Day 140: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day)

When I awoke this morning, I had reservations for all of the following:

- A flight from Fort Lauderdale to home

- A flight from Fort Lauderdale to Detroit

- Another 10-night cruise on the Emerald Princess  

And just this morning, we chose option #3. We know that this season on the Emerald Princess is the end of an era, and suspect that we may never enjoy a winter as we've enjoyed this one, which has been perfect in so many ways. Though we'd made final payment on this cruise 75 days ago, I never seriously thought we'd be staying on for it (and could have cancelled it even this morning using Princess Vacation Protection). But, in the end, we just wanted to, as the song says, "Stay...just a little bit longer". 

Most of it was that I didn't need to rush to Mom. She's doing better every day and has lots of home care in place. Part of it was that Darko is staying until March 29th and has been goading us for a week, telling us it would be perfect if we all left at the same time, since we had arrived on board on the same date. Other crew members, who have known about the 19th v. 29th debate for awhile, have had great fun weighing in too. "One European contract" we are repeatedly told.  In the end, it simply felt right to finish at 150 days. And so we will (knock on wood). 

I spent much of today making phone calls and attending to administrative duties. G got off the ship just long enough to go to Walgreens to pick up two more bottles of Barefoot Bubbly and some turnaround day snacks for Raymond. We had lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room, Barefoot Bubbly on the Terrace Deck at sailaway, Dinner with Darko (my final flourless chocolate cake of the winter. Sigh), and a beautiful sunset over the wake at the back of the ship. It was a good day. 

I hope the next nine are just as uneventful. 

Life is good. :-)

Cruise #16: Southern Caribbean

We are entering the realm of ultra-marathoners...at least when it comes to cruising. I don't even have the itinerary and a map ready to use for this cruise, but I think our itinerary will be something like this:

March 19- Fort Lauderdale

March 20- Princess Cays

March 21- At Sea

March 22- St. Thomas

March 23- Dominica

March 24- Grenada

March 25- Bonaire

March 26- Aruba

March 27- At Sea

March 28- At Sea

March 29- HOME!

The decision to stay on was made just this morning. If you're still reading along, let's finish this winter out together!

Day 139: Another Princess Cays miss

Except for glancing back through the window in the door at the end of our corridor that leads to the Terrace Deck and seeing it was sunny, we took no other note of the weather this morning. That probably explains why we were so surprised when, sitting at breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room, we once again heard  Captain Stenzel begin an announcement. Just a note about captains' announcements:  they are always expected once the port pilot has disembarked the ship, welcoming us back to the ship after a day on land, and they are sometimes made at noon on sea days to update navigational progress (although this is often done by the Officer of the Watch). But when we hear the captain's voice start an announcement at any other time, we brace ourselves for what is almost certainly bad news. And so it was today, as Captain Stenzel went on to tell us that, due to winds and sea swells and conditions that were expected to worsen, we would be abandoning our call at Princess Cays today.

Well, hell. We've not had the best luck with tender ports this winter, having missed Half Moon Cay on the Nieuw Amsterdam (do you remember back that far?  I barely do...), and Princess Cays three times, including the last two scheduled visits. I'll admit that we were a bit incredulous until we went out on the Promenade Deck after finishing breakfast. It was windy and rough, and, of course it made perfect sense to cancel our stop there. Not that we were happy about it: we just had to accept it, especially when we could see a Holland America Line ship anchored off Half Moon Cay, just 15 miles to our south. 

Once again, a long and unexpectedly unscheduled day stretched out in front of us. Once again, a revised Patter was quickly distributed, although the only thing on it that really appealed to us was lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room. Once again, we were amazed at how quickly everything gets re-worked to accommodate the missed port. 

With some unexpected time this morning, I made a point to watch the Wake Show with the cruise director Kelvin Joy and his deputy CD Adam. What a welcome improvement this has been. They read notes from passengers, they tell jokes, they're silly and funny. At least there's a reason to watch now...

And so we spent the day much like any other sea day, eating and drinking and hot tub-ing and reading. It was very hot (86 degrees!) and muggy and sunny, so it wasn't a day to walk on Deck 19 (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!), but we managed to pass the time enjoyably and enrichingly. 

We went to Dinner with Darko a bit on the early side; we had big entertainment plans for the evening. Pianist Antonio Salci was back on board, and, in retrospect, even if all we enjoyed this cruise were the production shows and Mark Preston and Antonio Salci, I would consider this an entertainment-rich cruise for the Emerald Princess. I don't expect to enjoy everything that's scheduled; I don't even expect to enjoy something all ten nights of a cruise. But though we had only three of the four usual production shows (as the new cast is still learning the fourth), plus two musical entertainers, one of them superb and one of them good, plus a few appealing movies, even an entertainment snob like me has been kept content. Yay Princess!

And finally, Mom returned home from the hospital last night, and will continue to receive some care at home. Yay Mom- and thanks for all your wonderful comments!

Day 138: At Sea

I think I was asleep last night before my head hit the pillow, and slept soundly all night long. We did our normal morning routine (International Cafe for brewed coffee; DaVinci Dining Room for breakfast served by Alex from the Philippines and Luis from Mexico, who know us well by now). Following breakfast, I wanted to walk on Deck 19 before it got too hot. We had a strong following wind today, and moderate seas (about 7 feet) so, although it looked a bit choppy, the ship was quite comfortable.

I booked another cruise for next fall, Singapore to Sydney on the Diamond Princess, which would be back to back with the circumnavigation of Australia. Will we do either one?  I have no idea, but, if we're even contemplating it (and we are), it's best to get our favorite cabin booked for both itineraries. 

We attended our first non-officer lecture of the winter today at 11:15am, entitled "Inside the White House" and offered by passenger Harry Obst, an interpreter working under seven presidents. It was interesting to learn the difference between a translator (text) and an interpreter (speech), and about the different types of interpreters. Given that Princess has abandoned using outside lecturers except on sea day intensive cruises, it was obvious that Mr. Obst was doing this gratis. Oh, and he just happened to have several copies of a book he's written about his experiences for sale, too. ;-) We all came out winners. 

Captain Stenzel's noon update provided the much anticipated news that all six thrusters are now operational. There had been much speculation since last night, as, for awhile, the Emerald Princess webcam had shown the ship en route directly to Port Everglades, and not Princess Cays as scheduled. That was eventually corrected, which made us feel slightly better about the thruster prognosis; Captain Stenzel's announcement made us heave a sigh of relief. 

We returned to the DaVinci Dining Room for lunch with Alex and Luis. We were both trying to avoid the sun today; yesterday's uncovered ferry rides provided enough sun for a couple of days. 

The afternoon highlight was the Grapevine Wine Tasting, and G did sneak into a hot tub (that he swore was totally shaded) for a quick soak while I showered for dinner.  We took a bottle of Veuve Cliquot, true French champagne and a gift from most traveled passengers Mr. and Mrs. Kerridan to dinner with us, and then to the Promenade Deck, where we finished it while watching the sunset. It was a perfect orange ball sunset, the kind that can sometimes spark a green flash (but didn't), but which are never quite as interesting as sunsets surrounded by clouds.

There's a metaphor for life in there somewhere!

We listened to steel drum duo Sugar Cane in the Explorers Lounge for awhile, and G was staying for vocal impressionist Michael Wilson's 8pm show. I...just couldn't. I have already suffered enough "comedians" this winter. Also showing:  production show Boogie Shoes in the Princess Theater. 

And, finally, I was surprised by the amount of green clothing and St. Patricks Day festive wear I saw today, even more than Halloween costumes last fall. Of course, we had nothing to offer. One doesn't plan for St. Patricks Day when one is packing in October (nor Christmas, nor New Years Eve, nor Super Bowl). If it can't be worn for over four months, it just doesn't make the cut. ;-)

Day 137: St. Thomas/ St. John

It was another of the best days of the winter, but before I get into what made it so, I'll provide what little additional information I have on the thruster control mechanism issue. 

Captain Stenzel announced that the technical department had worked on it all day, and that they believed that they had two of the six thrusters working. As the Emerald Princess was leaving St. Thomas, we would notice more tests being performed (we did). There was no announcement following that. 

As we'd been told to expect, we tendered into downtown Charlotte Amalie today (When was the last time we did something for the first time?  Today, tendering in St. Thomas.) Unlike yesterday, when tendering in St. Kitts stymied our plans for the day, tendering today actually made our day easier. For the first time in several years. we were planning to take a ferry to the neighboring US Virgin Island of St. John (Singular, non-possessive. St. John's is the town in Antigua where cruise ships dock).  We had originally thought we'd walk into downtown Charlotte Amalie (pronounced a-MAL-ya) from Crown Bay, in time to catch the 10am ferry. As it turned out, we tendered from the Emerald Princess to within a very short distance of the ferry dock, arriving at 9:45am 

We were surprised at how far out of the harbor the Emerald Princess was anchored. We have seen smaller ships, such as the Maasdam, anchor right in the middle of the harbor. Not so today. We were all the way on the other side of Hassel Island. It felt a bit like being in the naughty corner, and made for a fairly long tender ride, but it was a scenic one, with lots of sailboats and yachts and even seaplanes taking off and landing. 

The ferry from downtown Charlotte Amalie is $13 per adult, and takes 45 minutes to get to Cruz Bay on St. John. It doesn't run nearly as frequently as the ferry from Red Hook, on the eastern side of St. Thomas, to Cruz Bay (20 minutes, $7), but we've always liked to try to go at least one direction on the longer ferry. It offers spectacular views, and, today, spectacular waves. It was certainly a rush, a bit akin to a shotover jet boat ride, and we were covered with sea spray several times. G had found me a ginger ale to sip, and I intermittently popped Altoids mints, and I was fine. 

Once at Cruz Bay on St. John, we were immediately reminded of how beautiful that island is. The views in either direction simply from the ferry dock are picturesque. 

The little park at the end of the ferry dock offers a good place to sit on a bench in the shade and watch the roosters and chickens and peeps. I recalled the first time we had ever seen roosters on an island (Kauai in 1995) and how tickled we were by that. Almost 20 years later, we're used to goats, pigs, monkeys, you name it, roaming freely on the islands we visit, 

There are several restaurants with outdoor seating in the immediate area, and we took advantage of the bathrooms at one of them (The Landings) before continuing in our way, which led us to another great sign in the Caribbean:

We had not brought snorkel gear, and, in fact, weren't even wearing swimsuits. Our previous visits to St. John had focused primarily on the water:  snorkeling at Trunk Bay, and renting a dinghy and taking it up the northwest coast of the island, stopping at every single beach as far as Waterlemon Cay. We'd also done some hiking in the Virgin Island National Park in previous visits, but we'd never taken an island tour. That was our intention today, and we couldn't have found a better way to do it. 

While we saw one after another open air safari taxis leave, taking people to beaches, we talked to the dispatcher about setting us up with a driver who could provide a tour. He pointed us in the direction of Charlo (340-642-0337), who told us that, if he could get a few more people, he'd give us a two hour island tour for $25 per person, or we could do a private tour for $160. We didn't have $160, and so waited just a short time before three ladies showed up wanting to do the same, and then get dropped at Trunk Bay beach. Charlo outlined the tour for us on a map of St. John, and, since there are just two main roads on this 18-square mile island, we truly were going to see the entire island. It sounded good, but we could never have anticipated what a great tour guide Charlo would be. He pulled off the road several times, not just for photo stops, but to provide an explanation of what we were seeing. With four bench seats and five people, we almost had a seat per person, and that was perfect for sliding from side to side to take photos in both directions. 

Our first photo stop was Great Cruz Bay (not Cruz Bay where the ferry dock is), where the new Westin Resort is located. 

We continued down Centerline road to enter the national park. Most of St. John is part of the Virgin Island National Park, which limits all new development to a few areas on the western and southern coasts. 

The island in the distance is British Virgin Island Jost Van Dyke. 

From left to right- Mary Point, Great Thatch Island, Jost Van Dyke:

We stopped for about 20 minutes at the Annaburg Sugar Mill Ruins near Waterlemon Cay.  These were extremely interesting, with excellent signage along the 7-10 minute walk. 

We returned to the taxi and continued on along the western coast of the island, where most of the beaches are located. There is one beautiful bay after another, all the way back to Cruz Bay. 

Cinnamon Bay:

Trunk Bay:

Caneel Bay:

I can't recommend Charlo and his taxi strongly enough. He made the day for us, taking the time to show us local flowers and fruits, and telling us about the history of the island. On our tour, we happened to spot a tiny deer bounding through the national park, and a mongoose, which was brought over from Europe to kill the rats that were eating the sugar cane crops, but instead killed all the snakes (I personally don't consider this to be a bad thing). 

Shortly after 1:30pm, we returned to the ferry dock at Cruz Bay. We had to take a ferry back to Red Hook, on the western end of St. Thomas, as these run more frequently (roughly every hour). The ferry into Charlotte Amalie wouldn't have returned us  in time. This ferry was two decks high, and the ride was not nearly as rough as the longer ride had been. Almost immediately, we were thrilled to see a large hawksbill turtle just under the surface of the water. We didn't know, until we talked with the other passengers in the ferry, that all snorkeling at Trunk Bay had been cancelled due to the rough water (and we later learned that people booked on Emerald Princess snorkel excursions at Trunk Bay were told this and were allowed to cancel their excursions without penalty or take them just for the beach experience for half price). 

We hadn't been in Red Hook since the new ferry terminal was built. That's a huge improvement over what used to be there, which was a tiny ticket booth. We caught a taxi for $10 per person back to downtown Charlotte Amalie, and, since traffic was very light today- at least going westbound- it took only 25 minutes. Our driver deposited us right at the tender dock, where we were pleased to see a large local ferry had been pressed into service to tender passengers back to the ship. It held between 250 and 300 people on two levels. 

To find the Emerald Princess, look in the middle of this photo. Just its bow is shown jutting out from behind Hassel Island. In addition, a seaplane taking off can be seen just above it. 

Unloading the tender took a long time. The waves were rough, and disembarkation had to be stopped a couple of times while the tender rose and fell against the Emerald Princess pontoon. The entire process: tender loading and unloading and the ride took an hour, but most people were happy to have been deposited in town for free, instead of for the $5 taxi fare from Crown Bay. 

G headed to a hot tub, but I showered and dressed for formal night as I charged my iPhone. I then went up to Skywalkers to call Mom, and upload these photos while I still had 4G Internet. Mom is better, but I think full recovery is going to take awhile. She remains hospitalized, which is a bit of a relief. I know she's getting good care there. 

While I was sitting in Skywalkers, I could see the tug boat that had remained off the Emerald Princess's starboard side all day. 

Sailaway as seen from Skywalkers, with Water Island in the distance:

Looking back toward Charlotte Amalie, with Hassel Island in the foreground:

G soon joined me, and we went to Dinner with Darko. We were hungry, having skipped lunch, but I think that, after four ferry/tender rides today and an island tour, we were even more tired. We ate lightly, went to the 7:15pm performance of production show Disco:  Blame it on the Boogie, and started back toward our cabin. Fuzzy water, but not even popcorn later, we'll be asleep in a few minutes.