With the Seaborn Legend as the only other cruise ship in St. Thomas, we knew we'd be at Crown Bay today. It was a surprise to also see the Legend at Crown Bay, but at a second pier there. We've only ever seen large yachts at that pier, but the Legend almost fits into that category.
With our scheduled 7:00am arrival in St. Thomas, we had set an alarm for 6:00am, but in what is always the way, we were awake just before it went off. I think we could tell by the sounds the Emerald Princess was making that we were approaching St. Thomas. With today's strict schedule, we grabbed cereal from the Cafe Caribe and sat outside on the Terrace area to enjoy the scenery while we ate. While we didn't notice any rain, we did spot a rainbow off the port side of the ship. Luckily, it was followed by lots of sun, which held throughout the day.
We barely made it over to the Crown Bay Marina in time to catch the 8:00am ferry to Water Island. And I mean barely...the ferry captain was releasing the lines when we hopped on. The next ferry wasn't until 10:30am; someone was looking out for us today!
Once on Water Island, we made the short walk up a bill and then down a hill to Honeymoon Beach (see my September 2012 blog post for photos). When we arrived, about 8:20am, I think there were only ten people on the beach: nine of us off the Emerald Princess and another lady walking her dog. Talk about perfection! I wasted no time in getting in the water, and was, at first, surprised by how much cooler the water was today. It had been 83 degrees ten days ago but today it was closer to 81. Once in, it was fine, and the sun soon made its way over the palm trees to warm the beach and make the water seem quite pleasant. What was most remarkable about today was the the gentle breeze. After considerable wind in Barbados and St. Kitts, it was a welcome change.
As soon as the sun was up enough to light up the rocky area on the south side of the beach, I grabbed my mask and snorkel and entered the water, snorkeling along there for nearly an hour. Just as last time, I was again thrilled to see the health of the few corals that exist there. What also exists there, in abundance, are spiny urchins. I know well enough not to step on one, but thought I was in for an urchin injection when I got too close to the rocks and had to back myself out. There were lots of urchins attached to the sides of the rocks, and I'm still amazed I didn't get nabbed.
We spent the remainder of our time alternating between the beach and the water, and chatting with fellow cruisers and on our phones with friends at home. It's surprising just how many times we've been in St. Thomas on weekends this winter, making business calls impossible, but we used our Vonage app and the ship's wifi yesterday while we were docked in St. Kitts to make the calls that couldn't wait until Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale.
We were back on the ship just before 3:00pm; on board time was 3:30pm with sailaway scheduled for 4/00pm. G headed to a hot tub, I washed things out (some things never change) and then showered and went up to Skywalkers to make a last phone call to Mom. Cruise director Lee and deputy CD Frenchie were taping tomorrow's Wake Show up there. I could hear them talking about plans for tomorrow's Super Bowl related activities on the ship, and should have paid more attention, but they will all be covered in the Princess Patter we'll get tonight about 9:00pm.
There was no Elite lounge in Skywalkers tonight as the Captains Circle parties were scheduled for 5:15pm (for early diners) and 7:30pm (for late diners). It was also formal night, unusual on a port day, but we are in Grand Turk late tomorrow evening, when it would normally be held. We dressed in our formalwear and went to the early party. The Breeza Marinas I had on an empty stomach hit me hard; we hadn't eaten lunch, although G had snacked on the beach.
Dinner for me was lobster as an appetizer, then lobster as an entree with my usual spinach. Sutti informed me that the ship has run out of broccoli until next cruise. I can't help but feel personally responsible...
For the first time this winter, I had the always available creme brûlée for dessert. Delicious, but oh so rich. I'm better off sticking to the sorbets.
It was nearly 8:00pm by the time we finished dinner. The Captains Circle party had run late (probably waiting for the captain or the staff captain, neither of whom appeared), and then we'd watched a beautiful sunset over Puerto Rico. We had missed the early production show, Disco: Blame it on the Boogie in the Princess Theater and didn't feel like sitting and waiting for the 8:30pm performance. There was a second show option, juggler Aaron Bonk in the Explorers Lounge, but we've seen his show once this winter and weren't in the mood for that tonight either. I confessed to G I wouldn't be disappointed if we just got fuzzy water and went back to the cabin, and, happily, he felt the same. There is a News Year Eve-type party in the Piazza late tonight with a balloon drop, and G claims he's going to get up to go to that. He said he'd take photos, knowing full well that I'll never make it. It's been a long day!
We move clocks back an hour tonight, so it really is an early evening for us. Our tentative plan for tomorrow is to stake out two chairs near the Calypso Pool and MUTS (the big screen) and spend the day watching movies until the Super Bowl starts. Pray for no rain; it would be quite disappointing to pass up going ashore in Grand Turk just to have it start to rain about game time. We have no dog in this fight, but like Jim Harbaugh simply because he was the QB at Michigan when I went there. Besides, in the words of my sports consultants Ky and JT, the Ravens beat the Broncos, and we're still mad about that!
Photo 1: rainbow over the hills of St. Thomas
Photo 2: someone on Water Island must have gotten tired of having cruisers turning into their driveway thinking it was the road down to Honeymoon Beach!
Photos 3-6:: isn't it gorgeous?? It's like an underwater garden