THANK YOU SERGEY AND LARRY!

January 31, 2016

Ah the things you do with Google, the invention of Sergey Brin and Larry Page.  Bonnie is working on a crochet project and came to the instructions to use sc-tbl, and couldn’t remember what it stood for.  So we googled it and learned, what she knew immediately, single crochet, through back loop.  And she said, “If I’d’ve remembered I could have had 20 rows done!”  Well, thanks to Mr. Brin and Mr. Page, the needle is flying.

Today was a dud.  We got in a good hike, through the slums of Dominica, but that was it.  It’s Sunday, everything is closed, except the churches – and one of them that we wanted to see was closed for repairs (of course it’s their island, if they want to close, they can – and we used to).  We walked an hour into Roseau, and an hour back to the ship. 

The reason for the long walk was the fact that the good ship Carnival Pride was not parked at the cruise dock downtown, but the cargo dock out in the boon docks (but we saw no boons).  The other two ships were literally 50 feet, in a straight line, from the center of downtown.  I guess it’s first come, first served.

On the way back a couple stopped us, pointed to the Pride, and in accented English asked if that was our ship, and how we liked it.  We chatted for a moment, and then he said, “We are on ‘My Ship.’”  Now “My Ship” is a brand of cruise ship, that we’ve seen before, but never one to miss a chance I said, “Congratulations on owning your own ship!”  Whatever his native tongue, it rattled around with my attempt at humor and produced a big laugh and the assurance that it was not his personal vessel.

Along the way we stopped to buy a bottle of water and the man said, “$10.”  I said, “Thanks,” and kept walking.  If he meant ECD – East Caribbean Dollars – it was a good price.  About $2 U.S.  If he meant U.S., and that’s my opinion, that is one expensive bottle of water, and it may still be setting there.

But back on board one of Guy Fieri’s cheeseburgers and then ice cream and a good dinner with good dinner table talk made for a fitting conclusion, and saved the day.  Tomorrow St. Lucia, and some things that were closed in November should be open.  I’ll let you know.

Oh, I did the first of three island talks, this one St. Lucia (made possible by tech support from Michael).  We had a full house and an enthusiastic crowd.  Hopefully that continues tomorrow for St. Kitts, and Tuesday for St. Maarten.

TTFN.

Now that's a personal watercraft!

Dockyard decorations

IF THIS IS SATURDAY, IT MUST BE ANTIGUA!*

January 30, 2016

I hate to admit this, but we thought we were here last week, but we didn’t remember the shopping area with the onslaught of 50 orange-shirted salesmen, peddling 2 hour island tours for $20 each.  We were here on January 17, 2013 – I have the receipt from the Gift Shop Seles on Lens Street.  And we were here in December, 2015.  But last week was Grand Turk, Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire and St. Croix.  Why we thought were in Antigua last week, I have no idea.  Neither does she.  But she thought so, too.  And I know it was she who led me astray!

We walked out to the Anglican Church which is under reconstruction.  First they found damage to the roof, then termite damage, and it has been underway at least since we were here 3 years ago.  Another several years it seems to finish it.  But it will be a beautiful House of Worship when it is done.

We never did find the Methodist Church, although we’d been there before.  Two people gave us conflicting directions, but John Wesley’s descendants were not to be found by us.

And we popped into the Antigua Museum again.  I was hoping to see Mrs. Vienna Johnson, whom we had met in 2013.  Her husband played in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor leagues in the late 1950s and played with Roberto Clemente.  She had great stories and I was hoping for more, but she wasn’t there and the woman at the desk gave me a “frog in a hail storm” look when I asked about her.  Oh well.

Great show tonight – “Get Away Island.”  We’d walked in on it late last cruise, and it was good to see it all.  The performers were the singers and dancers from the ship – The Kids as we call them – and it was a great show.  One of the parts, kind of cornball, was old fashioned 3D movies – a couple of scenes worked into the singing and dancing and viewed with the old style red and green 3D glasses (see Selfie).

Well, until tomorrow.  TTFN!

*There was a movie in the 60s about group tours of Europe called “If This is Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium” – all of it making fun of the rapid visits through a dozen different nations.  Kind of like modern day cruising?

GOOD MORNING ANTIGUA!

January 30, 2016

By Bonnie.

Well we slept in till 7. I went to bed about 11 and he stayed up till 11:30 working. Yesterday was St Thomas, US Virgin Island. We got up at 6:30 so we could have breakfast and he could study before we went out. I walked around the deck after breakfast while he went back to the room to work. It was nice outside. I could see what looked like a shopping area right off the ship.  There was a large Celebrity ship docked in front of us. After walking I sat on deck 3 and crocheted. He came and got me about 10 and we got off.

We walked to the shops. There were 7 buildings of jewelry, t-shirts and other such stuff. We perused several of the shops and walked by all of the jewelry stores unless they had some other stuff to draw you in. Overall it was a nice area just to walk around. We walked through and on by headed toward downtown which was about 2 miles down the road. There was a lot of traffic but sidewalks abounding.

As we walked taxis would ask you want a ride and we said no. We walked past a couple of drivers parked in an area along the street and they took one look at me and my cane said “Lady you won’t make it. Let me give you a ride.” I smiled and gave them a thumbs up.  We actually were only walking to the supermarket that we had seen from the shopping center. I was looking for Mio which I had forgotten at home. Didn’t find any but bought a package of 10 crystal light individual packets for $5.49!

It was interesting on St Croix and St Thomas that I was able to find lots of pennies on our walks. All of which I picked up. I didn’t find coins on any other ports. But I did get a Bermudian coin in change on one island and a Dutch coin on Antigua last week.

After we got back on the ship about 11:30 we unloaded of stuff in the cabin and headed up to Lido for some lunch. I got a cheeseburger Mexican style I put pico di gallo on my lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mustard. Very good. David had Chinese. Of course there was ice cream for dessert. It was about 12:30 or so and he went back down to work. I decided to set out by the pool and enjoy the island breeze and crochet till about 2. They were showing the movie Peabody and Sherman at 2 in Butterflies lounge. Well, that was what they said but they never did. So I went back to the room for awhile and then at 3 went up to the Red Frog Pub on deck 2 for a craft class. It was the card making kit. So I got one and headed to the Butterflies lounge for David’s talk. It was at 4.

The tech was there but some dude dressed in a white uniform told him to go somewhere else so he but the screen up, locked up the sound room and left. Swell. Then David arrived at the appropriate time, 3:30, and no sound guy. He waited til 3:45 and then called Katie. About 5 minutes later Branislav came – he is David’s favorite tech. Efficiency. About 35 or so people. But all aboard wasn’t until 4:30 so we expected a small crowd. Talk went well. He will repeat that talk today at 4 as we get back on board in Antigua at 4:30 also.

After the talk we headed back to dress for supper. It was elegant night. We headed out about 5:45 to the dining room. A lot of folks were dressed and a lot weren’t. But that is the way it is. Tonight everyone was at their assigned table. We were pretty sure that the dance couple had got on and were to be seated at our table. They were Beth and Andrew. They arrived a little after 6. Seem nice. Andrew is from New England area we think Maine and Beth is from Vermont. Not married. But they will be teaching the dance classes in the Atrium piazza, their classes are at 3:15 on port days. So we probably won’t get to go. Andrew also sails as a host a lot of times. That is a guy who gets on to dance with ladies who are unaccompanied or whose husbands don’t dance when the ladies want to. I guess we might say he is a hired gigolo. He had some interesting stories to tell some which I won’t tell. (Addendum from David: There was the one about his 85 year old cabin mate – on an earlier cruise – and a roll of toilet paper – ask me in person). Oh, my!

Well, they didn’t stay for dessert as this was the Captain’s party and speech evening. We heard it all last week so we opted to have our melting chocolate cake. Then as it was too late to make the first show we sent to Deck 3 and sat and waited for the doors to open to the Taj Mahal for the late show and 8:45 (preshow with the piano bar guy playing and doing a sing a long with the crowd). There were a few people who had definitely had a little to much to drink. One lady Delores, in her 70s, went from one guy’s lap to another. 7 in all. The piano bar guy called her the lap dance lady. She even sat on the cruise director’s lap!  Oh my! Then at 9:15 the song and dance show with the young kids started. Very good. Lots of high energy singing and dancing. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

NO JOB IS FINISHED ...

January 29, 2016

Until the paperwork is done.

Yesterday was a trying day.  It was turn around day.  Back to back day.  Start of a new cruise day.  Whatever.

All of those staying on the Carnival Pride for the next cruise, like your favorite cruisers, were to go to the Taj Mahal lounge to process through, so the new cruise could begin.  Before a new cruise can begin, the old cruise must conclude with a “zero count.”  Everybody has to be off the ship – at least paperwork wise.

We strolled into the lounge where we presented our Sail and Sign Cards (our room key cards) to be scanned off the ship, and were told we were not on the list for back to back.  And it slowly slide down hill from there.  Further checking revealed, Oh yes we are!  And so we were scanned off.  Then we went to get new cards.  Where it was revealed that we were not on the list for new cards.  Further checking revealed, Oh yes we are!  And temporary cards were given to us.  I told you it was going down hill.  The temps did not have our pictures on them, so we couldn’t use them to get off the ship to go into San Juan.  We went to guest services where Britainy went above and beyond and got us photographed and new cards and we headed out, but quickly turned around to get “In Transit” documents.  Oh my goodness!

But it ain’t over, Yogi said, until it’s over.

I neglected to tell you that the day really started when we tried to get in the safe to get our passports and cash to go ashore, and the safe wouldn’t open.  Yvette, the floor manager, came quickly and got it open for us – the second time it has gone screwy.

We went out to the CVS and got a few necessities and a few luxuries – namely 2 Coke Zeros, 1 Diet Sprite, and 5 Mountain Dew.  Back on board, throught the scanner where we were told, “Drop that soda pop, Mister!  It’s in plastic bottles and you can’t bring soda pop on board in plastic bottles!  It has to be cans!”  And the fit hit the shan!

Back to CVS.  Exchange the deadly plastic bottles for hard, metal cans.  And back on board. 

Then lunch and an uneventful stroll around San Juan.

Supper was a “sit where you can find a place” arrangement, but we managed to get our regular table with our regular wait-crew.

The lifeboat drill was concluded around 9:45 p.m. and we watched the sail way.  The city slide past beautifully, bathed in colored lights.  And we retired.

All’s well that ends well.  And the paperwork is finished!

TTFN

LEAVING THE LAND OF ROBERTO

January 28, 2016

Much happened today, but it is late, so I will post a picture from San Juan as we sailed away.  Your friendly neighborhood blogger will be back tomorrow with all the news that's fit to print (the New York Times said that first, but they've forgotten what it means).

TTFN

San Juan at Sail Away

ST. CROIX

Fort Frederick

Chambered Nautilus

Stilt Walker

St. Patrick's with Gold Dome

I lit the second candle from the right, top row, and prayed for you.

Does this remind anyone of Samara?

Carnival Pride from shore (photographed with selfie stick held upside down)

Your favorite cruisers at Fort Frederick.

A NEW ISLAND TO EXPLORE

January 27, 2016

Today we went ashore for the first time on St. Croix, one of the U. S. Virgin Islands, and it quickly moved up the list of our favorites.  We walked a grid of 4 streets by 5 streets and covered lots of history, saw great things, and were out working on our farmers’ tans for about two hours.

First stop was Fort Frederick (we were docked in Fredricksted – there is one other major city on the island, Christiansted).  The earliest part of the Fort was erected in 1760, and I hope they are putting our admission fee to its upkeep, because it is a nice stop and the museum exhibits they have are not your run of the mill stuff.  There was one section of sea glass, one of sea shells, one of local lore – things like stilt walkers.  Climbing the steps to the top afforded great views.  And the lady who took our money told us to go to the top first, because we would be too tired to go up if we explored on the ground first.  The nerve!

We always look for old churches and were not disappointed.  St. Patrick’s was only a couple blocks away, and a beautiful building.  For the first time on this cruise, we found candles to light and say a prayer, and I lit one, and said a prayer for all the readers of this blog.

Our next stop, Apothecary Hill, was not where our map said it would be, and by that time, we had been out an hour, and time to head back. 

We stopped in a local grocery store to get a Coke and a Mountain Dew.  While we waited to pay, a local was sorting through dried tobacco leaves, chose several, paid and left.  I asked the proprietor if his customer was going to make cigars.  He laughed and said, “No.  He is going to burn the tobacco, having selected the darkest and thickest leaves, and then mix it with marijuana.  Some people believe it makes a better high that way.”  I asked if marijuana was legal on St. Croix, and he said, definitely not, but they always find a way.  And if you only buy for your own needs, the police usually don’t bother you.  So put that in your bong and smoke it.

We walked back along the shore and hunted sea shells.  Bonnie picked up a couple of small ones for her collection.  We were careful to be sure they were not inhabited, because we didn’t want to bring any critters on board.  I took some photographs of the beautiful blue water and the bright clear sky.

Back on board we had lunch and then stood on Deck 3 watching the stragglers come back for all aboard – 3:30 p.m.  The last of the stragglers were back on by 3:45.  We heard a member of the crew say there was still one out, but the gangway came up, the ropes were cast off, and we were on our way to San Juan.

Entertainment tonight was slim (and none had left town).  Usually the last night they put on a great show, but there were only a couple of comedians, and most of the acts are rated R.  We went to the PG-13 act at 8 p.m. for a couple laughs (and not many than that).  We got a couple of glasses of ice and came back to Stateroom 1111 to blog and prepare for shut-eye.

Tomorrow San Juan.  Until then.

TTFN!

BLOG BY BONNIE

January 26, 2016

Okay here it is Wednesday night and I am writing the blog for Tuesday because David said there wasn’t anything to write about but what does he know!!

Well, we got up at 6:30 am because it was a sea day and he had 2 talks. He proceeded into the bathroom and spent his first half hour showering, etc. He came out and I went in to do my 10 minutes of showering and tooth brushing. While he was showering I was getting out my morning pills, my clothes for the day and working on one of my craft projects I haven’t finished yet. After I leave the bathroom he returns to continue. Finally he is finished and I am dressed and ready and we head to the elevators to go to Lido deck 9 for breakfast.

Well, breakfast was just fair. Stuff didn’t taste too good but was okay. It was just me. He went to the omelet line and before it was his turn the guy put his eggs on and had them ready when he got to the head of the line. Oh my we come here too much!

After breakfast he headed back to the room to rehearse and I went up to deck 10 to walk 4 times around about 1 mile. I am not the fastest so people are always passing me. It was really windy so I had help getting around the deck. After walking I headed to Deck 2 and the Captain’s annex to wait for the craft time to start. The guy who comes to pass out the materials is the Bingo guy and he is a weirdo! Let’s just leave it at that. The craft was a kit to make wooden luggage tags. Pretty nice. I got one finished and then it was time to head to David’s 10 o’clock talk.

So I got there about the time he did. There was a new tech guy today and he was not quite as handy as the other guy. But he finally got everything set up. Talk went well and there was a full house. I left as soon as he was finished because at 11 am there was to be a meeting in the Taj Mahal on Deck 2 for those who were disembarking and those who were staying on.  There are 800 of the 2200 staying on!!

Well, I get to the meeting and the bingo is still going on. Strange Guy is in charge and at about 10:50 he is just starting the last game which is a cover all game. If you do it in 49 balls or less you win $2000 if you need 50 or more only $300. Well, this game takes forever, well, only til about 11:15 then finally some lady wins all by herself on ball 55 or so. So she gets $300.  Oh by the way this bingo guy pops your bottom with a paddle when you win. I told you he was weird.

Well, the meeting starts, by this time David has arrived, and the cruise director starts with his list of the 10 dumbest questions asked by passengers. We have heard most of these before. But you chuckle along. He goes through the normal stuff and we find out we are to be in the Taj Mahal on Deck 2 about 10 am to get checked off, go through customs and get our new key cards and then we can get off if we want. 

By now it is 12 and we need to go to lunch so David can get back and prepare for the second talk. I go back to the room with him and I fall asleep so I miss the second talk. When he gets back, he takes a nap. We get dressed up tonight because, Katie  and Jordan are taking us to the steak house for supper. Their treat, actually Carnival’s treat. Great atmosphere and the biggest, 18 ounces, rib eyes I have ever seen. They were great but it was impossible to finish.

After supper we went to the show. It was great. It was the cruise lines singers and dancers. Nice show. We didn’t stay up much after the show as he was tired. It is a lot of work to do 2 talks in one day. So we retired about 9:30 and slept till about 8:30 this morning. So all in all we had a fun day!!

BONAIRE

San Bernardo Catholic Church.

Inside San Bernardo Catholic Church

For the Monopoly collector who has everything.

LAUNDRY DAY

January 25, 2016

I went up to the Lido deck and got breakfast for Bonnie while she did our laundry.  Two loads. $3 per wash. $3 per dry.  Bonnie reports that it took the two washers took 30 minutes just to fill, with water running in as though it were coming through a straw.  But we are clean and ready for more cruising.  Shoot, we’d be ready for more cruising if we were dirty – have anchor, will travel!

I went back up and had my two eggs over easy with toast and sausage, and shared a table with a fellow my age, or a touch older.  He would have been the definition of a curmudgeon, but then, me, too.

We reminisced about the Good Old Days.  Regular telephones with a dial on the face.  Cameras that took black and white pictures and were developed at the local drug store.  Kids spoke when spoken to and didn’t interrupt adults unless called upon.  Football players didn’t do end zone dances.  No 24 hour news cycles.  No Facebook.  As Archie Bunker sang, “Those were the days!”  Of course cruise ships lacked the amenities we enjoy today.  Beds, food, and lifeboats, and that was about it.

Your favorite cruisers spent 2 hours rumbling around Kralendijk, the capital of Bonaire.  Our first stop was a fort that has never fired a shot, and has never been fired upon – may all forts be so fortunate! 

Then we cruised down souvenir row where we bought a deck of cards, a small notebook, and a bottle of hot sauce.  We eschewed the Pandora-like beads that said “Bonaire” because they were $50 each – sorry girls.

Our main adventure of the day was walking out to San Bernardo Catholic Church.  It is a beautiful building, and it was open for visitors to come in and spend some quiet time.  One man was inside praying.  We spent a few reflective moments and captured the beauty of the building on camera. 

On the way back we stopped in the supermarket which is alleged to be the first such business on the island.  We’ve shopped there before, but this time just walked up and down the aisles and left empty handed.

Tonight we met Katie, the Entertainment Director, and Jordan, the Journeys Ambassador for dinner in the ship’s premier restaurant, David’s Steakhouse.  And with a name like that, it offered an incredible rib eye steak.  Actually it had at least two of them because Bonnie and I had one each – the smallest in the house at 18 ounces.  Katie chose lobster tail, and Jordan a lasagne speciality.  No molten chocolate cake for dessert, but Bonnie had green apples in a caramel sauce and I had black walnut ice cream that was the smoothest, creamiest ice cream I’ve had in a long, long time.  And a great cup of coffee to finish – Jordan says it comes from Italy.

Tonight’s entertainer has an incredible voice, but she needs to work on her act.  It will be a long time until she transforms from a singer to an entertainer.  But that’s my two cents worth.

Tomorrow is a day at sea and my last talks for this section of the cruise (oh, a guest stopped me today and said he put my photography talk to use and got some great shots).  We dock Wednesday in St. Croix and Thursday in San Juan.

Until tomorrow night, then.

TTFN

CURACAO

On the Queen Emma bridge.

Carnival Pride docked at the Otrabunda

An early start on next year's decorations.

Posing downtown. Showing the colors.

Tug coming out.

INTERCEPTED!

January 24, 2016

Denver goes to Santa Clara!  Boston goes home!  Steelers were already home.  Oh the sadness!  As my correspondent from Grovetown remarked, “I hate rooting for a Manning.”  But it sure was sweet today!

This morning at breakfast we sat at a table that seats up to 6 and another couple joined us.  They were asking what there is to do in Curacao, and we gave them a few suggestions.  In the process of the conversation, I told them I was the guest speaker for this trip, and a retired pastor.  “I’m a professional talker,” I said.  Another couple at the table behind us joined in.  He said he had done some talks several years ago but quit because he was tired of having inside staterooms.  His wife said the last one they had was so small her husband had to go out into the hall so she could go to the bathroom.  I resisted!  But they are the kind of people who give cruising a bad name.  I thought about one-upping her and saying, “That’s nothing!  We had one once that was so small, Bonnie had to go out in the hall so I could change my mind!” (Sound of drumsticks hitting the rim).

Sunday in Curacao found many businesses closed.  Jewelry stores were open, and most of the “Made in China” souvenir stores.  But Bonnie managed to add to her collection of banks with a selection from Willemstad.

Willemstad has three bridges named for Dutch Queens – the Juliana, the Wilhamena and the Emma.  The Emma is a floating/pontoon bridge, first built in 1888, that opens to let ships into the inner harbor and closes to let pedestrian cross.  Originally it was a toll bridge, but the poor were not required to pay the toll.  Whether or not you paid was determined by your footwear.  Barefooted – free (and poor).  Shoes – you pay (and rich).  Many poor did not want to be identified as such and so they borrowed shoes from the rich and paid the toll.  The rich walked across barefooted, and for free.  We kept our shoes on and did not pay the toll.  While we were across on “The Punda” (the point) the bridge opened to let three tugs pass through.

Just so your knowledge of Dutch and the downtown of Curacao’s capital will be complete.  We walked to the Punda (see above) and our ship docked on the Otrabanda – the Other Side.

Tonight’s on board entertainment, other than football, was Nicole Sasser, a vocalist and trumpeter.  Pretty lady.  Great talent.  Sadly there were fewer than 50 people in the main auditorium for her first show.  Hopefully the second will be better attended.  I regularly have more people in my talks than she did.

Well, tomorrow is Bonaire and laundry day.  We live exciting lives, your favorite cruisers.

TTFN!

NIGHT PHOTOS

Freewinds.

Nice looking ship. Strange beliefs.

The signature "Whale's Tail."

The water slide.

From the opposite side.

Down the starboard side.

THE NOT SO SAFE SAFE

January 23, 2016

So we get ready to go out and shop Aruba (Mountain Dew, Diet Ginger Ale – all the staples) and the safe won’t open.  I don’t like this kind of safe – first major complaint about the ship.  We’ve been on other ships with the same kind, and I didn’t like them either.  It requires a credit card to open and close – and the same card must be used all the time – if it’s in one person’s pocket, the other person can’t get in the safe.  Turn the magnetic stripe up and swipe.  This morning getting our passports out, it didn’t work.  So we had to wait for a supervisor to open it and reset it.  Small annoyance, and since we are going to be here until 11 p.m., not much at all.

Tonight’s entertainment was cancelled because the entertainer was flying out of New York City.  Ha!  Maybe he will catch up to us tomorrow in Curacao or the next day in Bonaire.  Snowmageddon cancels cruise ship fun.  Film at 11. 

Speaking of film, instead of the entertainer who wasn’t, we went to the Dive In Movies.  Tonight was “Ant Man.”  Bonnie had seen it before, I had not.  There is a scene where the action is getting ready to start, Ant Man has shrunk to his ant size to save the day, and one of the hero’s team begins whistling, “It’s a small world after all.  It’s a small, small world.”  I laughed a certified “Bros’ Laugh!”  And there was not another snicker in the house.  Come on folks!  That was funny!

There were two smaller ships docked beside of us, “Black Watch” and “Freewinds.” 

The Freewinds is 440 feet long and holds 200 passengers (“holds” may possibly be taken literally).  It looks like a neat old days cruise ship, and it is old because it was built in the 70s.  However today it is owned by the Church of Scientology and is used for their indoctrination courses, some cruises costing up to $45,000.  The rumor that it was insulated by blue asbestos, the most deadly kind, does not produce a discount.

The Black Watch is owned by the Fred Olson Cruise Line, a company started by three brothers from Norway in 1848 (not Manny, Moe, and Jack, but Fred, Pete, and Andy – actually Fredrik, Petter, and Andras).  Today it has 4 ships, the BW is 600 feet long and sails with 850 guests and 330 crew.  An 8 night sailing is about $700 per person.

Based on the bad reviews on cruisecritic.com, we won’t be book the BW any time soon, and with people writing about captives in the hold/dungeon of the FW, we sure as shooting won’t sign up to do any cruise talks for them.

And now you know.

We had lunch with two other couples who have attended my talks, and are in ministry in a Baptist church in Houston.  One of the men is doing Bible studies on sea days.  It was an enjoyable time.  The conversation started with the ubiquitous, “So do you get to sail for free?” and my standard answer replied, “We are under contact to the ship and I cannot answer that question.”

I had an Aruba recipe chicken dinner tonight – it was good but the lentil soup that started the meal was the best part of this evening’s fare.  If you discount the Melting Chocolate Cake, which I do not.  Bonnie ate all the peas and carrots from her chicken, but didn’t enjoy the dead bird all that much – a couple of bad days food enjoyment-wise for her.

We have been invited by our two assistants with the cruise director’s staff to go to the on board steak house on Bonaire night – Monday, if my calculations are correct.

Well, enough rambling.  Curacao, one of our favorites tomorrow, and it is after 11:30.  Old folks need to be asleep.

TTFN.

ARUBA

Dozens and dozens of towel animals appeared overnight.

They're in the pool!

They're on the stage!

Proof that we went ashore.

GRAND TURK

Mac's cannon.

John Glenn came here after splashdown. And so did we.

Playing with the Queen of Hearts.

Flower girl.

Sunrise at sea.

88 KEYS AND PUNCHY PARKER

January 22, 2016

The show tonight starred the singers and dancers of the Carnival Pride in a 45 minute, not stop, jumping and thumping musical.  They did Elton John, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Denver, Don McClain, and bunches of others whose names we have forgotten.  It was high energy, on key, and well done.

After the show, we came back to the room, and I went to the Butterfly Lounge to get a couple glasses of ice for the last of our Mountain Dew and Diet Ginger Ale.  The doors of the lounge were closed because they were doing an adult show.  Every comedy show on board has a rating so you know what you are going to get – Family, PG, and Adult.  The performer was in the last 3 minutes of his act, screaming like a T-Rex in his death throws, using more bad language than I’ve heard since the time Punchy Parker lost the beer chugging contest at a Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity party to a high school student.  And folks were thinking it was funny.  Or maybe if you are at a performance like that you just laugh so every one things you’re hip.  I am not.

Today was my 4th talk, this one on Food.  Specifically “History: It’s What’s For Dinner.”  How food has changed our world – caused wars, brought about peace, and sent explorers boldly going where no one had gone before.  The two crowds today were my largest and most enthusiastic.  Maybe it was because the ship had a midnight buffet just hours before these talks.

Katie, the assistant cruise director, told me today that they were able to work our three more time slots for the second half of this cruise if I still wanted to do some extra talks for them.  I said, “Absolutely!”  So I will do St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten – history and culture talks – each day before we reach the appropriate island.  And thank you, Michael, for getting the St. Lucia talk to me!

Bonnie went for a mile walk after breakfast on Deck 10.  The weather was very nice today – contrary to “Snowmageddon” (our prayers are with the Bro and CJ, Jani and Cathy, and everyone else who is in a position to be covered up by snow).  My news correspondent in Edgewater, Maryland told me that the “Grandeur of the Seas” (the ship that we are going out on at the end of March) cannot dock in Baltimore until Monday.  I think she was due in tomorrow, but because of the blizzard she will stay out in the Chesapeake Bay until she can dock safely.  Oh my goodness!  And not to rub it in, but it is supposed to be 81 tomorrow in Aruba.

For supper tonight we each had lasagne.  She liked it.  I thought it was okay.  Bonnie makes way better lasagne!  Dessert for each of us was Molten Chocolate Cake.  Gotta find that recipe!

On tap tomorrow will be strolling Aruba looking for more Diet Ginger Ale and Mountain Dew.  Probably won’t work on our tans.

Until later, then.

TTFN!

SPIFFY ... ELEGANT

January 21, 2016

Tonight is the second formal night of the cruise, and it looks like the last one for this half.  The Captain hosted a cocktail party for all of the guests, and we went and drank juice and enjoyed the hor d’oeuvres.  As we left I introduced us to the Captain and told him I was the guest speaker for this cruise and the next one.  We chatted a while and he said he would come to my talk tomorrow afternoon.  That would be neat.

One of the male members of the cruise director’s staff looked at my tuxedo and said I was “spiffy.”  Later I gallantly escorted a lady through to the lounge and she said I was “elegant.”  I’ll take elegant over spiffy.  Our gentlemen waiters, we have two, and a lady, fussed over Bonnie and her fancy cream/light brown outfit.  It did her good because she has a rumbly in her tumbly tonight.

Jordan, my “spiffy” contact, told me he wanted to give my name to the gentleman who heads up the speakers’ department and they would ask for me when they needed a speaker because the regular scheduled one couldn’t make it.  That was cool.

This is, as you know, our first cruise on Carnival, and we are enjoying it very much.   We’ve been making a list of the things we like on this ship.

1.    Hot chocolate – Bonnie’s favorite breakfast drink on board, very flavorful, and very, well, chocolatey.

2.    Shops on board – simple, not pushy, nice merchandise.

3.    The sink in our bathroom has a hot and cold water dispenser that dispenses, are you ready for it, hot and cold water.  I can’t tell you how many we’ve had who just gave our warm water.

4.    Big shower.  We are thinking this room may have, at sometime, been a handicapped stateroom, and the shower is bigger than normal.  Nice touch.

5.    Lots of elevators.  With 2100 guests, most of them older than dirt, it is important to have a lot of ways to transport the needy up and down.  Stairs are good, but frequently ships don’t seem to have enough electric conveyances.  The Carnival Pride does.

6.    Our location.  Stateroom 1111 is the last inside guest room on the starboard side, and just a few steps to the venue where I do my talks, and just two sets of stairs up to the theater where the shows are held.  Very convenient.

7.    The food is good.  Cruise food is supposed to be good, but some is gooder than others.  This is good.  And our waiters are great.

8.    At many island stops a lot of people stay on board, and frequently there is little for them to do.  This ship has arranged extra activities for those who have not gone ashore.

9.    Pepper shakers that work.  It is so annoying to shake pepper onto one’s morning eggs only to find that the pepper won’t come out.  So one must take the top off and then frequently the eggs receive too much of the black spice.  These have big holes that work.

10.    The internet package.  It’s $90 to surf and send email without time limits or download restrictions, but that is a bargain compared to some ships where we have to spend 75 cents a minute.  And the connection is reasonably fast.

And that’s the pluses.  Hopefully the first day’s bumps will be all the bumps.

And now off to see a ventriloquist.

TTFN

SMOOTHER SEAS

January 19, 2016

Last night we rocking and rolling.  Behind our stateroom is some kind of storage room with something in it that would roll from Point A to Point B and strike something.  It didn’t do it on a regular basis so that we could ignore it, but it would do it just as we were dropping off to sleep, bang two or three times and stop.  Then an hour or two later do it again.  The water smoothed up around 4, so we got a couple uninterrupted hours of sleep.  No more rough seas, please!

Day 2 at sea, and two talks on building a blog – well attended and supported by interesting questions.  Tomorrow is Grand Turk and no talk.  Reading up on the island, we discovered that where the cruise ship docks is immediately surrounded by tens of thousands of square feet of duty free shopping!  Oh boy! 

We do have some shopping to do, but historic Cockburn Town is only a $5 taxi ride away, so we may check it out.

Bonnie stayed in our stateroom and slept through my second talk.  That’s twice in a row!  Slacker!  I may have to break out the folder of applicants if this keeps up.  Actually, she is getting back to full speed – just worn out from Sunday, as I reported yesterday.

We managed to stay awake and see our first show of the cruise, “Getaway Island,” which featured a 60's style beach movie brought to life with music by the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, and other music your favorite cruisers grew up with.  There was also a dash of “Margarita Ville” and “Kokomo” thrown in for good measure.  The production was accented by several 3-D movie clips (which we watched through old fashioned 3-D glasses equipped with one green lens and one red lens).  It was a good time.

For supper tonight Bonnie had BBQ short ribs and I had Linguini with Italian sausage.  She had peach pie with ice cream (I’m not sure I can speel a la mode) for dessert and I had a light chocolate and dark chocolate parfait – it was good, but tomorrow if there is no creme brulee (the spell checker didn’t know what to do with that word) on the menu I am going back to Molten Chocolate Cake (it’s so good it will make you smack your grandmother).

Last night was formal night and the photographers work the dining room posing couples for the chance to sell them something.  We always pose, and never buy anything (on the theory that the workers have a quota of pictures to take).  A young man came up and asked us to pose and I asked him if he would guarantee that these would be the best pictures ever.  He said, “Absolutely!  You can trust me!  I’m oriental!”  And he wasn’t.

Well, until tomorrow night when we set sail from Grand Turk, stopping two days later at Aruba.

TTFN!

JOURNEY BEGINS

January 18, 2016


Well it started off smoothly and then got bumpy.  No problems getting to BWI from ATL, although we are still trying to decide if “providing airfare” means paying for checked luggage, because if you aren’t on Southwest, and we weren’t, you have to pay to check luggage.  Be tough doing 21 days with one outfit!

We got up at 3 a.m., left for Atlanta at 3:30, got there at 5:50ish, left our luggage with curbside check in and proceeded through security without a hitch.  I drove over, and  Jennifer was our return driver – thanks, Jenn!

We had no idea how we were to get from BWI to the cruise port – our agent said turn in a receipt for a taxi if you have to take one.  I saw a lady holding a sign for NCL and asked her if she knew about Carnival.  She did and we went off in that direction, to find out that our name was on no manifest (Vancouver all over again – and Princess and Carnival are sister companies) so we had to pay $50 to ride the bus to the ship (but that is a refundable expense). 

At the dock we went to the cruise coordinator who must have been new to the job, because the dear lady, sweet though she was, was clueless.  She had enough sense about her to call in a relief coordinator, who pitched a flawless bottom of the 9th, entered us into the computer, got our cruise cards and away we sailed.

We are in Stateroom 1111 which is the last starboard inside passenger stateroom on Deck One Forward.  Down the hall a couple dozen steps, up one short flight of stairs and you are in the Butterfly Lounge where all of my talks are.  I am doing each talk twice a day, so 10 on this cruise.  Then if you walk up to Deck Two and go all the way aft, you come to our dining room, “Normandie,” where we have Table 168 for first seating. 

There was a ball room dance instructor couple supposed to share with us, but a last minute family emergency and the inability to replace them, leaves us all alone.

After a delightful supper with three fantastic waiters, we went back to our room, and unpacked – finding our luggage had finally been delivered.  We unpacked in what seems to be smaller storage areas than usual.  The opening night show was at 10 p.m., but by that time we were in our jammies, sawing logs.

The weather outside is frightful, but there’s no fire to be delightful – which is a good thing on board ship.  We are still sailing down the coast of the U. S. of A., and are basically enjoying the same brisk weather as the east coast.  Tomorrow we will be in warmer waters, and Wednesday be in the 80s as we dock at Grand Turk.  The captain has picked up some rough water – winter seas – and we are rolling briskly, but as yet I have not seen the barf bags out.  Last cruise might have been rougher because the ship’s stabilizers were not working.  Thankfully they were repaired before we sailed.

It is official – I am making a checklist for packing for subsequent cruises.  Among the things I forgot are extra q-tips (but we have enough to make Grand Turk), sanitary wipes (butt we have enough to make Grand Turk), and I forgot to pack my cruise coffee mug (I have several from different cruise lines because of a shortage of RAM).  So I went to the ship’s shop to buy one and was told my Sea Pass Card was deactivated.  Oh joy!  Down to guest services.  Run the credit card again.  Sign the form again.  And go back upstairs and buy a new coffee mug.

Well, it’s formal night and dinner time, so I will close this and get back to you later.

TTFN