Happy New Year!!
Due to being in the midst of my alcohol-free week, and despite my issue with my tooth, I awoke feeling better than I suspect many of my fellow passengers did this morning. Still, although we were asleep before midnight last night, we slept right through the Emerald's arrival in Bridgetown, Barbados this morning before 7am. This was especially remarkable because we reversed into our berth at the pier today...did a complete 180. Surely we should have been shaken out of bed by the ship's thrusters? For whatever reason, we weren't today. (Maybe they used some special "silent" thrusters this morning, recognizing that it was, after all, the morning after New Years Eve. Right....)
Before we even went to breakfast in the dining room, G took a minute to run up to the buffet, for one reason only. YES! We are finally out from under Code Red precautions for the Norovirus. He came back and announced this fact to me, and we looked at each other and knew without saying it that our winter at sea was saved. Hallelujah!! Now we just have to worry about this damn tooth...
After breakfast in the dining room we decided a walk was in order, and so decided to pack for the beach and walk to Lobster Alive on Carlisle Bay. There was one other ship in port today- ironically, the Noordam, just 15 days after we disembarked her- but 5500 or so total passengers are not enough to crowd Barbados or the beaches on Carlisle Bay. However, they, along with the crews from the two cruise ships were enough to overwhelm the free wifi in the terminal, and we weren't able to do much more than download emails. There must have been 30 crew members making video calls on their laptops to their families, and 50 passengers using smartphones and tablets to access the Internet. Free wifi in the Barbados terminal works best if we're off the ship as soon as it arrives, which, of course, we weren't.
Stymied in our efforts there, and unable to even attempt to make a call to Mom, we moved on, exiting the terminal and starting our walk into town. As we walked along the waterfront, we commented on the wind (still the Christmas winds?) and the swells in the water. The further we walked, the darker the sky to the northeast grew...and that's the direction the wind was coming from. Just before the fisheries building, we stopped and contemplated the value of a beach day today. We know from past experience that the sun was likely to come out later in the day, but with our on board time of 3:30pm, we weren't sure we were willing to wait for it. After a prolonged discussion, during which the sky grew darker and the wind grew stronger, we turned around and walked back to the ship. We're here four more times this winter; there are bound to be better days ahead. Sure enough, before we'd even arrived back at the ship, it started to rain. We had made the right decision- for us.
By the time we'd unpacked what we'd just packed an hour earlier, and hung our wet clothing up to dry, it was time to eat ;-), and so we went up to the buffet for lunch. I can't tell you how much nicer it is in the buffet when we're able to serve ourselves! Yes I can: it is so much nicer in the buffet when we're able to serve ourselves! The food displays were once again full, doubling our choices, and things went much faster. We ate and watched the rain continue to fall, and were even more content with our decision to spend the day on the ship.
Barbados, along with Crown Bay on St. Thomas, are places we can often see one or more mega-yachts docked, and today was no exception. The yacht Solemates was docked perpendicular to the Emerald, and this, of course, meant we had to Google it using the ship's wifi. We were lucky: Solemates had been named Superyacht of the Week by the Super Yacht Times (what do you mean you're not familiar with the Super Yacht Times?) in 2010, and there was a full pictorial online of the yacht. We love this sort of thing, and sat there looking at the photos and then at the yacht, trying to place the beautiful rooms we were seeing in the photos with the actual yacht.
Due to being in the midst of my alcohol-free week, and despite my issue with my tooth, I awoke feeling better than I suspect many of my fellow passengers did this morning. Still, although we were asleep before midnight last night, we slept right through the Emerald's arrival in Bridgetown, Barbados this morning before 7am. This was especially remarkable because we reversed into our berth at the pier today...did a complete 180. Surely we should have been shaken out of bed by the ship's thrusters? For whatever reason, we weren't today. (Maybe they used some special "silent" thrusters this morning, recognizing that it was, after all, the morning after New Years Eve. Right....)
Before we even went to breakfast in the dining room, G took a minute to run up to the buffet, for one reason only. YES! We are finally out from under Code Red precautions for the Norovirus. He came back and announced this fact to me, and we looked at each other and knew without saying it that our winter at sea was saved. Hallelujah!! Now we just have to worry about this damn tooth...
After breakfast in the dining room we decided a walk was in order, and so decided to pack for the beach and walk to Lobster Alive on Carlisle Bay. There was one other ship in port today- ironically, the Noordam, just 15 days after we disembarked her- but 5500 or so total passengers are not enough to crowd Barbados or the beaches on Carlisle Bay. However, they, along with the crews from the two cruise ships were enough to overwhelm the free wifi in the terminal, and we weren't able to do much more than download emails. There must have been 30 crew members making video calls on their laptops to their families, and 50 passengers using smartphones and tablets to access the Internet. Free wifi in the Barbados terminal works best if we're off the ship as soon as it arrives, which, of course, we weren't.
Stymied in our efforts there, and unable to even attempt to make a call to Mom, we moved on, exiting the terminal and starting our walk into town. As we walked along the waterfront, we commented on the wind (still the Christmas winds?) and the swells in the water. The further we walked, the darker the sky to the northeast grew...and that's the direction the wind was coming from. Just before the fisheries building, we stopped and contemplated the value of a beach day today. We know from past experience that the sun was likely to come out later in the day, but with our on board time of 3:30pm, we weren't sure we were willing to wait for it. After a prolonged discussion, during which the sky grew darker and the wind grew stronger, we turned around and walked back to the ship. We're here four more times this winter; there are bound to be better days ahead. Sure enough, before we'd even arrived back at the ship, it started to rain. We had made the right decision- for us.
By the time we'd unpacked what we'd just packed an hour earlier, and hung our wet clothing up to dry, it was time to eat ;-), and so we went up to the buffet for lunch. I can't tell you how much nicer it is in the buffet when we're able to serve ourselves! Yes I can: it is so much nicer in the buffet when we're able to serve ourselves! The food displays were once again full, doubling our choices, and things went much faster. We ate and watched the rain continue to fall, and were even more content with our decision to spend the day on the ship.
Barbados, along with Crown Bay on St. Thomas, are places we can often see one or more mega-yachts docked, and today was no exception. The yacht Solemates was docked perpendicular to the Emerald, and this, of course, meant we had to Google it using the ship's wifi. We were lucky: Solemates had been named Superyacht of the Week by the Super Yacht Times (what do you mean you're not familiar with the Super Yacht Times?) in 2010, and there was a full pictorial online of the yacht. We love this sort of thing, and sat there looking at the photos and then at the yacht, trying to place the beautiful rooms we were seeing in the photos with the actual yacht.
You might enjoy it too:
Can you even imagine that kind of money? I can't, but it's fun to witness from afar occasionally.
By that time, the sun was making occasional appearances, although there were still some big, dark clouds in the sky. G went to a hot tub, but I was more interested in finishing my latest audiobook (Wild, by Cheryl Strayed, about the author's solo walk on the Pacific Crest Trail), so I changed into a swimsuit and sat in a lounger on the Terrace Deck to listen to it. As the afternoon went on, there was more sun than clouds, and from my position on Deck 15 on the back of the ship, I could see the white sand of Carlisle Bay. That's okay...I was enjoying the same sun from a free lounger just steps from our cabin. Life was good. (And, no, I didn't finish the book. I still have 45 minutes to go...I may have to finish it after the football games tonight).
The Emerald Princess sailed at 4pm, and after the ship cleared the harbor and entered open water, it was time to get cleaned up for the evening. Our Captains Circle party for this cruise was at 5:15pm, and we were shocked when, after announcing the top three most traveled passengers, Captain Circle host Catharine introduced us as being valued Captains Circle members who were staying on the ship for several months. And I mean SHOCKED. As she started down this path, she caught my eye, and I looked at G, who was absorbed by a photo on his iPhone. I gave him a kick under the table and he recovered quickly enough to stand and take my hand after our names were announced. What a hoot. We're not used to recognition!
After a wonderful dinner (I asked Sutti to serve my griddled corvina without the chive butter sauce, but he brought it on the side and G decided he loved it and put it on his prime rib- and his cardiologist shudders), we were anxious to get to the 7:15pm performance of what looked like the best entertainment of the cruise: pianist Stephen Kane accompanied by the Emerald Princess orchestra. NOW we're talking. This is our kind of entertainment, and we were so thrilled with his performance that we also went to the 8:30pm show, and are now ensconced by the big screen (MUTS- Movies Under the Stars, on the pool deck) to watch the end of the Rose Bowl and then the Orange Bowl. Football on MUTS...can you hear my sighs of contentment? We caught the Michigan-SC game while we were in the cabin getting ready for dinner, but had to leave just as SC scored a TD to move them ahead of my alma mater Michigan. Or did they? The play was being reviewed but I couldn't wait, and I haven't been on the Internet since to check the final score. I'm afraid to look.... I love all football but I'm passionate about a few teams, and Michigan tops the list.
And, finally, an update on that damn tooth. It was so much better by last night I was convinced it had just been a bad dream, but knew when I awoke this morning after too many hours without ibuprofen and antibiotics that it hadn't been. Still, after taking drugs this morning, it again felt better. Not 100%, but better than it's felt in over a week and certainly better than Sunday night. However, the doctor phoned today; she wants to see me tomorrow morning and has set up an appointment for me on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale with the dentist who treats the ship's officers and crew. Now, I could convince myself that I don't need to see the dentist, but I can't convince the doctor and I certainly can't convince G. So it appears I'll be seeing a dentist on turnaround day. I tell you all this because it's as much a reality of a winter at sea as wonderful meals, impeccable service and soft sand beaches. But while I know precisely what to expect about those thing, this- a tooth abscess and a possible root canal on a turnaround day- is an entirely new experience. I'm not thrilled, but I am intrigued about how this will all work out. Stay tuned...
Photo 1: Superyacht Solemates and the Emerald Princess in Bridgetown, Barbados
Photo 2: pianist Stephen Kane backed by the Emerald Princess orchestra performs in the Princess Theater
