Shanghaied Day 7

Get up, get outside, get a mile walk in, get coffee and breakfast with Christie
Six cruise ships. All lined up here today.
We are the top right hand. One. A pilot boat just went by. My guess is we’ll have to wait in line in order to get out of the harbor.
I didn’t get off the boat. Sorry, my sense of adventure has waned with advancing age. I did however supervise all the activities on my side of the ship.
One of the crew activities today has been exercising the port side lifeboats. It didn’t necessarily go well.
This winch thing got jammed and they couldn’t get the lifeboat back onto the ship. I guess as a passenger, the important thing is that they could get the lifeboat into the ocean. Eventually they got a bigger hammer and the lifeboat came back on board.
I supervised stunningly expensive yachts.
And modest Island supply boats.

Plus numerous party and sight seeing boats. I for one never understood getting off a perfectly good big boat to get on a little boat.

A sad/interesting thing was watching palm trees being dug up and put on a barge. Just guessing they are in route to Florida where they’ll bring $3000 to $4,000 a piece. Maybe more.

Eeek. I have a mouse in my sardine can.

Two sea days the home Saturday.
And that’s about it for today from deck 5.

Drinks, Dinner, Espresso. Soon.

Shanghaied Day 6

Sun and coffee. Skip the walk around the deck today.

We are parked. Excuse me docked next to a huge Royal Caribbean vessel. I think it’s called the allure of the seas. Can carry over 6,000 passengers. That’s three times what our boat carries.

They have stolen our view on the port side.
After breakfast I slather myself in Christie ‘s. Sunscreen and head off to the Royal Caribbean water Park AKA Coco Cay.
It’s rather plastic. And hot.
Will I ever stop trying to take bird pictures with a telephone?
Racing towards fort Lauderdale at 12:30 this morning

After 9:00 last night there was a call for type o blood donors. That’s never a good sign. Shortly thereafter they said we were heading towards fort Lauderdale for a medical emergency.

Off the coast of fort Lauderdale we meet with a coast guard rescue vessel. It was interesting but didn’t make for a good night’s sleep. But I’m sure that the person who needed the type o blood was having a much worse night

I kind of hope the rest of the trip is sort of normal. Maybe even boring.

Shanghaied Day 5.

Normal start of the day. Find the Sun. Do a mile around the deck. Drink coffee. Meet Christie for breakfast.
Boat is stopped in Freeport Grand Bahamas today. Absolutely no reason at all to get off the boat. So, I found a comfy chair in the shade and did some origami. Also watched the boats go by.
The big entertainment this morning, right next to the origami folding chair, was man overboard drill. They tossed his dummy overboard.

Interestingly, the dummy was dressed as a crewman not as a guest. Guess that makes sense.

In good time, the dummy was rescued. But I’m not sure the dummy survived.

First thing you know it’s lunch time. And it’s nap time. And now it’s book reading time. And it has gotten cloudy but it’s nice and cool. I think it might have rained but how would I know because I was napping in the sardine can.

Oops, it’s definitely raining right now. One of those lovely tropical rains. The heavens just open up. I’m completely drench everything in sight.

Tomorrow, we’re going to CoCo Cay. That would be Royal Caribbeans private water park. I have no interest in that either. But it seems horrible. I’m fairly certain I’ll get off just to look at it. Although I’m sure the kids like it. Kids being anybody under the age of 75 you understand.

Still having fun. Mostly reading and relaxing. And right now I’m enjoying this topical rainstorm all safe and dry on the deck.

Rain. Time to read a trashy novel..

Shanghaied Day 4

Good start to the day. Found the Sun and coffee.
Next up. 4 and 1/2 laps around the deck. That’s supposed to be a mile. My watch/ gps gets confused. It doesn’t know whether I’m moving or the boat is moving

After breakfast with Christie, it’s off to the origami dojo.

Fold paper and listen to an audiobook in the floating origami dojo.

Somewhere along the line this morning I signed up for another trip on this very same boat in the very same sardine can room. With the very same. Christie. June the 5th next year, nobody’s promised tomorrow much less next year. 

Back in the sardine can after lunch, I find a crab. Christie has an aardvark. I think I have aardvark envy.

After that rigorous morning what to do but take a nap.

Now I’m in the library reading a trashy book and and updating the blog so friends and family will know that the two crazy old women are still alive.

Will be going to the ship’s Japanese restaurant tonight for dinner. So far so good.

Shanghaied Day 3

0722am. Charleston not Boston. It turned out to be a fine day.

Start with a nice breakfast.

Then a walk along the Charleston water front.

This is one of my favorite signs in Charleston.
You know you’re old when sitting on a bench in the shade. Looking at the ocean is wonderful!.
Yep, Peg’s old.
Back to the good ship vision of the seas. I sat on the deck and watched smaller boats for a good hour.

Then Christie and I headed out on foot to Magnolias. A restaurant that both of us like. Last night out in the middle of the ocean I went online and made reservations. That’s pretty cool for a couple old women don’t you think? We’re old, we ate the food but didn’t take a picture of it. You’ll have to take my word for it. It was marvelous.

Where the dolphin was. On our way back from lunch we stopped and watched two or three dolphins playing.

Good advice.

This has been a fine day and it isn’t over yet. We cancelled dinner tonight. But drinks are still on.
Actual dolphins. Went up on the deck and there they were. It’s always better to be lucky than smart.

Shanghaied Day 2

0649am. Headed up top to see something other than the inside of sardine can.
Went for a walk around the top deck. Before having a really nice breakfast of avocado toast, hard boiled eggs, and coffee.
It’s pretty hard to complain when you’re sitting on the deck. Enjoying this view
My sardine can has been cleaned and outfitted with a little pig. How cool is that?

Around 1:00, I meet up with Christie and we have lunch. Lunch is mediocre but the company is good. And the coffee is reliably good on this ship. By the way, Christie is going to knit me a bathing suit.

Back in my deck chair, supervising the poor woman who still has lanternfly removal duty.

And one from last evening while we were leaving Baltimore harbor.

The former Francis Scott Key Bridge. Up top. That’s the way it looked last time we passed by. That would have been in February.

According to Christie, tonight is formal night. She told me to wear a pretty blouse. Fat chance.

Walked 3.6 Miles today. That’s about it exercise wise. Christie has been walking a lot too. We are fine. But it’s only day 2.

Tomorrow we’re in Charleston. I reckon I’ll get off the boat wander around a little bit. Or not. Whatever happens is what I planned.

Whatever happens is what I planned.

Seems like a nice start to the day. A good day to go to Canada.
In good time, we make it to the boat. Go to our muster stations. Get all checked in. And head off for lunch.
The ship is infested with lantern flies. I’ve read about them but never seen one. Within an hour. I saw at least 500.

The time for departure comes and goes and we are still at the dock. Eventually, the captain comes on and tells us that we’re not going to Boston to Maine or to Canada, but we are going to Charleston, South Carolina and the Bahamas. WTF!

Confusion, disappointment, whining and complaining to the max. Some people get off the boat. But we didn’t know that was an option. So here we are heading to the Bahamas with our winter clothes. Whatever happens is what I planned.

Home sweet home for the next 9 days. The air conditioner works great!

Plan to make the best of it. 

Wednesday

0630am

A nice cool misty damp day. Much more relaxed than yesterday was. Time to think about getting ready to go.

You would think I was going to be gone for 3 months!

I dragged everything out and put it on the bed. Then I went into my normal extreme minimal packing mode.

But wait. I don’t have to do this. I got out my BIG suitcase (still carry-on sized) and just tossed things in. Even an extra pair of shoes. And a nightgown! Who knows what else I’ll stuff in the bag before morning? 

My big bag.

I am supposed to have Wi-Fi, so I should be able to put up a picture or two every day. I am starting to get a little nervous about possible rough seas. I have been extremely lucky on my five ocean adventures. I packed the Dramamine, just in case. That’s the only just-in-case item that I packed.  

Not my best day ever.

Not the way I wanted to start my day. It’s a rather lovely creation.

The crown popped off at 10:00 PM last night. And by 8:15 AM this morning it was glued back in place. 

Gratitude

Grateful that nothing was wrong with the tooth. And that I got everything glued back together in less than 12 hours.


I didn’t sleep so very well last night fretting about the tooth. Because of the upcoming trip. 

There was yoga today. I took the zoom option. And a couple of meetings at The Asylum this afternoon. One was about the Asylum hospice program. You get old. You care about things like hospice. 

Monday

0714am.

Very busy doing nothing at all today.
My elderly friends will understand this.
The rest of you, maybe not.


Gotta consider getting ready for the boat trip. But how ready do I have to be?

Sunday

0629am – Looking North again today. Heading north in 4 days.

Just chillin today. Folded some paper, did some laundry, went for a very little walk. Watered the orchids. Took a nap. Backed up the computer. Can I my elderly heart stand all that excitement?
Asylum Siblings assaulting Nutty Buddies/Ice Cream Drumsticks like kids.

I am not a fan of ice cream drumsticks. I had apple pie. And a Mai Tai. And a glass of wine. As Carlton was fond of saying “Moderation only leads to long life.”

Ah, the weekend.

0638am. Looking north today.

The arrow points at my old building. I might be the only person here who can see their beloved old home from their “forever home”.

Hard to complain about this breakfast.

Since Covid, I have had very little good to say about the food at The Asylum. (The burgers, fries, hot dogs, and grilled cheese sandwiches are reliably good. Omelets are good at the moment.) This week lox and scrambled eggs were the breakfast special. Excellent.

Take out popcorn.

Happy for the crows.

Just snagged a three-leg flight back to The Asylum. Leaving Kona on the 24th getting back here on Xmas morning. Doing it with miles. After all, she who dies with the most frequent flyer miles doesn’t win. And, if I find a more interesting way back, I can always cancel and get the miles back.