Day 48: St. Thomas

On this sunny and beautiful day before Christmas, I never even got off the ship. That darn Tropical Deck Party last night might have had something to do with it. And/or the three Breeza Marinas (at least one of them a double...how did THAT happen?). And/or the fact that I really needed to get some work done today, and St. Thomas, with a docked ship and most people off exploring (hence faster wifi) is a great place to do it.

So instead, after breakfast in the dining room (our one and only less than positive dining experience so far this winter...the extra work caused by the Norovirus is taking its toll, I think), I returned to the cabin to set up my laptop and got to it, and was finished in about two hours. We met for lunch in the dining room and then I worked another hour answering emails out on deck (from my iPhone) and a couple of hours making phone calls (well, some of them were personal, not business. Most of them :-).) and before I knew it it was nearly 4pm. I had time for a quick walk on Deck 19- G had done his walking through the Crown Bay Marina looking at all the yachts in for the holiday- and then it was time to get ready for Christmas Eve and formal night.

Frankly, it was a good thing that we had had an easy day; our evening on board made up for it, and at 11:45pm, I am finally in bed and just beginning to type this blog post.

At 5:15pm, there was Christmas caroling in the Piazza with the production show singers and several officers, staff and crew. Every level of the Piazza was packed with passengers caroling along, and there was even some artificial snowfall (but it sadly wasn't too impressive). Snow in the Piazza on Christmas cruises was something Princess rolled out two or three years ago and it was a big deal at the time, but since then it's pretty much faded away, and I've seen it just twice so far this cruise: this evening and a bit during the Welcome Aboard Champagne Party.

Next up was dinner: escargot and lobster for me and Beef Wellington for G. We postponed dessert and coffee and went to the 7:15pm performance by singer/dancer Delisco. FINALLY!! Some entertainment other than production shows and the Beatle Maniacs that appeals to us on Princess! We hope he stays on over turnaround day and performs again next cruise.

By then, we were (barely) hungry enough for dessert and coffee, and so we returned to the dining room only to find 45 minute waits for a table for 2. However, we were ushered in to see headwaiter Robert, and, because we were going to be there just for a few minutes, we were set up at a table for four, just us. Thank you, Robert!

At 9:15pm, Assistant Cruise Director Alissia was doing a sort-of trivia in the Explorers Lounge: missing lyrics from songs through the decades. That sounded like fun-, so we went, and it was fun. We could have actually played to win this first time, but we just wanted to listen to the music and sing along. We consider ourselves disqualified from participating in this sort of thing on subsequent cruises, since now we know the answers. Not that we'll remember some of them. ;-)

Finally, the highlight of the evening: the crew Christmas program in the Princess Theater at 10:30pm. The singers all performed solos or duets, the dancers danced (darling costumes!), a couple of crew members performed (can you imagine singing a solo in a language not your native one in front of 900 people? Neither can I!). Accompanied by the Emerald Princess orchestra, it was a great show, and it was ended with more caroling. Fun stuff!

We tried to deliver a Christmas card to Rhea in Skywalkers at 11:20pm, but she wasn't on duty yet, and we didn't have the energy to wait for her, but we'll see her tomorrow too. G was asleep before I finished my nighttime ablutions, and I then picked up tomorrow's Patter to see what was going on.

Ruh-roh. BIG Ruh-Roh!! My growing suspicions of the past few days were confirmed. There is no Catholic priest on board. Princess says on their website that there will be a priest on board for Christmas and Easter sailings, and that's always been our experience. Usually, when a priest is on board, he'll say daily Mass. I hadn't been seeing this in the Patter, but when there was no Sunday Mass either, I hoped that a priest was coming on board today in St. Thomas. Obviously that's not the case.

This, I think, is going to be a big deal. A big, bad deal. The least Princess could have done is to notify people that they weren't living up to their promise and give people the option of researching whether there was a Christmas Eve Mass on St. Thomas early enough to attend before the ship sailed. Saying nothing and then leaving it until there are no other options is really unforgivable.

I am very disappointed in Princess right now.

On a brighter note, Captain Pomata announced that the number of Noro cases is dropping. Hallelujah! This ship smells like disinfectant. A "mini-turnaround" cleaning was performed today while the ship was in St. Thomas. While I was working in the cabin, all the glassware, tray, ice bucket, ice tongs and decorative pillows and bed covers were collected and not returned until several hours later when they had been sanitized. We were notified that, on turnaround day, after passing through immigration, all in transit passengers wanting to immediately reboard the ship will be held in Club Fusion until 1:30pm or so while the rest of the ship is extensively cleaned. Our plan? We're going to get the heck away from it all, go through immigration early and do some sightseeing in Fort Lauderdale, returning just before the ship sails. Hopefully, all these efforts plus most of the passengers leaving will clear up the problem once and for all.

Nip it, nip it, nip it!!

:-)

Photos 1 and 2: the caroling sheets handed out tonight

Photo 3: singer/dancer Delisco performing in the Princess Theater

Photo 4: a stocking on the bed tonight in lieu of chocolates (last year we got two)

Photo 5: the crew Christmas show (we were seated in the last row of the Princess Theater)

Some miscellaneous thoughts

I was so sleepy last night that I forgot to mention a few things...

First, it's official. This will be a 120 day winter at sea for us.  Final payment was due yesterday for the March 7, 2013 cruise, and we cancelled that reservation, as well as that for the March 17, 2013 cruise. We had kind of been shooting for 120 days all along, but didn't give up the 13th and 14th cruises without a LOT of thought and discussion. There's no doubt we'll want to stay on- that's just how we are- but we also know that it's a good time to be home too. Sure, we'll still have some remaining blasts of winter to endure, but I'll be anxious to return to school and the kids, and we'll have longer days and lots of fun planning for the summer ahead. 

Next, we have Norovirus on the Emerald. It was announced yesterday morning by Captain Pomata and then Hotel General Manager Peter Hollinson. We've heard 30 cases and 50 cases (the rumor mill is extra healthy at times of illness...the next thing we'll hear is that someone personally saw the bodies dragged off as we arrived in Dominica!), but we're not at Code Red yet, because the public restrooms are still open (the outer doors are propped open) and there are still salt and pepper shakers on the tables. They're doing an excellent job of containment (all I can think of here is Barney Fife's "Nip it, nip it, nip it!"). We are generally unaffected, as we eat most of our meals in the dining room and the buffet is where the precautions are most noticeable, with no self service and no silverware pre-set on tables. As always, the crew are the ones who suffer the most with the additional workload. We escaped Noro altogether last winter; while other ships were affected, the Emerald was not. I remember thinking that a winter of Code Red Noro precautions would have us packing up and returning home. 

Nip it, nip it, nip it!! 

I had picked up another box of Wet Ones at Publix on turnaround day, and am using one every time I enter a dining room, as I'm allergic to Purell, the use of which is now being encouraged. Of course, the key is really just copious amounts of hand washing, and we always do that. We're almost through our second bottle of Dial Complete Foaming Hand Soap in the cabin, and we always wash just before entering the dining rooms, Noro outbreak or not, so the Wet Ones are really for their benefit, not mine, but it's better than breaking out in a rash (from the copper in Purell, so be forewarned...). 

Nip it, nip it, nip it!!!!!

Our own poor Steward Nazi is again sick, but with an URI and NOT Norovirus. It's so bad he's not working (so if a body IS carried off, I'll be very concerned, because stewards never miss a day of work). Dare I say it? Yes, we miss him. A lot. He's growing on us. Not much fun, but he does a great job, which has caused us to re-think just what makes a good cabin steward. He certainly has us trained; for all the stuff in our cabin, it's actually fairly tidy (except for drying laundry). 

And, finally, as G remarked yesterday, "What a SWELL party we're having!".  Yes, we have swells. Huge swells. Just like last year. We were told yesterday on Grenada that there had been no ships scheduled to dock there the day before, and it was a good thing, because they couldn't have, due to the swells. Still, yesterday, we were amazed to watch the other ship in port, the much smaller British cruise ship Fred Olson, on the other side of the pier, heave and pull against her lines, then sink and let them go slack.  Over and over again. It was a strong reminder of the power of water (to lift an entire cruise ship!) and the strength of the lines (ropes) holding these ships to the piers. Even this morning, sitting out on the front of the Promenade Deck using good wifi from the Fort Young Hotel, I'm hearing the Emerald tighten hard against the bumpers and then release, repeated every 10 to 15 seconds. Dominica is the port where, the same time last year while docked at the freight dock, we were in an all day lean to port, and even then only after a great deal of difficulty setting up a gangway at all. 

It's the Christmas winds at their best. Next month we'll have an entirely different experience. 

That's it for now. It's not raining in Dominica but it's threatening. Our plans for the day are totally open. We had thought about doing Jacks Walk to the top of the Morne Bruce overlook, but it's no doubt slippery today, so we may have to re-think. 

Damn. 

;-)

Photo 1:  the Fort Young Hotel, home of reliable wifi (at least in the morning), as seen from the Promenade Deck

Photo 2:  G moved a chair to the quiet end of the Promenade Deck, so I could get a phone call out to Mom, which I'm going to do next