We were up fairly early, and made our usual International Cafe/ DaVinci Dining Room run. Like G, I've now switched to an all fruit breakfast, at least when I know I'll be having lunch. But what a beautiful breakfast it is!
I can't imagine such a thing at home!
Following breakfast, it was obvious that we were going through a squall, and we went immediately up to the narrow open deck on the front of Deck 16, in front of the spa. There we stood, smacked by the rain and wind, looking out over the bow. It's a bit of a thrill to do that, and I love when the wind smoothes out all the facial wrinkles and provides a momentary face lift. We didn't last long- the wind was fierce- before we turned and headed back to the mid ship pools. And there it wasn't raining at all. The Emerald Princess is so large that we have multiple weather conditions simultaneously. Wild.
We got fuzzy water at the Calypso Bar and returned to the cabin for that 9am pill taking activity, and when we turned the TV to Channel 37, Captain Phillips was just at the point where I had run away last evening. Determined to watch what I knew was a good movie, we settled in for awhile. Every so often I'd have to hide in the bathroom with the door closed and hum to block the noise from the TV until G gave me the all clear and told me it was safe to return. But I did make it through...except for the scary bits.
This may also explain why we never see movies in a theater. It's a bit hard to hide in the ladies room until G tells me it's safe to return. I think that the last movie I saw in a theater was Tangled. Yep, that's more my speed.
And it's hard to believe that silly Gravity fared better than Captain Phillips at the Oscars. Who can explain that?
By the time Captain Phillips was saved (and like cruise director Kelvin Joy had admitted to doing, I, too, shed a couple of tears), the sun was out in full force. We slathered on sunscreen and went first to the hot tub on Deck 17 aft, and then to two loungers on the Terrace Deck. Instead of going to the dining room for lunch, we chose, for the first time this winter, to have cheeseburgers and fries from the Trident Grill. Well, we'd had fries before, during a football game, and I had a burger in the dining room once, for dinner, but this was the first lunchtime visit to the Trident Grill. I was kind of...well, shocked. I was 28th in line for burgers. Apparently, this is a very popular place for lunch. Who knew? It's quite a walk from there back to the Terrace Deck where G was waiting, especially as I had skipped putting a coverup over my swimsuit and so had to travel up to Deck 16 to bypass walking through the Horizon Court Buffet. And the breeze across the deck was quite brisk, so that I had to combine everything on one plate and cover it with the other to keep the food from blowing away. But G made the appropriate appreciative noises when I finally arrived with lunch, and, I have to admit, eating delicious burgers while overlooking the ship's wake is an experience I'm glad I didn't miss this winter.
I even went back and did it all again an hour later, when G wanted a second burger. Who says I haven't lifted a finger all winter?!?
Standing in line during burger run #1, I caught most of Captain Stenzel's noon update from the navigational bridge. Yesterday's nautical lesson had included a definition of knots and leagues and fathoms and other nautical terms of measurement. I didn't have pen and paper at the ready, and it was all too memory-intensive for me to retain and relay in my blog. But today's lecture was about the use of the term "head" to indicate a marine bathroom. I listened as carefully as I could, and here is what I remember.
In times past, two small decks, on either side of the figurehead at the very front of a sailing vessel, protruded from the bow of a ship. This is where sailors took care of their bathroom requirements. Thus, "head" became synonymous with a toilet. The one on the leeward (pronounced "loo-ward) side was used by the crew, and is the genesis of the term "loo" for a bathroom.
I am really loving these noon updates!
Finally, about 2:30pm, I had had enough sun. Even though I was covered with white grease (aka SPF 50), I had a feeling the sun might be getting through. I returned to the cool comfort of our cabin, and even watched a bit of Captain Phillips again, including some previously skipped scary parts, while I read for awhile. We showered and dressed formally early today, before the Captains Circle Gold and Ruby party in the Princess Theater at 4pm. We wanted to see what the musical selection would be, now that we have the new production show singers on board. Well, it's still our favorite songs from Motor City, but the format of the party has changed a bit, whether due to the arrival of new cruise director Kelvin Joy or some other, unknown reason.
And, speaking of Kelvin Joy...he has made quite a difference in the morning Wake Show. He does it with deputy CD Adam, it's humorous, he does trivia questions, he's silly. It's the way the Wake Show used to be (albeit with more commercials) and is significantly different than we've seen all winter.
We made it to the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers for a short time before Dinner with Darko. A Stilton mousse starter and beef tenderloins accompanied by Franciscan Merlot; that is as good as a dinner can be, I think.
We stayed in the Piazza for the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party and Champagne Waterfall, and after that. G was far more interested in getting out of his tux than he was in seeing production show What a Swell Party. The hypnotist was in the Explorers Lounge again, and there was a game show in Club Fusion. We skipped them all, returning to our cabin the long way, by walking down the Promenade Deck and lingering there a bit.
Before I end tonight, I must share an amusing reality of doing back to back cruises. It's always seemed that our cruise count on our ship cards never catches up with our actual cruises, and is typically from one to four cruises behind, but now we're experiencing a reversal of time (perhaps related to those seminars on how to return home looking 10 years younger?).
Our cards last cruise showed 55 prior cruises:
Our Bon Voyage Experience cards showed 55 prior cruises:
Our cards this cruise show 52 prior cruises:
Go figure.
;-)