Although I have my gps with me, and now have a balcony with a table and two chairs from which to take a sighting or position fix, the fact is, channel 14 on the tv has a really really GOOD position and weather and sunrise etc channel which does naught else day and night but crank out this information. By the way, the clocks have been moved ahead an hour, and we are roughly at the latitude of Tampa but out to sea.
The ships time is now 0530. Last night, I cut and pasted some of my description of Poland for A*** to read before looking at the pictures. And it can go onto the blog without much further modification. However, R***, the guy running the computer café has advised against using the wireless card in order to avoid confusing the computer which is used to dialup. However, dialing hotmail.com gets me to my msn email nicely, and that is how I was able to thank C V again.
One of the tv channels has tapes of the on-board live show that I missed. Some channels are kid cartoons (Yogi Bear) one is a James Caan movie, there are some that are CNN shows, one channel looks like friends, there is now one describing various land tours available. My first order of business when I got moving was to go to the 7th deck and visit with the Polish lady. Luckily, I passed coffee on the way, and found her very quickly and returned to my cabin for the dell.. Next we passed a most pleasant hour or so, with her and her colleague from Romania [C***, attorney at law] looking at pix from Berlin, Poland, Aruba and this morning’s cruise..
Following this, I said hi to the Turk as he came by and then invited Dr H** and his quiet but highly intelligent wife to come and visit me in my stateroom, which they thereupon did. He is a PhD and has devoted a lifetime (he is two years younger than I) to trying to figure out scientifically how acupuncture works. He is fascinating but requires attention to understand. Surprised to hear he and his wife have no health insurance. I showed them some pix from Belize and then we set off in search of food, but ships time was by now 1400 so the Venetian and several of the cafeteria lines were closed, and I ended up in the garden café again where I had pork, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, rice, pizza and rainbow sherbert ice cream. And went back for another big oatmeal raison cookie.
Catching up on today’s diary I am sitting on the balcony of the stateroom with whitecaps rushing by just under my left elbow, and some blue sky showing amidst some dark looking rain clouds. I am totally relaxed and without any ‘gottas, oughtas or even wannas’ to deal with. In fact, surprisingly I find myself almost ready for a nap. Ships time is ahead an hour of NY, and I should not really be tired, but other than internetting, deck walking or casinoing, there isn’t a lot I need or want to do. I have made no ground arrangements for any of the four islands we are going to visit, and frankly was hoping that A*** might be able to join me on one of the tours. Dr and Mrs H*** also might join me.
Local time now 1900 exactly. I feasted on oatmeal cookies and ice water and smiled as I rode the elevator with a young couple who also had their hands full of oatmeal cookies. I am a tad hungry (should check the thing that R*** sent up) but I think entertainment and otherwise I am pretty much through for the night. I won a whopping two and a half bucks in the casino.
I saw the two European ladies at the entrances to their respective restaurants minutes ago, and I told C*** that I had sent her an email and that as soon as she responded I would send off the pic of the sunken boat in Aruba. A*** was explaining to the H**’s who were there (by coincidence only) that shorts were not allowed, and looked up with astonishment as she saw the legs belonged to me.
Sea conditions have moderated from rough to moderate. We are 400NM from St Thomas with continued scheduled docking of 1100AM> N 24 22 W 67 16.
The food from R*** is sweet little tarts with strawberries, blueberries and kiwi’s and they hit the spot. Got a final email from C V saying thanks for the kind words and bon voyage.
Ended up not having too much in the way of supper, but scarfed up a few cookies a few times. I went down to the Spinnaker Lounge (forward Deck 12) and listened to a small but professional band play Glen Miller, Count Basie, Dorsey etc. A pair of Philippina sisters sang Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, and the accent sounded Japanese. The waitresses wore floor length black dresses slit halfway to the thigh. I had a towel croc on my bed when I got back and took a pic of same.
Opened the door wide and there is almost a full moon shining on the water. It is currently 9:30PM local time and I have a big day tomorrow. I thought it was spitting rain as I walked back past the pool for my cookies, but the moon is bright in what looks like a largely cloudless sky. I have signed up for one tour only, and until the tickets come, I don’t remember which one. It was for the island of Antigua (I think) which is the second stop. I think a tram is involved, many hours and a cost of a hundred bucks. I have two hours left on the internet from C***, and will look around for an internet cafe in St Thomas tomorrow between the plane ride and the sailing, to see if I can catch up on things like my e-mail and other favorite websites.
5 comments:
I need to catch up! But things sound like fun anyway. I'd love to be on a ship right now!
For many reasons, I deferred cruising for decades. When I finally began, I found it was very pleasant and comfortable for me personally, despite my several dissimilarities to the archtypical cruiser.
Almost coincidentally, the terrorist attack ten years ago suddenly made many Americans unwilling to fly commercially unnecessarily, and the cruise industry rapidly moved to snare this new cohort of vacationers. Many 'deals' have evolved which often price cruising at the lower end of vacation choices.
I loved cruising...
Have read a great deal of the entries Darling and am enjoying them.
Umm, dude, it sounds like you ate WAY too much food on this trip! Lol, you are going to have to do some serious dieting, I am guessing, to get rid of the excess!
It may not be as true today as it was in the heyday of cruising (before it became so popular and affordable) but eating has always been an integral part of the cruise experience. They used to serve basically five meals a day, and there were always places in between to get a bite.
However, as I used the gym and usually the stairs instead of the elevator, and walked miles on the promenade decks (when ships had them) I generally didn't gain much more than a pound a day, which I lost the same way you do...diet & exercise.
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