until Skywalkers, reading a book. I chose the latter. I had been around a crowd of people since 10:30am or so and I needed some time alone.
Other Christmas activities today I didn't attend: a second performance of the Crew Christmas show from last night, a second interdenominational Christmas church service in the Princess Theater; White Christmas and It's A Wonderful Life on MUTS; and a turkey carving demonstration in the Piazza (hey, I don't need to know how to do that; they do it for me!). In a case of the worst timing EVER, there was an educational lecture in the Princess Theater by an attorney: "Why Do Killers Kill?" Really? Did we need that today? I guess we did...I heard that his original lecture on that topic was so well received that several passengers asked for it to be repeated, and since today was the only remaining sea day of the cruise... Well, I guess Princess does have to offer activities that appeal to all passengers, not just some of them. But after the events of the past week, I can't imagine giving another minute to listening to that...stuff. Interesting note: that attorney also conducted the interdenominational Christmas church service. Talk about multi-talented! :-\
We finally took Rhea's Christmas card to her in Skywalkers during the Elite lounge, but didn't stay. There's still no food being served there- just drinks- and as we planned to have champagne with dinner, we really didn't want a drink beforehand. Still, it was great to see Rhea; we haven't been up in Skywalkers much this cruise, and we've missed her.
I've also forgot to mention a Christmas gift from Captains Circle host Catherine: a box of Reece's peanut butter cups. Dangerous stuff to have in the cabin; we've refrained from eating even a single pillow chocolate at night, and because we're saving them from the kids, we aren't even tempted. But these peanut butter cups are even better, and we can't resist. It was very kind of her!
Dinner was wonderful tonight, much better than the Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, G remarked tonight, and I have to agree, that the food quality has increased since we boarded in November. I think the food that the ship is getting from its suppliers has improved. Fruit is riper, meats are better. The end result is that we're very pleased. I had turkey and G had ham, but when it came to desserts, we ordered four (plus Christmas cookies) and had a bite (or more) of all of them. My favorite was the gingerbread soufflé; G liked the English Christmas pudding, which wasn't pudding at all but a fruit cake. Accompanied by champagne, it was a perfect end to a perfect dinner on a perfect day.
G then wanted to attend the second show this cruise of comedian Darrell Joyce. Now, as I hadn't been a fan of his first show, this was a bit of a concession on my part, but his second show was better. There was slightly less "hen pecked husband" humor. He did say one thing that had me applauding: that men over a certain age can fall asleep anytime, anyplace in about 30 seconds. Proof positive: the man next to me who fell asleep in even less time than that tonight. Will someone please explain to me why it is that, if I quietly slide open my nightstand drawer to get something while he's sleeping, it wakes him up in a heartbeat, but he can fall asleep with an Eddie Murphy movie blasting on the TV so loudly I can't hear myself think?
Finally, I will give Princess a pass....I heard (from another passenger) that Cruise Director Lee had announced at the interdenominational worship service on Sunday that there would not be a priest on board for Christmas. Apparently, there had been one who boarded on December 17th, but 20 minutes before the ship sailed, he was called off for an emergency. Now, it can be debated whether this allowed Princess enough time to bring on board consecrated hosts while in a port so that a deacon could perform Mass, but they didn't and so it's a mute point. I've talked to a few passengers missing Mass for the first time ever, but it can't be helped. Mass does not a Catholic make (IMHO), and ship happens.
When all was said and done, we had a wonderful Christmas 2012!
Photo 1: my appetizer at lunch
Photo 2: the kids caroling in the Piazza (I'll try to post a video in Fort Lauderdale)
Photo 3: Santa on his chair, preparing to pass out presents (again, I'll try to post the video of his arrival)
Photo 4: snowman in Vines with an eggplant hat (instead of a stove pipe hat) and a carrot nose and two eyes made out of...black olives!
Photo 5: a Christmas gift!
