First, though, I need to mention what has been done to the daily Wake Show, which is repeated all morning from 6am to noon on channel 21. It has been decimated since last winter when it included fun banter between the cruise director and deputy cruise director with occasional "guests" from the spa, bar or other departments. Now it's just the cruise director reading the Princess Patter from different bars and lounges with many, many pre-produced commercials for- you name it- bar drinks, jewelry sales, beauty items, etc. mixed in. No shout outs, no jokes of the day or riddles of the day. And what's really sad is that even some of the spots featuring the cruise director are pre-produced (as evidenced by him standing in a Piazza void of Christmas decorations when it was, in fact, fully decorated).
It's a darn shame.
I remember back to transpacific cruises when we'd lose satellite access for days at a time, and would be without any connection to the outside world. Cruise Director Alastair Greener and deputy CD Frankie (still my all-time favs) found a two-month old People Magazine on board and spent three days reading it, page by page (even the ads) and commenting on it and that rivaled any Seinfeld or Modern Family for hilarity. I would laugh so hard I'd almost fall off my treadmill. THAT was a Wake Show. What we have now is an infomercial. It's amusing that Princess has made these changes at the same time they've installed Princess Live on the Royal Princess as a television studio at sea. Live WHAT?
But, anyway, back to today's activities:
9am- unhosted Bible study
9am onwards- Man of Steel on Channel 37
10am- morning trivia
10am- 18-20 year olds basketball
10am- arthritis solution with acupuncture
10am- Mamma Mia on MUTS
10am to 1pm- onboard outlet sale (G calls this the garage sale and never misses it)
10:30am- culinary demonstration with Executive chef and Maitre d' in the Princess Theater
10:30am- restore your youth with nonsurgical facial rejuvenation
10:30am- 10 second frenzy in the Piazza
10:30pm- book club review
10:45am- Zumba fitness
11am- 18-20 year olds poolside get together
11am- health seminar: detox for weight loss
11am- $60 Texas hold'em tournament
11am to 4pm- bridge, mahjong, and games get together (unhosted)
12:15pm- music melodies with Playthoven in the Piazza
12:15pm to 1:15pm- poolside melodies with Sugar Cane
12:30pm- what about collagen?
12:30pm- slot tournament
1pm- bridge players get together
1pm- line dance review
1pm- knitters and knatters (unhosted)
1:15pm- afternoon melodies with Natka on piano in the Piazza
1:30pm- afternoon movie Despicable Me 2 in Princess Theater
1:30pm- Princess pop choir rehearsal
1:30pm- bar wars
1:45pm- ballroom dance class: rhumba
2pm- elevator roulette (this is surprisingly fun)
2pm- On Deck for the Cure walk for Susan G Komen
2pm- Raiders of the Lost Ark on MUTS
2:15pm to 3:15pm- poolside melodies with Sugar Cane
2:30pm- Wiii Sports in Club Fusion (for 18+)
2:30pm- card making class
2:30pm- afternoon melodies with Natka on piano in the Piazza
3pm- tri-bond trivia
3pm- Grapevine wine tasting (this costs $9.95 but is free for Elite passengers)
3:15pm- Passport to Value $150 prize draw
3:30pm- $2500 snowball jackpot bingo
3:30pm- champagne ring toss in the Piazza
3:30pm- Red Hat society tea
4pm- Beyoncé concert on MUTS
4pm- golf: hole in one contest
4pm- Dr. Bob and Bill W. meeting
4:30pm- Princess pop choir concert in Piazza
4:30pm- afternoon trivia
5pm- singles and solos get together (unhosted)
5pm- early evening music with Pastime Duo in the Wheelhouse Bar
5pm and 7pm- evening melodies with Natka on piano in the Piazza
5:15pm and 7:15- movie The Way Way Back on MUTS
5:45pm and 7:50pm- La Paire- a nimble acrobat and dazzling beauty in the Piazza
6pm- casino no smoking night
6pm- LGBTQ get together in the Wheelhouse Bar
6pm and 8pm- evening melodies with Playthoven in the Piazza
7pm and 8:30pm- live music with Sugar Cane in the Explorers Lounge
7:15pm to 8:15pm- Jukebox request hour with New Deal
7:30pm- dance date with Pastime Duo in the Wheelhouse Bar
7:30pm- formal portraits raffle for $100 of formal portraits
7:45pm- Motown music trivia in the Explorers Lounge
8:30pm to 9:15pm- classic rock with New Deal in Club Fusion
9pm- dance date with Pastime Duo in the Wheelbouse Bar
9pm to late- variety music from swing to pop with Bobby Hamilton in Crooners (the piano bar)
9:15pm- The Liars Club gameshow in the Explorers Lounge
9:30pm- BCS Narional Championship on MUTS (guess where we'll be)
10pm to 11pm- Motown Soultown DJ in Skywalkers
10:15pm to 11pm- 18-20 year olds karaoke in the Explorers Lounge
10:15pm till late- dance date with Pastime Duo in the Wheelhouse Bar
10.15pm till late- late night music and dancing with New Deal in Club Fusion
11pm onwards- late night party with DJ in Skywalkers
11pm til late- adult late night karaoke in the Explorers Lounge
So now, back to your regularly scheduled blog post...
Captain Nick had warned that it would be rough again last night, but compared to what we've been experiencing, it was a cakewalk. I was up first this morning, and G muttered that he wanted to sleep in, so I slipped out as quietly as possible (which is not very possible...I think I forgot to mention that, when we first boarded the Emerald Princess on November 19th, our bathroom door, which hadn't closed correctly all last winter, closed perfectly, but was stiff and squeaked. I took care of it PDQ, using my silicone hair gel on the opener rod which fixed both issues brilliantly. It's squeaking a bit again...time to repeat).
Breakfast with Darko today was solo and simple- just orange segments and Grape Nuts. I knew I'd be eating two more meals before bedtime. I next went to the soft seating outside Club Fusion, with large windows overlooking the Promenade Deck and the ocean beyond, and typed in the Patter activities shown above. That took until 10:30am, which was what time the activity called "60 second frenzy" was scheduled to begin in the Piazza. G and I have both been wondering what that is, and so I went down to Deck 5 to see. Meanwhile, G was up and about, and en route to the garage sale...er, outlet sale in the Michelangelo Dining Room (I told you he never misses it), walked by and spotted me. Together we sat and watched...nothing. Apparently, the 60 second frenzy requires passengers to sign up to compete in quickly and successfully completing specified tasks (requiring ping pong balls) in 60 seconds; however, no one was interested enough to sign up. But now we know.
G went on to the garage sale, and I returned to the cabin, now that he was awake, for that 9am pill taking activity, which was actually at 11am today. It was also the day for glitter nail polish removal which requires large amounts of pure acetone, scratchy cotton pads, time and swear words. I think I might give myself a break for one cruise and buy some non-glitter polish at Walgreens on Wednesday.
After all that effort, I had worked up an appetite for lunch, and, since G had skipped breakfast altogether, he was hungry too. Lunch with Darko involved a delicious salad with apple slices, walnuts and blue cheese, and spaghetti putanesca with chicken strips, another favorite of mine.
That tasty lunch called for some exercise, so I plugged in my ear buds and headed up to the jogging track in Deck 19. It was sunny, but the wind was behind us and it wasn't too hot up there. My current "read": Bossy Pants by Tina Fey. I love the looks I get when I laugh out loud all by myself.
Wine tasting, one of our Elite perks, was held at 3pm. On the menu: the Oberon Merlot that is my favorite.
We strolled for a bit on the Promenade Deck, and it was pure joy to see that the huge whitecaps and sea sprays of the past month have, at least temporarily, subsided. Then it was time for more grooming efforts, and I gave G an overdue haircut. It's been too rocky, or we've been too busy watching football to get some of these minor things taken care of.
We skipped Skywalkers again, and headed directly to Dinner with Darko. This was the evening I had been waiting and practicing for...it's Christmas Eve in the Orthodox religions, and I've learned how to say it in both Macedonian and Serbian: Streken Bojic/Streshen Boshic, and so we greeted Darko with it. Because we were the first ones in his section, he had the time to tell us a bit about the customs in Macedonia, some of which, he said, were mostly followed by the "older people, those over 50". Ouch. But one of the customs is that a special bread is made and a coin baked into it, and it is cut into how ever many pieces are needed for the number of people in the family and one for the pets. The person (hopefully) who gets the coin is supposed to have a year of good luck. Darko had just talked to his family in Macedonia, and found out that they had a piece of the bread for him and his was the one with the coin! They also serve 12 vegan dishes in Christmas Eve, the final day of a several week vegan fast to cleanse themselves in preparation for a celebration of the birth of Jesus.
Honestly, this all feels just as special as our own Christmas Eve.
Following dinner, we attended the 7:15pm performance of production show I Got the Music. I was feeling a bit nostalgic and just a tad homesick going into it, but the singers and dancers seemed extra happy tonight and the audience was so enthusiastic (I'm wondering if some were their family members on board for the New Years cruise) that I left there re-energized and ready for the rest of the evening.
And stepped right out into- WOW- six pack abs in the Piazza that left all the ladies (and some men) drooling. It was a Piazza act billed as La Paire- a nimble acrobat and a dazzling beauty. Well, his strength was unreal, and that was entertaining on its own...
...but then he took his shirt off and there was a gasp from the audience. Talk about eye candy!!!! Let's hope La Paire sticks around for awhile (and next time I'll try to get a seat on Deck 5 for some close ups). ;-)
We are settling in a lounger for the National Championship game in MUTS (which I didn't count when I tallied days of football remaining, because it's just a night of football). Good grief, the personal stories of some of these players that they've been showing pre-game are heart-breakingly touching. G got the popcorn and I went up to the Calypso Bar to get the fuzzy water and told Nicola the bartender, who's from Serbia, "Streshen Boshic" and he gave me the biggest smile and said "Thank you for remembering, and even more for saying it in my language". That made me feel so good that, after Steshen Boshic, I'm going to turn my attention to learning Happy New Year (January 13th). This is one of the funnest parts of living at our winter home.
So, I'll sign off for now, and turn my attention to the game. I've been 24 hours without football, and I was starting to shake.
;-)
Stay warm and safe everyone!!