A sort of sunrise
Ships at anchor outside the canal before dawn
G and I went to Sabatini’s for cappuccinos and mimosas, and then went to the Sanctuary. There was a one day Canal special in the Sanctuary of $60pp for those who hadn’t booked the entire cruise. Mimosas were served there all morning, and a small continental breakfast buffet had been set up. I believe it was limited to 32 guests, so while it was busier than it has been up there, it certainly wasn’t crowded. Eventually, G said there was no way we’d be going through the canal today, because we had surely lost our time slot, and darned if he wasn’t exactly right. Captain Stenzel, at 11:15am announced that we had lost our transit slot for today and would remain at anchor the rest of the day. As a result, we would have to miss one or two of our three remaining ports.
This is not what we had hoped for, but the officers and crew took their already high standards of service up yet another notch. And we knew that all of these things were possibilities when we booked this cruise.
We went back to Sabatini’s about 12:30pm for a special lunch that was being served on canal day to all guests who were eligible to dine there for breakfast (this was a very good cruise to be celebrating a milestone 1250 days!). This lunch was incredible. First, there was an ice carving of the Colosseum in Rome, then hors doerves were served in a buffet area, and then there was a special menu too. The intent had been for us to be able to enjoy dining there with its views while we were transiting the Panama Canal, which, of course, didn’t happen today, but we enjoyed it all the same. I am quite bowled over by the attention and service we are receiving.
Hors doerves (and below)
Shrimp and eggplant caponata…delish!!
Cannoli for dessert
Day 9 lunch menu in the DaVinci Dining Room
After lunch, last night’s alcohol and today’s early morning started to catch up with me. G returned to the Sanctuary but I just wanted to nap in our air conditioned room (we are just north of the equator and it’s quite warm but not too). I watched a movie on TV, followed the Michigan game online (when’s the last time we’ve had a 7-0 start to a season?) and dozed on and off until it was time to get ready…to eat again. We finally showed some restraint and limited ourselves to large salad at dinner (my Asian salad was delicious!).
As we were walking into dinner, Captain Stenzel made an announcement that we had secured a transit slot for tomorrow morning (yay) and that we were going to have to miss the port of Bonaire (boo). I have not spent an entire day on Bonaire in nearly ten years, and would have enjoyed snorkeling there immensely. Furthermore, the order of Curacao and Aruba are being switched, and I suspect we might lose our sunset sail in Aruba.
Day 9 dinner menu
After dinner, we walked around the Promenade Deck looking at all the freighters around us with their lights on. After we lost our transit slot today, the Emerald Princess was moved out of the queuing area of the canal so “marine activities” could take place (I have no idea what that means, but suspect it includes processing sewage and making water). Then this evening we moved back into the queuing area surrounded by freighters. With tomorrow being another early day, we decided to skip entertainment tonight and returned to the cabin early, but not before chatting with HGM Helmut. He is a most personable HGM! He told us that we’ll have another luncheon tomorrow in Sabatini’s and I just can’t believe the things the officers are doing to make this cruise special.
A letter was waiting for us outlining the new itinerary and saying that we will be receiving a non-refundable on board credit of $100pp. It makes no difference to us any longer if an OBC is refundable or not; we will not leave a ship with money due to us ever, ever, EVER again after last year.
And, finally, if you’ve cruised, you’re probably familiar with the small notices the steward places in the cabin when clocks are to be moved ahead or back, but I’ve never seen one quite like this:
Cruising in the Age of COVID. It’s a whole ‘nother sport.
