Our excitement first thing this morning was to be docked across the pier in St. John's, Antigua from the 208-passenger Seabourn Spirit, a luxury ship costing several $100 to $1000 per person per day to cruise. The ship was so tiny docked next to the Emerald Princess that, from where we had breakfast, on Deck 6 in the DaVinci Dining Room, we were looking right out at their pool deck with breakfast dining on the aft open terrace. Quite curious, we surmised that they had about one waiter for every four or six passengers, and this small terrace had at least six waiters attending to their guests' every need.
We were in no hurry this morning; although we had arrived in the dining room before 8am, we lingered over breakfast. G ordered papaya pancakes for the first time, and they were so good he might have to do that again. After breakfast, we walked along the Emerald Princess Promenade Deck (Deck 7), which was on the same level as the top deck on the Seabourn Spirit. And I took this photo of balconies that are even smaller than those on the Royal Princess...but the Spirit was built in the late 1980s, and so the balconies, such as they are, have almost certainly been added on since.
We finally returned to our cabin, packed for a beach day and gathered up some of the flotsam and jetsam we'd accumulated over the winter (Princess beach bags and Elite amenities, etc.) to take to friends on the island. We hired a taxi to stop there first, to drop off the goodies, and then take us to Fort James Beach, the closest and easiest beach to the cruise ship pier.
It was sunny and hot and breezy, a perfect beach day, and we settled in on the far end of the beach under a dilapidated wooden palapa. That high ledge of sand is still there, and G used it to his advantage, carving out a lounge chair with a back rest.
The interesting thing is that all that sand that was carved out of the beach between November and January has made the entry into the water as gradual and kind as can be. In November, we had to pick our spot to climb out of the water; now it's an easy walk out.
We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon there, G lounging and napping, me playing in the waves for hours. I know much of the country was covered in snow today, but this is what March 12th looked like in our world:
About 3:30pm we gathered up our gear, talked a taxi driver out of the beach bar, and made the 10 minute ride back to the ship. Just as we were walking down the pier, around 4pm, a gentle shower moved over. Perfect timing!
I had thought my shorts felt a bit snug when I pulled them on over my Miracle swimsuit, but it wasn't until I peeled off my swimsuit in the shower that I became aware of the sand padding that was embedded in my skin under that damn suit. All those hours of playing in the waves resulted in my own personal sandbox, and even the force of the shower wouldn't loosen it. It took lots of loofah work to budge it, and we ended up with our own private beach in the shower by the time I was done.
The cabin stewards must hate beach days!
We had time for a brief Skywalkers visit (it was Breeza Marina night and sailaway from Antigua at the same time, two of my favorites). It had stopped raining, but there were still low clouds as we sailed out of St. John's Harbour.
We were amused, at Dinner with Darko, to see those same holes in our tablecloth as we've seen in our clothes we've sent to the ship's laundry.
And the longer days are providing more and more to see en route to St. Lucia. This was the view of actively volcanic island Montserrat from our dining room table.
Following dinner, we went to this cruise's Most Traveled passengers cocktail party in the Adagio Lounge (cutoff was around 340 Princess days, which I think is the lowest we've seen all winter). I was so pleased to meet our new Staff Captain Tony and his lovely wife Renee. Renee and their 10 year old twin daughters are on board for several cruises, and we chatted a bit about 10 year old twins and how they can be as different as day and night in personality.
I miss my guys!
And, finally, we are loving our new cruise director Kelvin Joy. After 110 days of no evening entertainment ever in the Adagio Lounge, Jazzio in the Adagio with Chuck Farmer and the Emerald Princess orchestra is back!!!!!!! I can't tell you how we've missed it. We stayed for the first set, and the lounge was comfortably full, with not many leaving when the band took their first break. Of course, for those of us who had played in the waves all day, drank Merlot at dinner and Breeza Marinas before and after, that break meant blog time and bedtime, in that order.