March 29, 2012—At Sea
The last sea day and the last day of the cruise—both one of
my favorites (being at sea), and one of my least favorites (the last day before
disembarkation).
As usual, I went to the Lobby Bar for my morning
cappuccino. Ronald, Jeofrey, and Pong
were working, said good morning and asked me how I was. I told them I was sad because it was the last
day. They told me I should stay on
again, and I told them unfortunately I couldn’t since I needed to get back to
work. Jeofrey said it is not the last
day since I would be back. While I was drinking
my cappuccino, Ronald started singing to me—he sang good-bye lyrics from,
Leaving on a Jet Plane and It’s Sad to Say Good-bye, and other farewell songs. I told him to stop or he’ll make me cry and
he said, me too, but I don’t want to cry.
I then went back to the cabin to meet my parents for
breakfast. We went to Sabatini’s one
last time, and I said farewell to Tudor, the headwaiter who was so good to us
throughout the cruise.
After breakfast, it was time to start packing. After getting most of the packing done, we
all went to Deck 14 Forward—we were scheduled for a bridge tour at 11:30, and
needed to meet our security escort. Paolo
had added us to the list for a bridge tour and we had received an invitation
from the captain the day before. Unfortunately,
when we got there, we were told that the bridge tour was rescheduled for 4:30
that afternoon. I assumed it was due to
the fog since the ship’s horn had been going off most of the night (although we
couldn’t hear it in our cabin).
Since the tour was postponed, my parents decided to get
lunch in the buffet and I got pizza and joined them—the last Princess pizza I
would have for a while. After lunch, I
picked up the “You Made a Difference Cards” and my stationery, and found a
quiet place to fill them out. After
filling out the cards, I wrote individual thank you notes to each of the
crewmembers on board who had helped to make my cruise so enjoyable and included
an appropriate tip. I wrote longer notes
to those who I now consider friends and as always, I would miss seeing them
every day, but would keep in contact with a few either through emails, or
Facebook. I always spend a few hours the
last day filling out the cards and writing thank you notes. With all the work the crew puts in, I feel
it’s the least that I can do to show my appreciation.
Then it was time to finish packing and get dressed for
dinner—since the bridge tour was rescheduled for 4:30pm, we knew we would be
going straight to dinner afterwards.
Once we were ready, we headed for Deck 14 Forward once again.
We met the security officer along with a few other people
who had also been invited by the captain for a tour of the bridge, and we all
followed as the security officer led us forward to the bridge. My parents were amazed when they first
entered the bridge and saw the incredible view.
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| Bridge wrap-around windows |
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| View from the bridge |
I had been on the bridge of the Sapphire and Diamond several times and never
will get tired of seeing it, but I know that the first time is really
impressive. Captain Bob Oliver greeted
us and gave pretty much the same speech he had delivered to the folks on the
Ultimate Ships Tour. He then turned over
the group to Martin, the third officer, who then provided the tour and briefing
that he had provided on the Ultimate Ships Tour.
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| Martin, the third officer providing the bridge briefing |
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| Martin, the third officer, explaining the control panel |
Since I had heard this all before (both on
the Sapphire and the Diamond) and was already familiar with the bridge’s
operations and instrumentation, I simply spent time taking a few pictures. Cameras are not allowed during the Ultimate
Ships Tour, and when I had met with Paolo previously on the bridge, I didn’t
carry my camera, but our invitation to this tour stated that we could take
pictures, so this was my first opportunity to do so.
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| Diamond Princess Bridge |
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| Taken from the bridge wing |
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| Bridge wing control panel |
Paolo was on duty on the bridge, so of course we couldn’t
talk to him, but he did wave to my parents and I, and later, when the tour was
over, I was able to talk with him a couple of minutes and say goodbye—this would
possibly be the last time I would see him.
We did say we would stay in contact though emails. We then left the bridge and went down to
dinner.
David showed us to our table and Jerry, of course, was there
to wait on us. Since I had missed the
escargot on the night it was offered (on one of the nights we didn’t go to the
Pacific Moon Dining Room), Jerry said he had the kitchen prepare it for
me. My dad said that if I was going to
eat snails, I really should eat it someplace else so he wouldn’t have to watch
(he was joking of course…at least I think he was joking).
The escargot was wonderful!
My mother had the Pacific Moon specialty which was Chinese fried noodles
with scallops and shrimp, my dad had the turkey and had asked for mashed
potatoes instead of the fruit stuffing and sweet potatoes, and I had fettuccini
alfredo—a Princess specialty. We all
enjoyed our last dinner on board the Diamond Princess. It was sad to say good-bye to Jerry (our
waiter), Rhandy (our assistant waiter who had just started his contract and had
joined the ship in Hong Kong), and of course David, the headwaiter who was so
helpful in keeping our table reserved for us and patient with us whenever we
made a change to the time or cancelled.
I would miss the fact that I could simply show up and have a wonderful
dinner (and not have to worry about cooking—or in my case microwaving
anything), but most of all, I would miss the outstanding service and warm,
friendly, welcoming smiles from both David and Jerry. I know that my parents really appreciated the
way Jerry treated them and how he joked with my mother every night, calling her
“kap-ee-tan!” As we left the dining room
for the last time, Jerry, Rhandy, and David lined up and they all saluted my
mom as she and my dad walked passed. We
would all miss them and can only hope we would one day see them again on
another cruise.
Afterwards, my parents went to the casino to use up the
credits my mother still had on her cruise card.
Whenever you win or cash out in the casino, the amount gets transferred
to your cruise card and is saved in the form of a casino bank (separate from
your on-board account). You can then
pull from that casino account when you play the next time. My mother had been drawing and adding from
her cruise card throughout the cruise and tonight she would either have to use
it all, or cash it out at the casino cashier.
If you forget to cash it out, you lose it since it is separate from your
on board credits/charges and does not get transferred (the casino is run by
Ocean Players Club which is a separate company from Princess and operates on several
of the cruise lines). Although they make
frequent announcements about cashing out and there are notices all over the
casino, I wonder how much they make from folks who forget to cash out.
I made my “rounds” saying good-bye to some of the special
crewmembers and passengers I had met.
Michael and Jutta and I had an after dinner drink together—Michael would
be disembarking with his passengers and flying with them back to Switzerland,
and Jutta would remain on-board to greet the next group of passengers scheduled
for the Beijing to Singapore run. Jutta
said she had found me on Facebook and sent me a friend request, so we’ll be
able to keep in contact. We all said good-bye
when they left. I also said good-bye to
Kelvin, the cruise director. I didn’t
see Matt (the assistant cruise director), so I wasn’t able to say good-bye to
him, but asked Kelvin to tell him for me.
Lulu, from the casino stopped by to say good-bye and we hugged and I
wished her well; she said she hoped to see me again, and I said I did too.
I would miss all of my bartenders and bar stewards and it
was hard saying good-bye to them: Vyron (from
the Philippines), Pong (Casino bar steward from Thailand), Richard (Casino bar
steward from India), Miralyn (bar steward from the Philippines), Angelo (from
India), Mega (bar steward from Indonesia who had worked during the Cruise
Critic Meet and Greet in the Wheelhouse Lounge and always said hello and
remembered my name whenever I ran into her somewhere on the ship), and Enrico (from
Mexico, he was a bartender in Calypso bar.
There were a couple of others that I said good-bye to, but hadn’t gotten
to know them quite as well.
There were three that I would miss most of all:
Jeofrey (he was from India and we had
friends in common—bar stewards from India that I had met on board the
Sapphire). He and I became friends very
quickly—his is engaged to be married and I wished him all the best.
Ronald, who is from the
Philippines, worked in the Lobby Bar in the early mornings from 6:00-9:00 am,
and in the late afternoon starting at either 1:00 or 2:00pm. I saw a lot of Ronald when I had my morning
and afternoon cappuccinos in the Lobby Bar.
Ronald came into the lounge that night and since it wasn’t too busy, we
were able to talk a little. He couldn’t
stay of course, but he gave me a quick hug and asked when I was going out the
next day. I told him I was leaving at
6:30 in the morning, and he said he was opening the Lobby Bar at 5:00am and
asked me to promise I would be there for my last cappuccino. So even though the next morning would be
busy, I agreed—postponing my final farewell to him (I would miss Ronald most of
all).
Richard, my bartender (not to be
confused with Richard the bar steward in the Casino). He was the only bartender willing to make me an
Island Swizzler (the drink that Devinish had created for me on board the
Sapphire). I spent many hours talking
with Richard and listening to him tell me about his wife, his job, and his
home. When I said good-bye to him, he
thanked me for listening to him—he said, he doesn’t normally talk about his
life with a passenger, but he said he felt as though he could talk to me and
trust me and that I cared about the crew and understood. He walked me to the elevator, we gave each
other big hug, and I said good-bye to him as the elevator doors closed.
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