I could write tonight about all the ways we considered spending our day today in St. Thomas, and they would all be more exciting than what we actually did (which was nothing). We had thought, until yesterday afternoon, that, since we were going to be docked at Havensight, we would take a safari bus down to Red Hook on the eastern side of St. Thomas and take a ferry over to Cruz Bay on the island of St. John. After over 6 hours on a boat yesterday, we re-thought that idea.
Over dinner last night, we talked about taking a safari bus to Coki Beach, since we had enjoyed that so much with Suzan and Greg earlier in the season. This morning, that idea also went by the wayside. I thought that simply walking into downtown Charlotte Amalie and taking photos of the tiny alleyways and courtyards where so many of the shops are located (we've never done that) was a fine idea. However, G apparently abandoned his religion altogether today, and decided he'd rather just stay on the ship.
Did you sense the earth tilting on its axis this morning?
In our defense, yesterday really was a tiring day. I also awoke with bumps and bruises and abrasions from my knees to my ankles. A couple, I think, came from my fall in our cabin when it was so rocky a few nights ago, but the rest were solely attributable to repeatedly climbing the ladder onto the boat yesterday. A down day on the ship, using our AT&T Internet, making phone calls and using the pool and hot tub sounded perfect. And that's all we did.
Charlotte Amalie is one of the prettiest harbors in the Caribbean
The Celebrity Reflection was docked in front of us at Havensight, and the Freedom OTS arrived about 11am and took the third berth.
We were showered and dressed formally for the evening by 4pm, and went up to Skywalkers to watch sailaway without getting wind blown. It was very interesting to watch as the Emerald Princess moved sideways away from the pier and then backed up and swing bow to starboard, narrowly avoiding the Freedom OTS in the third berth.
We went to dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room (escargot, lobster and mandarin sorbet for dessert) and then arrived at 7pm for the Captains Circle party. We were honored to be the #3 Most Traveled Passengers again this cruise, but didn't dawdle afterwards; we wanted to get seats for the 8:15pm performance in the Explorers Lounge. Singers Matthew Tyler and Erik Bryan from the production show cast (Erik is the magician in Magic To Do) and dancer James Walters performed a tribute to the Rat Pack, and, accompanied by the Emerald Princess orchestra, it was a fantastic show. Deputy cruise Director Frenchie told me they'll be doing it again next cruise, and we'll be certain to see it again. They received a standing ovation and came back out for an encore. I love to see that kind of talent!!
The ship is stable again tonight (yay) and we don't arrive in Grand Turk until 1pm tomorrow. We can look forward to a good night's sleep AND an easy morning. At this point in our winter, both are just what we need.