I can't say why, exactly, this cruise is unfolding this way. Part of it is probably that I'm feeling better than I have in three weeks (that was a long lasting cold!). Part of it is no doubt that we went home for a few days and everything was fine, putting our minds at ease. Part of it is simply geography; we're in a familiar part of the world and back in Fort Lauderdale every few days. It's very comfortable for us. But most of it is all the wonderful additions to the Princess product this year to celebrate their 50th anniversary. We're seeing menu offerings we've never seen, enjoying theme parties never offered in the past, and constantly seeing reminders that this is a special year. It's given a cruise product that we are so familiar with a whole new feel and we don't want to miss out on anything.
Coconut smoothies came from the shop on the left; guavaberry coladas on the right.
Last night, after we went back out, we spent time in the Explorers Lounge listening to party band Epithanie, in the Wheelhouse listening to the Massina Duo from Argentina, back in Explorers Lounge to watch the first round of Princess Pop Star (a first for us) and then up to Skywalkers where, based on the music being played, we discovered we are older than we think we are (it was just one heavy beat after another with no discernible songs).
We were finally awakened today by the sounds of the Caribbean Princess docking in Philipsburg, St Maarten, the Dutch side of the small island that is half Dutch and half French. The sounds went on and on; it seemed that the wind was causing a bit of a struggle in getting docked, but we finally made it. I heard announcements asking passengers not to crowd the midship public areas and gangways (always an issue when we dock later in the morning), but, though we were supposed to have arrived at 10am, it was 10:30am before the ship was cleared and people could finally go ashore.
Not that the delay affected us, of course. We were still trying to get ourselves to breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet. :-|
We had intended to take a taxi over to Maho Beach again this year, to watch the planes landing, but, it wasn't until I posted our itinerary last night that we realized we weren't scheduled to arrive until 10am. Planes land more frequently earlier in the day; by the time we made the 30-45 minute ride to Maho, we'd be missing out on a lot of the fun. We decided instead to just see what the day brought.
Well, it brought sunny weather in addition to the wind. We were one of FIVE cruise ships in St. Maarten today (Norwegian Getaway, MSC Divina, Thomson Celebration and a Carnival ship (not sure which one)). Things were hopping today, but the nice tourist area around the port can handle that many passengers on St. Maarten. Still, we knew traffic would be fierce.
It was nearly 1pm before we walked off the ship. Our first stop was Kay Jewelers to pick up our FREE genuine rainbow topaz stone. Of course, it's rather useless on its own, and to have it set in something cost at least $50, but, we're doing the opposite here, and while we would usually ignore that sort of come on, today we didn't. I'll have to get it added to the will. ;-)
We walked around the entire port area, and were drawn to a store that sold Bose products, where we tested some of their wireless speakers (and were quite impressed). Do you mean we can get rid of the obsolete corner stereo cabinet and two large speakers in the family room and replace it all with something that fits in a pocket? Sold! Well, almost. We're going to comparison ship it online and perhaps purchase it when we're here again next week.
Eventually we wandered over to two stands close to the cruise ships. At one, St. Maarten's reknowned Guavaberry liquor is used to make Guavaberry coladas. I'm a fan, and bought one. G went next door and got a coconut smoothie with rum added (this is startlingly opposite behavior on his part). We sat and people watched and finished our drinks...and were shocked when we stood up. Those frou frou beach drinks packed a punch!! Of course, we had eaten lightly (almost nothing) thus far today, but we managed to get back to our cabin before we collapsed.
An hour later, it was already time to get ready for the evening (and we had accomplished exactly what today? Not one damn thing. Now, this is a cruise!!). We wanted to be in the Piazza at 5pm for the VooDoo Dancers Folkloric Show, a taste of St. Maarten's Carnival. This was new to us; it was a group of six scantily clad women doing samba dances and by the end they had several passengers (including G) up with them doing a conga line.
We arrived at dinner exactly at 5:30pm fairly starved (a good feeling on a cruise ship). It was the Italian night menu, and while I stuck with my tried and true penne arrabiata with chicken, G ordered trout. I have never, in the 35 years I've known him, seen him eat trout. When he ordered hazelnut semifreddo for dessert, I was wondering just who this person was and what he had done with my husband, but then he ordered two scoops of ice cream to go with it, and the world made sense again.
At 7:15pm in Skywalkers was this cruise's Most Traveled Passengers (MTP) cocktail party. We enjoy the cocktail parties so much more than a luncheon on a sea day, and are glad that's what we're getting on the Caribbean Princess. G had wondered, on embarkation day, if we'd even be among the top 20 most traveled couples on board this 3200 passenger ship to score an invite to the MTP; despite this being only a seven night cruise, the passenger demographic still seems older than us. He needn't have worried. We're the fourth most traveled couple, a bridesmaid position that brings with it no special recognition but requires nothing in return at the Captains Circle party either (I had to take the microphone and answer a question on the Pacific Princess, not an easy thing for this shy girl to do). I had two Breeza Marinas and yummy hors doerves and mini desserts and we spent more time talking with 88-year old Ed (of the Oceania Marina in Papeete) and his wife Joyce. That's one of the things I love about cruising: in our lives at home, we have little opportunity to socialize with people of that age, yet some of our fondest cruise memories include them.
We still had a busy evening in store for us, first in the Piazza to listen to Dixieland jazz by the Caribbean Princess orchestra, then to the Wheelhouse Bar to listen to the Massina duo. There is a group of dancers onboard from Canada who love to dance in the Wheelhouse to their music, but they all have the 8pm dinner seating, so from 8pm to 10pm or so, the Massina duo uses that time to do less dance-y music and we enjoyed hearing Don't Cry for me Argentina in Spanish and a Time to Say Goodbye in Italian.
At 9:30pm we were in the Piazza for the 50th Anniversary Festivals of the World Mardi Gras party with party band Epithanie and the horns from the Caribbean Princess orchestra. Cruise Director Kelly had the most perfect dress for the occasion and the whole thing was a lot of fun. We spoke with a musician from Epithanie who said this was the first time they'd done this with the horns section of the orchestra and they had had to do several rehearsals to figure it all out. It was perfect to us. I wore the mask I decorated yesterday and it was, without a doubt, the ugliest one there. Go me!
The party ended just as the 10:15pm performance of production show Caribbean Caliente was starting in the Princess Theater. We walked in a minute early and had no problem finding seats. It was a new show to us, and was fun, with lots of Latin music and dance. At the end, band Epithanie came on stage and got everyone on their feet. This is the first time we've seen this kind of integration of the entertainment on a cruise.
The night was still not over...we went back to the Wheelhouse for more of the Massina Duo, then to the Explorers Lounge for more Epithanie. It was after midnight when I returned to the cabin; G is still out partying. We arrive in St. Thomas at 7am tomorrow morning and want to be on the 8am ferry to Water Island.
Ha ha ha ha ha. I would be ROTFL-ing at that if I had the energy to do so.