It was just a bit bouncy last night, but we slept well in spite of it. I should say I slept well...I'm hearing tales that G was up around 1:00am, checking out the International Cafe, Skywalkers and the other lounges, just to see what goes on at that time of the night.
The things that happen when my back is turned!
Still, G was up early, and grabbed two chairs on the Terrace Deck. By 7:30am he was back in the cabin, making enough noise that it was inevitable that I'd wake up. I joined him on the Terrace Deck, and he took care of getting coffee and breakfast from the Cafe Caribe (and have I mentioned that the Cafe Caribe is serving made-to-order omelets too?). Although the sun rose in front of the ship, by 9:00am or so the back area was in the sunlight. Luckily, it wasn't quite as hot today as it had been two days ago...we sat comfortably back there, G waiting on me hand and foot (a real "who are you and what have you done with my husband?" experience, I assure you!) until about noon. G had checked...veggie burritos were on the dining room lunch menu, and we LOVE them.
It's kind of strange this cruise; G suggested last night that we shouldn't hold back this last cruise, we should allow ourselves to eat whatever we want (I didn't realize he was exercising moderation himself, what with his four scoops of ice cream for each lunch and dinner dessert) because this is it. Every cruise, there is something that I might want to eat, but I tell myself, "I'll have that next cruise". Suddenly, too soon, there is no "next". So last night I had the spring rolls as an appetizer (first time all winter), for breakfast I had a chocolate croissant (ditto), and for dessert at lunch I had blueberry frozen yogurt (ditto again).
This is fun! It's also kind of softening the blow of our final cruise of the winter.
After lunch, we stopped by the Cruise Critic meet and greet hoping to catch up with Jenny and Bill, but didn't see anyone we knew. G then made a bee line for a hot tub, while I made the "items I couldn't cruise without" posts, taking photos of all those odd things in the cabin while G wasn't here to question why I was taking pictures of the Fabreeze bottle and the clothesline. By 2:00pm I was in the Terrace Pool, treasuring the still sunny, but fairly windy day.
Every time I pass the area in which Cristian is working, I'll say "Hi Cristian!", and from somewhere in a cabin with an open door I'll hear back "Hi Mrs. X!" Not once this winter have I heard the same greeting from our Steward Nazi.
I've really missed it! No, we haven't suffered too badly (the worst was wrapping used dental floss in toilet paper for 2 days because we had no tissues, despite leaving a note requesting some, and that wasn't that awful), but there's just been something missing. And I don't mean tissue or bath towels. Something that makes cruising a special kind of vacation- a different kind of vacation. Now we have it again.
Yay!
We got dressed for the evening and went to the Captain Circle party for Gold members again at 4:45pm. G likes that program better than what we get at the Platinum and Elite party, so Captains Circle host Tracey allows us to attend. Without enough time to go up to Skywalkers before dinner, we instead opted to have a pre-dinner drink in Crooners, which is an excellent place for people-watching.
I couldn't wait for dinner tonight...what would I have that I'd denied myself all winter? I was giddy with the thought of it. So, what did I have? The same lychee and watermelon with candied ginger as an appetizer, sorbet as an intermezzo and chili shrimp as an entree that I always have. But when Sutti presented the dessert menu, I was pleased to see that it's been changed yet again (see photo for tonight's dessert menu), and a cheese plate is back on the menu. That's another positive tweak of the menus. We've seen a lot of that this winter!
We finished dinner in time to catch the 7:15pm show of comedian Scott Wyler in the Princess Theater. G liked him, as did many people around us. I....just have a tough time with comedians, I've decided. I love political humor poking fun at the other side (a la Jon Stewart). That's hard to find on a cruise ship.
We're sitting in Club Fusion listening to band Sol Provider right now, and then will move to Adagio for the Emerald Princess orchestra playing jazz at 9:00pm. Then popcorn, fuzzy water, penicillin and bed, in that order.
It's been a good day.
:-)
Photo 1: sunset from our dining room table
Photo 2: tonight's shrimp entree
Photo 3: the new dessert menu format
Photo 4: the Brie and Gouda cheese plate
