Saturday St. Thomas

Oh no – it is only 4:15 and I am awake!  This happens usually at least once a cruise and I can’t get back to sleep so I very quietly try and get dressed and take my Kindle and head out to the International Café.  Yup I am sitting in the International Café on deck five by myself, thank God it is open and I grab my latte and chat with Ron the coffee bar attendant.  I then sit and read and read until about an hour late Richard our friend for many years joins me and we widdle away a few hours until I get Bernie his tea and head back to the cabin around 7:30.

Oh I almost forgot… since the issue of our cabin steward is ongoing I thought I should do something but wasn’t sure what or how to go about it.  I don’t really want to complain but I know that this service is not normal and I really don’t think I can handle this for the rest of the trip considering how long we are on for.  I visit the Purser’s desk and deal with Paul, who takes down my information and with the issues we are facing and says he will direct them to his immediate surpervisor.  I decided to go this way cause I believe Chris may be new in his position and may just need more training or assistance.  I am now happy to report that after coming back from a day out all the issues we had have been resolved, I will keep you informed.  Just remember that there will always be issues on every trip, some smaller than others but it is key that Princess knows about them because this gives them a chance to resolve them.  Tonight I did go back to see Paul at the Purser’s desk to thank him and to let him know things are better.

Okay back to our day, and it was a great one.  We docked early in St. Thomas just before 8 am and we are not in any real rush as we are heading to Water Island and the ferry we want isn’t until 10:30.  It is a little cloudy but this is quite normal and we hope that as the day progresses it will get hot and sunny.

We have a light breakfast in the cabin and head down to meet up with Alice and walk over to the ferry dock.  There are a few people there, including Jeannie and Greg and Anita and Richard.  After a short ferry ride we walk up the hill and down the hill and ahhh at the views from here.  Then we arrive at Honeymoon Bay.  The first thing we notice is that Heidi’s canteen is now set up at the one end of the beach instead of in the middle.  We lay out our stuff and we all head into the water.  It is still a little cloudy but when the sun breaks thru the clouds it is nice.  We all float around in the water and chat for what seems like at least an hour.  Bernie heads out to snorkel and I head out later and I am very impressed by all I see.  I was especially excited to see the flounder trying to camouflage himself with the rocks.  Wish I would have had my camera to take a shot of him, so cool. 

We do get a few sprinkles but nothing serious and since I am already in the water, no big issue.  We grab a bite to eat at Heidi’s.  She makes great burgers served with salad or beans and she even serves beer!

We catch the 3:30 ferry back and while waiting for it we all play with the rocks creating all kinds of rock formations…. Heck who needs toys!

We are back on board just before 4 and I drop our stuff off in the cabin, I rinse out our snorkel and mask and wash out our bathing suits – I will say I really miss a balcony now to dry stuff and then to watch sail away.  But instead I change, I pour a glass of wine and head out to the horizon court and get some cheese and fruit and a scone and grab a seat near the main pool (Neptune’s Reef) up on the sun deck and enjoy the music of Tyrone Babb while looking at the beautiful islands.  Bernie joins me and we watch sailaway from here, an easy alternative to the balcony.  One thing is for sure without a balcony we are out in the public areas a lot more.

While getting ready for dinner I notice I got a fair bit of sun today, even with layering 30 SPF on twice I guess all that laying around in that float and even with the cloud cover it really can burn.  Thankfully I am not burned badly and it doesn’t hurt but I do put a layer of aloe after sun on it (bought it in Aruba last year).

Dinner tonight is back in Michalangelo Dining room, but tonight Al Katz is joining us along with Richard and Anita.  Rui takes care of us by setting up a larger table for us.  I am excited that the deep fried sushi appetizer is on the menu, I loved this last fall when I had it and my meal decision is made.  I start with the garlic cream soup, a Caesar Salad, then a double serving of the sushi  appetizer.  I then finish my meal with a cheese plate with some dried fruit.

When we all walk out of the dining room Richard decides to head up to MUTS as it is showing the movie Dark Knight Rises, so Anita stays with us and we do some dancing in the Atrium as the band Accent is playing.    Now they really get people up and moving!  Definitely like them.

But we promised Joey Van, the Vocal Impressionist we met the first day and a friend of Al’s that we would see his show.  We sit close up so he knows we are there to encourage him and we really enjoy his show.  He is very funny and quite good as a singer and impressionist.  Even though we have seen his show not that long ago we laugh our heads off throughout it.

We are tired now, it is just after 11 when we make it back to the cabin and we crawl into bed and Bernie is already snoring while I type this.  A full day at the beach will do that to a person.

A few comments from today:

-          Really getting to know many of the crew throughout the ship.  As we walk past we get big waves and “how was your day” and I already know we will be making lasting friendships this voyage
-          Liked that the Patter on the back page shows the dining options, but one thing they have added that they never did before, but we often commented they should do, is they now add what the Horizon court or Café Caribe dinner theme is, tonight it is Indian – if we wouldn’t of already made plans with Al for dinner I would of insisted we got there, but we can go another time, we can’t always see Al.
-          Definitely wear sun screen!  There are a lot of red lobsters walking around the ship.
-          Between 4 and 7 am there are a lot of behind the scenes cleaning that gets done and boy do they clean, they seem to get into every nook and cranny – very impressed
-          The wake show is on every night starting at 10:30 onwards until the next morning.  A little odd as it is the wake show so not sure why they show it that evening prior, plus I miss the movies that are usually shown in the cabin in the evenings.

Events happening around the ship today and evening:  Movie People Like Us; Casablanca; Back To The Future, The Dark Knight Rises. Win, Loose or Draw; Sudoku (still no prizes); Taboo game play; Dr. Bob and Bill W Meeting; Trivia; Karaoke; Vocal Impressionist Joey Van; All About History Trivia; Blackjack Tournament; 50s and 60s Speed Trivia; Rock and Roll night.

They held a Chef’s Table event tonight, looked lovely.  Drink of the day is a Raspberry Fizz.

Night everyone