Life is good

I'm glad to be home, though I truly enjoyed my latest (and last, at least for awhile) vacation. It's time to get serious about getting this house ready for re-sale....and I'll get there after a good cleaning, more clear-up and those pesky repairs I need to do.  But in the meantime, there is catching up to do.  I've been watching the women's curling (which I PVR'ed) and the men's worlds event started yesterday.  Priorities right?

While I'm watching television, doing laundry and other housework, I'll share some of my photos from the trip.  Since this cruise took me to three of the islands I visited on the last cruise there aren't nearly as many!  But I did visit two new ports, returned to one I hadn't been to since 2011 (on my very first cruise), and I crossed off a bucket list item.  More on that later.

This is at least the third cruise I've done on the Crown Princess.  I love this ship for several reasons, but most of all for the aft pool (Terrace) that is adult only, quiet - no loud music at any time, has the Outrigger Bar, and is close to the buffet.  I always select a cabin close, and this time I wasn't more than 30 feet from the back stairs that lead up to the pool area.  It's my very favorite place to spend time in the sun, eat a meal, or have a drink.  
The photo to the right shows the aft while we were in Barbados.  At the top where the flag is flying is the Terrace pool area.  It's not large which means it never gets crowded, and above the pool is an area with tables and chairs for meals or simply relaxing when the deck chairs are full.

My room was on the next floor down, on the starboard (right) side of the ship.  I had an inside cabin again.  It was a standard room except there were two bunks on either side of the bed that could be brought down for additional guests.  Of course, I didn't need them but found I kept bumping into them as I got into bed.  Eventually I learned to go over the end of the bed but not before I got a couple of bruises!



 This was the view from the aft while prior to sail-away.  I believe that's the Harmony of the Seas (a Royal Caribbean ship) to the left and behind that is the Regal Princess.  It was a cloudy day with periods of sunshine but no rain. 

The bridge in the background is the 17th Street causeway bridge and you'll see it again later from the other direction.

This is the other pool that I spent time at, but not during the day!  The big screen is used to provide entertainment showing concerts and movies.  In the evening it is an outdoor movie theater. Many of the deck chairs have added pads, there are blankets (not really needed) and free popcorn is handed out.  I watched a few movies there, including The Green Book, Old Man and a Gun, and The Wife.  I also saw A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody on my flights, and one evening watch Ocean's Eight on my stateroom television.  Anyone who knows me well knows this is unusual as I normally don't have the patience to sit through a movie.  I enjoyed all of them, but must say that The Green Book was the best and deserved the Oscar win.

Also deserving of a reward was the pilot and crew of this Coast Guard helicopter.  On our second day at sea, a passenger had to be medivaced from the ship to San Juan, Puerto Rico.  The crew on the ship drained both pools in the center of the ship in preparation, to allow a basket and the helicopter medic to be lowered onto the ship. That area was closed to the rest of the passengers but the Terrace was still open.  This photo was taken prior to the medivac and I chose not to stay to watch when they completed the mission. The helicopter circled the ship a number of times to get the speed correct as the ship continued to sail, albeit at a lower speed.  The precision is something to see, and I'm hopeful the passenger has made a complete recovery. 

 Back to sail-away!  Coming out the channel, we pass by some lovely (and I expect very expensive homes).  Often there are residents out waving good-bye to the cruise ships.

Further along this channel are two large apartment blocks.  I was disappointed to see that the giant hands that used to wave good-bye from one of the apartment balconies weren't there.  Perhaps the occupants were away that day or have moved.

 As the ship moves out to the ocean, we pass by the beach.  It has been on my bucket list for sometime to spend a day or so on the beach, and be there to wave good-bye to the cruise ships.  This trip I did it and you'll see the photos in a later post.  

Spoiler alert - the weather wasn't nearly as nice as the day we sailed. :(

One final photo for today, from the 16th deck look out to sea.  I believe that is the Harmony leading the way, but I'm not certain.  We had two days at sea before we reached our first port, St. Kitts.  I spent the time relaxing by the pool, reading, and wandering the ship.  Dinner in the evenings was spent with a lovely group of people, a couple from Coquitlam, B.C., a couple from New Hampshire, and an older couple from Florida.  The latter, Fred and Ruth, are their nineties, have sailed more than 600 days on Princess, but more importantly are Holocaust survivors.  They met in a camp when they were just teenagers.  Ruth escaped while Fred survived and they met again in France where they were married before emigrating to the U.S.  Both lost their entire families to the Nazis.  Despite the tragedies they've suffered, they are a truly loving and compassionate couple, both hilarious in their comments, and such fun.  They tend to win trivia games, a lot, so we were each gifted with a prize at our final dinner together.  I hope sometime to meet up with them again.

Life is good!  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I hope I never lose the feeling of wonder and excitement of travelling to different places and meeting a diverse group of people.  These experiences remind me that I am fortunate to live in the time and place I do while opening my mind to other experiences and ideas.

Have a great day everyone!

Day 1 - Newport RI

This was my first visit to the New England states and I certainly wasn't disappointed.  I don't recall when we arrived in port, but Conna, Valerie, Lori and met for breakfast at 8 a.m on the aft deck of the ship.  

It was a bit of a gloomy day, but the temperatures were lovely.  I can only imagine what it would look like with the fall colors.

Conna had found a two hour sailing on the Aquidneck on-line.  For approximately $30 p/p we boarded the schooner at about 10:30 in the morning along with the other Canadian in our group, Maureen.  Our crew were three young men in their 20-30's.  They were definitely characters, and whenever we asked a question, they had a story ready for us.  

Conna is on the left, Lori on the right as they help raise the sails after we motored out of the bay.

This was one of the ships (or is it a boat?) at anchor.  We were told it was 281 feet long and had arrived from Europe sometime earlier this summer.

Our schooner was only about 80 feet in length, had two masts and four sails.  I was quite happy with the size!

This is the aptly named Clingstone House.  It was built in 1905 by Wharton (of the Wharton School of Business).  After a hurricane blew through it (almost literally) it was sold for less the $4000 in the 60's.  The current owner passed away last year, but it continues to be used as a rental property.  For a mere $10,000 a week, you can rent this self-sustaining house on a rock.  With 10 bedrooms, it's a steal if you take 9 of your closest friends with you. :)  Of course the only way to get there is by boat, so there would be some added costs as well.

We were told this house was the former summer home of the family of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.  Can you imagine?  If this was their summer home, I can only guess how large their 'rest of the year' home would have been.  

It puts into perspective this building, which was apparently Jackie's playhouse!  What a lucky girl, though I suspect she wasn't the one who cleaned it.

I have no idea who currently owns the property but it has definitely been well kept up.  Below and to the right of the playhouse was their boathouse.  It appeared to quite large (like everything else).

After being deposited back on shore Maureen left us as we wandered over to the Crab Shack, which had been highly recommended by the crew.  I'm sure it would have been good but both Lori and I were ready for a sit-down meal, and the Crab Shack was exactly that...a small building on a pier with picnic tables full of customers.  We made our way back up to shopping district and found the Brick Alley.  We had a bit of wait, but it was worth it.  Several of our party had lobster while I had fish and chips with a local beer.  

I had thought I'd take the trolley up to the Cliff Walk but by the time we finished lunch it was mid-afternoon.  I'm sure I would have had time, but I have a fear of missing the ship.  The rest were ready to go back too, so we all took the tender back to the ship.  I changed into my bathing suit and made my way to one of the hot tubs to relax before showering and changing for dinner. 

There were 14 of us that evening, which we split into two tables, one of eight, one of six.  We waited a very long time for tables as we arrived at 6:30 but weren't until nearly 8.  I left around 9 with Maureen as we wanted to see the Marriage game.  It was hilarious - particularly because the oldest couple (who had been married for 70 years) were at odds as Ada wasn't aware John had entered them.  She kept shooting him dirty looks and her responses were curt (but always correct). The two of them easily won, missing only one question.  He was asked what the last words were said in the bedroom at night, he answered "Give me a kiss" which she answered "Move over".  

Another great day at sea.  We sailed that evening for Bar Harbor, Maine but the captain's announcement that evening wasn't promising.  The ship was in motion all night, though not horrible and I certain didn't feel ill.  

On my way

This post is nearly a week behind but I hope you won't mind if I recount the trip over a series of posts.  I have photos but writing keeps the memories alive as well.

I flew out of Regina last Saturday morning; it started early with a 3:15 a.m. wake-up.  I washed up, got dressed and called a cab.  He was earlier than I anticipated but this turned out to be a good thing, as I got held up in a line up at check-in.  For some reason, the machine could not read my passport, and even the agent couldn't get it to work.  It was never a problem at any other airport on the trip, so have to assume it was this particular machine.  The two people in front of me seemed to be worse off, not sure what paperwork they required but it certainly was a lot.

Flight to Toronto and to New York were smooth.  I was fortunate in having a seat between myself and another guest on both legs.  I arrived in New York (LaGuardia) just slightly ahead of schedule and that's when things took a turn.

Misdirections from the welcome staff had me miss the first shuttle to the hotel, but with a second call and ignoring the instructions from the welcome crew I made my way to the proper area.  I can't explain why the shuttle picked me up where people were being dropped for their flights, rather than the pick-up area except there was lots of construction going on.  It made no sense.

When I got to the hotel, things went from a little annoying to my worst nightmare.  I had booked my hotel using Airmiles, but the hotel had no record of my reservation.  After nearly an hour of attempting to contact Airmiles in Canada (it was after hours and everything was shut down), the head office of Marriott in the States, we simply gave up and I paid for a night's stay.  $299USD plus taxes resulted in a charge to my credit card of $434.93!!!  I have since gotten it straightened out but at the time it was a frustration I could have lived without.

At this point, I wanted nothing more than something to eat, a shower and bed.  The following morning, I took the hotel shuttle back to the airport where I picked up the shuttle to the cruise port terminal.  Our embarkation was delayed as the ship had arrived from Europe that morning, and had to be fully cleared by the US Coast Guard.  We heard later too, that the ship had lost power so it was a bit of wait.  However, as I have platinum status, I was in VIP group 8 and on board by 1:45 p.m.  

I dropped off my carry-one at my stateroom, then went up to the buffet for a bite to eat.  I hadn't bothered to eat at the hotel, as dinner the menu was small and the prices were high.

I headed back to the stateroom to grab my camera and found that my luggage had already arrived!
While I was unpacking, my steward Richard dropped by to introduce himself and check if I needed anything.  
I told him, no I was unpacking, then was heading to muster drill at 4:15, the sail-away at 5 or 5:30 and had dinner plans for 6:30. 

He laughed and said, you have this figured out.  

I had an interior state room for this trip, so there was no sea view or windows.  Yes, it was dark at night but with all the lights nd mirrors it never felt small or crowded.  I might have felt differently if I were travelling with someone but for one person it was perfect.

The bathroom and closet are just inside the door.  There is a small bar fridge in the cabinet below the television, a hair dryer is affixed to the wall next to the mirror and there is lots and lots storage - both bedside table, drawers in the desk, and cubbies in the closet that holds the safe.  

I did a walk-about while waiting for muster drill.  It's held before sailing at the start of every cruise to ensure passengers know how to put on a life jacket and safely leave the ship in case of an emergency.  All guests are expected to attend and those who don't get a special visit from an officer.  I've never missed but I expect they must a remedial class! 

At sail-away I met many of the solo cruisers and a few Cruise Critic members.  Our solo group comprised 13 women and 2 men, two of us were Canadian, the rest were from the United States, and those primarily from New York or Baltimore. Conna was from California and Matt currently lives in Arizona.  The average age was probably 60'ish  (Facebook photos don't always tell the truth).  

It was a hot and hazy day in New York city, with clear skies.  My favorite photo of sail-away is that of Lady Liberty.

Later that evening, eleven of us met for dinner.  The host was shocked when we asked for a table that large, but they managed by squeezing in another chair at a table for ten.  We spent the dinner getting to know each other a little better, and while we sat down shortly after 6:30, we didn't finish dessert and coffee until nearly 9 p.m.  I can't recall what I had for dinner, but the chatter and laughter are with me still.

Tomorrow - Newport, Rhode Island