SATURDAY AT SEA

March 2, 2019

I can’t remember if I’ve told you or not (raise your hand if you’ve heard it) but my talk schedule is different this time from any other Journeys cruise we have done.  Instead of doing a talk twice a day as before, several days I do only one talk – that subject to be repeated several days later.  Today was one of those days and it was my Social Media talk: “Blogging Your Vacation (or Whatever).” 

The last time I did this talk one of the guests told me about a couple of things to add, and I checked his suggestions out and made some changes for the better.  One of them is a site called Grammarly.  The URL is grammarly.com and for all of you writers out there – people in high school who have to do term papers and research papers, people working on their bachelors degrees with similar requirements, people working on their Masters – finish your paper and pop it into that site, just copy and paste, and it will make suggestions for improving your grammar (that’s grammar, not Granny).  Great site.  And the audience was good which always makes for a better talk.

Every one was present at Table 525 tonight.  Last night there were just 6 of us, tonight all 10 were present and accounted for.  A new couple sat across from us, or we from them (take your choice) from Texas, Bob and Sandy.  At first I thought they wouldn’t be any fun, but they picked it up and made for pleasant conversation.  The couple at the far end of the table were too far away to do more than say “howdy” to, so we said it and didn’t have any other interaction with them.  We’ll pick different seats tomorrow so we can visit with others.  Makes for a fun dinner.

Well, I’m going to cut my time on the keyboard short tonight, so my cruise buddy can blog.  She is wide awake and ready to hit the keys.

So, TTFN

Well, where shall I begin. We drove to Atlanta Wednesday stopping in Madison to eat at CFA and stop at an antique place that is nice. Picked up some birthday presents for some upcoming birthdays. Then, we proceeded on to our hotel for the night. Nothing extra but it was clean and had a restaurant of sorts and we enjoyed a nice meal. We watched wheel and jeopardy and then some  forged and fire shows enjoying some popcorn.

We got up at 5 so we could take the shuttle to the airport at 6. There were several other people who rode with us. Not much trouble at the airport and we got a bite of breakfast before we went to our gate.  It had started raining by the time our flight took off. The plane was on time and the flight was only an hour and 40 minutes. We both slept for about 40 minutes or so. Arriving at Hobby airport in Houston (it was raining here too), we collected our luggage and soon found the carnival people. The ship still hadn’t docked, it actually docked about 30 minutes after we got our luggage and meet up with the Carnival people. It actually was 3 hours before they got a shuttle to the airport to get us. We were lucky and got the last 2 seats on the first shuttle. Found out later they actually had 3 shuttles that came in all.  When we got to the pier it was still raining and we got off the bus identified our luggage to the porters and headed for check in. Got thru the security (I made it with my bottle of diet sprite, which I wasn’t supposed to have) and checked in and onto the ship. Found our room and our keys and I napped and he went off to check on our dining. Since we had 8:30 dining we ate on the lido deck. Good food but not very warm. We went to the welcome aboard show and then to bed.

He had gotten a chance to meet the entertainment director when he went to guest services to check on whether our credit card was entered into the computer, it was not. So he knew his schedule. We got up Friday morning at 7 so we could get ready, have breakfast and he could rehearse. I went walking after breakfast, I actually had 10000+ steps Thursday and Friday. Today I only got 8700. His first talk was a mess. There antiquated system wouldn’t work with the new computer, so for the second talk we pulled out the spare computer and everything was great. Both talks yesterday were well attended. Everyone was very complimentary.

Our dinner was changed to 6 and we went to supper and had a nice meal. The show last night was great. We have to go to the last show because the service is extremely slow and we don’t get out of the dining room till 8. Same thing happened tonight. I do not like tables of ten. We went to the comedy show at 8:30 last night and tonight. Tonight there isn’t any other show so we came back to the room. I am still awake so I am blogging. I was exhausted last night and was soon in bed. 

Sorry this is very rambling. My mind is trying to keep up with the events. I have gotten some crocheting done and have been trying to find a good spot where we can watch when we get to the canal. Unfortunately the bow of the ship on deck 10 and 11 is the location of the adult only serenity pool and cabanas. It also has a fenced in play area for the children’s program. I will do some more exploring tomorrow to see if there is some place else to stand and watch.

Today while he was studying for his 2:15 talk I went to a couple of trivias in the atrium and sat and crocheted and listened. In the one on general knowledge I only got 9 correct, he knew 5 answers I didn’t know. We also got a chance to meet the dance couple, there room is opposite ours, who were giving a waltz lesson after the trivias. We went to lunch and had hamburgers and fries and an ice cream cone. After lunch he went to the room to dress and I headed to the Eagles lounge to wait for the talk.  The lounge was a mess. They had  a cooking show and had not cleaned up the mess. He came shortly after I did and he went back to the room to call the entertainment director to tell here the room was not prepared for his talk. She had to call someone to clean up the mess. Fortunately it was completed just about 2, his talk was at 2:15.  The talk went well, we went back to the room, he napped and I didn’t. Then it was off to supper and another comedy show. Now in the room, he is fading fast and we are headed to bed.

Sorry this is rambling I will do better tomorrow night. Love you all.

Love, Mom, Granny and Bonnie