At Sea

April 12^th, 2024

Even though our Medallion apps say we are still on the Sapphire Princess, I suppose we really are on the Emerald Princess, so it’s about time I corrected the heading!

It was incredibly hot and humid today, and we ended up spending the whole day indoors, not even walking around the promenade deck.

Apart from the heat and the humidity, it continues to be very smokey from the wild fires on shore. The horizon is difficult to see, and there is an unworldly pink glow, it really is like being back in the Pacific Northwest during the wild fires in summer.

However, we are many miles out to sea, it is alarming that the smoke carries this far. For once, I am saying thank goodness for air conditioning.

Our second steel pan class went well. We can now bang away and play Hot Hot Hot. Ole Ole Ole Ole……..I am looking forward to our concert at the end of the cruise.

The first thing we did when we embarked on the Emerald is hunt for outlets in the lounges, so we can keep our computers charged. There is a very convenient one in Skywalkers. And I must admit that I have been hogging it every morning.

So I was a little bit put out when someone looked like they were also searching for outlets. I know I really should share, but the one I use is in such a great place.

Then as the morning wore on, more and more folks were searching. I was beginning to despair that there simply would not be enough outlets to go around.

Then it struck me. They weren’t looking for outlets, they were duck hunting. On previous cruises there have been a few ducks scattered around the ship, but I really didn’t pay much attention.

Well everyone seems to be obsessed with finding ducks. The Facebook group page for this cruise is full of duck sightings. It is the most strange phenomenon. Still, everyone seems to having a good time searching, and who knows, maybe I will find a duck one day.

Looking out the window of Skywalkers I was wondering if there were any ducks on the outside decks. There were no ducks, but there were 3 dead fish. What on earth could fish be doing up on deck 18? It was quite the mystery.

Pondering the fate of ducks and dead fish I returned to our cabin, and there waiting for us were our solar eclipse viewing certificates. That was kind of a fun idea. Stephan, the steel pan man, was complaining that he had been unable to print up all of the sheet music for our class because they had run out of ink. Now I know where it all went.

Tonight was the Captain’s Circle party. For the last one on Sapphire it had been so crowded that we couldn’t even find somewhere to stand. At least tonight there were 2 parties, and we were able to find a table to sit at and enjoy the evening.

By dinner the wind had picked up quite a bit. Hopefully that will blow all of the smoke away. Finally we were experiencing a bit of pitching and rolling. I decided to have an early night and be rocked to sleep by the ship. Perfect.