Day 108: At sea

We had the roughest night we've had so far this season on the Emerald Princess. Captain Forteeze had warned us, when we left Fort Lauderdale yesterday afternoon, that a strong northwest wind would blow 60 knots (70 mph) across the open decks, and we definitely felt it in our cabin up high on the back of the ship. It's not a matter of seasickness- I don't recall ever feeling really nauseous on this ship the way I did on the Pacific Princess- but it's just the restless sleep that results from all the movement. Honestly, it felt like the ship was hitting a wall, and shuddering down its entire length. We were constantly awakened, over and over all night long, and never had that deep, restorative sleep we needed. 

Luckily, things improved throughout the day today. Though it started quite overcast, by noon the sun was starting to be seen through the clouds and that troublesome wind calmed a little. I went to this cruise's Cruise Critic meet and greet, held at 10am in the Wheelhouse Bar (Why not Skywalkers? See below.). Lloyd had done a great job of spearheading that get together, as well as the one for next cruise, and , although I hadn't been an active participant on these Emerald Princess roll calls (being on a ship in the South Pacific might be to blame), it was nice to meet some fellow passengers we'll be spending some time with on Cozumel in three days. 

I was never high energy today, a result of our sleepless night, and skipped the usual sea day crafting and line dancing in favor of spending some extended time in a hot tub. I stayed in touch with the twins by text, and was thrilled with the results of today's big game. They won their basketball game 53-28!  I'm just a little proud of them!

I had a chance today to talk with the acrobat from Reflex Duo who performed last night in the Piazza. I asked him how he travels with that large hoop he uses in his act, and he said it comes apart into eight sections and can be checked as luggage when he flies. I asked if he then trusted it when it was reassembled, and apparently it all locks into position. He and his partner, who performed tonight, are from Montreal. Somehow, that city is the home to so many acrobatic performers. Is that because of Cirque du Soleil, or the cause of Cirque originating there?

I haven't yet mentioned that there is a large group (800 passengers) on board for a Concerts at Sea theme cruise. We've known about this group since before we booked our cruise, but have generally found that this sort of group doesn't really affect our cruise experience. Most of their gatherings are in Club Fusion, but they must have reserved Skywalkers during the day today for some events. I guess there are members from several musical groups of the 60s on board to perform and mingle with those cruisers. Aside from the theme T-shirts I've seen several passengers wearing, it's all been rather transparent to those of us not in the group. BTW, the cost for passengers who didn't book through the travel agency arranging this group to attend any of their private events was $600pp. Thanks, but no thanks. 

Tonight was the first formal night of the cruise, followed by the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party and Champagne Waterfall and production show I Got the Music (performed twice tonight). Pianist Ryszard Sulek is performing tonight in Adagio, and I think we may be up there to listen for a while before we retire. We don't have any specific plans for tomorrow in Grand Cayman, but G has been talking about a long, long walk.

Pray for me. 

Huh?  What's that you say?  There was football today?

I may have heard something about that. 

;-)