We are high tailing it to Grenada. During the night I felt the stabilizers and
the thrusters. Not sure if it was
because of the high winds or the higher speeds, or both but we were
moving. I know the Captain is trying to
get to Grenada as quickly as we can for the medical emergency.
Captain Oliver does come on the public address system (not
in the cabin) around 7:30 to announce we will be arriving a little later, but I
didn’t get the whole message.
I later realize that we in fact had some excitement early
this morning around 7 am. Apparently a
sail boat was in distress and the crew of the Royal Princess came to their aid.
There are two men in the boat and they were heading to
Grenada. The Captain lowered a rescue
boat and the two men came on board and were transported to our ship.
Their boat was left - they had requested that
we tow their boat - but our ship’s wake would of torn the boat to pieces. So they had to abandon their vessel. I found out later that maritime rules state
that any abandoned vessel is free to take.
Wow I bet those guys as soon as they arrived in Grenada made
arrangements to get their sailboat recovered as they would know the coordinates
at least and hope that no one else got there first.
So the men are on board and are quarantined to a cabin with
security outside the door. They are not
allowed to roam the vessel and will be handed over to authorities when we
arrive. The yellow flag has gone up on
the mast and doesn’t come down until they are off. They do end up getting off after the
passengers and crew have received clearance and Grenada accepts them. They had their passports with them so I am
sure it was no issue - I can’t speak on what nationality they were.
My friends got video of the rescue and they will send it to
me when we get home and I will post it up.
I commend all the crew on board the Royal for coming to the aid of these
two guys. No matter the situation, the
nationality or circumstances Maritime Law requires that when someone is in
distress you must come to the aid.
Because of all this the ship is going to be late into
Grenada. The Shorex Dept. will be
adjusting tour times and they announce public wide of the new times for all
tours. We get a new Patter but it looks
just like the old one - or maybe I am missing something.
I am not hungry but Bernie is so he quickly heads up to get
a small bite to eat.
After writing my blog and posting it - well tried to post
from the cabin but the signal is not very strong in the cabin and I can barely
get a signal if I sit on the floor by the door.
So I shower and dress and head to Vines around 11:30 to post my blog.
I am impressed as there are many officers walking around the
public areas. They are there to answer
any questions any of the passengers may have.
This is great PR and keeps people abreast of what is happening.
Also the Dining Room is opening today too. It wasn’t originally going to be open but
since we are arriving later they open it.
Now how they can print out menus and plan and prepare meals so quickly
is beyond me. But they do and we
appreciate it.
We head to the dining room for lunch. I am hungry after skipping breakfast, my
stomach is actually growling.
We sit in Milo’s section (we sailed with Milos last year
when his station was right next to Daniel’s section). I get the chicken wings (not spicy) and the
chicken salad. I finally tried the
Robert Mondavi small bottles of wine that they have been offering for a while
now. I tried the Cabernet Sauvignon at a
cost of $7 which is quite good since you get almost three glasses out of one
bottle. I don’t drink it all and take
the rest back to the cabin for later.
We are in Grenada today.
We love Grenada and we did get off for a full day last time we were here
but today we are wanting to relax. So we
both agree to stay on board and partake in the Sanctuary.
There are a few lounge chairs available especially because
we are in port. I LOVE this
Sanctuary! The staff here are
phenomenal. Easily the best we have ever
experienced fleet wide.
As soon as we arrive we are greeted by Constantine the Head
Waiter. He welcomes us and Praveen our
Serenity Steward re arranges our lounge chairs to face the sun.
Sheridan and Katherine keep us well hydrated
with cucumber flavoured water.
Basil arrives and is happy to see us again. I decide to try a new drink and I have fallen
in love with the Brazilian (sorry don’t ask me what is in it). It is so good I have two by the end of the
day. Basil remembers Bernie preferences
and brings him a lovely mango smoothie type drink. Gee and it has been ten days since we were
here and they still remember. Again the
crew are what make us come back to Princess.
I love too that they serve afternoon tea up here…. Two
scones please!
I chat with a couple in the pool - they are complaining
about Grenada and that they didn’t want to go ashore because of the recent
murder of a tourist. Yes this is very
tragic, and of course very upsetting.
But I comment to her that there are dangers everywhere you go. In fact there are murders all the time in
Fort Lauderdale and it doesn’t stop you from going there. Heck even where I am from - Vancouver there
are gang style murder all the time but I still leave my house.
I also comment that Grenada is a beautiful island, but sadly
most just walk outside the pier and go one block and that is it. You can’t call that seeing an island and you
really shouldn’t judge the island by this.
Get out and see it, visit one of their many beaches. The ship has some great tours and I can
recommend many of them.
No you won’t find a Casino or a Diamonds International or
Starbucks but hey that is okay - open you heart and eyes to something different
and you truly become a traveller.
After some dips in the pool, reading, relaxing, and chatting
with the crew we are ready to head back to the cabin. It is around 5 pm.
I head down to the Enclave to enjoy even more
relaxation.
Today the Enclave is quiet
(again we are still in port).
There are
maybe a total of five people who use it the entire time I am there. The one issue today is that the
singers/dancers are practicing and you can hear it in the Enclave - not really
hear it entirely but you know it is there.
Not really relaxing - the sounds of the jets do help drown it out
though. Today I don’t hear any soothing
spa sounds either. But I can report that
the next day they are on but very low that you really have to concentrate to
hear it and if the jets in the pool are going you don’t hear the piped in music
at all.
We are docked beside a Luxury Sailboat and they only have 40
passengers on board and 40 crew. They
have set up for steel pan band and cocktails on the top deck. Our balcony faces the pier and we get to
enjoy the show.
We pour a drink and sit on the balcony and watch the events
ashore. I took some video of the show
and surrounding area and will put up when I get home.
Since we are late arriving many of the later tours are
arriving late. It is well past 6:30 pm
when the last tours return. As soon as
the last group is on the lines are dropped and we pull away.
Tonight we are heading up to the Horizon Court for the German
Buffet. It is busy up here even though
it is just before 8 pm. I think the late
departure from port has cause many of those that would have had early seating
to head upstairs.
This buffet is phenomenal everything you can think of for a
German Buffet they have - sausages (many varieties) port, sauerkraut, German
Potato Salad, spätzle, cucumber salad and so much more. This buffet alone would cost $40 at
home!
They even have two huge ice sculptures of beer steins where
you can buy beer! I really like the
carved watermelon!
After dinner we meet up with friends in Vines for a quick
drink before heading to the late show in the Princess Theater of the
Beatlemaniacs.
We get a seat right in the first row in the middle
section. There is an older couple dead
center who are already falling asleep.
The Beatlemaniacs come out and they don’t disappoint. I am sure they recognized us. We LOVE this show. Truly show doesn’t describe it, it is a
concert. You can’t sit still…. Well I guess you can.
The couple beside us - in the first row, dead center is fast
asleep, yup out for the count. Of course
at the end of each show everyone goes crazy and claps and they wake up then and
start to clap. It begins to be a running
joke with everyone around us and we laugh hard when they fall asleep. Even the band notices and the George
character gets them clapping when they open their eyes.
Anyways the show is not to be missed. They are a lot of fun and they really get the
crowds involved. Just wish they were
performing again.
The show ends and we are horse from screaming so much, hands
our tender from clapping but it was a fun night.
Back in the cabin and we close our eyes around
midnight.
Tomorrow is Dominica and we
are not sure what we are going to do.
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