It's always sad to say goodbye to the nice people you meet and the incredible staff on board. This is a longer cruise. It attracts a different demographic and many have done a lot of cruises. I find these more relaxed. The Emerald Princess does longer cruises. We are looking at one of the European cruises next summer, but still trying to decide.
This is the very first day we have some action in the sea. We are rolling a bit, not enough to make you ill, but you need to be careful walking. I have never been sea sick and I always feel sorry for those who react to the rough seas. I always watch everything I eat and stop any alcohol. Sad when you paid for the Princess Plus package, but it does include water, great coffee and my favorite, fresh orange juice. It's worth the price because by the time you pay for gratuities, wi-fi (even though we get 50% off) and what we will consume, it's worth it.
Princess also offers Princess Premium for people who like a better type of alcohol and more perks. One of the nice perks is a reserved seat for the production shows in the theatre.
We went to all four production shows. See the seats with the blue covers? These are the empty Premium seats saved for those people who got the Premium package. They are not going to shows, or they didn't have that many with the package. The people standing are waiting for 5 minutes before show time so they can get the unused seats.
There were lots of activities yesterday. The activity we love is Voices at Sea.
These are passengers who've been singing on the ship. They selected six passengers and the winner got a trophy. They were all good and we got little handhelds to vote. The French gentleman won by 86%, he was awesome. There were two BC residents, one from Victoria and one from Terrace. It's always a crowd pleaser.
One talk they had in Explorers Lounge was a talk with the entertainment staff. We missed it, but you can always catch anything you missed on the TV, so we watched it while we were packing.
The entertainers all came on board at the same time They are on a 17 month contract with two breaks of 5 weeks. One reason they enjoy it, is the life at sea. The entertainment industry isn't always the most reliable for a pay cheque and this gives them 17 months of work. Most have been doing this for many years! Some contracts are 5 or 6 months, but they applied for the longer one. After they finish their contract on the Emerald, they have their 5 week break and then go to the Ruby Princess. Both the Emerald and Ruby are longer cruises. They have four shows on the Emerald, only 3 of the shows they know are on the Ruby, so they will learn a new show before they leave so they can perform it on the Ruby. They have four vocalists, more than any other line I've been on!
The Farewell Variety Show
A wonderful variety show and a farewell from the ship's officers!
We got up yesterday and the entire ship was decorated for Halloween. Streamers, pumpkins and every food venue had a beautiful cake! A lovely way to end a wonderful cruise.
