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Stateroom 10207 with virtual balacony

Looking towards the door

November 10, 2015

It rained all day, but that was the worst of the day.  No delays on the road.  Waited maybe 10 minutes for the shuttle from the parking lot to the port and we were on board by 11:30 and in our stateroom by 12:30, with our luggage waiting outside our door.

This is the maiden voyage of the Anthem of the Seas from its American port.  The ship launched in April and sailed in Europe until coming here last week.  They did 3 two day cruises with travel agents on board, and we are the first “real” passengers.

Our state room is, of course, and inside passenger cabin, but there is a new feature on this class of ship – virtual balconies.  It is a Sharp TV monitor that goes from floor to ceiling and about 4 feet wide.  A TV camera shows what is going on on that side of the ship, and it even picks up the roll of the ship.  We just watched the sunset from the comfort of our stateroom.

I met the assistant cruise director to get my schedule, and it is a crazy one.  We have two days at sea and reach San Juan on Friday afternoon.  I have a talk tomorrow and none on the next sea day with one before we dock Friday.  Then my talks start back up the day we sail for home – with three sea days and four talks.  Not sure why they skipped tomorrow, but it is their ship, and they can do what they want, I reckon.

We had dinner in the Silk Restaurant – an oriental eatery.  One of us enjoyed the food.  One of us said it wasn’t very tasty.  I will give you more about our dining experience tomorrow after we reserve our seatings.

There do not seem to be as many places to just sit and relax as we’ve had on other ships, but we’ve found one that may be our hangout.  The only problem is, it’s Scandinavian furniture, and those folks must be short.  The cushions are only 18 inches off the floor.  We plop into them and then struggle out.  Maybe there are some places we haven’t discovered.

The opening show was “Beatle Maniacs” – a Beatles tribute band that was excellent.  Bonnie and I agreed that it was the best opening show we’ve seen.  Here’s hoping for more of the same.

And now to bed (every one repeat the rhyme, please).

November 11, 2015

We had breakfast in the American Icon restaurant.  We were at a table for two in a section of four tables for two.  The folks beside of us are a retired Mennonite pastor and his wife.  We swapped war stories.  It was an enjoyable breakfast.  Although ... the service was very spotted (and it was the same last night at supper).  Someone brought me coffee and served us rolls, but no one gave us menus.  Then someone took our order, but no one asked if wanted breakfast juices.  We got our food in widely scattered spurts, but it all came – eventually – and it was tasty.

Next we made reservations for supper for the rest of the cruise.  There are four main complimentary restaurants, each with a different theme.  Last night, as I said last night, was Silk.  Tonight we are going to American Icon.  Thursday will be Chic, and Friday is The Grande.  There is another one called “Devinly Decadance” that was featured on America’s Greatest Loser.  We are doing that one only once.  I will report nightly on the cuisine.

This ship does not have traditional dining arrangements.  You must reserve your seating for every evening meal.  There is a computerized program that helps you do it from any where on board, including your stateroom, but someone had entered times and restaurants for us – all late times – and the system wouldn’t let us change.  A young hostess named Joann worked it out for us and we will rotate through the restaurants at 6 p.m. each evening.  There is no formal night on the Anthem, but the dress code for the Grande is formal, so we will wear our best big and tucker on those nights.

Then we made arrangements for the three special shows that they have, working around our dining arrangements.  These are evidently quite spectacular and booked into smaller venues, hence the need for reservations.  Our first one is Friday at 9 p.m. and it is called “We Will Rock You.”  I’ll let you know.

We had lunch at the Café Two70.  They serve a variety of sandwiches, soups and salads, and you may sit in a large deck area that encompasses the entire stern of the ship, and is 3 decks high.  The rear walls are glass – giving a beautiful view of the sea and where you’ve been.  I will have three of my talks there – don’t know how that will work, but I guess they do.

We explored Decks 4 and 5, checking out the various shops and restaurants along the way.  The shops seem very high end, and the restaurants run from complimentary to a la carte.  We haven’t yet found the bumper cars or the sky diving venues, but since I don’t have a talk tomorrow we will check those out as well.

One disappointment.  We tried to reserve an excursion on the St. Kitts Railroad, but both times are booked up.  We got on a waiting list – 3 couples ahead of us – but we are not hopeful.  It is perhaps the most popular excursion on this cruise.  At $100 a person, it better be good (and I researched it for my St. Kitts talk, so we’ll get a little flavor even if we don’t get on the train).  Toot!  Toot!

My first talk today was in the Royal Theater and was attended by about 150 folks.   And glory be!  The ship’s projector talks to my new laptop!  I added a new video to the San Juan talk that I think went very well, and Bonnie and I agree that another video needs shortened.  I think I am going to redo that section altogether – it is about El Yunque National Park – the only rain forest in the U.S. National Forestry Department (I’d like to see it. We won’t make it on this cruise, but maybe we in January).

November 12, 2015

So ...

Do you wanna build a snow man?

At 10 a.m. this morning your favorite cruisers went to see “Frozen” in 3D in the Royal Theater.  Very enjoyable.  The Mickey Mouse cartoon which began the program had my cruising partner in stitches, laughing out loud, and stamping her feet.  She did all of that, and the cartoon was very good, but she had taken 4 oxycodone pills by the time we had reached the theater (her back had gone out, and needed a strong does of drugs – she is much improved this evening, and back to being sober as well).

We took our lunch from Café Two70 and went into the Two70 lounge to enjoy potato and leek soup and a variety of sandwiches, followed by a brownie for her and a strawberry scone for me.  Very good indeed.

Bonnie went to a jewelry making class and completed a bracelet and a necklace.  They are very nice.  A young man from England, Daniel, led the class, and we talked to him later and he told us about upcoming classes which she will take.

Dinner was at the Chic, and the usual confusion ensued – these people really need to work on service in their four complimentary restaurants!  We were on the que on time for our 6 p.m. seating, and were directed to follow Jose to table 225.  We followed him to table 226, because someone was already seated at 225.  The meal was good – prime rib for her, onion crusted chicken breast for me – but service was once again spotty.  Nevertheless we got everything we ordered and enjoyed a companionable evening with the folks at 225 and 227 – only our second opportunity to fellowship at a meal (and that is one of the really fun parts about cruising).

Then we stood on line to see if stand by seats were available for “Spectra Cabaret,” one of three shows for which you must make reservations.  Our reservation for Spectra was tomorrow night at 6:30, and our dinner reservations are at 6, so we weren’t going to make one, and we decided we’d rather eat.  About an hour before show time we went to the theater to see if there were seats available and after standing in line for 45 minutes we learned (sadly, it turns out) there were seats available.  Sadly, because we were very disappointed in the show – we later said, the reason you have to make reservations is so you’ll think it is good, otherwise folks won’t come.  We set in the privileged section because there weren’t enough of the “which of which there is no whicher” in attendance.  The show was loud and disjointed and I napped through much of it.  No matter what the remaining shows produce, they will rank higher in our estimation than “Spectra Cabaret.”

When we got back to our stateroom we learned that we had gone to the front of another stand by line – this one to get shore excursion tickets to ride the St. Kitts Railroad.  When we tried first, we were told it was sold out, but we asked to be put on standby.  Imagine my surprise when I picked up the tickets and learned that we had received two tickets for the 8:30 excursion and two tickets for the 12:30 excursion!  So I toodled off to Customer Service where someone who had worked at Chick Fil A told us it would his pleasure to make the correction.  I forget what day is St. Kitts, but this is our only booked excursion for this cruise – and from all we’ve learned, it will be a good afternoon.

And now to bed.  Hopefully I’ll get this posted tomorrow.  What I have written, I have written.

TTFN!

UNTIL NOVEMBER

Disembarking from the Liberty of the Seas was as smooth as we've ever experienced. And the ride back to Edgewater and Augusta was uneventful.  We are off to the Caribbean in November.  Until then, take a look at some pictures.  And as Amy says, "Happy sails!"

It's called "Bug Light" because it's cute as a bug. So is she!

One of more than 300 along the Maine coast.

Monument to the Liberty Ships which took troops to Europe in WW2.

Portland, ME coastline.

It was National Lighthouse Day -- the one day a year when visitors are allowed inside.

No selfie here. Or usie.

At 2nd Avenue.

In Halifax Public Gardens.

Taken in a misty rain, but still beautiful.

Guard at the Citadel in Halifax, commemorating the day Canada's first troops went to Europe in WW1.

Every trip must have one cannon!

Bonnie serenaded by Elvis Parsley

Thank you! Thank you very much!

ROBERT B. PARKER IS DEAD AND I DON’T FEEL TOO GOOD MYSELF

September 17, 2015


Boston, the home of the bean and the cod.  Where the Lowells speak only to the Cabots, and the Cabots speak only to God.  A poem by Ogden Nash.

Because we were coming back into the United States from a foreign nation – legal immigrants all – we had to go through immigration.  Everyone one on board had to have their passport examined by a U. S. Immigration Officer.  We didn’t go to the opening night show, so I don’t know how many of us are on ship, but approximately 3,500 had to gather for the ritual.  The first call was at 7:10, and we went through about 9.  Then we headed off ship.

We booked a $20 shuttle to ride a $33 trolley bus, and had great fun.  We rode past revolutionary war sites, into Cambridge, saw the buildings of MIT and Harvard, the Green Monster of Fenway Park, and spent an enjoyable couple hours.  We passed several Duck Boats and I was the only one to salute them.  Quack.  Quack.  Quack.

Then we went back to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market and had Italian sausages with onions and peppers for lunch, and waffle cones for desert – orange sherbert dipped in chocolate for Bonnie and Blackberry Crunch and Peanut Butter Swirl for me.

We walked back to Clinton Square to catch a shuttle where we joined a couple hundred of our fellow passengers qued up and waiting.  The lady on duty said she had ordered 3 extra buses and within 10 minutes we were on our way back to the Liberty of the Seas and nap time.

The only distressing part of the day was speaking to two Boston residents – one a 20 something who sold us the trolley tickets and the other a 50 something who was our bus driver and tour guide.  Neither of these men knew who Robert B. Parker was.  For those of you who just said, “Who is that?” I’ll tell you.  Robert B. Parker was a life long resident of Boston and the author of the Spenser detective series, along with two other detective series, and one cowboy series.  Spenser, Parker’s fictional hero with no known first name, had his office on Boylston Street, and when I asked the ticket taker if we would see it, he allowed as how he had no ideal who Spenser was, and the driver gave the same reply.  Sadness!  I know it’s fiction, but Parker was one of Boston’s favorite sons for pity sake.

Oh, and I did see a t-shirt display I wanted to hop out of the trolley, push over and hop back on.  It had shirts with Tom Bradey’s picture prominently displayed and the words “Free at Last.”  Looked like an Obozo campaign poster.  But what do you expect in Beantown?  And the Cheatriots were up to their old tricks in their win against the hapless Steelers – for the first quarter Steeler coaches couldn’t talk to their players from the sidelines to the field, and are you surprised, the Boston coaches had no trouble at all.  Did the league make the Boston coaches take off their headsets?  Sure, and I have a bridge to sell you!

We stopped in a bookstore called “Make Way For Ducklings” and bought a couple souvenirs.  Some how I got to talking about trivia with Diedre, the proprietress, a real trivia fan.  She allowed as how she likes to cruise and goes to all the trivias, and met her husband on land at a trivia contest.  I asked if she watches Jeopardy! and she does.  I said, “Do you yell at Alex Trebek?”  “Yes,” she said, “it’s the answer and question show!  Not the clue and question show!”  So watch out Trebek!  We are everywhere!

Diedre said she had a friend who was on Jeopardy! and I told her I have a daughter who was on Wheel of Fortune.  He got third place.

And now when Bonnie wakes up from her nap, I will post this, and fill in tonight and the last day at sea when we reach Kyle’s, as well as add photos then.

TTFN!

TO HALIFAX AND BEYOND

September 16, 2015


Dawn dawned in Halifax like it does everywhere.  The sun came up, and people went about their business.  Of course, yesterday morning it dawned overcast and misty (and when we were walking back on board several hours later, the sun came out – oh well).

After breakfast in the Rembrandt dining room, we went ashore and walked to the Halifax Public Gardens, stopping along the way at a news stand so Bonnie could buy a local newspaper, and Canada’s national newspaper.  How refreshing!  Neither Obozo or the Donald were in either paper!  The nice ladies in the shop let me use their wi-fi so I could check email and Pirates scores.  Then we toodled off to the Gardens.

It took us about an hour total to walk there – and it was up hill all the way.  But there was no snow, and no baby sister to carry.  Speaking of snow, they got 180 inches of the white stuff last year, and the ground was green through Christmas – once it started in January it got down to serious business.  Snow was shoveled and plowed off the streets, loaded onto trucks and dumped in the harbor where the last of it melted in July.

The Halifax Public Gardens are an old fashioned Victorian-style field of green and color which opened in 1875.  Paths are laid out, and flowers are arranged in great vistas.  Bonnie posed in front of the statue of Aphrodite – I don’t remember why she was there (Aphrodite, not Bonnie).  We saw less than a quarter of it because the rain came up again, and we headed towards the Citadel.

Walking down Sackville Street we passed fast food row.  McDonald’s advertised “McLobster is back.”  It looked good – a roll with chunks of lobster, but we kept on walking to the historic fort which has protected the city since 1749.  The last time we were here the guards who were on duty were dressed in Scottish uniforms complete with kilts.  This time they were in World War I uniforms in commemoration of the day the first Canadian troops left Halifax to go to Europe to fight in the “War to End All Wars” (whoever named it sure got it wrong!).

The Citadel has seen four versions, but although troops were housed there and naval squadrons stationed in the harbor, there was never a shot fired in anger from the fort or towards it.  May all forts everywhere be able to say that!

One of the major exhibits is a large scale reproduction of the memorial to Canadian soldiers in Vimy, France.  Many Canadians died in the area, and their bodies were later relocated with honor and the French gave the property to Canada, so it is now Canadian sacred soil.  Very powerful indeed.  I took no photographs, it was too moving an exhibit to take snapshots – google it; it is worth the view.

Not all of the guards were in WWI garb.  A few were in kilts and a particularly handsome young man with a very fetching uniform walked by and Bonnie uttered, none too quietly, “He’s cute!”  He turned around and smiled at her and said, “Thank you!”  One of his buddies heard her and stopped to tell us that for the rest of his life, the unsuspecting soldier will be called “Cutie.”

After toodling around for a while, my leg was saying, “No mas!” and we hired a taxi cab to take us back to the ship (stopping in a shopping arcade first for Bonnie to buy some souvenirs).

At supper that night, Linda, one of our table mates, told us about getting up early in the morning to get a shower before her excursion ashore.  After she showered, put on her make up and dressed, she looked at the clock and it was 3:30.  She thought it was 6:30.  So she got undressed and went back to bed.  We appreciated the story which she shared at her own expense.

I did my talk this morning on “Revolutionary Boston” at 9 a.m.  There were about 100 heart souls in attendance.  My last two talks will be at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Friday, after we have sailed from Boston.

Because we are coming back into the United States from Canada we have to go through U.S. immigration.  Officers will come on board and we will be herded into the Michelangelo dining room where our papers will be checked before we go ashore.  Foreigners will go to the Botticelli dining room.  We’ll report on that tomorrow.

TTFN!

BAH HABAH

September 13, 2015


A cool, misty day in Bar Harbor.  We tendered off at 10 o’clock and wandered around town.  We went into a very museum that concentrated on First People culture (Christopher Columbus called them Indians).  I bought a couple of books with creation stories from several of the tribes to use in future talks.  The highlight of the day was stopping at C.J.s ice cream – absolutely fantastic – in fact, that was lunch.  We picked up a couple of souveniers and came back on board.  I napped.  She Who Must Be Obeyed sat on Deck 4 and crocheted.  Now it’s blog posting time.  We’ll try for an exciting blog tomorrow.

TTFN!

A DAY WITH FRIENDS

September 12, 2015


We got up this morning and had breakfast in the Windjammer before going off on our “Tour of Maine Lighthouses.”  Then it was off to the Platinum Theater to await the call of our group.  We got on bus # 5 (after some confusion – theirs, not ours) and headed out to see 3 local lighthouses.

Ed, who led our tour gave an excellent history talk throughout and did a credible job of communication, after we asked him to turn his microphone up.  Tim, the driver, was never able to get the airconditioner working, but since it was only 67 degrees outside, it wasn’t too bad.

After stopping at our second lighthouse (where we had only 20 minutes – same time limit as the first one) Bonnie said, “You are going to have dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour, arent’ you?”  If you seen Jurasic Park, you know the reference.  We thought that we would get to go inside and climb up the lighthouses to look around, but we couldn’t even walk out to the second one, even though lots of other tourists were doing so.  Must keep to the schedule you know (sounds better pronounced as shed-ule, rather than sked-ule).

At the third light house, low and behold, the door is open and a uniformed guard said, “You need a ticket to go up.  We are calling groups every 15 minutes.”

So I went to get a ticket.  It was 11 a.m., and I was told that the next tickets were for 1:15.  And we were shed-uled to leave for the ship at 11:25.  We were not pleased.  It turns out that today is Maine Lighthouse Day or something – the second Saturday of September, all of the lighthouses are open and folk are invited to visit them.  But not if you were on Tour PW03LB from the Liberty of the Seas.

But the scenery was beautiful and in spite of not seeing any dinosarus, we had a good time.

Back at the ship, we waited for Danielle and Jess, two great ladies we met last October on our re-routed Bermuda Tour.  Faithful readers will remember we came to Canada when a hurricane closed Bermuda.  We ate at Danielle and Jess’s table, and have kept in touch since then.  They drove an hour and half from near Boston to visit us, and we treated them to lunch.  Great time!

In a few minutes, it’s off to supper.  Then we will get tender tickets to go ashore in Bah Habah tomorrow.  And then it’s movie under the stars tonight instead of the show in the Theater.  We’ve seen the commedian and we haven’t seen “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

Addendum: It was too frazzling cold.  Maybe they’ll show Avengers on our Caribbean run in November.

I’ll try to make a post after supper, and add a few pictures.

See you tomorrow from Bar Harbor.

TTFN!

MOMENT’S OVER

September 11, 2015


At noon today we paused for a minute of silence to reflect on the events which happened 14 years ago.

Before leaving 103 Valley View, my contact in the cruise director’s office called me and asked me if I would lead a 9/11 memorial service on board.  I was honored, and of course, said, “Yes.”  I prepared a 20 minute program which included photos and musical moments – “God Bless America,” “America,” and “The Star Spangled Banner.”  A message was waiting for me in our stateroom that the powers that be had changed their minds (was there something wrong with the ones they had?) and would just do a brief pause.  I told Angel I had prepared a program.  She asked for it on a flash drive, showed it to the cruise director who liked it, but said the company had decided to go with the moment of silence.

During my second talk today (yes, I did two today, and will do two again on the last sea day) I was talking about an explosion that leveled Halifax in 1917, killing 2,000 and injuring 9,000.  One of the heroes was a telegraph operator who stayed at his post, and was killed in the explosion.  Another was a navy man who tried to pull the threatened ship away from the docks and died in the explosion.  I stopped and remarked that I had finished this talk back in May, and had no idea I would give it on September 11.  I remarked about the “heroes” of that day – the firemen, the policemen, the EMTs, the soldiers – who ran into harms way to help others, and asked anyone who had served or was serving in those positions where they willingly risked themselves to protect us to stand.  They received a well-deserved round of applause.

Bonnie said there were about 350 people at the first talk, 250 at the second (I was up against an ice show for the second talk, and blame no one for checking out that spectacular production).

We have early seating for supper and share a table for 6 with 4 ladies – two sets of friends cruising together.  Two are retired school teachers.  Two are single mothers.  Lively and enjoyable bunch.  Shirley, Linda, Carol, and Anna – C&A are on their first cruise; S&L are old hands.

We are taking a tour of Maine Lighthouses tomorrow morning, and then are meeting two friends from one of last year’s cruises.  Danielle and Jess are driving a couple hours to share lunch with us and hang out for a time.  We are looking forward to that.

Well, it’s bedtime.  Up early for breakfast and off into Portland.

TTFN!