You all know about our Steward Nazi (SN)...well, we're managing pretty well, but when cruise friends Richard and Anita came on board in early January, they were in the cabin next door, and SN 1.) informed them that there were no longer special Elite bathroom amenities (not true); and 2.) only allowed them one bar of soap, which they had to constantly transfer between the shower and the bathroom sink. That just sounded normal to us (do you see how we've acclimated?), but, taking pity on them, I dropped off a bar of soap we had at their cabin. They also wanted extra bath towels, but we could have told them there was no hope for that...it wasn't going to happen, 'cause it hasn't happened for us all winter (we find the pool towels do very well as substitutes, and those we're allowed lots of). But, it was extremely gratifying to hear that someone else was having the same issues with SN...it wasn't just us.
Taking pity on us, last night we received a care package, courtesy of Steve and Laura, who volunteer at Seafarers, a charity dedicated to helping people working on ships They'd been following my blog and knew of our plight. As cruise friend Alice, who had had lunch with Steve and Laura yesterday and was the delivery person, said in her note to us along with the bag of goodies, "Seafarers takes care of sailors on long journeys with needs...like you!"
Absolutely hilarious!
So, Steve and Laura, thank you for our care package. We're already enjoying the scented soaps, and you'll be pleased to hear that the six-pack of Dove is going to find its way via Betsy to the Hopi Reservation where she volunteers. And, Alice, thanks for the delivery service.
Care packages at sea. Who'd have thought we'd need one? Not us...until this year. But, as Nietzsche said, "that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger". On the final night of last cruise, when we were given only one bath towel between us, we didn't even blink. G had 27 years in the Army to toughen up. But I've had my own crash course, courtesy of the SN, on the Emerald Princess this winter.
;-)
And so, on to today...
I was so tired last night, but didn't fall asleep until nearly 1:00am our new time. Still, I was up shortly after 7:30am, and G and I went to breakfast in the dining room. G had the special blueberry pancakes but I was good and stuck with fruit and scrambled egg beaters. I want to eat a sorbet intermezzo and dessert tonight with a clear conscience!
At 9:15am, I attended Zumba in Club Fusion with Lexi and Leesh. Club Fusion was hot today with a rather bad smell...the AC must not have been working right. By the end of 45 minutes of Zumba I was drenched with sweat, but stayed with Martha for another 45 minutes of line dancing.
No pancakes and 90 minutes of exercise...I was going to be a slug the rest of the day AND eat intermezzo and dessert with a clear conscience!
G and I met up to use the free bingo cards that were distributed yesterday for the final cover-all at the morning bingo session. It's comforting to know some things never change...and neither did our luck at bingo.
We then went to lunch in the dining room for our favorite veggie burritos. Afterwards, G went to rum tasting while I worked a bit with Martha on choosing the excursions she and Betsy will take on Antigua and St. Thomas.
As G then made his way to a hot tub, I actually rested a bit in the cabin and watched another episode of Downton Abbey. It's all I can do not to stay in the cabin for a full day watching every episode of Season 2. I love that show!
Betsy and Martha were invited to the Captains Circle Gold members party at 4:45pm in the Princess Theater, and we had also received an invitation as a courtesy from the Captains Circle Host Tracey. We all went together (the singers did a Beatles Medley instead of the Love Boat theme), and Captain Tony Draper did a great job at welcoming back past passengers. It is kind of amazing the difference the captain's nationality and fluency in English makes in these sorts of parties.
We had time afterwards to go to Skywalkers for pre-dinner drinks and hors doerves, and arrived at our table in the dining room about 6:00pm. Sutti and Somphong are really pulling out all the stops for us, even more than usual. Or maybe it's just that we're really seeing Sutti shine. When it's just us, he doesn't have to make recommendations about the menu items; he just takes our order (actually, he could order for us by this time). With our guests, he takes care to explain the menu. And, after just one night, Somphong remembered Martha and Betsy's preferences regarding coffee and tea. We feel very well looked after!!
There were two shows to choose from this evening: pianist Antonio Salsi in the Princess Theater and comedian Rollin Jay Moore in the Explorers Lounge. We all chose to see Antonio at 8:30pm, and he was incredible. Where were all these great entertainers last year when we were on the Emerald Princess? We do have a different cruise director this year...does he affect the choice of entertainment or has Princess simply stepped things up a bit? Either way, we're very pleased. And I mean very. It's made a huge difference in our enjoyment of our evenings this winter.
Then it was popcorn, fuzzy water, blog and bed, in that order. It had been a wonderful day at sea!
Photo 1: Captains Circle Gold members party
Photo 2: Piano entertainer Antonio Salsi