Day 86: Dominica

I know that this will disappoint some of you, but we largely took the day off today. The timing was right, the location was right and our energy level required it.

We knew months ago that we'd be in Dominica today, instead of visiting St. Lucia as we normally would on this itinerary. We weren't thrilled about the switch, but that's life. It can be correctly asserted that these islands were assigned their Eastern or Southern Caribbean labels by Princess; on their own, they're all kind of eastern. And southern. If you look at a map, Dominica and St. Lucia are as close as two cities in the same state.

But of all the islands we visit on these itineraries, Dominica is our toughest. Whereas some islands (Barbados, Antigua, Aruba, Bonaire, St Thomas, even Grenada) have things we can do within a walk or a public bus ride of the cruise ship pier, Dominica has one: walking around the town of Roseau and up Jack's Walk to the Morne Bruce overlook. Its one saving grace is the generally reliable free wifi we can get at the Fort Young Hotel, right next to the cruise ship pier.

We had resigned ourselves to making today a walking day, and planned to do Jack's Walk for the first time this winter after internetting a bit to check on things at home. Which is why, when we awakened early and turned our TV to the "front of the ship channel", we weren't thrilled to see that we were not docking at the cruise ship pier at all, but at the freight pier on the northern end of Roseau. There's nothing there but a warehouse full of cheap Chinese souvenirs. No free wifi, no worthwhile walks...nothing. It just seemed fitting, then, when, to top it all off, it started to rain. Oh joy. (And how did the much smaller Norwegian Sun get the cruise ship pier??)

With nothing to do and plenty of time to do it, we headed to the dining room for breakfast. Determined to turn the day around, I looked to food to do the trick, and placed a special order for the always available pancakes prepared with the always available mixed berries. I've had pancakes just once so far this winter, the blueberry pancakes that are on the menu once per cruise, so they really are a treat. But after this morning, knowing that we can get them everyday with mixed berries....that is dangerous knowledge indeed. They were fantastic. In fact, they were so delicious that G, when he finished his Eggs Benedict, also placed an order for them. Things were looking up!

As we sat there enjoying our leisurely breakfast, it began to rain harder. It was quite funny...it was sunny on one side of the ship and pouring rain on the other, which usually means we're going to see another gorgeous Dominica rainbow. And we did. I ran up to the Promenade Deck to get a photo...I don't think we've seen a Dominica rainbow yet this winter; our weather on our past visits this winter has been unusually sunny.

Shortly, the sun came out on both sides of the ship,and we contemplated our options for the day. They weren't really numerous...I can't go anywhere on Dominica by taxi due to their twisting, turning, up and down roads; at least, not without being miserable. A walk into town along the waterfront was really our only option, but not anxious to get sprayed with puddles of water, we held off. I decided a workout was in order, and so headed up to the fitness center; G watched a movie in the cabin. He said he napped, but with a crew safety drill taking place this morning, it was frequently interrupted by related announcements.

He was still engrossed in the movie when I returned to the cabin, so I grabbed my iPhone and ear buds and went up to Deck 19 to walk a bit. It was alternately blistering hot and showery. Finally I gave up, tired of getting wet and then steaming when the sun showed up again.

By the time I returned a second time to the cabin, G was refreshed and ready to walk off the ship. We decided to walk down to the cruise ship pier, about a 15-minute walk, just to find some wifi of high enough speed to check on things at home. We knew Jack's Walk was not an option...even on sunny days, the trail can be muddy and slippery.

Walking through the narrow exit of the operational freight dock into the barrage of taxis made us appreciate the times we've been at the cruise ship pier this winter. Although there was a nice sidewalk about a third of the way into town, the other 2/3 were a caution of no sidewalks, broken sidewalks and a narrow bridge shared with cars. We were disappointed, but not surprised, that we couldn't get on Fort Young wifi at all. It was early afternoon by that time, and their wifi is usually only reliable first thing in the morning. But we learn more every cruise...last time we were here, we walked up the hill behind the Fort Young Hotel and finally found wifi that allowed us to check the webcams at home. We did the same today.

The taxi drivers where the Emerald Princess was docked promised that the shuttle from the other pier back to the freight pier was free; all we had to do was pay $2 to get to town. Don't believe it...it would have been $2 to return too. I don't begrudge people the right to make a living, but I despise liars!

I couldn't get back on the ship fast enough. I have just kind of had it with Dominica this winter. Having it squeezed in on this itinerary plus being at the freight dock didn't help, of course, but we're here just one more time this winter and that's fine with me.

All on board time was scheduled for 4:30pm, and we showered and were up in Skywalkers at 5.00pm for what was a gorgeous sailaway from Dominica. There isn't an island in the Caribbean that doesn't look even prettier at sailaway, and Dominica was shining tonight. It was light enough late enough that we were able to view the entire western coast of the island as we made our way northwest. It really is a gorgeous island, very mountainous (hence, my car sickness), and dotted along the coastline every few miles is a small town with a cluster of about 50 houses. G thinks that there is farming on some of the hillsides (I don't know how), but most of Dominica is undeveloped.

We were so engrossed in what we were seeing out the right (starboard) side of the ship that we missed the sunset on the left side. We arrived in the dining room after 6:00pm, had a wonderful meal of just two courses, and then went up to the Adagio Lounge for this cruise's Most Traveled Passengers party. Whereas the cutoff for the 40 most traveled passengers last cruise was 430-some days and we squeaked in, this cruise it was 398 and we were right in the middle of the 40. Things can vary widely from one cruise to the next!

We had the best time at the party talking with new friends (the bar staff takes care of me TOO well!) and then several of us stayed to listen to the Emerald Princess orchestra playing jazz again tonight. We love that; in fact, we love it so much that we missed the Beatle Maniacs' second show tonight in Club Fusion. With our cabin just two decks below the Adagio, it's like having seven talented musicians performing for us in our own home. We listened until we were nearly falling asleep, then walked home down two flights of stairs. Nice!

For all that the day lacked, the evening more than made up for it. I see how people can stay up late enjoying the music and parties on the ship...they either aren't the ones playing hard all day in port, or they're napping during the day. We had an easy day, which allowed us to have a most enjoyable evening.

Don't get your hopes up for tomorrow either...we'll be in St. Kitts with no plans for the day. But stay tuned; it a changes next cruise!

Photo 1: G's mixed berry pancakes and what's left of his Eggs Benedict...a day changer!

Photo 2: one side of that gorgeous rainbow (too big to fit in my camera frame)

Photo 3: a bit of a second rainbow

Photo 4: the Norwegian Sun at the other (cruise ship, good) pier

Photo 5: the Norwegian Sun sailing away

Photo 6: Roseau, Dominica in the sun at sailaway

Day 85: Barbados

It's 10:30pm as I start this blog post, after a full, fun day on Barbados. Frankly, I'm surprised that I'm still awake at all. Captain Tony Draper had told us yesterday evening that we were in for a rocky night, and it was. G said he slept fitfully all night; I did fine until it finally woke me at 4:45am, and then there was no getting back to sleep. We were in the buffet before the dining room was even open for breakfast. That's too bad, too, because our arrival in Barbados wasn't until 10:00am, and we could have slept in.

Just as the Emerald Princess was docking in Bridgetown, it began to rain, and uncertain what the day would be weather-wise, we discussed rainy day options such as touring the Mount Gay Rum factory. But the rain soon stopped, and it looked like the day might turn out well. We immediately packed our bags for the beach and left the ship about 11:00am, intending to walk to Lobster Alive on Carlisle Bay Beach.

We had passed the usual gauntlet of taxi drivers outside the terminal and began our walk along the waterfront when we were made an offer we couldn't refuse for a taxi ride to the beach. There were several large puddles along the road, and I think we weren't anxious to be sprayed with muddy water from passing cars. It turned out to be an especially good break...we arranged with this driver to do an island tour the next time we're here. We liked him and we liked his van. I can scratch that "to-do" (figure out an island tour in Barbados for the February 5th cruise) off my list.

The Emerald Princess was the only ship in Barbados today, and Carlisle Bay beach was nearly empty. We got a front row umbrella and two chairs at Lobster Alive and settled down for the day. From the time we arrived there, it was hot and sunny the entire day. The beach vendors were suffering from the lack of concession business, but we enjoyed one of our best beach days of the winter. There is a huge difference between that beach when there are four ships in port and that beach when there is just one.

It stayed fairly windy today, and I had great success flying my kite. In fact, for the first time ever, I released nearly all the string...that kite was flying so high we could barely see it, and as I re-spooled the string, it stayed airborne until I grabbed it down.

It was also nice today to arrive late and not have to be back on board until 6:30pm. Like Bonaire, Barbados is a port where arriving at 7:00am and leaving early basically costs us half a day. We didn't leave the beach today until 5:00pm and walked the 30 minutes back to the ship.

Once in the terminal, I stayed for a few minutes using the free but slow wifi and G returned to the ship to get cleaned up for dinner. We didn't have a schedule this evening (there was just one show option tonight, What a Swell Party, in the Princess Theater), and so it was nearly 6:30pm when we arrived for dinner. We were famished (no lunch), and Sutti seemed thrilled that we actually ordered several courses tonight. Afterwards, we enjoyed four different live music options, starting with band Accent in the Explorers Lounge, then the Emerald Princess orchestra in the Wheelhouse, then Sol Provider in Club Fusion and finally the Emerald Princess orchestra again playing jazz in the Adagio Lounge.

It's after 11pm now, and time to make this post. That's the problem with some port days...I'm too tired at the end of them to be more descriptive about what we did

Photo 1: G with Terri and Frederick, trying to drum up business for a snorkel tour

Photo 2: Lobster Alive. It was deserted today!

Photo 3: Look how blue that water is. It's also crystal clear. We think this is the best beach we visit on these two itineraries.

Photo 4: walking back to the ship late in the day

Photo 5: Jazzio in the Adagio

Evening- Antigua

It was Breeza Marina night in Skywalkers, so, of course, I was up there at 5:00pm on the dot, ship's card in hand, ready to order one, and five minutes later I was enjoying that yummy herbed goat cheese and those delish homemade crackers (still working on a way to take home a suitcase full of them!).

Sailaway from Antigua is always so pretty, but we were...not surprised, exactly, but aware of how much later the sunset is than it was a month ago, and how that changes sailaway from Antigua. I love it when the sun sets behind that south head of St. John's Harbour. Today it didn't set until we were well past that, but it was interesting to get such great views of Montserrat, Redonda and even Nevis before it got dark (island identification courtesy of my multipurpose pareo).

We did this itinerary two years ago in April, just one cruise (really!) , and we loved how many islands we'd see after we left port each night. When it gets dark at 5:30pm, we sail right past them without realizing they're there.

After watching sailaway and sunset, we didn't get to dinner until just after 6:15pm, and intended to just eat one course, but Sutti was up for the challenge. We told him we wanted to go to the 7:15pm Beatle Maniacs show, and he managed to serve an appetizer, entree AND dessert and have us out of there just after 7:00pm. Go Sutti!

We were a bit disappointed tonight that what we consider the Beatle Maniacs "A Team" wasn't performing tonight. There are 8 or 9 musicians that play the four different roles, and so we never really know who is going to be there when the curtain goes up, but we had heard that certain musicians were going to be on board for this cruise, but they weren't. Darn. But no matter...this is still great entertainment. I just miss the longer shows they used to be able to perform when they changed costumes as the Beatles change wardrobes and styles over the years. The shows were cut to 30 minutes last year in January, and the Beatle Maniacs haven't been quite the same since.

Sigh.

Afterward, we wanted to go to see the comedian performing in the Explorers Lounge, but it was standing room only and I stand for no comedian. So we backtracked to the Piazza and caught the last bit of the Emerald Princess singers doing their short Motown medley, then moved into Club Fusion to listen to band Sol Provider. Love them!

We thought about going to the comedian's later show, or the 50s and 60s Rock and Roll party tonight in Club Fusion, but that is as far as it went. The contacts are out...you know what that means. I think I'll sleep a contented sleep tonight, knowing that I conquered a Segway and lived to type about it.

Photo 1: the furthest shoreline is where we did our Segway tour

Photo 2: the south head of St. John's Harbour

Photos 4 and 5: the Beatle Maniacs!

Antigua- Part 2

Photo 1: the sailboat with the people calling our names (we later found out it was Vickie, Bernie and friends, and they had spotted G's bright yellow shirt)

Photo 2: Fort James Beach

Photo 3: I want to do this!

Photo 4: Millers by the Sea beach bar on Fort James Beach

Day 84: Antigua

I won't keep you waiting. I'm typing this with no broken body parts or teeth, no bruises, not even a scratch after our day's activities, and no one is more surprised about that than me.

As I alluded to last night, we had something new in store for our day in Antigua.  Just yesterday, we emailed Segway Antigua about taking a tour with them.  When we had been at Fort James on Antigua in November, we had seen a Segway tour going along the beach there (which I found out today is named Fort James Beach, not Runaway Beach, as I had thought. Runaway is the next beach to the north). G was instantly intrigued, but I was a little reluctant. Last winter, we had encountered a lady with her arm in a cast on the ship, who told us the damage had been done in the first port, doing a Segway Tour on Antigua.

I remembered that too well.

G, though, is not easily deterred, and remembered with fondness the few minutes he'd spent on a Segway last winter on St. Lucia.  When he mentioned the Segways on Antigua again yesterday, I was more inclined to go along, and so we emailed them from the ship.  I didn't get their reply email until last night, but they said they had four openings for their 9:00am tour. Without a firm reservation, we met their representative (she was on a Segway!) right outside the secured area of the port. There was still space available on the tour, so we joined a family of four from England (with two young adult sons who looked exactly like Prince Harry!) and took a short taxi ride to the Segway office, just behind Millers by the Sea on Fort James Beach.

We had to first watch a training video about what to do and what not to do (points driven home by showing a stick figure either getting rolled over by or flying over the handle of a  Segway). The video was quite effective...in scaring the beejeesus out of me. Too soon I was signing the release form and "gearing up" with a helmet and elbow pads.

Honestly, Segway Antigua was as good as it gets when it comes to showing us how to operate the Segways. We first learned how to get on one, with the Segway being held by an instructor, and then how to get off (which was much tougher). Once we could do that on our own, we practiced going straight ahead and then turning right and left.  On a Segway, it's all about being in control of your center of gravity. Where your center of gravity goes, so goes the Segway.

So far so good. But I ride a Harley. I know that the most important thing is to be able to do is to stop. Without falling over, if possible. Absent that ability, everything else is useless knowledge.  That was our next lesson, and once stopping was semi-mastered, we moved off the smooth training course and onto the nearby terrain, which was not only pot-holed but sloped.

Immediately, I ran into trouble. Yes, I knew to push the handle forward to climb a hill, but I would intuitively lean back when I did that, and start rolling down the hill backwards. Yikes! But G was wiser...after 30 years, he knows exactly where my center of gravity is. "Your butt, J.  Push your butt forward to go forward and back to stop", he yelled, so that everyone plus the pelicans heard.  Gees, thanks, coach.

But it worked. That exactly did the trick, and from then on I was climbing up and down and maneuvering around ruts and onto the grass on the side of the road when a car passed. I just pushed my center of gravity in the direction I wanted to go and the rest of me, plus the Segway, followed.

While we toured, first going north to Runaway Beach, one of our guides was educating us on the history of Antigua through a megaphone while the other was taking our photos. I missed most of the history part...my brain was so busy keeping my center of gravity pointed in the right direction that my ears shut down. The photos, however, will be online in about two weeks. That's nice, because we weren't allowed to take photos while operating the Segways. Not that I could have anyway; they showed us how to use hand signals for right and left turns, but I couldn't bring myself to take my hands off the handle to use them. Besides, I figured I was in a line of 8 Segways. Those riders in front of me couldn't see me, those behind me knew exactly where I was going because everyone in front of me had already gone there, and the taxi drivers had been around long enough to know to stay the hell out of our way.

We turned back to the south and rode down to and into Fort James, where we drove the Segways across that arched, cobblestone stone bridge with no sides (fear!  big fear!), then parked them for awhile and explored. Do you remember when that taxi driver warned us we might get robbed there?  Well, if there were any bad guys there today, they hid when they saw this group of tourists driving these Segways willy-nilly into the walled fort. We were served water and fruit kebabs and even pieces of sugar cane, which I have always wanted to try, but mostly we stretched our legs and feet. Foot fatigue, it seems, is the most painful part of Segway riding (assuming you don't crash). And you can't lift your feet...that changes your center of gravity. So you do what is called the "Segway dance", kind of raising up a bit on the balls of your feet to flex your feet. That helps, but the feet still take the worst of it.

While we were in Fort James, a large sailboat sailed by and someone on it was yelling G's and my names. Sorry, we couldn't see exactly who it was, but whoever it was, hi back!! And I hope you had a fun sail!

Eventually, we made our way back to the Segway office at Millers by the Sea. We took a few minutes to use the wifi there, and I was able to upload the Bonaire snorkeling videos, but then, along with the family from England, we walked over to the beach and spent a couple of hours floating and sunning and generally enjoying the beautiful scenery. We've come to love that beach so much (no, it's not quite as pretty as Valley Church or Jolly Harbor Beaches, but it's the closest beach to the cruise ship pier and it's far less crowded than Dickenson Beach) that it's become our default beach on Antigua.

While I was in the water, I saw G on the beach having an extended conversation with a beach vendor selling pareos.  By the time I got there, G excitedly showed me a yellow pareo with underwater sea life, two scuba divers and a map of the Caribbean on it. Well, it certainly has all my favorite things on it, and G knew that. It's essentially a giant

map of the Caribbean, and since we're always trying to remember the placement of the islands in those arches of the Greater and Lesser Antilles, it's actually educational too. It's a multipurpose pareo! I'm not sure how nice it looks wrapped around my center of gravity, but I now own it and proudly wore it back to the ship.

Hey, I don't know these people anyway!

Near the pier, we looked for and found the lady handing out the coupons for the wheel spin at King's Casino (again...death and taxes). We each took one and went into the casino, spun the wheel and won $1 worth of nickels which we then traded for a $4 rum punch (whatever you win...deck of cards, tiny bottle of rum, etc., you can trade it in for a rum punch worth more. It's Antigua accounting!). We sat there in the air conditioned darkness and sipped our rum punches and used the casino's ssssslllloooowwww wifi. (That's when I uploaded the jet pack video). G eventually returned to the ship but I stayed behind until the video was done uploading, then joined him in the ship's buffet to get something to tide us over until Skywalkers and pre-dinner hors doerves an hour later.

Photo 1:  Runaway Beach, Antigua

Photo 2:  in honor of those living with snow tonight...

Photo 3:  I like photos with a juxtaposition of old and new

Photos 4-6:  Fort James, Antigua

This reminds me so much of that Gilligan's Island episode...

when they discovered a jet pack on the island and Gilligan went up to try to get help to get all the castaways rescued and NASA thought he was a UFO and he heard that on the radio and got scared and so landed back on the island.

When I was six years old, I thought that was the coolest thing ever.  Back then, I NEVER thought about strangling Gilligan because he'd botched up another potential chance at rescue. I just wanted a jet pack too. I didn't know that they really didn't exist...back then.

But these days...WOW!  We were on Fort James Beach today on Antigua and spotted this. Guess what now tops our list of things we HAVE to do some day?!!

BTW- this video took over 30 minutes to upload to YouTube using the oh-so-slow wifi at King's Casino. Do you see how I suffer?  Okay, I'll admit I was drinking rum punches the whole time, and chatting with other cruisers, but still...

;-)

Snorking videos from the Divi Flamingo Resort, Bonaire

Taken January 22 and posted using Segway Antigua's wifi.

I kind of felt like one of the fish in the next one, as I swam along with them. 

Day 83: At Sea

Happy! I was so happy to get the Princess Patter for today and see that Zumba with Lexi and Leesh (calling themselves Salt and Pepper-ha ha) was on the schedule for 9:15am in Club Fusion. So we were done with breakfast in the dining room (served by waiter Lorina from Romania, and what a doll she is) and I was in Club Fusion, water bottle
and sweat towel at hand when the class began. It was expectedly crowded...the dance floor was packed, and people were spread out throughout the lounge. I have a space that I usually head to, toward the back, with enough room to salsa and merengue without rolling over my fellow passengers. Their class was so much fun, and I'm thrilled to have Zumba back on the schedule. Leesh told me that they were up until 3:00am this morning putting the final touches on the class, but I wouldn't have known it was their first Zumba class ever.

Yay!!!

I stuck around for Lexi's 10:15am line dancing class that followed (and learned another new one), so that by 11:00am, I was feeling really good but really sweaty. I was going to head to the fitness center to do some weights, but it was so sunny and pretty out that I instead went up to the jogging track on Deck 19 to walk for awhile.

When G opened the door to our cabin around noon, he found me laying on my back on the floor (head partially under the bed) rolling on a tennis ball. My back was hurting even before today, but working out impressed upon me the necessity of massage (via tennis ball, NOT spa) and then G working with me in doing some stretches I can't do alone.

I showered and we went to lunch in the dining room, again with Lorina. We found out that this is her 9th contract with Princess, and she just boarded the last time we were in St. Thomas, which explains why we hadn't previously met her.

After lunch, we did something that is becoming a favorite for us on sea day: we sat together on the sunny side of the Promenade Deck, just talking and looking at the sun sparkling on the sea, and the big clouds moving in two different directions. I took a photo from where we were sitting, just to give you an idea of what it's like and why we love it, but it's hard to convey the feeling of warmth from the sun, and the contentment in being with my best friend.

How lucky am I??

G then headed up to a hot tub, which he hadn't been in yet today. There had been something in the Patter called Cruise Critic gathering, or something like that, at 10:30am, so while I was line dancing, G had gone to that. No one had any idea how that got scheduled, but there were about 12 people there, which G said was really the perfect size to talk and he ended up spending over an hour there. To others (those who know our story and how long we're on for), G always refers to me as "that old lady who lives on a ship", which people find funny. So does he.

Yeah, right. Harious. Do you see what I put up with??

I went back to the cabin to give myself a little manicure. When we're cruising, I use glitter polish on my toes- it's totally fun and forgiving, very do-it-myself and it lasts forever, because it requires a blow torch to remove, so it's good for beaches- but I had just done the pedicure last cruise. It was past time to do my fingers. It's a good thing to do when G is gone, because he always has to comment on the smell of the acetone and polish, and not in a positive way.

So, two bathrooms and a little anteroom where I could attend to these matters in peace...THAT would be the perfect cruise ship cabin!

As soon as I was sufficiently dry, I changed into a swimsuit and went down to the spa again to use the sauna and steamroom. I'm sure you'll be amused, but I was freezing this afternoon, and by then the sun was largely obscured by those big fluffy clouds we'd been watching earlier. I just wanted to feel that dry heat of the sauna, then a cold shower, then the steam room, over and over. It was a good way to spend an hour, and, coupled with my morning workouts, left me feeling limp as a wet noodle.

We had had such an enjoyable time at Crooners yesterday (and today's hors doerve in Skywalkers was steak tartar- not a favorite), that we returned to the martini bar for pre-dinner drinks today. Tomorrow is Breeza Marina night in Skywalkers, so you know we'll be back up there for that.

Dinner was that new chili-spiced shrimp dish I first had last cruise. We lingered a bit, because we were skipping the 7:15pm show in the Princess Theater (vocal impressionist Michael Wilson) in favor of pianoman Kory Simon's 8:00pm show in the Explorers Lounge (the second night this cruise we've had an option!). We've seen Kory's show three times already, but, as I've said, we enjoy talented musicians (and Kory is as talented as they come) and don't mind seeing them multiple times.

Following the show, we stopped by Club Fusion for a few minutes to listen to band Sol Provider and dance. Yes, we danced! even to a slow once (a waltz- Can I Have This Dance for the Rest of my Life. I love that song!). Then it was fuzzy water (no popcorn tonight...too full), blog and bed, in that order. I'm tired tonight!

Tomorrow in Antigua, we're considering doing one of our "first time" things, but don't even know if we can get a reservation, so I'll hold off disclosing what it is until it's a done deal. Please pray that 24 hours from now we have no broken bones and all our teeth.

Mom- don't worry! ;-)

Photo 1: Zumba in Club Fusion. I had missed it so much!

Photo 2: Zumba instructors Pepper and Salt (aka cruise staffers Leesh and Lexi, both from Australia)

Photo 3: it was a three dessert lunch (NOTE: only one was mine!)

Photo 4: sitting on the Promenade Deck after lunch

Photo 5: pre-dinner drinks in Crooners martini bar

Photo 6: Kory Simon, in full Elton John gear

Day 82: At Sea

When we do these itineraries in this order, we have two sea days at the end of last cruise and two sea days at the beginning of this cruise, interrupted only by the turnaround day in Fort Lauderdale. That's a lot of sea days, almost in a row, and any time this happens, we look at each other and say, "We'll NEVER take the cruise to Hawaii!!". The Hawaii cruise on Princess is round trip from Los Angeles and has four sea days at the start and five at the end, with just four port days in the middle. We're just not that fond of sea days (yes, I know that you know, but it's good that we, too, are occasionally reminded of just how not fond of them we are).

It's much the same as having to change cabins every cruise; it's easy to convince ourselves, when we're home and see a great price for a Hawaii cruise, or huge savings if we'd just accept a different cabin for each of these winter cruises, that we could live with the inconveniences that the low cruise fares would bring. But when we're on a ship...that's the time to take note that we simply aren't sea day cruisers, and also that we really like unpacking just once and being home for the winter.

But I promise you, at least one time during the months that we're home, we'll consider doing just what we know we won't like.  Anything, ANYTHING to be on a cruise!!  We're hopeless. 

And saying all that about sea days, it's 8:30pm on one of them, we're tucked under wool throws watching the Pro Bowl on the MUTS (the big screen), and G just turned to me and said, "This was a pretty good day, wasn't it?"  And, you know, it really was.  It was a great day. For a sea day. 

But before I get into what made it that way, I must first report that the mystery of the missing remote control (RC) has been solved, and you won't be a bit surprised to learn that our Steward Nazi (SN) was involved. As I mentioned last night, it wasn't until I was undressed, and was in my wrinkly birthday suit, that I noticed the RC was not where it had resided every day since we boarded this ship on November 7th. Even when we returned from being away for ten days during dry dock, it was right where it we'd left it. That's why it really threw me last night when it wasn't there. I did look under the TV and in our nightstand drawers, thinking I had thrown it in one of them (but knowing full well I hadn't, because, well, I just wouldn't do that. Doing so would be as unnatural to me as leaving the charging port door on my iPhone case open and then taking it in a pool, or painting my eyebrows green. Oh, wait....never mind). 

So, anyway, I'll admit that I did initially suspect I might be responsible for the missing RC, but it didn't turn up during my search. When G returned from the Welcome Aboard show last night, I was smart enough to mention to him BEFORE he undressed that our RC was missing. For some reason, he, too, believed that I was somehow involved (go figure), so he proceeded to check everywhere that I had just checked and then pulled the suitcases out from under the bed and pulled the bed and the nightstands away from the wall. 

No, the RC didn't turn up, but we did find a few other things that we knew were missing, and an earring back and two more black beads from that bracelet I'd broke early on that we didn't, and even two pieces of popcorn we'd missed that time that G spilled his popcorn and we raced to pick it all up before our SN saw it. An abundance of riches, but no RC. 

While I started restoring our cabin to its pre-search configuration, G opened the door to find Johnathon, whose service cart was in the hallway, indicating he was still somewhere nearby. Within a minute, G came back in the cabin, holding the RC. SN had borrowed it. Borrowed it!  When I asked G why, G shrugged and said that, as explanation when he'd asked, SN had also shrugged and then grunted in the direction of the cabin next to ours, an explanation that I guess will have to suffice. 

So, at this point, I don't know what's more surprising...that I've managed to write five paragraphs about a missing RC, or that SN borrowed ours and hadn't returned it. But I suspect it's the latter, because written brevity has never been my strong suit.

And, finally, on to today...

We were awake early and in the dining room for breakfast shortly after it opened at 7:00am. Once again, we've had a wide scale headwaiter shake up on turnaround day. Every three cruises or so, the three headwaiters that work in the dining room at breakfast and lunch rotate out, to the buffet, and we get three different ones. We know it happens, but it's still a bit surprising when we walk in and are greeted by different faces. The waiters change out more often, usually every cruise, so we're really not surprised by that anymore. It's just a bit of a PITA that we must, once again, appear to be unreasonably obsessive that the coffee I'm getting is DECAF. Especially G. ("Are you sure that's decaf?  Really sure?  That's not what the decaf coffee pot looks like. If you give her caffeine, YOU'RE going to have to live with her all day!"). He's really tightly wound about that. I wonder why...

Afterwards, we sat on the Terrace Deck for a bit, watching the ship's wake and willing the sun to make it over the top of the ship, because it was a bit chilly back there until it did, probably only in the mid 70s (don't bother throwing things. They can't reach me here). 

;-)

I rousted myself to go to line dancing at 10:15am in Club Fusion, where I had my second surprise of the day...cruise staffer Leesh is no longer leading line dancing; Lexi is instead. Now, after seven cruises of line dancing led by Leesh, it's easy to imagine I couldn't adapt, but, honestly, Lexi is great also, and I actually learned a dance I didn't know before (but have already forgotten its name, which is why I must stay on for multiple cruises...I'm a slow learner). But (and this is the bigger news), I suspected that Leesh was busy learning how to be a Zumba instructor. The Emerald Princess has been largely Zumba-less since Ryan left over dry dock. G said that cruise director Lee announced at last night's Welcome Aboard show (when I was in the cabin looking for the RC) that Zumba would be returning to the Emerald starting this cruise. When I saw Leesh later in the day, she said that that was, in fact, the reason for her absence, and that Zumba is starting again TOMORROW!!  I also know that Leesh was busy in the gym last cruise, trying to tone muscles in preparation for her new responsibility, because every time I saw her she was groaning and popping aspirins. Any pain in the pursuit of health, don't you know?

I then returned to the cabin for some quiet time alone, since I knew that G would be at a lecture on survival techniques. I probably would have liked that too, but being alone in the cabin held more appeal. People often ask us how we manage to live together in an inside cabin for an entire winter, which, frankly, I think is a harious  question. Entire families across the world live in less space than this, plus we have a whole ship to enjoy. A second bathroom I would love, but we do just fine in an inside cabin. At least until the topic of gun control comes up, and Faux News or MSNBC is on TV. Then this ship isn't big enough for the two of us.  We've made a pact not to watch anything but BBC news in the cabin, and even that in extreme moderation. It's made for an uneasy truce. But guess what I watch when I'm alone??  ;-)

So I watched MSNBC- er, enjoyed some quiet time in the cabin- until G returned and we headed down to lunch in the dining room.  We both had our favorite mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, balsamic vinaigrette and basil salad for lunch, followed by veggie burritos, another favorite. 

I had just enough time to wash out my Tilley hat, which was still pretty salt crusted from that walk last cruise down to the southern tip of Eleuthera, before heading up to Skywalkers for a Cruise Critic meet and greet. I'd already seen several people we've cruised with in prior years on the Terrace Deck yesterday at sailaway.  Love these January cruises! And It was a lot of fun meeting people who have been reading my blog, and especially dear Pat, who was such a help to me in finding an AT&T store with an iPhone was I was iPhone-less. She saved me!

There was just enough time afterwards to walk for an hour up on Deck 19 (sunny with gorgeous views today!) before getting ready for the first formal night of this cruise. I will admit that I am getting a little tired of formal nights. We've done 14 out of 15 on the Emerald Princess this winter. The upside is that we can now get G into his tux in record speed.  It always takes us a few minutes early in our winter season of cruising, but by now we're pros. Studs, cuff links, tie and cummerbund in 60 seconds or less. 

We went to the Gold Captains Circle party, which is really intended for those people who have from 1-4 Princess cruises, before dinner.  It's held in the Princess Theater and we enjoy listening to the orchestra and the singers so much that somehow G gets us an invitation.  Afterwards, we really didn't have enough time to go up to Skywalkers, so we enjoyed our pre-dinner drinks in Crooners Martini Bar. Very nice!

We went to dinner at 5:30pm with the goal of attending the 7:15pm performance of the production show I Got the Music, which is now our favorite but which we've missed the last several cruises due to a conflict with the Most Traveled Passengers party. We felt lucky to see it tonight, and really enjoyed it. In fact,  I think we enjoyed it even more because we haven't seen it for awhile. 

And now we've changed into shorts and tshirts and are happily watching what is possibly the most contrived NFL game of the season but who cares?  The moon is full, the night is beautiful, the lights are reflecting off the Calypso Pool, pizza and cookies and popcorn are being distributed...now THIS is cruising!

Photo 1:  production show I Got the Music

Photo 2:  deputy cruise director Frenchie closing out the show

Photos 3-5:  the Pro Bowl, Peyton, a full moon and us, looking cozy

Day 81: Fort Lauderdale and the Bon Voyage Experience

When was the last time we did something for the first time? Today!

It goes without saying that we were awake early today. There is simply no sleeping in on turnaround day. First, the ship doesn't let you, with all the thruster action going on shaking the ship. As if that weren't enough, the other passengers start slamming cabin doors around 6am, and the cabin steward is rattling things in the hallway just as early.

I had some work to do on the laptop with my remaining Internet package minutes, and did just that after G left the cabin to get coffee. When I was finished and took my iPhone off Airplane Mode, I phoned G to see where he had sequestered himself, then joined him in the buffet where we watched the most amazing sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean...a bright orange ball rising up from the water.

Sometimes it pays to be awake early!

We sat there, drinking coffee, making phone calls and internetting (it had been seven long days since St. Thomas) and generally getting caught up with life in the "real world". We never did eat breakfast...we really weren't hungry, but I came to regret that decision while we were waiting to board the Caribbean Princess a few hours later.

Our first mission for today was a trip to Walgreens. I had a prescription that the ship's doctor had written and the port agent had dropped off for me. I had wanted to pick it up at Publix, which takes my insurance, but Publix doesn't accept prescriptions from doctors not on the NPI (National Physician Identification?) list. Walgreens does, and so that's where the prescription was waiting (and also why the prescription wasn't at Publix last turnaround day).

Just our luck, once again today the Emerald Princess was docked at Pier 21, or, as G puts it, near where the banana boats come in. However, in quite an improvement, given there were eight cruise ships in Port Everglades today, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was well staffed and we almost walked right through. Once outside, we boarded a Port Everglades shuttle to the North Port parking garage, returning people back to the parking garage where they might have left their cars (as we left from Pier 2 ten days ago). We made the quick, 5-minute walk to Walgreens, passing two men in handcuffs with their car being searched as we left the Port Everglades security checkpoint.

Now, that's something we don't see everyday!

Inside Walgreens, I encountered another snag. No health insurance is accepted as payment for a prescription that was written by a doctor licensed outside the US. Who knew? So, Walgreens would fill the prescription, but I had to pay for it in full. Oh well...I'll just add it to my growing list of insurance issues- primary medical, secondary medical, primary dental, secondary dental and travel- to be resolved when I return home.

Something to look forward to...

We walked back to Pier 2 and the Caribbean Princess to check in for our Bon Voyage Experience, which brings me to the thing that we did for the first time today.

Princess introduced the Bon Voyage Experience (hearafter known as the BVE) a few years ago, for a price of $39 per person, fully applicable to a future Princess cruise booked within 90 days. The intention was that people not on a cruise could visit the cruise ship while it was doing its turnaround. The BVE is limited to just a few cities, but, of course, Fort Lauderdale is one of them. While I was busy having my root canal last turnaround day, G phoned Princess and signed us up for the BVE on the Caribbean Princess today. We have never been on the Caribbean Princess, and although it's quite similar to the Emerald Princess and other ships we've been on, there are differences.

We were supposed to be able to board the ship at 11:00am, but, in the way of so many things in life, we were delayed until after noon. (Maybe the Emerald Princess had stolen all the Caribbean Princess's ICE agents, delaying their disembarkation while we waltzed off the Emerald). That was fine with me...I spent the extra time on the phone talking with friends and JT and Ky. ("How many more days NeeNee?", and then we got down to talking sports, which, let's face it, is really all that matters when you're a 9-year old boy).

We met up with a third person doing the BVE, as she was dropping her parents off for the Caribbean Princess cruise that starts today. Her parents had booked an obstructed ocean view cabin for their back to back cruises (14 nights total) and had been offered an upgrade to a handicapped window suite for just $140 per person more. None of us had ever seen a window suite, let alone an accessible (handicapped) window suite, and so they invited us to go with them to see their suite before going to lunch in the dining room.

We each received a glass of wine (choices: house white and house red, and it seems this house was in a distressed part of town), which I only half-jokingly referred to as my $39 glass of wine, since we could have had the exact same meal, sans wine, on the Emerald Princess for free.

By the time we were done eating, we had only about 90 minutes to explore the ship, and we used every minute, walking from from to back on all the public decks and taking lots of photos. In general, we prefer the larger deck spaces on the back of the Caribbean Princess, with lots of loungers, and the Captains Circle and Future Cruise Consultant office area. Vines wine bar is also prettier on the Caribbean. But in almost every other area. We prefer our beloved Emerald Princess. And much of the outdoor furniture on this ship has been updated; the Caribbean's pales in comparison.

I will post more photos after we return home, where I can do them from my laptop and label each one.

We needed to be off the ship by 3:00pm, and we just made it. I had been concerned about getting a taxi at that time back to Pier 21 and the Emerald Princess, but one dropped off passengers just as we came out of the building, and we were back on the Emerald at 3;15pm, 15 minutes before our on board time of 3:30pm.

I was hoping for a long, drawn out sailaway this evening, with eight ships in port, but we were the second ship to sail, right after the Eurodam. It had been a beautiful day weather-wise, which made for a perfect sailaway.

We stopped just briefly in Skywalkers and then went to dinner early, at 5:30pm. Dinner on the first night is always a bit busy, as everyone arrives early, and we wanted to get in and then out quickly, freeing up our table for someone else. G is at the 7:15pm Welcome Aboard show, but I just wanted to read a book tonight. Somehow, our turnaround days are so busy, and I'm worn out tonight. I can't find the remote control for our TV set...it managed to disappear from its usual spot on a nightstand on turnaround day today. I think I'll let G deal with the Steward Nazi on that little issue...

Photo 1: sunrise over the Eurodam

Photos 2 and 3: the accessible (handicapped) window suite on the Caribbean Princess. Nice, but not particularly luxurious.

Photo 4: walking on the food of the bridge on the Caribbean Princess (where it is open to passengers). We wish we could do this on the Emerald Princess.

Photo 5: the Caribbean Princess at Pier 2

Photo 6: sail away on the Emerald Princess

Cruise #9- Eastern Caribbean with a twist

Instead of St. Lucia, we'll be visiting Dominica :-(

Instead of Princess Cays, we'll be visiting Grand Turk :-)

Six ports in a row, and those cruising vicariously with us have two sea days to rest up to be ready to roll when we arrive in Antigua Tuesday morning.

Directions to the lighthouse on the southern tip of Eleuthera

I've received several emails asking for more specific directions to the lighthouse on the southern tip of Eleuthera, and will answer them collectively here.

First, do this hike at your own risk. There are all sorts of opportunities for disaster, but we've done it four times now with no major issues.

It takes anywhere from 55 minutes to 75 minutes to walk to the Caribbean beach at the southern point, and then another 10 minutes or so (depending on which way you go) to get to the Atlantic Beach. There was a sign constructed in the last year along the way that says "Lighthouse Beach", but I'm not sure if it refers to the Caribbean beach or the Atlantic beach or both. If you walk the full length of each beach and back, and up to the lighthouse, you'll probably be walking about 8 miles in total.

When you disembark a tender at Princess Cay, turn immediately to your right and walk around to the back of the building that houses the medical center (I think it says First Aid). Behind it is a fence with a gate, and there will be a Princess Cays employee there for security. You must show him that you have your ship's card and a government issued photo ID before you'll be allowed to continue. I take a drivers license and they're fine with that.

Pass the locals' shops on the left and right and walk down that road away from Princess Cays. When you come to the end of it, you'll see a "well" that says "Welcome to Princess Cays". Turn right, and walk down that asphalt road past a couple of concrete houses/remains until you come to the very first intersecting "road" and turn left. The time from the gate at Princess Cays to this point is about 15 minutes.

Right away you'll notice that this is a road only in the 4-wheel drive sense. It varies from decent to difficult.  Also right away you'll get an eerie sense of something moving in the vegetation debris on either side of the path. If you stop, it stops. It took me awhile to figure out that the sound comes from crabs scooting through the areas on each side of the road. Occasionally you'll see parts of one that a bird consumed lying in the road.  After about 12-15 minutes of walking, you'll come to a road intersecting from north to south (again, "road" is optimistic). Turn right here, and you'll almost immediately see the Lighthouse Beach sign. From this point, it's about a 25 minute walk until you'll see palm trees in the distance, lining the Caribbean beach, and another 5 minutes to reach it.  Along the way you'll see two large ponds on either side of the road. Two signs have recently been constructed showing the types of birds that use the ponds as their habitats. 

You can see the full length of the Caribbean beach; it ends in rock outcroppings at each end.  This is where I found a perfect sand dollar resting on the sand last winter, but haven't been as fortunate so far this winter. 

You can get to the lighthouse in two ways:  

The easiest way is from the Caribbean beach. Walk to the far southern (left) end of this beach, and the walk across the tidal pools. Look for a path off to the left that leads up the hill to the lighthouse.  Pick up your feet when climbing this hill; there are roots hidden under the mat of palm leaves lying on the ground. 

Or, you can continue on the road you were just on. It basically becomes a sand dune that passes behind the hill of rock on which the lighthouse is located. When you get to the end, cross over the sand to the Atlantic beach. Walk down this beach to the right and enter the first big cave (you'll see a swing on a rope hanging from a tree). On the left side of that cave there is an area in the rocks that you can climb, leading up to the lighthouse. 

It's easiest to go to the lighthouse the first way, and then walk down a path leading from it to the Atlantic beach, climbing down the rocks instead of up, just because it's a bit tricky to find the place in the rocks to climb up. 

Explore the lighthouse at your own risk. The wooden floorboards are rotted through in places and the entire thing is risky at best. If you look inside the columnar structure next to the lighthouse, you can still see the propane tank that used to fuel the light. There is a second structure, largely in ruins, that we're not clear about. Was it an earlier lighthouse, or simply a cooking room for the lighthouse keeper (you can see the remains of a fireplace)?

There is a third beach located between the two longer beaches that you can see from the lighthouse. It's a narrow one, but very beautiful. You can climb down some rocks to reach it too, but watch to see what the tide is doing if you choose to spend any time there. 

There are three small islands beyond the southern end of Eleuthera that you can't get to, but you can walk from the lighthouse to the very southern tip of the cliff that is the southernmost tip of the island. 

We've walked the length of the Atlantic beach to see what's beyond the curve in the land, and there's more beach, for as far as we could see. 

You can spend quite a bit of time exploring the caves and cliffs on the southern end of the Atlantic beach. 

To walk to the southern point of Eleuthera and explore the lighthouse, you'll need to take an early tender to Princess Cays. On our return,  we leave the Caribbean beach no later than 1:45pm (1:30pm is better) when the last tender from Princess Cays is at 3:15pm, just in case something happens. I take my walking stick and we take one towel, some snacks, sunblock, an Ace wrap and as many water bottles as will fit in my backpack, and we've always used all the water we take. We also take Tilley hats and wear swimsuits, although I personally would not go out very far into the water on the Atlantic side due to riptides, but I did see people snorkeling there around Christmas. The wind can be fierce. If you wear contacts, you'll definitely want to wear sunglasses and take some eye drops. 

If you're lucky, you'll see no one and no cars the entire time you're there. That's the way it usually is. Around the holidays, there's always someone who drives down from the hotels about 50 miles to the north just to get to the southern point of Eleuthera. Given the roads, it must be a full day trip. Still, we've never seen any more than eight people in three cars the entire time we've been down there or along the way. 

Please realize that, if something happens to you, you're pretty much on your own.  You might have a BaTel cell signal for a short time after leaving Princess Cays, but for most of the hike you'll not be able to reach anyone by phone. There are plenty of opportunities to turn an ankle (speaking from personal experience), or trip and fall. I recommend wearing sneakers and not sandals. We see pieces of sandal failures along the way, and I always hope that that person had a car, because there would be no way to get back without shoes. 

Also, by the time you start to walk back, it's generally getting pretty hot. G swears that the road goes uphill both directions, not a steep climb at all, but a consistent one. There are a few shady areas with a section of nice sandy path, but most of the time you're dealing with rough road or hot sun or both. 

We always leave a note with the medical personnel at the First Aid center on Princess Cays as kind of a trail register. It lists our names, cabin number and intended destination, as well as our expected return time of 3:00pm.

The opportunity to see the lighthouse and those empty beaches at the end of the island make it all worth it. We spoke with the company offering the ship's excursions at Princess Cays, and next year they're planning to run an ATV tour down there, which will be great for those people who can't walk it, but it will forever change the experience.

Here's a website I found written by someone who drives to the southern end of the island. The driving directions won't be helpful, but the walking ones will, and there are some great photos too. 

http://www.discover-eleuthera-bahamas.com/lighthouse-beach.html

You can also see the roads on Google Earth. 

Day 80: At Sea and 2/3 of the way through the winter

From a weather perspective, today was possibly the worst day we've had since our first visit to Antigua on November 10th. We were awake before 7:00am, and went out to the Terrace Deck to watch a sunrise that, it became quickly obvious, wasn't going to be visible at all. Heavy clouds blanketed the sky, and, while it did get light out, it was difficult to tell where the sun was. Still, we sat in loungers drinking coffee and enjoying that quiet time on the ship. At that hour, It's a bit like morning in campground...people shuffle about looking a bit disheveled, sit sipping coffee, and greet each other with quiet "good mornings". Eventually, more people start moving and the noise level increases.

As we were sitting out there, I was able to get a Skype call out to Mom using ship's wifi that was perfectly clear with no latency. Only a few hours later, I couldn't even get on wifi, due to all the people using up minutes and printing airline boarding passes.

Before 8:00am, we felt the first few drops of rain, and within seconds we were in the midst of a squall. We ran inside to the back of the buffet, and watched as rain pelted against the large windows in sheets.

What a lazy morning! There was nothing we had to do, so we sat there, getting breakfast from the Cafe Caribe. Eventually, Jim and Marcia joined us, and we talked until nearly 10:00am. I then returned to our cabin and did some work on my laptop, downloading photos from my iPhone and backing it up in iTunes (I've learned how imperative that is!). I also sorted through this cruise's pile of paperwork that always seems to accumulate.

G amused himself doing the galley tour and checking out what we call the "garage sale" of off season t-shirts and souvenirs in the Michelangelo Dining Room.

We ate lunch in the dining room, which was quite popular today, with Janet and Bob. Although the rain had mostly stopped by then, it certainly wasn't a pretty day. Mostly cloudy skies were occasionally interrupted by a few minutes of sunshine, although there was more clearing by evening.

We went to the wine tasting at 3:00pm (sommelier Thai conducts the best wine tastings EVER!), then were in Skywalkers at 5:00pm for our final pre-dinner drinks with Janet and Bob and Claudette and Ross. We will miss them!

We went to dinner early, at 5:30pm, to be on the same schedule as Jim and Marcia at the next table for a reason: we took a bottle of champagne and had ordered a cake in honor of their 50th anniversary in May. Sutti, Somphong and other waiters sang, and we all shared the cake and the champagne. It was a wonderful end to the 20 nights we've shared together. We'll miss them too.

We went to the 7:15pm show by Christopher James, the comedy magician of last night. He is really good, and I would definitely see his show again in the future (which is saying something, coming from me about a magician!). Afterwards, we walked on the Promenade Deck watching the Caribbean Princess which, FINALLY, has caught up with us but is quite a distance off to our starboard side. I can't tell you what excitement this brings, as, since we left Aruba two days ago, it's been just a shadow on the horizon until sometime today. I wanted to get a photo of the Caribbean Princess with the moon, and went up to Deck 19 to take it (a little bit scary at night with all the wind), but, sadly, with just my iPhone, it wasn't that impressive.

We're in bed early, really early when you consider we move our clocks back an hour tonight. It's been kind of a lazy day.

Photos 1-3: I've been meaning to post these. They are of the former putt putt golf area, re-worked during dry dock to feature a putting green, croquet lawn and bocce ball court.

Photo 4: the basketball and paddle tennis area

Photo 5: celebrating Jim and Marcia's 50th wedding anniversary with Suttipong in the background

Photo 6: the Caribbean Princess under a full (or nearly) moon

Photo 7: the Emerald Princess from Deck 19 after dark