Prepared Saturday evening, December 21st
And speaking of bouncing corks, wow- did we ever have a rough night! The ship was rolling side to side, so that the hangers holding our clothes in the closet didn't bang, as they sometimes do, but squeaked, rubbing back and forth around the hanger bar all night long (where's a bit of WD40 when you need it?). Sleep really wasn't much of an option, and I couldn't help thinking, several times over the course of the night, that the Royal Princess will surely be much more stable next winter, as it seemed to be when we were on it in late October, and that is another plus for that ship.
In the end, I didn't even need to set an alarm this morning...we never really slept deeply at all. Finally G got up and said he was done trying to, and so I decided I was, too, and we were in the DaVinci Dining Room for breakfast early, and which allowed me to be the first one in the Sanctuary when it opened at 8am.
It seemed sunnier and calmer first thing this morning, and I immediately asked for and was brought a blanket, and I had come a bit more prepared, with my fleece pullover this morning. There was a beautiful display of fruit and I was offered a beverage and it did seem very welcoming and, well, relaxing this morning.
I could hear my audiobook without pressing my earbuds into my ears, and, when the first squall moved in, I was grateful for the fact that G had selected a lounger location for me that was mostly covered by the steel structure of the ship overhead. I scooted my lounger forward a few inches to avoid the rain dripping off the edge of it overhead, and didn't get too much blowing in from the openings in the glass in front of me and I put on my fleece pullover and cuddled up in my tartan blanket and thought it was all rather cozy.
G came to visit me mid mornng, and the serenity stewards pulled him a chair up beside my lounger and it stopped feeling cozy and started to feel a bit creepy, like I was a patient in a hospital and he was sitting next to me, holding my hand at my final hour, which was a bit unsettling, so we moved over to the center seating area and chatted before he headed out to Chief Engineer Roddy McConnell's technical department lecture for this cruise. He mentioned that Captain Nick had just made an announcement that, because it was so rough, most of the pools were closed for passenger safety (and to drain some of the water out of them so it wouldn't splash out and flood) and that he anticipated the whole day would be rough and that we should be prepared for frequent jolts as the Emerald Princess dipped into troughs and climbed swells.
As the morning went on, it grew windier and windier in the Sanctuary, but I stayed bundled up and really did enjoy it. But, good grief, I am getting tired of the Christmas winds! G came back to check me out of the sanitarium...er, take me to lunch, and we walked across Deck 17 to reach the stairs to Deck 16, and (I kid you not) the wind was so strong it nearly swept my feet out from under me and I was reminded of that scene in the Poseidon Adventure of that little boy clinging to the haindrail as he climbed the steps on the bridge before the "big one" struck. I have to believe that many passengers are feeling the effects of the rough water. Captain Nick had told us yesterday that when passengers wear those patches behind their ears, some start hallucinating and seeing things like yellow trains passing by the ship while at sea, but, really, I wouldn't have been a bit surprised if the Polar Express itself blew by, driven from the North Pole by the force of the wind.
Though we had a couple of squalls move through during the morning, the afternoon was sunnier but still ridiculously windy. Still, I stuck it out in the Sanctuary, mostly because, despite the wind up there, it was a sanctuary today. G regaled me at lunch about a verbal altercation that he had just witnessed at the Terrace Pool when some people had finally had enough of the families hanging out back there and the kids using the adults only pool for cannonballs, and spoke out and the parents fired back and...well, G got out of there before it got worse. Aahh, the joys of a Chistmas cruise.
Actually, speaking of Christmas, the gingerbread house decorating contest was held today, there was a holiday card making class and the movie Polar Express was shown on MUTS and in the Princess Theater. The Las Vegas Bowl was also shown on MUTS, and- YAY- there IS a Catholic priest on board as promised.
We were dressed formally and went to dinner early, at 5:15pm because the production show I Got the Music was first performed at 6:45pm. Darko told us tonight that someone who reads my blog asked for him as a waiter and has our table each evening after we leave. I need to pop into the Michelangelo Dining Room later to see who it is. I'm confident that they will enjoy having Darko as a waiter as much as we do.
As for I Got the Music...by show time, the seas were so rough that I could barely get to a seat in the first row of the theater. That these dancers can do what they do when the stage is jumping up and down is really quite amazing. But, I suspect that, as ready as we are for the winds to abate and the seas to calm, after several weeks of this, I bet the dancers are even more anxious for this to be over.
Afterwards, we sat and chatted with Bob and Mary during the Captain's Welcome Aboard champagne party (and, once again we were so busy talking we missed the introduction of the officers), and then we rushed to the Explorers Lounge and got the last two seats for impressionist Michael Wilson's second show. Then it was popcorn, fuzzy water (the only bar open in the evening on the pool decks is the Calypso Bar under the MUTS screen because all the bartenders have been moved to Skywalkers to handle the holiday crowd up there), blog (and who knows when this will get published) and bed. Tomorrow-FINALLY- we reach land, and, after four bouncy sea days out of the last five days, I'm ready for my world to be still.