March 29 — Trial by Swab

Oops! I forgot to write about dinner last night. 

March 28

After our little odyssey to Grand Turk, we were ready for some real food. We went to the Salty Dog Gastropub. There actually is a salty dog, and he’s adorable.

Our dinner was very original and tasty, though on the greasy side. First, they brought us some bread sticks with cute little pots of cheese fondue to dip the bread in. 

I’ll bet you were thinking those were the swabs. Nope.

We put some wine on the windowsill to try to see if the sea was wine-dark tonight. If wine-dark is a shade, rather than a hue, then I see it. The sea is wine-dark if you think of it as a shade, rather than a hue. It’s not the color of wine, but it’s dark like wine.

Our dinner:

Short ribs poutine

Lobster macaroni and cheese

Fried chicken and kale sliders

Dessert!

March 29, 2022

We have 2987 passengers onboard. Of these, 330 of us are staying on for the next cruise. We of the 330 have to be tested again. The easiest way to do this is for Princess to test us on our last full day on board. This way, nobody has to worry about how and where to get tested in Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow. It has to be a proctored test, so it’s a little more complicated than buying a test kit at CVS or Walgreen’s. Anyone who is unfortunate enough to test positive will have time to pack up today and disembark tomorrow morning.

We were given a specific time to report to one of the dining rooms. We checked in with our medallions and were given a label with a number. There were two nurses in the back. When our number was called we were sent to one of the nurses for a swab. Our label was attached to our test. We were then instructed to go back to our rooms and wait. We were told “No news is good news.” If we didn’t get a phone call within 15 minutes, we would be free to go about our day.

We passed! No call, no COVID. 

If anyone does not get a clean negative result, they are contacted and given a PCR test, for a more definitive result. Anyone who tests positive after the PCR will then be placed in isolation for the last day and night of the cruise.  If they had driven to the the port, I think they are allowed to drive home. Those who flew will be given help with lodging for the rest of their isolation period.

After our test we saw someone down the hall from us who was getting a visit from someone in blue scrubs and a face shield, but we never heard a word from Princess about whether any passengers were determined to be COVID-positive.

After a relaxing day at sea we looked forward to seeing a brand new production show called 5 Skies. This would be the very first performance (ever?) of the show. A new cast has been onboard for 6 weeks rehearsing for this show and for Rock Opera. They have been fitted for costumes and the tech crew has learned how to set up and break down the complicated set for the show, a process that takes an astonishing 12 hours.

We LOVED it. We were very impressed by various imaginative aspects of the show. We were impressed with how perfectly everything worked, despite being the most complex Princess show ever.

The story is about a video-gamer who plays a virtual reality game that has five levels. It is a multi-media presentation with projections, and video clips, and live singing, dancing, and acrobatics. There are some fun special effects. I especially liked the wind that could be felt in the audience. Bravo!

A container ship crosses our wake

The color of the water today is Enchanted Blue. This has been a really good cruise.