I awoke several times last night with my right eye glued shut. Expecting that an appointment at the Medical Center would last just minutes ("Yep. Your eye is infected. Here are some drops"), I was there when the doors were opened at 8am. But Dr. Rainer Guenzel, who I knew only socially from the Most Traveled parties, was far more thorough than that and I was there nearly an hour while he ruled out more serious things. In the end, it is simply an infection and I did leave with eye drops. I also left with a warning to not wear my contact lens in that eye for FIVE days. This leaves me with monovision, and here's the thing about that: I don't need reading glasses (very cool) but I get dizzy when I walk (not at all cool).
Our plans for the day were suddenly changed. We packed up my laptop and walked off the ship intending to use the Ethernet cable and high speed Internet in the Internet cafe in the pedestrian mall to download more TV shows from iTunes, but today is a holiday in Bonaire (more Carnaval celebrations) and that shop was closed. We walked through a few gift shops with me feeling increasingly dizzy in the hot sun, and then returned to the ship. We had planned to once again float and snorkel along the waterfront (this time with my phone to take photos), but I didn't think I wanted to do that today after all. Instead we stayed in the cabin while G finally caught the beginning of the movie Now You See Me (that's a treat...we see the end of a movie, then the middle and the end, long before we see the beginning).
We took advantage of the DaVinci Dining Room being open for lunch; we were hungry, as breakfast had been very quick and very light. All on board was 1:30pm for a 2pm sailaway to allow us to arrive in Grenada tomorrow at noon. By 1:30pm, the dining room business was slow enough that assistant waiter Ahmad from Indonesia had time to show us two magic tricks...and he is incredibly good.
We initially went out on the Promenade Deck as the Emerald Princess was preparing for sailaway. It was quite interesting to watch the - I don't know what they're called, but they're the guys who release the lines - get dropped off by the pilot boat on the ballards, and then watch as the gangway was retrieved from the pier.
We then went up to the jogging track on Deck 19 to watch as the Emerald Princess thrust away from her berth and set a course to the southwest, to round the southern tip of Bonaire.
The Good Returns water taxi arriving at Karel's bar next to the ship:
Bonaire was typically beautiful today. I love the water color here!
The ship's wake curves as it rounds the southern end of Bonaire before heading north to Grenada.
I spent the rest of the afternoon with my eyes closed, listening to an audiobook in the cool darkness of our cabin. Despite its slightly rough start, a wonderful evening saved the day. First we enjoyed Dinner with Darko (with my favorite vodka lime sorbet for dessert!). Afterwards, we attended the 7:30pm Captains Circle party for Platinums and Elites, and then went to the Princess Theater to watch the first performance of production show Boogie Shoes by the new cast at 9pm. I don't know who was more excited about this: the performers or the audience, but it was certainly a highly anticipated event! Once again, we skipped the Ultimate Deck Party, though we did walk through the Neptunes Reef pool area where the party was held, just to see the special lighting and decorations.
Following that, it was time for fuzzy water, eye drops and bed. Dr. Guenzel said I'd be much improved in 36 hours. I know that doesn't mean I can wear my right contact, but a little less swelling would be welcome.