But that really did take up much of my morning. I had just a little time to take apart my Fuji XP80 camera to see what might be wrong with it, and let me take a minute to talk about that...
I haven't needed my new waterproof camera nearly as much on these Caribbean cruises as I did in French Polynesia, but still appreciated having it on beach days. It had performed perfectly until yesterday when we were climbing Dunns River Falls. Nothing happened to it that I could tell, but it suddenly stopped working. Still, I was happy to take at least a couple of photos before it refused to take anymore (though it still turned on and did everything else). I took it apart last night, removed the memory card and the battery, and left the case open overnight, wondering if water had somehow infiltrated the casing.
This morning, when I put it back together, it worked for a few photos, then stopped again. Even worse, it erased the photos that had been on the memory card. Luckily, I had downloaded most of them already, but a few of them are gone forever. In French Polynesia, this would have been catastrophic; in the Caribbean, it's been a minor inconvenience. Fortunately, for $25, we had purchased a 2-year warranty on the camera, but even without that, it was a Sam's Club purchase less than a year old. We're covered either way.
I will give G his due though...last summer, I had been looking at cameras more in the $400-$500 range, but he had talked me out of it, saying that a waterproof camera is a purely expendable item. I think he was right. :-(
G and I went to lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room and I had gazpacho (I could consume Princess gazpacho by the bucket-full) and a chef salad, and then went with G to the Internet Cafe as he printed out an E-trade statement we needed as faxable proof that (warning: excessive acronym usage to follow) we own CCL shares to secure our shareholders OBC for the cruise that we've added since we've been on the Emerald Princess. Tomorrow in Fort Lauderdale is our drop dead date to get that submitted.
Then we retired to Vines, the one bar next door to the Internet Cafe, where I revisited my bottle of Merlot that is stored there. Cherry served me some tapenade and hummus with pita chips to go with it and I was in heaven. Really. Tapenade, hummus and a glass of wine...I can't think of a better way to spend a cloudy sea day afternoon.
Speaking of cloudy, our weather this cruise has been abysmal. I think we've seen the sun for less than an hour in five days. Of course, for G and I, trying to avoid the sun, that's been a good thing, but even we would have appreciated less wind and swells. For those passengers on the Emerald Princess for an escape from winter, it's been considerably more disheartening.
We left Vines, where I had been drinking wine, to go to the Grapevine Wine Tasting to drink more wine. We had made plans to join Dan and Dawn, who remembered G from Christmas on the Emerald Princess two years ago when he hosted the Cruise Critic meet and greet. Frankly, I think G was thrilled to meet up with someone who knows him for himself and not as G through this blog. ;-) I consumed more wine (are you starting to see why I don't have more to report for today?), and we stayed very late talking with Dan and Dawn. We also, for the first time, saw waiter Rafael from Mexico who had been on the Pacific Princess with us last fall. We love when that happens!
G squeezed in a visit to the hot tub on the back of Deck 17 but didn't stay long. He said it was a huge party up there of 30-somethings who had met on the cruise and he decided to leave them to their fun. We went to dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room with Victor and Darko (not that one) and took the bottle of wine we'd been awarded at last night's Captains Circle party. Except for the time we were #1 MTPs and received a bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne, we've been trading the Korbel champagne awarded for second and third place for wine. G trades many of our minibar items in for beer, and I drink the wine and happiness reigns.
We both had the tamarind salmon tonight; sure, G had it as an appetizer before he had a NY strip steak, but the point is that he ate fish!!! I have been raving about the tamarind salmon that is now appearing on the menu the final night of each cruise, and he was brave and decided to try it...and loved it, too. Paired with a Sauvignon blanc (still more wine) it was delicious.
Out of the window by our table on the port side of the ship, we could see a lighthouse on the end of a peninsula on Cuba's north coast. We found our location on Google Maps and estimated we were just 12 miles off the coast. Friend CubaGreg is working on a plan to get us even closer. We can't wait!
Dessert was simple, just a scoop of dark cherry sorbet each, because dessert #2 was enjoyed later in the Horizon Court Buffet: red velvet cheesecake (me) and a brownie (G). It's the only night of the cruise that we double up on dessert. Honest! In between, we saw comedy guitarist Dan Riley's performance in the Princess Theater. We had spent part of Super Bowl Sunday with Dan and learned we won't be seeing him again this season. We'll miss him; his shows have certainly been well received on these cruises.
Our plans for tomorrow just involve typical turnaround day activities. Faxing the ETrade statement to Princess from the Office Max on 17th Street tops the list. We need a little more cash for extra tips, and a couple of minor items from Walgreens, but that's it. We already know that the Emerald Princess is the only cruise ship in port and will be at Pier 2, which certainly makes everything easier. And I've warned G that I need time- major, uninterrupted time- to watch and read all the news coverage about Super Bowl 50. Have I mentioned the Denver Broncos won it? I know I have, but have I mentioned it lately?
;-)