NO JAMAICA, NO MON

Friday, February 06, 2009
AT SEA
COOL, SUNNY, 68 F

Thursday morning, February 5, Tim and I were all packed to go to Jamaica—swimsuit on, sunscreen, books, towels, a day at the Margaritaville Beach. At 8:15 a.m. Captain Ettore Bovo announced that for the safety of crew and passengers we could not safely dock at Ocho Rios because the seas were far too rough. So many people (on board and at port) were certainly disappointed. We had visited Jamaica twice before and were only planning to hit the beach, so by 8:30 a.m. we went straight to the main pool area and found a perfect spot on the first tier above the main pool. (this area is tiered so that people can view the TV screen while sunbathing and swimming, still Deck 9). We also found that the lounge chairs here are sturdy aluminum and MUCH more comfortable than those in the aft pool area. Unbelievably we spent from 8:30 to
4 p.m. at the pool reading our books. That does not sound very exciting, but I was thinking that we have never had such an extended vacation, so why not?!?

When we took a break for lunch I met by chance a Cruise Critic Couple, Steve and Henny from Baltimore (JAYZEE99) who had not gone to the Meet & Greet. They were doing the same thing as we—they cruised on Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas in January, and then B2B on the Carnival Liberty to get out of the cold weather. According to them, we must check out the Holland America Eurodam, their favorite ship. We are intrigued by their scheduled 2010 cruise to the Orient out of Seattle for 69 days, return to San Diego on Holland America-I do think the Eurodam. They were a friendly couple about our age-wish we had met them earlier.

Thursday was a cruise elegant evening so we dressed up a little for dinner in the Gold Olympian (Tim and his suit, burgundy dress shirt, I wore a black sequin top and black velvet pants with a black long sleeve transparent blouse—our standard and much used wardrobe!)-Chateaubriand, Baked Alaska.

Thursday’s main production at 8:30 p.m. was “Just Rock” and we were again transfixed by a spectacular performance—9-piece orchestra, 16 dancers/singers. The songs were more 70s and 80s, and the show was very entertaining. Our seats were closer to the front this time. After the show we changed and went on the main pool deck for the “Seaside Theatre” movie, The Chronicles of Narnia/Prince Caspian. It was very cool and cloudy, but with two blankets each we kept warm. No popcorn, no cookies like the Grand Princess, but the movie was good and we had a perfect view. Sort of like a drive-in movie with no car and no bugs!

Friday, February 06, 2009

We slept in til 8 a.m. and our room service-which is very timely. Three days in a row at the exact time requested! Princess was always about 15-20 minutes early-no complaints! It is quite cool on deck and so we read our books in the Promenade Deck lounge area by the Casino. We have heard that north Florida was 19 F last night. We think the temperatures are getting much cooler as we get closer to Miami. About 1 p.m. the captain announced we were about 5 miles off the coast of Cuba-which was visible.

Tim was in the Slots tournament with no luck this afternoon, but he enjoyed the chocolate buffet on the Lido Deck. I will do the walkathon to honor my friend Kathy, “On Deck for the Cure,” a Susan G. Komen Walk that I mentioned earlier. Two days ago 100 people were signed up. I received a t-shirt and pink wristband for signing up.

It does not seem possible that another cruise will be over tomorrow morning. I am certainly glad that we have one more, the Norwegian Dawn, beginning tomorrow. Tim did say today that he has seen enough food already. I have tried to eat a lot of fruit and modest lunch and dinner. Not sure he can say the same. This has been a good, enjoyable cruise—not as exciting as the Grand Princess, mostly because of our new CC friends. We did meet Steve and Henny for lunch today and they felt the same way, this cruise was not extraordinary. It’s funny that no one has seen the captain either.

Culinary Delight of the Day--Thursday/Friday: Lemon Napoleon, Chateaubriand, Fatoush Salad ( arugula lettuce, feta cheese, flatbread), Lobster Bisque, Prime Rib

TK’s Takes: He liked the chocolate buffet at lunchtime. It is windy and cold, not many people on deck-those people on the deck are wrapped up in big towels.

A Note our Dear Granddaughters, B and B: B1 and B2 would love the towel animals on their bed each night. There is a mini golf course on this ship for B1! The children’s area does look like a lot of fun—Camp Carnival.