September 19, 2024
This sailing started on September 11, and your
friendly neighborhood bloggers were excited about free wifi. Well, as John Arbuckle used to say, “You get
what you pay for.” To say the least, it
has been wonky, to say more than that, well, it has been wonky. Today, anchored off Newport RI is the most
consistent Internet connection we’ve had, so we are going to try a blog.
Bonnie has kept detailed notes, and her
accounts are always more detailed, so I’ll let her start, and if I remember
something, I’ll add it later.
And now, here’s Bonnie!
Well, the flight from Augusta to Boston by way
of Charlotte was for the most part uneventful. I did have a wheelchair to go
from one gate to the other in Charlotte. It was about a 30 minute trip. Getting to Boston we found our way to baggage
claim and after the luggage finally started coming down ours was one of the
first bags. Retrieving the bags we started in search for a cab. I found the
yellow taxi cab signs and followed them outside. The taxi we got, the first one
in line, was less than spectacular. He spoke no or almost no English and
understood even less. We got to the dock and he was going to put us out before
even finding out if it was the right place. He was out of the car and trying to
unload the luggage while I am trying to ask the luggage guy outside if this was
the Natica. Fortunately it was. It was supposed to cost about $25 and he
charged us $40.
We got on fairly easy. Found our room after
about 3:30 when the rooms were ready. We had some lunch in the Terrace Café on
deck 9 while waiting.
The bags were setting outside our room when we
got there. The room is very small. Lots of drawers and shelves. So we had
enough hangers to hang all his stuff and some of mine and it all fit in the
tiny closets. Everything else is rolled up on shelves or put into tiny drawers.
This room has by far the tiniest bathroom ever. The shower definitely is the
smallest. Fortunately the two doors on the shower swing out or in. So you swing
them out to get in and then close them. The only way I can wash my legs and
feet is to turn off the water, bend over wash them and then turn the water on
and rinse. No 2 people in this bathroom at the same time unless one is in the
shower.
There is one stool and no chairs. If I want to
sit it is on the bed. There is a vanity area with the stool where he sits to
work on his talks. We do have a window but it is has a “partially obstructed”
view. There is a life boat hanging outside our window. We eat breakfast in the
room on days he has a talk and we lay a large blue towel on the bed so we can
set the tray on it.
Alright now writing from my notes. Writings
from September 13, 2024:
Clocks were turned ahead one hour last night as
we left Newport. So far the cruise has been relatively calm. David has finished
his second talk, “Tempest in the Atlantic”. We are back in the room changing
clothes(him) (but I change clothes more
on this ship than I ever have before) and then we are going to find some place
to play cards.
I guess if I had any complaints it would be
there is no place for me to sit in the room but on the bed.
Oceana Natica is a ship almost identical to the
Pacific Princess ship which we have sailed many times and now has been sold to
another cruise line by Princess. It is so much like it I know where everything
is on the ship and can walk from stern to bow is 10 minutes. There are only 4 elevators and it
is really easy to get one. I know it is supposed to be upscale but I haven’t
seen anything that says upscale to me. My phone signal died after we left
Boston and then didn’t even work in Newport. The internet is none existent most
of the time. One nice thing is there is a refrigerator in our room and it is
kept stocked with all the soft drinks you would lik. Thank you!! Chocolate milk
for breakfast is not available for the most part. Every once in a while I will
get an good cup of hot chocolate. Hey Mac and Luke “NO PIZZA”! Mostly having a
muffin and tomato juice and coffee for our breakfast in the room.
Suppers have been very nice. We have a nice
table and waiter. The proportions are not huge and you can finish your meals.
Dinner was slow last night for some reason. But it is okay we really have no
place to go. We have not been to any shows. There have only been one comedienne
show so far. We usually play cards and head to the room so he can study.
Saturday September 14, 2024
Well yesterday was a day at sea. We are still
sailing towards Bermuda but because of strong winds, rain and rough seas we are
not going to St George. Instead we are going to Hamilton and will stayed docked
there till we leave to come home. We are currently scheduled to dock at 2 pm.
It is 8:30, we have had our breakfast “in bed”. This morning I had a piece of
wheat toast and he had a croissant. Because his talks are at 10 am it is
necessary to do room service. Today is “Flight 19 and the Bermuda Triangle”. We
have one more talk on our way back to Boston.
Yesterday we had lunch at the salad and
sandwich grill which is outside on deck 9. He had a hot dog and I had a Rueben.
I took off most of the bread and ate the insides. It was quite tasty as was my
salad. We played some cards and napped briefly. It was the Captain’s reception
night but we did not go instead we just went to the dinning room at 6 to get in
line for supper at 6:30. He had a lobster tail out of the shell on risotto and
I had prime rib. Very good. We both had some steamed vegetables. And for dessert
a small scoop of ice cream.
The shows, that there are all start at 9:30
which is late for us especially when he has a talk the next day. So we went
back to the room and he studied and I crocheted.
We had checked out the shops on deck 5. There
are 2. One has clothes, purses shoes, etc and the other is all jewelry. You can
see lots of up scale prices here. They had a nice shirt he liked. It was $280
and with his 20% discount would still have been over $200. Yikes! Everything
was priced like that.
The internet is almost non-existent. My phone
is connected to Natica wifi and it tells me emergency calls only and gives the
temperature in Yatch Anchorage? Really!!
Well, we turned in our papers for docking back
in Boston on Wed, Sept 18 . We are staying on but will have to go through
customs. We are not sure how that will be done. I am currently waiting in the
lounge for his talk to start. Last night for the Captains reception they had
the band and all their stuff set up and it is still there. He will have to work
around it.
Crowds are good but every day there is
something in right after him so I need to quickly get his stuff down so they
can set up. He goes to the back and talks to the guests who want a word. So far
there has been only one “old crabby man” who said a picture he used of some one
from the 1600’s was wrong! Most people if they disagree with something are
nice. But this guy was just nasty.
Today we are going to find the pizzeria for lunch
but it turns out it is non existent. We dock at 2 pm and if it is still raining
we are going to wait to get off tomorrow. Because we aren’t going to St George
we won’t get to go to some of the places we want to go to. Maybe next week we
will get there.
* * * * * *
She will write more later, and I am going to
try to transfer some photos off of my phone to the computer so we can get them in
the blog. Stand by. Ok. No
joy. I will try again from Bermuda.
