Day 114: St. Kitts

Well, Captain Stenzel had warned us yesterday that today's weather might disappoint, and, at least this morning, he was right. We were scheduled to arrive in St. Kitts at 7am, which means that we began hearing that familiar thruster action just after 6:30am.  And then it took a long time- a REALLY long time- of non-stop thruster usage to get the Emerald Princess docked. Apparently, we are in the midst of a storm with high southerly winds that kept pushing this tall ship away from the northern side of the pier at Port Zante. Chief Engineer Roddy told me tonight that the Emerald Princess almost didn't get docked in St. Kitts today. It took two attempts before it was finally stable against the pier.  In fact, the docking went on so long that G dressed to go up on deck and see firsthand what was going on. Apparently, for every inch the thrusters would move the Emerald Princess closer to the dock, the wind pushed it back two. Finally, a tug was utilized to keep the ship against the pier while the lines were set. Meanwhile, the Carnival Valor was waiting for its turn to dock on the southern side of the pier (why the Emerald Princess didn't dock on the southern side and then act as a buffer from the wind, we'll never know, but that might have made sense).

Once the ship was docked and still, I continued to sleep on for awhile. G grabbed a quick breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet, and then returned to tell me that this was not going to be a good weather day, but was a PERFECT tax preparation day. Oh joy. 

I did eventually get up, and when I opened the door at the back of Riviera Deck to climb the stairs to the Terrace Deck and Horizon Court Buffet, it was, indeed, raining. It was also densely foggy, something I'd never before seen on St. Kitts. Those picturesque hillsides and mountains overlooking the town of Basseterre, where the cruise ships dock, were shrouded in mist.  

I returned to the cabin and we semi-ambitiously started opening the tax document envelopes we'd just received when our mail was delivered and laid the numbers in TurboTax. Now that I think about it, I believe this is the second time we've done taxes in St. Kitts, and I bet we're the only people on a cruise who have. 

We took time for a late pizza lunch, and I have to mention something I forgot to tell you last night (three Breeza Marinas might be partly to blame), about the infamous WHITE PIZZA. I had read on Cruise Critic about how delicious Princess's White Pizza is, and for the past nine cruises, I have been looking for it at Prego's Pizzeria.  There are always three kinds of pizza offered: pizza Margherita, pepperoni pizza and then a specialty pizza that changes every day. And for nine straight cruises I'd never seen White Pizza on the menu sign.  Finally, on embarkation day, I stopped by Prego's to ask which day of this cruise would be White Pizza day, and I was told it would be served on St. Thomas day.   When I arrived there today, the menu sign said today's specialty pizza was Four Cheese pizza. When I asked what happened to the White Pizza, they straightened me out: Four Cheese pizza IS White Pizza. The sign NEVER says White Pizza. I'd probably missed out a few times because of my confusion. 

All excited, I got my two slices of Four Cheese pizza (aka a White Pizza) and sat down to eat it. It was quite a let down. It's just four cheeses on pizza crust, with no pizza sauce. I guess I need the contrast of flavors that comes from the sauce. Oh well. At least I now know. Also noteworthy:  people will sometimes say the pizza on Princess has changed, and is better or not as good on one ship as on another. Well, Mr. Pizza extraordinaire Vladimir has returned home to Serbia, and whoever is making the pizza dough now is making it so it's way too chewy and a bit tough. I'm sure the recipe didn't change overnight; the cook did. And that has made all the difference. 

So, enough pizza analysis for today. Other than to say that for years I never had a slice of pizza on Princess. But since they closed the dining room for lunch on port days, I have it at least four times a cruise. You know how I feel about lunch in the buffet...

While we were eating lunch, the sun came out a bit, but I was shocked at how chilly the wind was, especially as it was coming from the south. 

That strong wind stayed with us all day. I tried walking on Deck 19, but felt like I was in a wind tunnel, and so gave up and ended up napping instead. Yep, I napped. Is a doctor's visit in my future?  We'll see what the next few days brings. I told the senior doctor at the MTP party last night that we had been extremely lucky this winter. Last winter, the Medical Center had an ever-expanding file on me.  Hopefully our luck will hold, and today's sleepiness was merely a function of too much partying and not enough smooth seas the past few nights. 

G vacated the cabin, ensconcing himself in a hot tub to keep from waking me, but returned at 4pm, just as the thrusters were starting up again for our departure. We went to Dinner with Darko early, because of tonight's Captains Circle parties being held at three different times in Club Fusion. We were going to try to get to the middle one, but dawdled a bit over dinner, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the water sprays outside our window as the Emerald Princess cruised down the western coast of Nevis. In the end, we made it to the 7:30pm party. I'm enjoying our new captain, Martin Stenzel. It took me a few days (his style is the opposite of Captain Nick Nash's), but he's very personable and friendly. It's nice to get to meet another Princess captain. 

After the party, we were in the mood for dessert, and so returned to the Michelangelo Dining Room and were seated with waiter Stephen from the Philippines, who we've known for years. Hostess Mihaela (from the famous poster), brought us a table pet to keep us company...a lemon mouse (NOT a lemon mousse). Harious. This thing was so darn cute, with lemon peel ears and tail and caper eyes. 

I love the dining room later at night (it was 9pm when we left). The pace is so much more relaxed and the waiters have time to have a bit of fun and to chat. I just can't talk G into eating late. He's far more comfortable being an Early Bird diner. Honestly, people were lined up outside the Michelangelo Dining Room when dinner started at 5:30pm, so they changed it to begin at 5pm and still people are lines up outside 15 minutes before it opens. 

Entertainment tonight was vocalist Bobbie Eakes in the Princess Theater and comedian Darrell Joyce in the Explorers Lounge. Although neither appealed to us tonight, at least it was a two-featured performers evening. Yay. 

We are rocking and rolling a bit tonight as we sail east across the southern Caribbean into the Atlantic Ocean to Barbados. We are anxious to get to a beach tomorrow, but are certain that, regardless of what happens, it will be a better day than on our last visit to Barbados, Super Bowl Sunday. 

The memory of that day still stings.