To start, for the first time ever in my cruising history, our captain quoted Bette Davis when discussing what to expect last night in terms of seas- Fasten your seatbelts boys. It's gonna be a bumpy night. - which had me collapsing in laughter on the bed as we got ready for dinner, because, as I said, I'd never heard a captain say that and I can't imagine it was used by Captain Nick in context. But he was absolutely right...it was a bumpy evening and night.
The second item of note was a stunner...we walked into the Michelangelo Dining Room at 5:45pm or so for dinner only to find that our waitstaff had been changed. At first we looked around in confusion, thinking we had gone into the wrong dining room, but, no, we were where we were supposed to be, and Corn and Immanuel were no where in sight. Instead there was none other than Darko from Macedonia as our waiter and junior waiter Koman from Bali, Indonesia. Well, we've known Darko for years, and so weren't displeased, but...a new wait team? What happened? How did we manage to hold on to Suttipong for an entire season not once but twice over the course of two winters? A new wait team means another meeting with a head waiter to order G's brioche rolls and my steamed vegetables. It means making sure they know that caffeine is poison to me. It also means that we will spend the rest of the winter wondering when Darko and Koman will be ripped away from us in the night. It was a trauma (and I'm only half kidding about that).
I was in no mood for a Welcome Aboard show after that shocker, so I listened a bit to strings duo Playthoven before heading back to the cabin to read. G did go to the show (it was his beloved juggling instructors Team Rootberry), but returned to the cabin soon after. Cruise friends Suzan and Greg came on board yesterday and, in the midst of some high energy mania before we even left home we had made tentative plans to do the hike to the southern point of Eleuthera today while in Princess Cays. We needed to connect with them about that. Well, thankfully, we had all reconsidered in the interim weeks, and, in the end decided not to do that walk today. I'm having a smidge of lower back pain, and had spent the prior several days (well, since my slip and slide in Dominica) trying to psych myself up for an 8 mile hike over rough terrain, so it wasn't too hard for me to let go of the dream. Still, G and I both took some Vitamin I (ibuprofen) before tucking ourselves into a rolling bed.
I don't know if it was because of that or the rough seas, but we slept today until after 8am (except it was even scarier than that because our clock said it was after 9am). We managed to get to the DaVinci Dining Room just before it closed for breakfast, and saw several tenders carrying passengers to Princess Cays while we were still eating. It was obvious that we were not going to be a force of energy today. It was so beautiful out on deck on the ship that, in an enormous break with protocol, I stayed on the ship today, first walking for an hour on the Promenade Deck and then lounging on the Terrace Deck. Occasionally I took a dip in the Terrace Pool, sitting in my float (first use this winter) and listening to that new audiobook American Tropic, but mostly I just enjoyed watching the sun glisten off the water behind the ship.
G did go ashore (no surprise on that count), and, because he was wearing that tell tale yellow shirt, blue shorts and Tilley hat, was identified as "G" and met Chrysalis from Cruise Critic (sorry I missed that!). That happens quite a bit, and the funniest thing is when G's standing next to me in an elevator and someone asks him if he's "G" and has no idea that the lady standing next to him is me.
G returned to the ship about 2pm, and knew where to find me. We ended up spending an hour or so sitting on the Terrace Deck together before I went to the spa to enjoy the steam room and sauna for the first time this winter before getting ready for dinner. We watched sailaway from Princess Cays in the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers, and Captain Nick made the not unexpected announcement that, once again this cruise, we'd be taking a more protected route to St. Thomas to avoid some high winds and rough seas, but that we could expect some bounciness when we passed between islands.
It occurred to me, sitting in Skywalkers, that I had enjoyed several things today- walking on the Promenade Deck, lounging on the Terrace Deck, swimming in the Terrace Pool, using the free steam room and sauna and, finally, watching sailaway from the Elite Lounge that would all be unavailable on the Royal Princess. Not a happy thought, since I had enjoyed the day so much, but we're still convinced we'll cope next year.
Dinner with Darko and Koman was wonderful. I have always enjoyed the occasional breakfasts and lunches with Darko, but it's really quite nice to have him as a dinner waiter. I hope he sticks around more than 10 days. I REALLY hope that.
Entertainment tonight in the Princess Theater was Mathilda, billed as Jamaica's funniest comedienne. Hand to God, there is no way I would have gone if I has known Mathilda was a dummy. Yes, it was a ventriloquist act, and you know how I feel about ventriloquists. I mean, what's the point? If the material is funny, just do a comedy act, and if it's not funny unless it's said by a dummy, don't do it all. We stuck it out so as not to be rude, and parts of it were humorous, but I'm just not a ventriloquism afficienado.
We followed it up with music by Sugar Cane, and then fuzzy water and college football on the cabin TV. While we enjoyed our time apart today, when it comes to football, we are of one mind.