I was so sleepy last night that I forgot to mention a few things...
First, it's official. This will be a 120 day winter at sea for us. Final payment was due yesterday for the March 7, 2013 cruise, and we cancelled that reservation, as well as that for the March 17, 2013 cruise. We had kind of been shooting for 120 days all along, but didn't give up the 13th and 14th cruises without a LOT of thought and discussion. There's no doubt we'll want to stay on- that's just how we are- but we also know that it's a good time to be home too. Sure, we'll still have some remaining blasts of winter to endure, but I'll be anxious to return to school and the kids, and we'll have longer days and lots of fun planning for the summer ahead.
Next, we have Norovirus on the Emerald. It was announced yesterday morning by Captain Pomata and then Hotel General Manager Peter Hollinson. We've heard 30 cases and 50 cases (the rumor mill is extra healthy at times of illness...the next thing we'll hear is that someone personally saw the bodies dragged off as we arrived in Dominica!), but we're not at Code Red yet, because the public restrooms are still open (the outer doors are propped open) and there are still salt and pepper shakers on the tables. They're doing an excellent job of containment (all I can think of here is Barney Fife's "Nip it, nip it, nip it!"). We are generally unaffected, as we eat most of our meals in the dining room and the buffet is where the precautions are most noticeable, with no self service and no silverware pre-set on tables. As always, the crew are the ones who suffer the most with the additional workload. We escaped Noro altogether last winter; while other ships were affected, the Emerald was not. I remember thinking that a winter of Code Red Noro precautions would have us packing up and returning home.
Nip it, nip it, nip it!!
I had picked up another box of Wet Ones at Publix on turnaround day, and am using one every time I enter a dining room, as I'm allergic to Purell, the use of which is now being encouraged. Of course, the key is really just copious amounts of hand washing, and we always do that. We're almost through our second bottle of Dial Complete Foaming Hand Soap in the cabin, and we always wash just before entering the dining rooms, Noro outbreak or not, so the Wet Ones are really for their benefit, not mine, but it's better than breaking out in a rash (from the copper in Purell, so be forewarned...).
Nip it, nip it, nip it!!!!!
Our own poor Steward Nazi is again sick, but with an URI and NOT Norovirus. It's so bad he's not working (so if a body IS carried off, I'll be very concerned, because stewards never miss a day of work). Dare I say it? Yes, we miss him. A lot. He's growing on us. Not much fun, but he does a great job, which has caused us to re-think just what makes a good cabin steward. He certainly has us trained; for all the stuff in our cabin, it's actually fairly tidy (except for drying laundry).
And, finally, as G remarked yesterday, "What a SWELL party we're having!". Yes, we have swells. Huge swells. Just like last year. We were told yesterday on Grenada that there had been no ships scheduled to dock there the day before, and it was a good thing, because they couldn't have, due to the swells. Still, yesterday, we were amazed to watch the other ship in port, the much smaller British cruise ship Fred Olson, on the other side of the pier, heave and pull against her lines, then sink and let them go slack. Over and over again. It was a strong reminder of the power of water (to lift an entire cruise ship!) and the strength of the lines (ropes) holding these ships to the piers. Even this morning, sitting out on the front of the Promenade Deck using good wifi from the Fort Young Hotel, I'm hearing the Emerald tighten hard against the bumpers and then release, repeated every 10 to 15 seconds. Dominica is the port where, the same time last year while docked at the freight dock, we were in an all day lean to port, and even then only after a great deal of difficulty setting up a gangway at all.
It's the Christmas winds at their best. Next month we'll have an entirely different experience.
That's it for now. It's not raining in Dominica but it's threatening. Our plans for the day are totally open. We had thought about doing Jacks Walk to the top of the Morne Bruce overlook, but it's no doubt slippery today, so we may have to re-think.
Damn.
;-)
Photo 1: the Fort Young Hotel, home of reliable wifi (at least in the morning), as seen from the Promenade Deck
Photo 2: G moved a chair to the quiet end of the Promenade Deck, so I could get a phone call out to Mom, which I'm going to do next
