Wow - How Many Views!!

I just hit the 800,000 views to my blog with 100,000 just in the past few months!  

Thank you everyone for following along.  This blog has always been a spot where I felt comfortable to write and share information.

A space that people could come to learn about cruising, ports and travel.  

It is written by solely by me and I make a point to only share information that I know first hand.  I do not share information that I have heard second hand that I have not personally confirmed from a reliable source.

I love when people comment and come up to me and introduce themselves and tell me how the blog has helped them.

It keeps me writing! And trust me there are days when I wonder "is anyone really following along?" "should I keep writing?" "is it worth all my time and effort?"

For now I will continue to write and share.  

Thanks for following and here is to moving forward and hitting a MILLION - as I put my pinky finger to my mouth.

Home and Dreaming - Where to Next?

Back at work

Even though we were okay with getting off the ship on February 28 after 40 days and to get back to "normal".  

Heck who am I kidding we could of easily have stayed on longer.  But when we know it is over we start thinking of home and what we have to do and we mentally prepare.

When we did get back home and back to work reality quickly sets in.  

Back at work and all I keep thinking is "where is my next adventure".

I am aware that I am not the kind of person who wants to stay in one place long.  I want to explore.  It doesn't have to be fancy either, I just want to see the world.

One exciting thing is that I got to celebrate a milestone at work.  I recently celebrated 20 years on the job as a transit driver.  Although I had a career previously that I went to school for a long time to get I was not happy in that career.

21 years ago I applied to BC Transit (at the time, now Coast Mountain Bus Company) and got hired.  It was the best decision - besides marrying Bernie - of my life.

Check out a picture of my classmates from 1998

Again my wonder lust and my need to explore in my day to day life meant a desk job was not ideal for me.  I love the variety my job brings and the people I get to meet every day, the good and the bad.  The ability to book long vacation times to enable us to travel for a month is a huge positive.  

Also a positive is how nice the weather has been at home.  We came home to green grass and the trees sprouting buds on their limbs.  Flowers peaking out of the ground. Heck the daffodils are blooming.  And then one day we hit record highs - this was taken coming home one afternoon - 22 degrees!  HOT.  Although as I write it is raining outside, but it could be worse.

So now as I drive the bus each day I think "where to next"?  

Of course with Spring season comes re positioning cruises from California to Vancouver and there are quite a few this year that we may be able to jump on.  But can not plan anything yet as Bernie is having Cataract surgery on his first eye at the beginning of April and we don't know when the 2nd one will be (but only a few weeks after first) so we have to plan to sail when he is better.

Also lots of changes happening in our lives this year but can not report about them just yet.  So stay tuned on what is in the future for us.  

New Wine Menu from February 2018

Princess introduced a new wine list in February 2018.

Here are pictures of the entire wine list.

Disembarkation

Well it is over! I am in fact writing this the next day.  Let me try and jog my memory on how the day played out.

We don’t have a flight till much later (1:30) so we request a late disembarkation.

The alarm goes off at 7 am and we shower and pack up the last few items.

We make sure to be out of the cabin prior to 8 am as noted in the disembarkation information.  The stewards all need to work very hard to get all the cabins cleaned and ready for turn around. 

It is amazing how they pull it all off getting every cabin ready within a few hours.  Just think of a hotel that would have to do that.  It just would never happen!  So I am impressed.

I suggest the Allegro dining room for breakfast.  It closes at 8:30 today so we high tail it down there.  We head to the Aft elevator bank on our floor. We know the elevators will be busy so when Bernie gets one he rolls on his roller bag and I take the stairs down to deck 6.. 

It is relatively quiet in here.  I order the scrambled eggs with asparagus (the special) and we reflect on the cruise and how sad it is to leave.  But our future is exciting and we are looking forward to the rest of the year - stay tuned.

It is now around 8:30 am and they announce that they are ahead of schedule.  I am not surprised since there is only one other ship in port with us.

We sit in the International Cafe with Margaret and Liz (The Moms). Soon Dylan joins us for a last goodbye.

We run into Cruise Staff Nathalie who has some news.  She is heading to the Island Princess for a few weeks as Cruise Director.  This is a big step for her.  Her first time in this position.  It is only temporary but it is a step in the right direction and we are very proud of her.

We end up leaving the beautiful Royal Princess at 9:30 and we are in a taxi within 15 minutes.

At the airport after a short taxi ride and we are checking in.

Home by 9:00 pm - midnight in Florida.  

Thanks for following along.

Monday Evening – The Secret Silk

After a short nap we shower and dress for formal night. 

I will say that I have noticed a lot of lovely dressed passengers.  I would say from what I saw, about 75% of the passengers are dressed in formal attire and the other 25% are smart casual.

After a quick dinner in the Horizon Court where we enjoy a quick bite to eat.  Not very hungry.

We meet up with Todd and Sue in Vines for a drink and then we make our way to the 10:15 Production Show of the Secret Silk.

Here is a video taken from the Wake Show featuring the production show The Secret Silk.

We probably got to the theater at around 9:50 and there were seats still available but maybe not in the prime spots.  We took seats in the front row on the starboard side.

Sorry I am watching the Wake Show and writing at the same time and I keep getting distracted.

Again there are professional looking programs on the seats and we are excited to see the show again.

set before the show

It is hard for me as I don’t want to discuss too much to ruin it for you but I have to say the show is excellent and will keep you intrigued.

The story is clear and I notice a few added words that help with the story line. 

Also I check with Bernie to ask him if he recalls this or that but he says yes to most and maybe to a few other things.

I really catch more the second time.  I get to focus more on the production and the dancers while listening to the music. 

I especially enjoy the puppets and sitting up closely to see them.  However, sitting a bit further back in the center is probably the best to get the full effect.

Wonderful show! 

And on the way out I got to meet John Tartaglia the creator of The Secret Silk, what an honour.

We are back in Vines sitting with friends as Matt hosts the balloon drop and the dancing continues. 

But we are enjoying ourselves talking with everyone. Time flies and we notice the bar is closing, fewer and fewer people are out.  Soon we notice that it is just before 2 am!

Well that was a fun night.

Tomorrow is our last day of this cruise and last day of this amazing holiday.

Sea Day

I wake up and I am feeling better.  Actually around 2 am I woke and I was feeling better and experiencing a bit of cabin fever.  But I rolled over and went back to sleep.

When we did wake up at 8 am I shower and I meet Bernie in the International Café for coffee and a muffin for me.  He enjoyed breakfast in the Horizon Court.

Lots happening in the Atrium and it is getting noisy. 

I return to the cabin to rest and do some reading.

 Around lunch I head to the Horizon Court and boy am I impressed.  They had a big station for muscles on the half shell.  A big bowl of shrimp.  A full salmon and so much more.  I end up filling a pita bread with grilled vegetables and tzatziki sauce and some rice.  I did grab a bowl of soup but found it way too salty for my liking.  In fact I have found all the soups on board way too salty for my liking.

We have the Sanctuary booked for the afternoon session which begins at 1:30. 

It is really hot out and we don’t last long in the sun before we need to dip in the pool to cool off. 

We end up sitting and chatting with Todd and Sue who are in a cabana again.  So nice of them to share it with us.

Today they are hosting a Pirates Pool Games event.  Kim and Ryan are hosting and they are dressed in their pirate outfits.  The games seem like the regular pool games they normally host but it does look like fun.

The whole afternoon was spent resting, reading and chatting with friends. 

It is going to be really hard to go back to reality.  I am really going to miss these serenity stewards too.

Tonight is our second formal night and it is also the season premier of The Secret Silk.  We know we want to see it again for sure.

Curacao

When we awake we are docked.   I am still feeling under the weather.  I have lost my voice and throat feels like it is raw.

I dress and head up to get something to eat but I am really not that hungry.

I head back to the cabin and put my pjs back on and crawl into bed.  Truly that is where I stayed the whole day and whole night.  

I watched a lot of movies, read a lot of my book.  I also managed to finish my research on Chile and have the ports now covered for that country. 

I did order lunch in – a bowl of soup and a glass of milk and cookies.  I saved the cookies until later for dinner.

Bernie did go ashore by himself and went to Mamboo Beach.  He shared in a taxi $5 per person each way.  There was a fee of $3.50 each to use the beach and the lounge chair was $4.  

He told me it has really grown up since the last time we were there.  Lots of restaurants, bars, even a Starbucks and Subway.

He thought the beach was lovely and the snorkeling was so so.

I am sorry that I missed it but I knew I had to stay in.
Even when the evening came by I really wanted to shower and head out but I am just so tired and achy.  

Tonight is also the Most Travelled Guest Party and it is a cocktail party and I really wish I could go but I know better than to go, plus I would be no fun at all.

Bernie went and he accompanied three single ladies!  Also Todd and Sue joined him.  He said he had a great time and the only thing missing was me.  He didn’t eat too much at the party but it looked good.

Sorry not much to report, and certainly not that interesting.