After breakfast, I decided I needed some more rest, but the day was so beautiful and sunny, I decided to rest out in the sun on the Terrace Deck. While this back deck is in the shade of the ship until late morning on our southbound journey, on the northbound return it's in full sun first thing in the morning. It quickly became almost too hot, and I cooled off with frequent dips in the Terrace Pool.
At 10am, Captain Pomata made a welcome announcement about last evening's medical emergency. He said that the patient was doing well, and although we hadn't left St. Thomas until 10:30pm last night, 5.5 hours late, he had had the ship cruising at its maximum speed of 27mph all night and would continue to do so today (I didn't even know it could go that fast), and that, plus a strong tail wind led him to project that we would arrive at Princess Cays on time tomorrow. So, good news all around.
I stayed on deck until noon, when the sun really was getting to be too much, although in the noon announcement, the officer of the watch said it was only 79 degrees. Yes, I know that eyes are rolling all over the place when you read this. "Only" 79 degrees? But you must understand, it's all relative. (Whatever that means.)
I caught up with G for lunch once again in the dining room. My tooth is doing better, not great but certainly tolerable. I mapped the address of the dentist in Fort Lauderdale yesterday while in St. Thomas, and her office is only 2.5 miles from Pier 2, which is usually a walkable distance for us, but we're in port on a Sunday with the Ruby Princess and so the Emerald Princess could end up at a pier further south in Port Everglades. And, frankly, I'm not sure I want to walk to a potential root canal. We'll take a taxi.
We stopped by the Piazza this afternoon for the kids talent show, and it was darling. There were several impressive 10 and 11 year old pianists, and a six-year-old showed off his talent: a death defying cartwheel. Honestly, him cartwheeling around the center floor of the Piazza was one of the cutest things I'd seen recently.
Then it was time for this cruise's wine tasting (again, G made out like a bandit since I wasn't tasting), and when we left the Michelangelo Dining Room, a kids carnival was taking place in the Piazza, just like they had on the Christmas cruise. Instead of singing Christmas carols, kids of all ages (and some parents) were doing a rap-style line dance that looked liked fun. However, when Gangnam Style dancing ensued, I could only shake my head at the five year olds doing that. That was just...not good.
There was time for just a short rest in the cabin before dressing for dinner, and we then attended the 7:15pm performance of I've Got the Music, still our favorite production show of the cruise.
Now, at 8:45pm, we're back in the cabin for a few minutes before we head up to MUTS to watch the Cotton Bowl on the big screen. A perfect end to a perfect day at sea.
Photos 1 and 2: the kids talent show (check out the cartwheel!)
Photo 3: kid decorated Christmas cookies, an activity from the kids carnival in the Piazza
Photos 4 and 5: production show I Got the Music and Garfield Hammond singing in Photo 4.