Finally...today we saw proof that the sun still exists! I was beginning to have some doubts. It was sunny and warm and pleasant on the open decks and things are back to being as they should in a Caribbean cruise.
We actually slept in so long this morning that we pretty much missed breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room. We then skipped it in the Horizon Court Buffet too. We simply weren't that hungry; we need a few lunch-free port days to re-set our appetites. Instead of breakfast, I took my laptop down to the International Cafe and drank a decaf cappuccino and completed an online training class I needed to finish for work. It was much more pleasant than doing it in our cabin.
Meanwhile, G had gone to the Behind the Scenes stage tour held this morning, and we met back up to go to lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room. The waitstaff has rotated again; no more having Breakfasts, Lunches AND Dinners with Darko. We're back to dinners only. I chose the Chicken Korma today (I was hungry by then) and, oh it was sooooo good. I had all the condiments today, except raisins, and it's quite a process to get each one of them (coconut, scallions, onions, almonds, jalapeños, chutney, etc.) spooned onto the chicken. Thanks again, Steve, for that recommendation.
Following lunch I went back to the cabin to work on a project I'd planned for days, and which was a huge motivation in going out in the rain yesterday to Walgreens. I had decided last week to apply Sally Hansen Nail Strips in Aflorable to my nails for this cruise. I had practiced with these last summer at home and they survived for at least 10 days, but we'll see how they hold up to beaches and frequent hand washing. Topped with a coat of glitter polish, they look rather cruise-y to me. G doesn't agree, and thinks they look like a mani-pedi half worn off. But he's wrong. ;-)
This "easy, 10-minute manicure" took about an hour for the pedi and another for the mani. And definitely wasn't easy. But for $10.99, I'm trying something different. Life at home, mainly the gardening and the cleaning, doesn't allow me the nails to experiment on.
There was just enough time for a hot tub visit before we needed to get cleaned up for the evening. Our plan was to go to the Piazza well before 5pm to get good, close-up seats for balancing act La Paire's 10-minute performance. As promised, I wanted to get a close up of Mr. LaPaire's six pack. Well, either everyone else had the same idea, or people had just camped out there all day listening to music and watching the entertainment, because we had to sit a bit back from the center of the Piazza. We listened to Kyle on the guitar while we waited, and it was a most pleasant 45 minutes.
La Paire did a slightly different act tonight, and whereas I had just assumed they were Eastern European, we heard them talk, and they appear to be American or Canadian. Midway through the act, they got G up there to "help" with the unicycle part of the show. He has a real talent for being chosen. I think he just looks healthy enough to participate in whatever comes his way.
You know how shy I am, and when I expressed disappointment when Mr. La Paire didn't take his shirt off today, he came over and happily obliged (hey, if you've got it, flaunt it).
I will have a 4"x6" printed to show anyone who asks if I'm getting tired of being on board for months at a time. Oh yeah, so bored I can hardly stand it. ;-)
Dinner with Darko was next, and takes much longer when we have Jim and Marcia to talk and laugh with. With just G and I, if it's been an active day, we can go an entire dinner sharing fewer than a hundred words. We have completely corrupted Jim and Marcia...they are ordering the same soft brioche rolls G gets and an intermezzo between courses. We're a bad influence ;-) but, damn, we have fun!
We sat in the Explorers Lounge listening to dance music with the Emerald Princess orchestra, and enjoying it throughly. They are so darn good that one doesn't have to be a dancer to be entertained. Part of what we were doing was occupying two good seats in preparation for tonight's Ye Olde Pub Night, held at 8pm and 9:30pm in the Explorers Lounge (there was a ventriloquist in the Princess Theater, which doesn't bear mentioning). Pub Night used to be a Princeas staple, and then it disappeared for a few years, but it's back now, and better than ever. The singers and dancers are involved, and the Emerald Princess orchestra accompanies a singalong and there are a few audience participation competitions and it's all good fun.
And we finished up the evening listening to band New Deal playing songs from the 60's in Club Fusion, and taking a stroll all alone on the Promenade Deck. The evening was warm and dry and not too bouncy, and restored my hope for some good weather this time around.