Prepared Wednesday evening, February 26th, but published using fast, free 4G Internet in Fort Lauderdale.
We were up and had fulfilled our coffee and breakfast obligations before 9am. The culinary demonstration by Master Chef Commendatore Alfredo Marzi was scheduled to begin at 10:30am in the Princess Theater, and was being touted around the ship with an enthusiasm akin to a royal visit. After 40 years with Princess Cruises, I guess that Master Chef Marzi is the closest thing to Princess royalty. I knew from seeing him on the Royal Princess in early November that he would be working solo (not with the maitre d' or ship's executive chef), with just two waiters as his attendants. It was great to see that Nelson and Amador, both from the Philippines, whom we've known for years, were on stage with him. It was also wonderful that he chose a Filipino dish, Chicken and Seafood. Pancit Noodles, as the first dish he prepared. Master Chef Marzi said Princess currently has 36000 employees from 78 countries, but the majority (12000) are from the Philippines. A murmur radiated out through the audience as the wonderful smells of sautéed onions and garlic made their way out from the stage. I love garlic!!
With cruise director JJ:
With waiters Nelson and Amador:
Amador with the completed Chicken and Seafood Pancit noodles:
After the demonstration, we did the walk-through tour of the galley, and it was fun to see the cooks working on today's meals.
Carver Napolean was busy turning rutabagas into flowers...
...and the pastry chefs had been busy, too:
After having only fruit and cereal for breakfast and then smelling all those smells, I was REALLY ready for a nice lunch. We went to the DaVinci Dining Room and I opted for the Indonesian Nasi Goreng. G always likes the Brunswick Stew on this particular lunch menu. He comes from Brunswick County, Virginia, the original home of Brunswick Stew (but they call it Chicken Muddle), and though the Princess version is not exactly the same, it's a good replication (and far closer to the original than the taco flavored "Carolina pulled pork BBQ" on the Royal Princess).
We spent some time after lunch sitting on the shady side of the Promenade Deck. The squeaking of sneakers walking by prompted G to comment, yet again, that he was NOT going to miss the full Promenade Deck on the Royal Princess. There, it really should be call the Sitting Deck, instead of the Promenade Deck, but at least it will be quieter. I later tried to walk on Deck 19, but...well, that's the other side of the coin. It was very sunny and hot up there this afternoon, and walking on the Promenade Deck was a much nicer option.
I packed up a small box of things to send home tomorrow from the post office in Fort Lauderdale. I'm not sure how much it weighs- probably 8 or 10 pounds- but that's enough to make all the difference in the world on our final night of the cruise when we're trying to divide several months of living between four suitcases of not more than 50 pounds each.
We skipped pre-dinner drinks altogether tonight, and even wine with dinner. My Check Liver Soon light is flashing, and an abstemious day was in order. We ate lightly for dinner (round 1) tonight, something that is quickly becoming a favorite: a garden salad topped with sliced chicken breast. Sunset occurred just after 7pm (it's funky tonight since the ship is still on AST but we're sailing through EST territory); we thought at first it might not amount to much, but it surprised us with a bit of color at the very end.
We were lucky tonight to again have tenor Nik Page performing at 7:15pm, 8:45pm and 10:15pm (instead of a late International Crew Show). We were in the audience for his 7:15pm show. He was once again backed by the Emerald Princess Orchestra, and you know we were happy about that. When Nik ended his set with "Time to Say Goodbye", I'll admit to getting a bit watery. First, of course, was because so many crew friends are going home tomorrow, but also because we AREN'T going home. Every turnaround day definitely brings on a mix of emotions.
Walking through the Piazza, we caught Radu (the cello player from Playthoven) playing solo sax, and G was mesmerized, so we sat and listened to the rest of his set. Radu and Anca return home to Romania tomorrow, and it will be interesting to see if we get another strings duo on board the Emerald Princess.
We wandered up to the buffet for cheese and grapes (dinner, round two), and it wasn't until we were back in the cabin and I was getting ready to take out my contacts that I suddenly remembered I hadn't said goodbye to Ana in the International Cafe. Ana has greeted me nearly every morning since we arrived in November with a hug and a two-cheek air kiss, and I will miss her terribly when she goes home to Serbia tomorrow. (Speaking of air kisses, I can do them all...singles, doubles, even triples for the French. Travel is so educational!). So we walked back down to the IC, which is no short distance from our cabin. Ana told us she would be on the Caribbean Princess for her next contract, so there's a chance this was more a Hasta Luego than adios.
We're setting an alarm tonight on the remote chance we can get ourselves out of bed to be on deck tomorrow morning for our arrival into Port Everglades. We haven't many more opportunities to do that...