Epilogue to our sixth winter at sea

We've been home exactly 48 hours. 

The laundry is done, the clothes put away. I've made a first pass through the mail, tossed some and sorted the rest into piles. We tackled the first grocery shopping on Sunday night (not the best time, I found out, as the aisles were packed while the shelves were empty), and I've made the first pot of soup (beef vegetable).  Surprisingly, we are not shell shocked. I think that's due to the fact that we were gone only 62 days, and the weather has been decent since we arrived home. (I think shell shockiness sets in after three months away.) Whatever the reason, I am grateful for the sense of calm we are experiencing.

I'm grateful for other things too:

- Silence.  We were sitting in the family room yesterday afternoon, separately working on our to-do lists for this week when G said "Listen", and I knew immediately what he meant. There was no music, no voices, no ship's sounds, no announcements...only the sound of the refrigerator running.  Heaven!

- Quality sleep. At home sleep beats even the best travel sleep every time. And the house doesn't shimmy and shake all night, either. 

- My shower. It's not large by today's standards, but it's surrounded by glass on two sides, and offers a view of blue sky and tree tops...and a shelf for leg shaving. It's quite a change from a small shower behind a shower curtain in a small bathroom in a small inside cabin. 

But mostly I'm grateful for the safe winter we had, and the opportunity to spend another winter (and fall and even part of summer) at sea. We had some amazing adventures, going places that a year ago I would never have dreamed we'd visit. And that makes me wonder where we'll end up next year. 

We currently have four different plans for next winter, and where we'll go is dependent on so many things- our health, the stock market, the world political situation- that we probably won't know with certainty where we'll be until mid-summer or so. One option, of course, is to return to the Caribbean- easy and familiar and our cheapest option. Other options would take us much further from home, and would be more expensive and challenging, taking us out of our comfort zone once again. 

Regardless of where we go, we are still of one mind: we will go. And I will be right here, documenting the ups and downs of life at sea. 

And, finally, at this season's end, I thank my husband, the best life partner in the world, for wanting to travel ('cause not all spouses want to), for funding our travel (those 27 years of 6am PT have finally paid off), for putting up with me blogging (he and his yellow shirts have become fairly recognizable) and for putting up with me, period, for months at a time in a 160 sq.ft. inside cabin. As I tell him every day of every cruise, "I love you. I appreciate you. Thank you for making today possible."

Source:  quotesgram.com

Life. Is. Good.

Day 149: Home!

Today was another cautionary tale about booking flights home too early on disembarkation day. There was a snafu with the security system that records people checking off the ship and the first passengers didn't disembark until 8:15am. Disembarkation continued to fall behind, and when we walked off the ship at 11am, there were still many passengers on the ship and in transit immigration had been pushed back to 11am and would probably run until noon or later.

Unencumbered by our large suitcases, we left our cabin shortly before 8am. The only issue with using EZ Check is that none of the liquid toiletries that are used the final morning can go home in a carry on unless they are less than 3 ounces. Luckily, we were down to the last drops of so many things: shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, mouthwash and deodorant, etc. that we just tossed what was left. It worked out perfectly. 

We had a last leisurely breakfast in the Botticelli Dining Room, enjoying two small bottles of Korbel in mimosas and indulging in blueberry pancakes and crispy bacon. Yep, it was my first bacon of the winter, and something I'm not likely to eat again until next winter. We left the dining room and went directly to the Adagio Lounge, with its quiet solitude...and power ports. We needed to keep our iDevices charged to 100%; our Southwest flights offered free TV (and the thought of something other than Love Boat reruns made my heart beat faster). We kept waiting for the 'last and final' announcement, calling all of us non-in transit passengers to disembark, but when it didn't come by 11am, we simply walked off the ship. 

Weep. We had said goodbye to the Emerald Princess two years ago not knowing when we'd see the ship again, and today felt much the same. We've now spent 471 nights on that ship, and, despite the many small cutbacks we witnessed (it's death by a thousand cutbacks), it remains our favorite large ship. 

I cannot recommend Global Entry strongly enough for any passengers doing multiple back to back cruises out of Fort Lauderdale. Having it has saved us hours in the past two months, and today we bypassed a long, weaving queue to go through immigration and went right to the head of the line. So nice!!

We were in a taxi by 11:10am, and then enountered the inevitable traffic that surrounds the area between Port Everglades and the nearby Fort Lauderdale airport. Our driver chose to go down 17th Street to Federal Boulevard, and I kept my window rolled down, waving to the waiters we knew who were walking over to the stores. As we passed the Embassy Suites, I thought how it seemed like yesterday that we were meeting Suzan and Greg there at the start of our Emerald Princess cruises. Time goes way too fast...

...unless one is stuck in traffic watching a taxi fare climb. Then it seems to crawl. Our Prius taxi had had a hard life, and kept making loud noises like the driver was rolling over dead bodies in the road. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. I gave G a questioning look, to see if he could diagnose its disorder from the back seat, but he shrugged. No clue. It got louder and more frequent as we finally approached the airport, and by the time we were in the clover leaf leading from the expressway, I knew we could walk the rest of the way if necessary. 

Oy vey, the Fort Lauderdale airport on a Saturday is a caution. We expected that, and had discussed the wisdom of disembarking the Emerald Princess on a weekday instead, but our flight options were so much better on a Saturday that it was a worthwhile trade off. Plus, EZ Check is not available on cruises of less than 7-nights. It was nice not to have to roll our large suitcases across that carpeted (what a ridiculous choice for airport flooring!) Southwest terminal. 

We could have gone right through security and to our gate, but G still had a can of pop to drink and so we joined the masses, finally finding one chair and one stool at a charging station. Many people had their large suitcases piled around them, as they couldn't check in until 2-3 hours before their flights. We've been there, done that in the past. EZ check is so much better!!

We walked right though security with our TSA pre check, and then down to our gate. We should have stayed outside security a little longer. There was no place to sit, and so we stood until it was time to start boarding the plane. Our flights were all on time, and Martha was waiting for us when we (and our EZ Checked bags!) arrived at our home airport. 

Everything at home is fine, though I know from experience that it will take a week to feel things are under control again.  I made Kraft Mac and cheese for a late dinner (what a come down!!); I remember buying it in December thinking it would be a handy thing to have in the pantry when we got home, and it was handy, but it was not tasty.  In less than two hours I've cooked, done dishes, started laundry and cleaned the master bedroom (I'm allergic to dust). I'm lying in bed with the ceiling fan on, trying to convince myself it's an ocean breeze and its hum is the sound of gentle waves washing ashore. 

This is my new normal. 

Still, life is good. :-)

Day 148: Princess Cays

Today was in the 13 of the top 5 days of the entire winter. ;-)

Things did not look too promising when we first walked out on the Terrace Deck en route to the Horizon Court Buffet. The Emerald Princess was just rounding the southern tip of Eleuthera, and the lighthouse, as well as the small, unconnected islets that stretch off the end of the island were clearly visible. What wasn't visible was the sun; it looked rather grey and gloomy. I was disheartened. We had big plans for the day. 

We ate a quick and light breakfast in the buffet and then went back to our cabin to back for an easy beach day. I left behind my snorkel gear, though. Though I was much improved today, I did not feel well enough to want to breathe through a snorkel. We were on the very first tender to the island, and immediately left the Princess property and walked behind the fence to where the locals sell trinkets and handicrafts.

I had brought all of our gold mesh bags filled with Elite toiletries (10 of them!) and started walking down one side of the stalls and handing them to the ladies selling their wares. They were thrilled, and, as I walked back when I was done, several of them called me over and handed me small gifts in return, and gave me hugs. We left Coke tumblers from purchasing the soda package with the grandmother of a boy (now a teen) we had met years ago when he directed us back to Princess Cays on one of our rambling walks. 

The coolest things I was gifted were earrings and a necklace, tiny glass dolphins filled with pink Bahamian sand. I love them!!

By the time I was finished, our group for our excursion today, with Eleuthera Tours, had started to gather. Kristel from Eleuthera Tours is the one who gave us a ride back to the ship last cruise when we had walked down to the lighthouse. She and her husband, native Bahamian Donald, offer all sorts of tours on the island. The plan for today was to ride(!!!!) the three miles down to Lighthouse Beach and then have several hours to explore, and enjoy a picnic of local Bahamian food and drink on the beach. (I think I was most excited about the ride part of all this!!) 

The cost for this 5-hour tour was $90pp (www.eleutheratours.com). 

I can tell you, after riding down to the southern point in a 4 wheel drive vehicle, that it was not my imagination. This is one really rough road, so rough that it took us about 30 minutes to drive the three miles. But we enjoyed the bragging rights we had when the others we were with (seven ladies all from our home state) couldn't believe we've walked it several times in the past. 

It was a wonderful thing to arrive at the Caribbean beach still full of energy. G was a Pied Piper and led the others across the tidal pools and up to the lighthouse, but I took off in the exact opposite direction. I've always wanted to know what lies beyond the rocks on the northern end of the Caribbean side beach. And I love to walk on a beach when mine are the only footprints. 

I walked the length of the first beach, looking all along the way for any beach treasures. This was where I had found a perfect sand dollar on my first visit; I've never been that lucky since, and wasn't today, either. Once at the end, I carefully picked my way across the rocks and tidal pools only to find another length of empty, pristine beach. From this point, I could see the very top of the Emerald Princess at anchor off Princess Cays. 

I walked the full length of this beach too, loving the peace and sound of the waves crashing. The sun had come out and the water was a brilliant blue color. Somewhere along this beach I began to wonder why the heck we live where we do, in the middle of the country, when we are both so drawn to beaches, especially remote beaches. But we do, and we love it there, too. 

At the end of the second beach was a rock cliff that I could have scaled if I hadn't been wearing Tevas, but I decided that was the end of my journey. I turned around and walked back to where Donald was building a fire to cook our lunch and Kristel was pouring rum punches and other beverages for the rest of the group, who had returned from exploring. I had packed my Konvertible Kite and opened it up, and it immediately caught the wind. I got so warm flying the kite in the sun that I first stood in the water, and then eventually walked out to a rock in the water and sat on it while holding the string reel. Heaven!

That kite had gotten around this winter, and had been flown as far west as Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, as far south as Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and as far east as Eleuthera in the Bahamas. What a winter we've had!!

Eventually I decided it was time to join the others in enjoying some of Kristel's rum punch and pulled a chair out to the beach. Donald had already set the several tables we were using with vinyl tablecloths and colorful plates, and decorated the tabletops with flowers, shells and coral. It was rustically beautiful and perfect for the beach location. 

G and Donald

Around 12:30pm Donald called us to lunch. Our choices (we had made them when we reserved the excursion) were conch, fish or BBQ chicken. I chose conch and G chose the chicken and everything was served with Bahamian rice and coleslaw. Donald had caught the conch and fish last night, and Kristel made everything from scratch and it was all absolutely delicious. I was on to my second rum punch by then, and could no longer feel my lips, but, hey, I didn't have to walk back!!

At 2pm, everything was cleaned up and packed up and we began the ride back to the ship. Also not my imagination:  it is a slight but steady uphill climb on the first part of the walk back. Of course, it's usually after noon by the time we start back when we walk, and the sun is generally bright and hot. Riding on the back of a 4WD truck in cushioned seats is much better. 

Kristel and Donald returned us to Princess Cays around 2:30pm, and after hugs goodbye, we discovered the line for the tender back to the ship was ridiculously long right then. Not interested in standing in it, we found two nearby loungers in the shade and made ourselves comfortable. The two piece local band was still playing and the sun was shining and it was a perfect end to our perfect day on the beach. We returned to the ship on the last tender of the last day of the last cruise of our winter at sea. 

Seldom early, never late. That's our cruising motto. ;-)

Once back on the ship, G showered first and went up to Skywalkers to watch our departure from the island. I joined him by 5pm and we watched as the Emerald Princess rounded the southern tip of Eleuthera and started its journey along the island's 110-mile long eastern coast. We enjoyed that view and the sunset from our dinner table in the Michelangelo Dining Room. The last supper!  G shocked me by ordering tamarind salmon, and said he actually enjoyed it. We did not know until tonight that we could have been ordering the old 'always available' salmon and chicken breast even though it is no longer on the menu. I've enjoyed salmon twice a cruise on these short cruises, but, on a longer cruise, I would definitely have ordered the 'off-menu' salmon. 

We took a few minutes after dinner to watch balancing act La Paire perform in the Piazza with Rocco (Mr. Six Pack) and his wife. At one point, Rocco lies flat on the floor and outstretches his arms over his head. His wife stands on his hands and he lifts her and pulls himself first to a sitting position and then to a standing position with her still standing on his outstretched arms, and then reverses that back to the floor. I simply cannot believe his strength. He must work out for hours every day. 

We needed to get started with our packing by then, and skipped tonight's Voice of the Ocean to return to the cabin. G always says it will just take five minutes to pack, but that is so not true. At 10:30pm we are just finishing it up. We are using EZ Check and had our boarding passes and luggage tags delivered to our cabin about 8pm. We will set our four (grrrr) suitcases outside our cabin door tonight and not see them again until they come off the baggage carousel at our home airport. For $20pp, we think this is the best deal around when traveling with lots of luggage.

It is hard to believe that our two months on the Emerald Princess are over, and that our sixth winter at sea is behind us.  G commented tonight, while packing, that he doesn't know how in the world we managed packing for our South Pacific trip. It was quite a logistical nightmare, with suitcases spread across two islands and the Pacific Princess. Coming on board the Emerald Princess and staying in the same cabin for two months has been a cakewalk in comparison. But we wouldn't change a thing about our winter. It's been the most amazing adventure of our lives. 

Five years after our first winter at sea, life is still good. :-)

Day 147: At sea

Thankfully, probably due to my rest day yesterday, I finally started showing some signs of significant improvement today, and just in time, too. Starting tomorrow, there are no rest days in sight. 

We slept in today; G had been out and about listing to live music and attending the Love Boat Disco Deck party (I really wish I had set up a keyboard shortcut for that!) until well after I fell asleep. I feel a little like I've abandoned him this cruise, but, except for one night, we had dinner together and I have made to the (to him) all important MTP and Captains Circle parties. That's life. 

We went to breakfast together in the Horizon Court Buffet and the first person we saw was our waiter, Victor with a huge smile on his face. Victor had confided in us that his wife, Marisol, and two of her girlfriends (all from Mexico) were on this cruise, as a goodbye to him before he leaves on the Emerald Princess to Europe on April 2. We found out that Marisol and her friends were having dinner in a specialty restaurant last night and had a bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne sent to them.  We knew immediately from Victor that the champagne had been successfully delivered.

Marisol happened to be in the Horizon Court Buffet when we arrived, and Victor took us over to introduce her to us. She doesn't speak English and beyond 'mucho gusto', my Spanish is almost non-existent, but Victor translated and it was all quite fun. 

I like when things like that happen. We do tend to get close to our waiters when we're on a ship for long periods of time. 

We were still sitting in the buffet at 11:45am when I uttered those words that seem to get said at least once a cruise season..."Hurry up and finish eating so we can go to lunch". Ah yes, that's a sea day on a cruise ship! ;-)

We did go to lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room around 12:45pm. I had just a calamari starter but G had a chef salad and ice cream for dessert. It wasn't that we were particularly hungry (my appetite had left me altogether this cruise), it was simply our last opportunity for lunch in the dining room, and we didn't want to miss it. 

We walked up the stairs to the Promenade Deck when we were finished eating, and strolled (really, it wasn't even as ambitious as a walk) around it a few times. I think I was expecting my usual lethargy of late to hit me, but it didn't (that's when I knew it was going to be a better day). On our fourth time around, we saw a small power boat pass behind the ship. That's quite an usual sighting on a sea day! Coming around the ship, we saw a sailboat. We knew we had to be close to Florida. 

Sure enough, we were, about 20 miles off then Florida Keys, and we automatically tried for an AT&T signal. Oh happy day, we had one. G immediate placed a call to our insurance company to get the insurance started back up on the cars on Saturday; I called Mom to let her hear how well I sounded, and we both internetted for about 30 more minutes until we lost the signal as we reached the northern end of the Keys and headed east toward the Bahamas. 

How addicted are we to this cruising thing that G was finding cruise deals for the next two months and I was checking airfare for them? From the promenade deck of a cruise ship. After almost five months at sea. We are hopeless cases. (For those interested, the March 20 Caribbean Princess and the April 2 Emerald Princess are heckuva deals). 

AT&T territory...yay!!!

By 4pm I was starting to get cleaned up for our 712th and final formal night of the winter. Hallelujah!!  As G was putting on his tuxedo, he said "Let's don't ever dress for dinner at home". ;-) No argument here.  I will miss this ship, I will miss this crew, I will miss fellow passengers and beach-y ports. I will miss the food and the service and the entertainment, but, as God is my witness, I will not miss dressing for formal nights in the least little bit!!

We weren't especially hungry tonight. In a real change for us, we skipped the lobster and the beef Wellington and both had just the veal ravioli. It was really delicious, and I don't know why I've never tried it before. We had mandarin sorbet for dessert, and scooted out to the Captains Circle party in Club Fusion at 7pm. We finished this season as #3 Most Traveled Passengers again, with #1 and 2 staying on from last cruise. Although I have given some of the award crystals away, I am going home with six of them. Lucky for me that Southwest doesn't weigh our carry ons!

G is still out socializing, but I could feel myself finally starting to fade by the end of the party. Poor Captain Forteeze; he is going home to Italy on Saturday and has just come down with something, too. I was so careful at the MTP party not to shake hands or get too close to anyone, but there are a lot of respiratory infections going around right now. 

I am tucked into bed with an alarm set for 7am tomorrow. We have one last hurrah planned for tomorrow, a final big day on Princess Cays. On one hand, it's hard to believe this season is almost over; on the other, it feels like a lifetime since we've been home. G admitted today that he was ready to go home, but said that, as soon as we are, he'll want to be here. We are kind of balanced between the two worlds right now, not totally convinced that either is the better one. 

But what a quandary to have. ;-)

Day 146: Cozumel

I remain quite sick (I'll confess...it's a smidge of pneumonia) and couldn't muster up the energy to do anything today other than eat a piece of pizza and go to dinner. I've traded towels with Ambrish twice, and emptied my own wastebaskets both morning and night so as not to spread germies. As for what's filling them...I've gone through boxes and boxes of Princess tissues and that is a hardship no human should bear.

We have plans for Princess Cays on Friday, and I'm working hard to feel better by then. This is not the way I wanted to end our cruising season, but I know how rough things are when we first return home. If this had to be, it was best to have it while in the cocoon of the Emerald Princess. 

Day 145: Roatan, Honduras

Our bad weather luck in Grand Cayman has definitely not carried over to Roatan this year. We had brightly sunny skies the first time we were here, and mostly sunny skies today, with the added bonus that we had a sea of glass to enjoy. This is really a beautiful port!

Another instance of local and ship's time not in sync

I skipped breakfast in the dining room today and instead picked up a decaf Americano in the Calypso Bar by the MUTS pool and then joined G to watch from the Promenade Deck as we arrived in Roatan. Afterward, I had a very light breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet. That's not a common occurrence for me, but I was kept very happy with plain yogurt and dry cereal, and a few pieces of fruit. 

This is such an easy port for us, like Princess Cays or Grand Turk in many ways, with a beach right next to the ship. More accurately, it's easier than Princess Cays (no tender) and not as easy as Grand Turk (there's more of a walk to get to the beach), but all these ports allow us to be low energy and relaxed, and that was just what I needed today. (Of course, Princess Cays when we do the Eleuthera Death March is neither relaxed nor low energy). 

We watched from the Promenade Deck as the Carnival Glory arrived just ahead of us

We walked through the 'Enter Through The' gift shop and up the hill and down the hill and across the bridge to the little island where the beach is located at Mahogany Bay and set ourselves up on two loungers on the beach, imbibing in just one drink each and swimming and floating and immensely enjoying people watching (the Carnival Glory arrived just before the Emerald Princess did). Sorry, no pictures of this. We wanted to both use our floats at the same time and didn't want to leave our iPhones on the beach while we did.  

This was our first really stinking hot day of the winter, and humid to boot, so we spent most of the day in the water. But there were ample loungers available despite there being two cruise ships in port (though the Glory is not a large ship by today's standards). Ambrish and his buddies got some time off today and we enjoyed visiting with them for a short time on the beach. I think Ambrish ranks right up there with Cristian from Romania as our two best cabin stewards ever. We will miss him!

We didn't reboard the ship until almost 4:30pm and raced through showers to get to Skywalkers to watch the beautiful sailaway from Roatan. We both decided today that this is one of our favorite ports in the Caribbean, and no one is more surprised by that than we are. It was Stilton night in Skywalkers, and we had skipped lunch today, so I happily indulged. There is no next cruise any more this winter, and many Stilton-less months in my future. 

However, the Stilton at 5pm left me not especially hungry for dinner at 5:30pm. But it was Italian night, and the last penne arribiata for me, too, so, of course, I had some with two glasses of merlot. We skipped dessert tonight, because this cruise's Most Traveled Passengers cocktail party started at 7:15pm in the Adagio Lounge. After my wine with dinner (Dr. Bronwyn had approved) I was abstemious at the party and just drank a couple of Perrriers...and had two of the fancy tiny desserts that are served. 

G is heading back out to listen to some live music around the ship and then go to the Love Boat Disco Deck Party. I am passing on it tonight; I am feeling better but still need to see some improvement before I choose parties over sleep. Besides, I really want to watch all the exploding heads on TV reporting on today's Super Tuesday results. ;-)