We were of one mind last night that, unless it was a really cloudy day, we weren't going to do the walk to the lighthouse again today. I think we made that decision based on how gorgeously sunny it was yesterday, and the forecast for the same today on Princess Cays. What we couldn't have predicted was that there was almost no wind, which made everything on the water that much more fun. And we certainly couldn't have predicted that this was our best Princess Cays day so far this winter (if we had thought about it long enough, we would have remembered that our visit there last January 8th also had perfect weather. I guess that, with the new year, we've lost the Christmas winds for the season. Yay!)
So, we decided to get to the island early, and packed everything except our beverages last night. This morning, when we awoke about 7am, we flipped to the "front of the ship" channel on TV (the same view as the webcam you see on the Internet, except ours is real time and yours is delayed a couple of minutes) and were surprised to see that it was still dark out. We shouldn't have been; we don't move our clocks back to EST until tonight, remaining on AST one more day, while the Bahamas are on EST. so the sunrise and sunset were both late.
We went out on the Terrace Deck to watch the sunrise (we knew it would be off the back of the ship) and get a cup of coffee in the buffet, and ended up sitting and chatting with cruise friends Bob and Mary until after 8am. We met Bob and Mary last year on the holiday cruises. It's fun to see the same people year after year, and, in fact, January is the month where we'll definitely have that happen, as we've done these cruises in January since 2007.
By then it was getting too late to eat breakfast in the buffet and still get on an early tender to Princess Cays, so we just grabbed a quick bite from Cafe Caribe (and extension of the buffet) and took it outside to eat on the Terrace Deck. We enjoyed that so much we decided we really need to do that more often!
We filled a metal water bottle with ice (which keeps things cold without making a mess), finished packing our cooler and went down to Deck 4 to board the first tender to the island. The day promised to be gorgeous! Once on the island, we immediately headed to our favorite spot, close to bathrooms, the lunch pavilion, and good snorkeling, and in shade that shifts, but remains throughout the day. I wasted no time in doing my first snorkel; I wanted at least a few photos and videos without someone else's feet and fins in them. And that set the stage for the rest of the day. Snorkel. Sun. Snorkel. Sun. Lunch. Snorkel. Sun. Sun. Sun.
So, that was the day on Princess Cays. The snorkeling was as good as it gets on Princess Cay: no wind. no waves, bright sun and lots of fish (but almost no coral). The BBQ starts smelling good by 10:45am, and it's hard to wait until it opens at 11:30am. We just keep it simple with finger food (after washing and sanitizing)...chicken breasts and chocolate chip cookies, although we did sit at a picnic table to have some pineapple slices. Princess has a separate serving area with all sorts of fresh fruits cut up right there (by Gerry from Skywalkers!), and they're especially appealing when we remember how expensive and limited they will be when we are home in March.
I did take a short walk down the end of the bungalows that Princess has built (and which rent for $199 for the day). They were very popular today, and I only saw one which appeared to be unused.
Finally, about 3pm, we walked back down the beach to the tenders. Once on the ship, G immediately headed to (you guessed it) a hot tub, while I (you also guessed it): unpacked and rinsed out and set out/hung up to dry everything we had taken with us.
When the Medical Center opened at 4:30pm, I went down for a blood draw that will be analyzed in Fort Lauderdale (an every six month-thing). I told Dr. Smith that she's starting to feel like my internist at home. They even have a file on me, so that I don't have to fill out new paperwork every time I go (which hopefully will be never again).
We stopped in Skywalkers for pre-dinner drinks and hors doerves, and spent quite a bit of time talking with bar supervisor Rhea, who was filling us in on some of the kids' antics this cruise. While the Christmas cruise had just 200+ kids, the New Years cruise had 500+, and she said it had been intense. The 18-20 year olds, who are allowed in Skywalkers at night but not allowed to drink kept security and Rhea on their toes by trying to sneak in anything and everything. The next cruise has 20 kids under 21. As I've said to G umpteen times this week: I'll be so glad to have "our" ship back. It will just feel back to "normal" for us. The holiday cruises are not my favorite cruises of the winter. They do have some special moments, but mostly to us they are a bridge between the late fall cruises and the rest of the winter.
Sutti pulled a "special" again at dinner tonight. It was Baked Alaska night for dessert, and he knows that I'll order one but only scrape the merengue off, eat it and leave the rest. Well, tonight, he was ready for me and had a special dessert made for me: just toasted merengue. OMG I was in heaven! Have I mentioned that we love Sutti? He is one superb waiter!
We went to the early show in the Princess Theater; there were only two times tonight, as usual for the last night of the cruise. Also as usual, it was a variety show, but as we hadn't seen one of the performers, Joshua Seth, during the cruise, he was new to us. He was a mentalist who had me hooked from the beginning when he told us to think of a two-digit odd number under 50 with two different digits. Then he asked how many had thought of the number 37. I had! That was amazing and I enjoyed the rest of his show. The other performer was impressionist Michael Wilson who we've seen a couple of times this winter, but he's always good.
I must say that the entertainment this cruise has been particularly good. There have been several nights with two main shows to choose from, one in the Explorers Lounge as well as the Princess Theater, and, of course, we had two different shows by pianist Stephen Kane who we thought was wonderful. I hope this improvement wasn't just a holiday thing.
As we were passing through the Piazza, we caught part of a 7-minute Motown performance by the production show singers, and then went up to MUTS (the big outdoor screen) to watch the Bengals/Texans game. Yes, it's almost playoff time! I love football on MUTS this time of year!!!
We already know we'll be at Pier 21 tomorrow, and not at Pier 2. Normally we dislike that, but we'll be taking a taxi tomorrow to my dental appointment anyway, so it's not an issue. Wish me luck!
Finally, today marked the half way point of our 120 days at sea. It's getting late here tonight, so my only thought on that is: We get to do this all over again??
Even facing a potential root canal tomorrow, life is SO good!!
Photo 1: sunrise off the back of the ship
Photo 2: Sargent Major fish at Princess Cays
Photo 3: the bungalows at Princess Cays
Photo 4: rocking and relaxing on the beach
Photo 5: toasted merengue, and
Photo 6: football on MUTS. Life is good!
