Disembarking & The Everglades

Even after 10 days on board we could have easily lasted a few more days. (Maybe next time we can afford the time for 14 days!) We finished packing our morning things into the carry on bag and set out for our last buffet breakfast. We made sure to fill our plates up high! :)

The night before we had gotten green plastic luggage tags to put on all our suitcases and were told to meet in the Explorer's Lounge around 8:30. So we headed back to our cabin to get our carry on and make one last sweep of the room. I finally threw away the last orchid I had blooming from a spray one of our tour guides had given us. Through out the trip each bud had opened so it was always blooming. (Not sure how we got back on board with it as I'm sure it was against the rules!)

In the Explorer's Lounge was everyone who were taking a pre flight tour so we immediately found Cheryl and Kelley who were doing a tour though not the same as ours. The guys went up to the front where they were handing out colored stickers according to your tour. Ours was green and their's was yellow. We didn't sit for too long before we were told to disembark. Oh what a disappointment to walk down the gang plank knowing this time we wouldn't be using our ID card to get back on! We went into a big room and found our luggage, which had been collected the night before, and grabbed it. Outside were staff members directing the different colored stickers to the correct bus. Our luggage was loaded on board our bus and as we sat and waited we had a great view of our beautiful ship.

Finally we departed on our way to the Everglades. We had a driver and a guide who kept us entertained with stories the whole trip. We got off and bus and were led to where the air boats were waiting for us. What a strange sight they were!

Our tour was really neat - especially since neither one of us had ever seen the Everglades or knew much about it. The interconnected waterways went as far as you could see and in so many different directions I don't know how they didn't get lost!

This was the ugliest hugest lizard we'd ever seen and there it sat high up in the trees!

After our tour we saw an alligator show.

We were given a few minutes to shop and buy any snacks we wanted. The shop was pretty lame! We did buy the picture they had taken of David & I in front of the airboats since that came out pretty well.

We were back at the airport a little after noon and since our flight wasn't leaving until 6:00 we had already called Bruce & Cindy the day before and made plans for them to come to the airport and go to lunch. They took us back to their new house which was really great and then we went to a Chinese restaurant near them. We were so glad to get to see our old friends a second time since we hardly ever get to FL to see them. Bruce got us back to airport by 5:00 and we got our luggage checked in. Our only hitch was when the plane landed that was returning us to Baltimore it had something wrong with it, (a mouldy smell!), and we were delayed until almost 8:00 pm until they could get another plane for us.

We're now so wanting to plan another cruise if this darn economy would cooperate! Having never been on another cruise line besides Princess I don't have a comparision cruise line but we both had a fantastic time and even with all the wind and rough seas I don't think it could have been much better!

Princess Cays

Again the seas remained a bit rough but fortunately not too rough for us to anchor and take the tenders over to Princess Cays. I had read cruise reports where people didn't get to make this stop and after missing Antigua it was a relief to know we would get to go. We had been to the island on our previous cruise, but since it was 10 years ago, we knew Princess had changed it around a bit. To avoid lines going across from ship to island you were instructed to sit in the Princess Theater when you were ready to leave and they loaded the tenders - which held about 90 people each - from there. It worked out well and we didn't have too long of a wait.

Before passengers arrive Princess brings over all kinds of fruits, beverages, and of course bar drinks! A big American style picnic lunch with grilled hamburgers and chicken, salads and sides, cookies and brownies is served from about 11 - 2.

Tender

Once we got off the tender we had arranged to meet up with Chuck & Alicia and it didn't take long to find them camped out under a nice overhang with plenty of lounge chairs for all of us.

Right behind us came Cheryl & Kelley who had a reserved kayak time very shortly.

(David & Helaine having been over many times decided to stay on the ship.)

David enjoys some fruit

These are little cabanas you can rent for the day for an outrageous sum!

After a little relaxing and conversation David wanted to take a walk along the beach and up along where the island wasn't as developed by Princess. After a while it becomes mostly coral and rocks you are walking on and no nice white sand.

There were all kinds of cool creatures in and amongst the coral crevices and dips.

As we walked further and further we came across a number of piles of stones people had constructed. We had no idea what they were for - if anything - but David decided to add a rock he found shaped like a sail to the top of one of the rock arrangements.

Part way through our walk we saw Cheryl and Kelley kayaking in the distance and they paddled over to near where we were.

Finally we turned around to walk back to "civilization". I was wearing a pair of thick flip flops and having trouble maneuvering around the dips on the coral so it's no wonder that as David walked ahead of me I somehow got my foot caught and took a tumble backwards. Fortunately my left arm and elbow took the brunt rather than my head! It hurt like crazy and my fingers felt numb and tingly as David helped me back up. I had blood running down my arm where my elbow was scraped and had broken my flip flop so had to gingerly walk back to where we had seen a First Aid station near where the tender dropped us off on the island. I was really surprised that they didn't have much in the way of helping anyone who was hurt. Not even a band aid type of bandage! The Dr. checked me all out and felt I didn't have anything broken but had probably hit my "funny" bone quite hard and caused the tingling sensation. The nurse cleaned my arm up and they found some gauze to tape on. Since the Dr. didn't want me to move my arm around they got a sling made and sent David to one of the bars for ice. But then they had nothing to put the ice in and ended up filling a plastic glove up, which actually worked pretty well to mold around my elbow. I got loaded up with Ibuprofen and told that if it wasn't getting any better in a few hours to go back on ship and have an x-ray taken. The worst part was I wasn't going to be able to snorkel which I had really been looking forward too. I was glad David did go though!

By 4:00 everyone was back on board and as usual we stood on our balcony as the thrusters pushed us out in the right direction and we watched Princess Cays fade into the distance.

That evening was one of the most beautiful sunsets we had seen!

We had been told to have our packed luggage out in the hallway before we went to dinner so we reluctantly packed what we wouldn't need anymore and put those suitcases out in the hallway.

We used the same duffle bag we had carried on with us for carry off but this time it was a bit heavier as we needed clothes for the next day as well as all our night and morning things. It was a much sadder dinner knowing it would be our last on board. We said sad good byes to our newly made friends and Alicia and I promised to continue to keep in touch thru email.

Through the boards I had heard about Princess Tours in Ft. Lauderdale if you had a late flight out so we signed up for an Everglades tour. At least we had a little more time to stay with Princess!

Sea Day 3

Still full from Sabatini's the night before we had a very light breakfast. The seas were once again a bit rough now that we were back in the Atlantic Ocean though not anywhere near as bad as the first three days! The night before the Captain had made an announcement that there was a large outbreak of Noro Virus on board. This was noticable immediately as there were many more liquid hand sanitizers all over the ship. The buffet had had them to begin with but now additional bottles were out. Also unavailable on the tables were Salt & Pepper shakers and pre- set napkins and silverware. Now the staff had to bring these items to you and S&P had to be sprinkled on by them. In the main dining rooms rolls and butter were served rather than in a basket on the table - basically the tables had nothing on them that a person would be passing around. You also saw workers all over the ship scrubbing things down and obviously doing all they could to sanitize in hopes of preventing further spreading of the virus. We were appreciative of their efforts and no one we knew came down with it during or after the trip.

There was also an announcement made that if you suspected that you were sick the Dr. would visit your cabin free of charge. (I had previously read that if they determined you had Noro you would be in your cabin for a few days to be sure you were no longer contagious and they would send up things like soup and other easy to diget foods.)

After reading our Patter we decided to go to the 10 a.m. food demonstration in the Princess Theater. It was fun and we learned some interesting statistics on food consumption on the Emerald.

Afterwards we decided to try our luck at Bingo again. On the last round, where you have to fill your entire card, David got all the way to only one number left and was standing along with one or two others who also only had one number to go, when someone else called Bingo. He was so disappointed! ;)

By then we were hungry and decided to go to lunch when we came across an ice carving demonstration by one of the pools.

After a buffet lunch it was time to go for the last art auction where we met our group who we were continuing to have so much fun with. As before we enjoyed it and Alicia bought a painting, as well as David & Helaine.

During the first hour that the art auction was going on the Emerald was holding a scrapbook session. Different classes and activities are held on board which they call Scholarship at Sea and though they had held some previous scrap book classes I hadn't gone to any of those. I had found out that Cheryl shared my passion for creating pages so we both went to that which was right near where the auction was being held. We had a great time together and kept saying we wished we lived closer so we could scrap book together!

David and Helaine had been doing Traditional Dining for the cruise but everyone else was Anytime Dining. Once again Cheryl & Kelley, and Chuck & Alicia, and the two of us decided we would eat together and arranged a time to meet. It was our second and last formal night so it was lots of fun to see each other's clothes - all of us looking our best! It was lobster night so David and I both had that - although David added a steak to his so he could have surf & turf. I also had Pumpkin Crepes that were yummy. After a wonderful dinner we walked over to the Explorer's Lounge to catch Scott Wyler's comedy show in full. While waiting for the show to start we listened to the Exotique band.

Alicia & Chuck

Cheryl & Kelley

Enjoying Scott Wyler's Comedy

We said our goodbyes and made arrangements to meet up the next morning to head for Princess Cays, which is Princess's spot on the island of Eluthera. While walking back to our cabin we remembered that another production show we wanted to see was on and made it just in time for the last showing at 10:30. Though some people haven't like Boogie Shoes we thought it was as good as the other two shows they had performed over the 10 days. Even if you don't like the particular theme of music of any given show - the singing, choreography, and sets were enough to entertain!