It is 9pm as I begin this post, after a fantastically fun and busy day, so let's see how much I can relate before I run out of 1.) battery; 2.) energy; or 3.) attention span as the Monday Night Football game grabs my interest.
At breakfast this morning in the DaVinci Dining Room with wonderful Viktor from the Philippines and Nadiia from Serbia (after just one prior breakfast they remembered that G gets four juices and which ones they are) G mentioned that perhaps I should check the vinow.com website to verify the Water Island ferry schedule, and I'm glad he did, because it has changed quite a bit from last year and what had been a 10:30am ferry from Crown Bay was now a 10am ferry with another at 11am. It appears Water Island has been discovered (and no pointing fingers, please).
G had to first run over to the nearest Scotia Bank location to take care of some business (and I saw him leaving...he truly ran the entire way), so I returned to the cabin to pack for our first "real" beach day of the winter. Sure, we've been to beaches already, but they were beaches that offered chairs or shade or other amenities. For Honeymoon Beach on Water Island, we need to be fairly self-contained for the day. I took our new 5'x7' beach tarp (purchased at Home Depot) out of its wrapper, pulled out one float, asked our cabin steward Raymond to fill our two metal water bottles with ice (which he gladly did, because we don't ask for ice in our ice bucket every day), threw in my mask and snorkel in case I chose to snorkel, plus two beers, two water bottles and two towels in our beach tote/cooler and the usual things in my backpack, and, fully loaded down I left the ship and walked to the Crown Bay Marina.
I was not alone. In fact, there were so many of us waiting for the water taxi that it was announced that they'd be making a second run immediately after the ferry returned. I phoned G to let him know that, so he didn't think he needed to wait until the 11am ferry, and so he arrived on Water Island only 20 minutes after I did, his business completed.
Of course, my first focus is always PHONE and INTERNET. I first phoned Mom to try to catch her despite the busy schedule she had today (my 82-year old mother needed roller skates to get through her crazy day; I lay on a beach). I had had trouble getting on the ship's wifi last night, and so wanted to publish yesterday's post, and then Iet G handle checking on things at home while I checked the usual- the financial accounts and verifying automatic payments had been made correctly. G made it into the water with the float before I did, but I was finally able to join him, and we spent a lot of time talking with other cruisers. Even if we've never met before, we all have at least one thing in common and it makes for easy and interesting conversation.
At one point, I emailed Segway Antigua about whether they had more space available on our tour with them tomorrow because others wanted to join us, and, oh yeah, I was in the water when I was doing that on my iPhone. G called it surfing (the net) in the surf. Ain't it crazy?
The day was sunny and warm and perfect, and we had a most enjoyable first visit to Honeymoon Beach. I never did snorkel because the beach was so perfect. We returned on the 3:30pm ferry despite the fact that we didn't need to be back on board until 5:30pm; we still had a few more phone calls to make.
We returned to ship soggy and sweaty and salty and sticky, and there is no better part of the day than dumping everything on the cabin floor and stepping into the shower. Bliss! I was dressed for dinner first and went up to the Adagio Lounge, hoping for quiet and privacy and I had both (I worry about that lounge...they've eliminated any music up there and I never see anyone up there). I first made a mobile deposit of that check I'd received in the mail (I remember when we first did that using our iPhones...we were so precise and flattened out the check and placed it on a dark service before photographing it; today I threw it on a table in Adagio still creased, took a crooked photo and hit Submit. It's more forgiving than I would ever have imagined). Then I tackled my next project: I had suffered another cruise casualty last week when I blew out a black patent Birkenstock Mayari sandal. I suppose I could have made it through the winter with just my silver ones, but I knew I'd be missing the black ones every day. Having had such success getting our box of mail on turnaround day, I decided to take a chance. I phoned Zappos to ask if they could accommodate a six-line delivery address. The helpful CSR said they could handle five lines, and promised me no part of any line would be truncated. So I placed an order and took great care in relaying the delivery address. Emerald Princess. Passenger xxxx. Cabin xxxx. The rep told me that, due to my VIP Zappos status (I get every pair of shoes I own from them) the package would be delivered tomorrow. I told her that, unless a drone was going to land it on the Lido Deck (what a cool thought), not to hurry as I wouldn't get it for at least a week. It's a $90 gamble...stay tuned to see how this works out.
One more call to Mom later to be debriefed on her busy day, I joined G in Skywalkers for Breeza Marina night in the Elite Lounge. We hadn't eaten since breakfast and were hungry, and it was nice to be able to drink a Breeza Marina and eat herbed goat cheese and homemade wheat crackers with a clear conscience. Still, we were at dinner by 5:40pm, and had a perfect view of Water Island as we sailed at early at 5:45pm
Darko and Komang (not Koman, Komang. Good grief, Princess, get some light over our table. Thank God we know the menus by heart because there is no way we can read them with all that romantic ambiance) are treasures. G made the bold move today of requesting a sorbet intermezzo before our entrees were served (which was de rigeur with Suttipong) and Darko didn't bat an eye. Funny, cute (in a favorite son sort of way) and so personable, I want to beg someone (who?) not to rotate this team again until we leave.
And steward Raymond is a gem...and he loves American football! Is this a match made in heaven or what? We were really hoping for a good service experience this year, and we sure are having it.
(Except for one headwaiter, who will go unnamed, but it's not just us having issues with him, which makes me feel better, for some reason. We're not accustomed to this!).
After dinner, we swung by the Explorers Lounge to watch Alice and Garry, dancers extraordinaire, who we had met on the beach today. We've cruised with them twice in the past two years, but had never actually talked. They are incredible dancers (they are dance judges) and Garry has taken it on as a personal mission to get G to learn how to dance. Go Garry go!
We returned to the cabin just to plug in our phones and now are situated in front of the MUTS screen watching the Saints-Seahawks game. There is a table full of hot and cold "game snacks" on the pool deck, which is a nice touch, and hopefully will spur beer sales. We'll last as long as we can out here, before finishing our game viewing from the comfort of our cabin.
OK, this game is already NOT going our way. Perhaps this is a game best endured in private. I liken watching football on MUTS to being in a sports bar, except there's more diversity in spectator allegiances. It's painful to listen to the cheers I'm hearing!