AT SEA, FINALLY!

October 3, 2017

To explain today’s title will take longer to tell you than I wish to stay awake tonight (it’s 10:02 p.m. ship’s time) and more energy than I have left, but let me give you just a taste.


(Don't raise your hand if you've heard this :-))

We left Saturday evening around 7 p.m. from Savannah for JFK, having been chauffeured by Mike and Ivy Coach Services.

Upgraded to better seats, smooth flight, on time arrival and departure for Lisbon. Then a few bumps here and there in the air. Supper was served at 1 a.m. Augusta time. The beef was tough and luke warm, but it filled the void. Landed a few minutes early, and headed for passport control to catch our flight to Rome which would go in 75 minutes. The passport control line was 120 minutes long, might have been longer, so we missed our flight. TAP Portugal put us on the next flight and we got to Rome around 7:30 p.m. local time.  We had reserved a drive for 4:30 p.m. local time, cancelled that at 12:30 p.m when we realized we weren’t going to make it, asked the company to book us another, and when I turned my cell phone on in Rome, there was an email saying no driver was available. 

We hired a taxi and got to our guest house around 9 p.m., met Stephano, our host, who took us to our room, helped us with our luggage, and departed.  We walked next door to a restaurant, ate great pizza and went back to our room and went to bed.

A great day touring Rome took place, and I’ll tell you about it later.

10:30 this morning we were picked up on schedule by private taxi and taken to Civitavecchia and dropped off at the ship before noon.  Here’s where the “I’m too tired to tell you” comes in, but suffice it to say that we were listed not as David and Bonnie Sisler, but as Guest Speaker and Guest Speaker – actually they didn’t have her, only me.  There are two other guest speakers on board this cruise, all of whom were listed as Guest Speaker, and a Catholic priest, also named Guest Speaker.  We finally got on board after 2 p.m., and rushed to lunch before the 3 p.m. lifeboat drill.

Once on board I discovered that Guest Services didn’t have any idea how my talks were scheduled or when or where.  Around 7 p.m. tonight I found that out (usually there is a letter and a schedule waiting in our room – which by the way is great: the best stateroom we’ve had).  I am on tomorrow with “Alexander Selkirk: The Real Robinson Crusoe” at 4 p.m.  And I know the rest of my times and the order of my talks.  Yippee!

Ate supper tonight – great steak – with Father Karl, the Catholic priest.  We discussed Vatican II and the upcoming Methodist schism.

The welcome aboard show was very good, and now we are back in our room, ready for a good night’s sleep and a nice breakfast in the dining room tomorrow.

I promise better stuff in the days ahead, and my companion said she would add to upcoming blogs as well.

Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts sent out way.

TTFN