We were up way too early this morning (mostly because we were asleep very early last night), and I knew that was going to catch up with us later and that an afternoon nap would be required to make it to midnight tonight. We left breakfast and went our separate ways, which is our typical M.O. on sea days, planning to meet back up for lunch. I returned to the cabin for that 9am pill taking activity, and to start preparing this post, typing in all the New Year's Eve activities on board the Emerald Princess today.
The first thing I did was add a shortcut for New Year's Eve to my keyboard shortcuts, so I don't have to type that over and over again. I use shortcuts quite a bit for those terms I use most often, like Emerald Princess, Royal Princess, Princess Theater, Explorers Lounge, Club Fusion, DaVinci Dining Room, Michelangelo Dining Room, Fort Lauderdale, Port Everglades, etc. I'm pretty fast at this two-fingered iPhone typing, but I'm not too proud to save myself keystrokes at every opportunity.
The Emerald Princess (shortcutted to just "ep") was rocking and rolling again, but somehow it wasn't bothering me quite as much today. I think having just the five day reprieve that we've had has reset my tolerance limit and I'm good for awhile once again. Still, other passengers were not so lucky and we heard many tales of "mal de mar" today.
I might have enjoyed some sun time, but we had bright sun mixed with rain showers all morning long, and so I didn't want to go through the trouble of finding a lounger only to be chased inside time and again by rain. Instead I sat through 3rd Officer Nick's navigational bridge lecture at 10:00am (3rd officer Dennis has gone home and will be back on February 17th) and Chief Engineer Roddy's technical lecture at 11:15am, simply because I enjoy them, and they are the only lectures offered on board this year, which is too bad.
As it turned out, G and I skipped lunch altogether in favor of a nap (and I actually slept). He woke up in time to continue his plans for the afternoon, first attending the 3:00pm veterans get together and then we both went to the Gold Captains Circle party just to hear the singers and Emerald Princess orchestra perform the Motown medley that the old Motor City show (which was our favorite) has been shrunk down to. We raced back to the cabin to change for tonight's formal night, which was perfectly timed to be on New Year's Eve. How very Poseiden Adventure-ish of us!
Here is a listing of all the New Year's Eve celebrations tonight on the Emerald Princess:
7:30pm to 8:30pm- British New Year in the Wheelhouse Bar
10pm onwards- Gala balloon drop party in the Piazza
10pm onwards- Latin New Year's fiesta in the Wheelhouse Bar
10pm onwards- Ultimate New Year's Eve deck party on the pool deck
10:30pm onwards- New Year's Eve ball in the Explorers Lounge
11:30pm onwards- late night New Year's Eve in Skywalkers
This was a partyin' place tonight!
We started the evening at "Dinner With Darko" (candles again!) in the Michelangelo Dining Room. The menu was very similar to last New Year Eve (possibly the same) and both G and I chose the filet mignon (the best beef of the year) and there was happiness all around.
We decided to skip the early performance of production show Boogie Shoes so as not to rush through tonight's dinner, and instead walked out of dinner into the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party and Champagne Waterfall (wait a moment, please, while I go to Settings and set up a keyboard shortcut for the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party and Champagne Waterfall), where we continued the evening's festivities with timely champagne that was freely poured (it does taste better after the fourth glass!).
We left there to to directly to the Wheelhouse Bar for British New Years at 8pm, which we love to do, because these people know how to party, and we ending up chatting with a 1st officer and two 3rd officers from the bridge (including Nick) and their girlfriends who are on board for the cruise, and Auld Lang Syne-ing in true British form.
But we were just getting started, and walked down to the Explorers Lounge to hear comedian-musician Gary Delena's act (he's very good) and then to the Princess Theater for the 8:45pm performance of production show Boogie Shoes. Now we're back in the cabin for a refresh, intending to go back out for the New Year's Eve party and balloon drop in the Piazza.
Here's hoping everyone has a safe and happy New Year's Eve!