November 2011

Triangle Cruisers (Cruise Critic's Group)

Comedy of Errors

Cruise Prequel

We were supposed to leave on the Carnival Pride for Bermuda today (Sunday 6 November). We are in a hotel in Linthicum instead. Actually I am in a hotel in Linthicum - Bob is driving back to Leonardtown to get my passport.

I started to pack on Friday 4 November. I absolutely can NOT find my nice black skirt and jacket that I always wear for formal nights, nor can I find my shirt that goes with a cotton jacket that I wear during the day in the summer. I don't know where they can be. I finished packing Saturday - I have a small duffle and mother's red roller bag (carry-on size) and the computer bag. Bob has the big brown roller bag, a green bag and two black bags.

I have been expecting that our old cameras (Kodaks) were going to give out soon. They have been used a lot, and mine already has a problem turning off - I have to turn it past off, or it doesn't turn off. Now Bob was having a problem turning his on. So - Bob said that if I would get my act together we could go to Best Buy and/or the Exchange and look at cameras. I wanted one with a viewfinder (not just a screen), and a flash that was manually operated. It turn out that there are none of those small flat cameras that have a viewfinder anymore. So I got a Canon EOS Rebel

Saturday 5 November, after we picked up the rental car and loaded all the luggage into it, I got a robo call from Carnival telling me that the ship had been delayed and not to leave until I heard from them. Bob didn't pick up the phone so he didn't know this - I thought I heard him pick up, but he didn't. I tried to find the Pride on the charts but the only thing I saw was a little bit off Ft Pierce coming from Freeport on Friday. I went to the internet and other people were talking about it but there was no real information. Carnival wanted us to get text messages, but I don't do text messages. We called Bob's brother David who was also traveling with us, but his phone wasn't being answered.

Finally I got an email from Carnival stating that we would board Monday morning 9-12.

The ship ran into the big low - I guess off NC - with seas of 20 feet and the young teen club and the arcade room on deck 4 were damaged.

Sunday November 6

It would be difficult for us to get to Baltimore by 9 - I used to do it when I was working, but I had to leave by about 6. After a lot of discussion, Bob thought we should turn in the rental car and drive my car up. I found a hotel (Country Inn & Suites near BWI) that had free cruise parking and made a reservation there for tonight. She said we couldn't have a shuttle to the port because they weren't doing those reservations for new bookings. David called us back and said that he had gotten the message too - I was afraid that he had already gone to his daughters for her to take him to the ship.

We turned all the clocks back for daylight savings. Bob switched all the luggage from one car to the other and we returned the rental car. Bob wanted to do that at 9, but they don't open until 10 on Sunday. The man inside took the keys anyway - it cost about $33.00 to drive 20 miles - just to the house and back.

Bob wanted to leave about noon, even tho the hotel check-in wasn't until 3. So we left at noon. First we turned off the TVs, satellite, modem and water.

In the car 12:04

I took some photos on the way up to compare with the old camera. Although it was sunny today and it was rainy last week I think the photos are clearer with the new camera.

fall color

fall color

We had lunch at Boston Market. - pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches. Bob ate half of his and took half with him. I ate all mine.

Stop for lunch

The only Boston Market I know with a drive thru - used to be a Roy Rogers

Counter Boston Market

Chicken Carver Combo

half of a Boston Market pulled BBQ chicken sandwich

Check

We checked into the hotel and she said she could upgrade us to a port shuttle for an extra $20.00 which is a good deal. Then we sat around and watched football and I downloaded my photos from the new camera and Bob ate the other half of his sandwich and had a nap (good).

Bed

Sunset from hotel window

Off airport parking across the street

Sunset

BUT as we were leaving for dinner at Chilis (which is next door), I suddenly had a horrible thought - I had forgotten my passport. Bob drove back to Leonardtown to get my passport.

Chili's next to the hotel

Bob said the round trip was 175 miles and took 4 hours including getting gas and a hamburger en-route. He said he listened to NPR who were having old radio mystery shows - one every half hour, and it was very enjoyable.

In any case this hotel has free breakfast and we plan to eat that at 7 and then take the luggage down to the lobby and wait for a shuttle. Cross fingers that tomorrow will be better.

The Pride is in Baltimore now and people are getting off but they can also wait until 7 am tomorrow to get off if they want to.

Embarkation 7 November

Bob set the clock radio to WTOP for 7:00 and it went on as programmed. It was then that we found out about the Ravens game result - I hadn't been able to find it on the TV the night before. I had hired a private guide who was to have met us in St. Georges. But we were going to be late and wouldn't have time to get to St. Georges. I looked at email but still have no confirmation on the change to our itinerary in Bermuda from the guide. We got ourselves out of the room by about 8 and went down to breakfast.

The elevator was a real Chinese fire drill. The elevators would not keep the doors open even if you pushed the Open Door button. Bob had two roller bags each with another bag or two on it, and I had the scooter with the computer bag and the cane bungee corded to the back of it. The elevator was too small to turn around in so I just had to go in straight and everyone else had to fit around me. Then I could back off straight. There was another lady there and she held the door for us to get on and off.

Now to see whether we could get the shuttle to the port. The port shuttle package is $139.00 plus tax etc. Breakfast was free. I had a muffin a small thin potato chip sized piece of sausage and a glass of cranberry juice cocktail. Then I went out to where Bob was waiting for the luggage, and sat with it while he went in to get something. The 8:00 van had already left and the 8:30 van had 10 people's luggage loaded into it but no driver. The driver eventually came and got everyone's bodies on board and left. Then other driver came back.

While we were waiting I talked to the people in the lobby - there was a big group from Myrtle Beach and I talked to them. We were all loaded into the third van about 8:45. He put me in the front seat and Bob was behind me. It didn't take very long to drive to the ship - since we aren't supposed to take photos inside the terminal, I took some from the van as we were driving up to it.

Hanover St bridge

Ship as we approach in the morning

The Carnival whale tail

Carnival Pride through the chain link fence

Port of Maryland

Bob tipped the van driver $5.00. We turned in three bags (Bob one and me two), and then we went into the terminal. They looked at our passports and boarding document, and sent us down to the middle of the lines. I walked through the magnetic doorway but I kept beeping and I couldn't figure out why. Bob went thru without a problem. I was waiting for a female wand person but no one appeared. Then Bob said - it's probably your watch, and so I took it off and handed it to the guard and went back through and that was it!! This was a watch I bought on board our last cruise when my previous watch gave out. I never had that problem with the plastic Timex watches!!!.

We signed in fairly quickly and went to get our photo. But Carnival has got a new ramp and they don't let anyone go in the lower entrance like we did last year on Enchantment of the Seas. So I had to scooter up, and up, and up the ramps. We came on board deck 2 and our room was deck 6 forward so we went forward to use those elevators. The elevators are tiny. On HAL I could drive into the corner to leave room for other people. I can't do that on this ship. I have to straight in, and then back straight out.

We went down the port side, but our room door was on the starboard side (it is in the middle but it is just one room wide in the middle and all the middle rooms have doors on the starboard hall). We got to our room before 9:30, so that was pretty quick. But the cabin door is EXTREMELY narrow. Much more so than HAL. I almost scrape the side and the scooter also has a little trouble with the threshold.

looking from the bathroom to the cabin right after embarkation

The cabin steward had not done the cabin completely and he wanted to vacuum. The beds on the side of the cabin and run fore/aft of the ship, not athwart as they would be if the beds were directly ahead of you coming in the door.

Sitting on the bed in our room

nightstand they moved to the center to make room for the scooter

Bob manuvering the scooter from inside room

There is a tiny bathroom with a shower in the corner, but there IS space to put stuff on shelves.

bathroom mirror

Bathroom sink

There are three closets (one with shelves)

Closets past the TV area

and there is a desk with 9 drawers (4-1-4 configuration) and a small round table and a waste basket which was under it, and a chair and a stool.

TV with safe under it

Route - crappy graphics

Above the section with the ice bucket is the TV which seems to have the Florida Channel 7 as well as Fox News. There is also a fridge but it is a good thing we don't want to use it because it is behind the scooter. We put the stool sideways under the desk with the table. Each bed has a small nightstand, but they do not have drawers.

We told the stewards that we wanted the beds separated. Bob put the scooter against the wall at the end of the beds. The Lifeboat drill was to be at 12:15. So about 11:00 we decided to go get something to eat, and we went up to the Lido as the regular dining room isn't open. My red bag came before we left. We got some chicken nuggets, potato salad and a hot dog,

Hot dog, chili and potato salad from the grill by the pool

Pool area snack bar - Bob at the drinks area around pool

and ate out by the pool. We also got some ice cream. There were some musicians playing.

Who's that behind me?

We found the computer cafe, and I tried to sign in, but it wouldn't let me, and the same for other people.

Sunset Gallery - closed

area where we waited for lifeboat drill

Then we went to where the lifeboat drill was to be. Bob went down to the room and got my coat - I went out on deck. The scooter hangs up on the ramp as it is too high - the wheels at both ends are off the deck. We can go around the whole deck from behind the main theatre all the way around the stern. I took some pictures.

Parking lot at the pier

Fork lift (powered industrial truck)

people walking into the boarding ramp entrance

Boarding ramp

When he got back Bob said all our luggage had come.

Me on the scooter, reflected in mirrors on stairs

When the lifeboat drill started, they told us we had to go inside -people on scooters couldn't be outside. So we did the drill inside. There was also a girl putting mandatory wristbands on all children under 12. (Even one little boy who was 11.5) After the drill, Bob went down to unpack, and I went out to see the sail-away and take pictures.

Me in outdoor gear to take photos of sail-away - in the handicapped stall prior to going outside

I got pictures of them taking off the lines,

Last load of luggage being put aboard

Boarding ramp pulled away from the ship

Taking the protective nets off the side of the luggage ramp

Man getting ready to take off lines (his car)

Lines being reeled in

Removing another line

Ship flag

Life raft signage

Two crew on platform supervising the removal of lines

Pulling away from the dock

One employee on platform - reflected in the side of the ship as we pull away from the dock

Roofing workers on adjoining warehouse

Backing out and got REALLY CLOSE to this buoy before we stopped and turned

Freighters

I took photos of of Fort McHenry,

Fort McHenry - little bridge on the edge of the river

Fort McHenry with 1812 flag

1812 flag and Natty Boh

Passing Ft McHenry

And I got quite a few of the Lazarette lighthouse

Lazarette Light on Lehigh Cement property

Lazarette Lighthouse - dwarfed by the Leigh cement silos

green-red buoy - channel split marker

Looking back at the city

Wake

South side of river

Key Bridge ramp

and the red, white and blue buoy that marks where Francis Scott Key was anchored during the battle.

F S Key marker

F S Key marker

Key Bridge and Ft Carroll

Key Bridge

Under the Key Bridge

Key Bridge

Key Bridge

Ft Carroll

Ft Carroll

Ft Carroll and CG boat

CG boat and Key Bridge

Ft Carroll and the old lighthouse

Ft Carroll

Also the Key Bridge and Fort Carroll. By then I was cold, so I came inside. I have a chock I put in the door and then I have to lift the scooter over the threshold. I was able to use the elevator by myself, and even got down to our room although I overshot it and had to back up. They had separated the beds which was good.

Beds separated (nightstands in the middle)

Bob put the scooter back in at the bottom of his bed and put it to charge as it was running down a bit with all the activity.

Bob plugging in the scooter under the desk

I unpacked. I wanted Bob to hang up the dresses (he took the long hanging closet but since he brought hangers there were some for my dresses) but he was so neat, that he folded all the shirts and put them in drawers too.

I think we should have gone and gotten some more lunch at this point.

I downloaded my photos, and started editing them, and then tried to sign on again without luck. Finally I called the front desk, and was put on hold for a LONG time. Finally I got someone and complained that I couldn't log on. She said she couldn't find the computer guy. Eventually he came on and he said they didn't download the new people until they were underway. But we were underway. Eventually we figured out that the reason I couldn't log on was that while my Sail card has my name as Rosaliean (without the final N), the computer desk has my name as just Rosalie. So when I wrote RosalieAnn or Rosaliean, it wouldn't take it.

I logged on, bought a package and picked up email and then logged off. Then I continued editing photos. Bob got hungry and ate some brownies and eventually went up to the Lido but all he was able to find up there was olives, cheese and bread. So we ate that while we waited for dinner time which is 2015 (8:15 pm) because we are eating with a group of Bob's brother David's friends and they want late dining. David has a total of 26 people in his group including some people who used to live next door to them.

I looked at the menu system on the TV which is good except I can never exit from the damn thing. It has the menu but it looks like the menu on there is a formal night menu. We will see what we get.

We finally got word from the guide that he would meet us in Kings Wharf. The Florida TV station told us that the storm had become a tropical storm named Sean, and that Bermuda was under a tropical storm watch.

Piano player in the atrium

Tonight was not formal night, so we didn't have the menu that was on the TV. Bob had gazpacho andalouse and we had the first experience with the way Carnival does soup. They give you a little cube of something (in this case diced tomato, pepper, cucumber and herbs)

Bob's gazpacho cube - pre soup

with soup

and pour the soup over it. I tried the didja (as in did you ever - food you always wanted to try but did not dare..) In this case it was cured salmon and candied tomato, which I didn't care for.

Cured salmon and candied tomato, stewed apples and grapes with dill cream

Sweet and sour shrimp

We both had sweet & sour shrimp, and then Bob had ice cream with chocolate sauce and I had chocolate melting cake.

Chocolate melting cake

Bob waiting for an elevator

Scooter parked in front of the fridge - Fun Times on the bed

Towel walrus

At Sea 8 November - We forgot to set the clocks forward to Atlantic time, so we woke up at 8 instead of 7. But breakfast in the dining room was 8-10:30 so we still had time. Bob had what is his normal breakfast - raisin bran with 2% milk, yogurt and bacon. I had 2 poached eggs on toast and potatoes and bacon. And we both ordered cranberry juice which wasn't on the menu, but the waiter gave it to us.

We had missed one trivia so we went to the next one but it turned out to be song trivia. I got 11 right out of 25 and two of them were gifts. I think we are in the gulf stream and it is becoming rough. I have noticed that the elevators and art work on the starboard side of the ship has a red tone, and the port side artwork has a green tone. This is helpful, but backwards.

Green side and Red side elevators

At lunch in the dining room I was still trying things I hadn't had before so I tried a California Roll, but I really did NOT like it. Partly because I didn't know what wasabi was and ate it separately

California roll

Bob and I both had avocado soup - again the little cube of stuff and the rest of the soup poured over it. I didn't like that either. Bob had

spaghetti

and I had a

Shrimp salad and crab meat on baguette

and that was good. For dessert Bob had

chocolate gateau

My creme caramel

His was chocolate cake and mine was pudding with caramel on top. There were two Ukrainians at the table and they didn't talk much, but they had Mongolian steak salad and asked me to take a photo of it so I did.

Mongolian steak salad

The man of the other couple at the table had been in the AF in upstate NY when Korea started.

Looking down from our deck (6) on the Atrium

Atrium elevators

Atrium

Bob getting ready to plug in scooter (which I am sitting on)

I switched my camera to manual focus but forgot that I'd done it so when we joined Uncle David's group pre-dinner, the camera didn't focus. It took me a little bit to figure out. Bob had two shrimp cocktails which were supposed to be tiger shrimp, but were just regular shrimp.

Two shrimp cocktail - supposed to be tiger shrimp

Then we had strawberry soup and they did the same thing with the little cube..

Strawberry soup

We had the lobster as the entree, and I had

Caramelized apple puff pastry

Bob had ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Beds turned down

Our towel animal was an elephant.

Elephant towel animal

In bed for the night

November 9th

This time we got to the dining room for breakfast at 8

Main dining room ceiling

Painting on the dining room ceiling

and ate with two ladies. Bob had his usual and I had grits (which came with no accompaniments) and eggs Benedict.

Renaissance atrium

Perfect Game bar and Crystal Card Room sign

Pool area

TV screen by elevators with crappy graphics and also tells nothing

Close to 11:00 I put on a coat and went out on deck - the bow camera had raindrops on it, but it was sunny out and warm

Approaching Bermuda

We could see Bermuda in the distance. We went up to deck 10, but they had the forward part of the decks blocked off due to 'wind'. Eventually we saw Fort St. Catherine and the pilot boat came out and we started around the island to get to the Dockyard.

First view - St. David

St David

Lighthouse from the ship in 2011

Going around Ft. St. Catherine

Fort St. Catherine

past the entrance to St. George

Marker from the ship

We went to eat lunch and our table companions were a lady with two walking crutches from Annapolis and a girl (maybe her daughter) who we had eaten breakfast with on Tuesday. We both had

Seasonal fruit platter with sherbert

and then I had

Spinach and cheese ravioli

Bob's fish and chips

For dessert, I had

Pears Helene

We could see that we were at the Dockyard but it was 1300 and we still weren't docked. We saw sand stirred up in the water and speculated that we had run aground, but we found out from Bob's brother David whose stateroom was on the other side of the ship that it was too windy for the boat to dock so that it was pushed sideways into the pier by the tugs.

Tugboat coming back to the dock

Line handling boat

At lunch the next day someone said that they didn't want to let the Pride dock at all - they were going to close the port because of the impending storm. Apparently Carnival said that if we didn't dock, the pax would mutiny.

Clocktower mall from the ship on the first day

It was now 1330 when we were supposed to meet our guide, but the ship didn't even have the gangways out yet. We went down to deck 3 and watched. You might have thought they had never done this before.

Figuring out how to arrange the gangways

Finally the ship was cleared and we went down to A deck and walked off the ship. We didn't take the scooter because we thought there wouldn't be that much walking so I just had my cane. We met Duke, our guide and had a three hour tour of the various places that I wanted to go and hadn't gotten to on previous visits.

Wall of ship logos

The first thing he showed us was a wall as we left the dockyard which had the logos of all the ships that had docked there from early in the 1900s to the present. We paused briefly at the

Royal Navy Cemetery

(burials of the British Navy dating back to 1700). We drove thru Somerset and he asked us if we had seen the Heydon Trust Chapel, which we had not, so we stopped briefly there. This small chapel dates back to 1616. It had a partly above ground cistern.

Heydon Trust Chapel

Prop-open window blinds on Heydon Chapel

Heydon Trust Chapel

Partly above-ground cistern for Heydon Chapel

We crossed the smallest drawbridge without stopping - our next goal was Gibbs Lighthouse because Duke said that if we waited, the parking lot would be too full to even get the taxi into.

2011 from the van

Lighthouse sign

Here we got out and walked around and Bob and I both took photos. He got one of Duke

Duke our guide and me

which I meant to do, but forgot. We could see the Pride across the sound.

Gibbs Hill Lighthouse

Gibbs Hill Lighthouse

me

Close-up of the top of Gibbs Lighthouse

Map at the lighthouse

Map of the St. George's Parish end of Bermuda

Looking up at the lighthouse

Looking Up from the the bottom

Pride across the sound

We followed the South Road along the shore, past Horseshoe Bay, Warwick Long Bay, and all the famous beaches. There was a lot of surf even though we could see the surf line on the reef offshore.

Driving along the coast road

Then he showed us a HUGE banyan tree which had taken over a whole block and was trying to cross the road.

Huge Banyan Tree

Large non-native Banyan tree (taking over)

Our next stop took us by a beautiful nursery with all kinds of flowers, but our destination was Waterville,

Entrance to Waterville

which was a private residence is now the headquarters of the Bermuda National Trust. This was originally a place where sailors could come in to shop - I think.

Water access for boaters-docking area at Waterville

He said it was owned by Trimminghams, which is no longer in business because the children aren't interested in running it. What he wanted to show us was a water lily pond which had the islands of Bermuda in it. (He said if it could grow a tree, it was an island - otherwise it was a rock).

Lily pond with the islands of Bermuda

Waterlily pond with map of Bermuda at Waterville

map of Bermuda in the Waterville lily pond

statue of herons in the pond

Part of the house

Old office at Waterville

Waterville old part of house

There was also a little zoo.

small zoo on the grounds

Then we went past the Botanical Gardens,

Camden house in the Botanical Gardens

Collector's Hill and stopped briefly at Spittal Pond parking lot where there were a bunch of chickens running around.

Spittal Pond Sign from the road 2011 -

Entrance sign 2011

Roosters at Spittal Pond Reserve - coming for food

We kept going along South Road, past John Smith Bay Park (which he assured us was a different John Smith)

Road, rocks and surf near John Smith Bay Park

and drove thru Tucker's Town, which isn't really a town at all and paused by the beach of the Mid-Ocean Club which had a lot of surf. Some people that tried to go to the beach the next day said that they closed the beach and wouldn't let them go

Mid-Ocean Club with a tropical storm approaching

Looking along the shore 2011

Another photo from the beach road

From the van 2011

Golf course in 2011-Tucker Town

Birdcage with policeman 2013

He said he didn't recommend Devil's Hole which was something you had to pay to see and there wasn't that much to see (it was an aquarium type place and not a place where the water squirted up through the rocks), so we just drove by, and then we went thru the Flats and passed by the BAMZ which had a new statue of a sea turtle out front - Duke said they made it out of the roof tiles when they repaired the cathedral.

Fish made of roof tiles

He said the railway museum is closed now - that maybe the lady that ran it died.

We went along the north shore - tried to get a photo of the Black Watch well, which that regiment dug during the drought of 1849, but I didn't really see it and don't think I got a photo. We went through Black Watch pass down into Hamilton, past Victoria Park and the cathedral, and circled the City Hall and headed for Fort Hamilton.

Here he let us out because the van was too heavy to go over the moat bridge. We walked around the fort and took photos.

Bob on the Moat Bridge

Bob's photo of me at the fort

View from the fort

Tower from Fort Hamilton

Guns on the ramparts

We headed back for the ship - back thru Somerset on the road next to Great Sound. I took a photo of the moon rising.

Moon rise

From the road

Lighthouse shining out

He let us off at the ship, and we paid him for 3.5 hours plus tip.

Boat in the slings

Now we had to get back aboard. They were X-raying everything which made it slow. I sat on the benches along the line and Bob stood in line for us.

Bob standing in line for us

Before dinner, David's group takes over a section of the lounge outside the dining room where the band is playing.

David

The was a little girl in pink with a pacifier affixed to the mouth standing in front of the band watching the girl singer - she was so cute.

Little girl dancing to the band

Bob didn't like anything on the menu so he ended up with every day

Fried chicken

and of course ice cream with chocolate sauce. I had

French onion soup

Braised short ribs

diet lemon cake

Note - the bathrooms are half way across the ship from the dining room - just behind the atrium.

Towel animal

Our towel animal was a monkey

November 10, 2011

Thursday we were originally supposed to leave at 3:30 and be back on the boat at 3. We saw that the storm had been named Sean and was now a hurricane or tropical storm and Bermuda was under Hurricane watch.

So they changed the time of leaving to 1300 and we had to be back at 1230

Ferry from the ship 2011

Fast ferry from the ship 2011

Dockyard marina from the ship 2011

Bob's brother's group (which numbers about 26 counting us) all eat together at adjacent tables and one of them mentioned that they saw my name up in the computer/library room as having won a raffle. It is good that they mentioned it as otherwise I might not have known about it.

We got off the boat about 9:15 to walk/scooter around the Dockyard area and maybe do some shopping. The sidewalk on the other side of the street from the ship had no cut-outs, and the waves were coming across the sea wall over the sidewalk at the bow of the ship on the near side, so I had to cross the street to avoid getting wet. We had to lift the scooter up over the curb.

Waves blowing water across the sidewalk at the bow

The little train going around the dockyard was operating.

Dockyard train

We also could have bought bus/ferry passes right at the ship, but they no longer have 2 day passes - only one and three day.

People waiting to rent scooters or pedal bikes

We looked at the three masted ship which Duke had told us was built for local youth to serve some time on.

Three masted ship

and went past the ferry dock

Ferry gangway 2011

We passed the line handling boat PRINCETON which had helped us tie up - it was up on blocks as this was the last cruise of the season.

Princeton line handling boat

We passed the yellow Segway tour bus (a bus parked which rented Segways),

Yellow segway bus

and the Marine and Port Services shops.

Pottery is on the right of these buildings

I decided to go in and see what there was in Bermuda Clayworks,

Storefront of Bermuda Clayworks

and bought my daughter a house number for her anniversary.

Blue vases and plates

Coffee cups and pitchers

I bought several of the house numbers and asked for them to be shipped, but they did not survive shipping very well, and all but one of the children moved from the address which I had ordered the numbers for.

Bob's photo of me

Then we headed for the Clocktower Mall but were caught in a rainstorm. We didn't have our raincoats, but I put my sweatshirt over the camera and kept going. In the Clocktower Mall we saw that the Cafe Amici was still there.

Statue outside Cafe Amici

A S Cooper

Davidson

Davidson's still had the troll outside the door although the sign no longer says that he bites.

Troll outside davidsons in 2011 - no longer bites

Fairtrade Bermuda

Calypso

We could also have bought Cuban cigars,

Cuban Cigars and Bermuda sweatshirts

Bob's photo of me

We went past the old North Rock Beacon

Lattice tower in 2011

Top of the 1960 marker

sign about the light

- this beacon was built originally in 1912 and rebuilt in 1960 and 1990, and this was the foundation of the 1960 beacon. I had to go thru the Victualing Yard to get to the Bermuda Arts Center. The path was widely separated concrete blocks. The joints were jolting on the scooter

Path through the VIctualing yard

Victualing Yard

so I went around the edge on a very rutted and puddley road of part coral sand and part cobblestones. I still had to go on the grass some.

Bermuda Arts Center sign - side of the Cooperage

Street by the side of the craft market/cooperage

Side door of the Craft Market

Best of Bermuda 2011 award jellies

One of the display racks in the Craft center

artwork

Christmas ornaments and dolls

handmade jewelry

Bermuda preserves and rum cake

I did some shopping but when I went to pay I couldn't find my credit card. So Bob used his and he was annoyed and told me to look for mine. But I couldn't find it so he said we should go back to the ship or we would get caught in the rain again. We had the same problem with the curb as before.

Returning to the ship

Entry was much easier today as not everyone was trying to get on at once.

I got off and walked thru the magnet archway and I think my watch beeped but they were too occupied with getting the scooter thru to notice. We went to the room and put our stuff out to dry and then I took everything out of all my pockets and bags, but could not find the credit card.

If we had looked at our phone, we would have seen that we had a message that someone picked the card up on the gangway and turned it in - it must have fallen out of my stuff when I got my passport and my room key out to check back onto the ship. But we didn't look at the blinking phone.

So I tried to call Navy Federal CU (which issued the card) and I could not use the 800#s so I had to use the 703# and reverse the charges. The phone company still charged my phone roaming. It took me 3 or 4 tries on the phone to get to the person I needed. She asked if we didn't want to just put a hold on the card but Bob said no. So we deleted the card and have to have a new one sent, and we won't get it until we get home.

The problem is that Verizon (cell and landline) and the internet are all on that credit card. One of the first emails I got after I got back to the room was one for the Verizon landline bill. Bob insisted that I come down to the Customer Service desk to explain what had happened. That's when we found that the card had been turned in. I also found that I could have called from there without paying any charges. Due to the fact that I have a credit for owning stock, and they refunded our port fees and one day of the cruise, we actually had a credit on our bill, and we switched it to another card.

We had lunch, up in the Lido - it makes my back hurt to think of it.

Bob's lunch

Man with tea, coffee, water and lemonade in Lido

They do have trays, but I have no way to get close enough to serve myself and no place to put the tray if I did. I went to the International section and got some things to eat and Bob went to the National section. I think I should have gone to the Deli section and that's what we did on the next cruise.

Mermaid on the ceiling of the Lido

The buffet is actually called the Mermaid Cafe and has mermaids all over the ceiling which I took photos of. People were in the hot tubs.

Davids from Mermaid area of Lido

Mesh over the pool

We went up on deck 10 to see the sail-away. They had all but one gangway taken away.

Last gangway

We saw the pilot come on board. Line handlers were waiting at various stations, and the line would be slacked and they would remove it from the bollard and it would be reeled in.

Leaving shore

Since the wind had us pinned up against the dock, the lines weren't really doing anything for us anyway. Finally the engines started churning up the water and we moved very very slowly away from the dock.

Being pulled from the pier

Watching the Tug Powerful

I went over to the other side and saw the tug POWERFUL pulling as hard as it could on the bow.

Tugboat POWERFUL - 2011 approaching storm Sean

We got far enough out so that we wouldn't run into the jetties and the tug disengaged and went back, and I took the last photos of the Commissioner's house.

Statue on the ship

We went down to the library and found the computer manager

Library /computer room door

and he said I had won 500 free minutes on the internet. I had been rationing myself, and had gotten extra minutes for signing up on the first day etc, so I had 83 minutes left off my package I had bought of 250 minutes and now I have a lot more to use up.

I went all around outside on deck 3 and took photos and then I took a couple of pictures of Bob going thru the cabin door to show how tight it was

Bob taking the scooter in the door of our cabin

and saw that the arm rests stuck out farther than the wheels of the scooter, and the wheels have only about 2" clearance on each side. If the plastic columns on each side were taken out, the door would probably be wider and if all of them were removed the ship would probably be 1000 lbs lighter.

Photography set up for a family

Carnival Crystal Eagle

We went to dinner - I had

Asparagus vichyssoise

Oysters Rockefeller

I liked both but some people reported that they got bad oysters that weren't cooked. I'm not sure that not cooked = bad, but I don't know. Bob had

chicken noodle soup?

Bob's dinner

and I had a filet mignon and short ribs.

Petit filet mignon

Waiter

The waiters do a little dance every night but it doesn't interfere too much with dinner. One of the group said it was the best show on the ship.

Waiters starting to dance

We all had apple pie for dessert. One lady we met today said that she was on the Pride in April and the food was much better then - they have changed the menus and apparently not for the better. Someone also suggested that the waiters were the rejects from other ships.

Boy leaving the dining room

As we left dinner I saw a cute little boy playing some kind of game on a small cell-phone like device - I took a picture of him coming past a giant nude. Our towel animal was a frog and he had the mint in his mouth.

Towel animal frog with a mint in his mouth

Selfie

The ship was doing about max speed - 22 knots - to get ahead of the hurricane. After the ship got into the high pressure (wind from the north) the track turned west, and then south and the speed was reduced. There were white caps and it was colder outside.

They have a stern camera which apparently has a lot of salt and stuff on the lens as it is cloudy, and a bow camera which isn't much better, but at least they are on a dedicated channel. There is also a channel that shows the ship direction and wind direction and shifts to closer or farther away, but other than the wind speed and direction there is no other information and the graphics are crappy.

Chart which says nothing

They update the weather at 9 and 4 and at no other times. Weather changes faster than that. I should be able to wake up and see what the weather is before 9 a.m

Sea Day- November 11th

Not much is happening.

In the morning, I had cream of wheat which came with milk and a cheese omelet which was OK.

Cheese omelet with bacon - they also had ham an cheese or plain

Bob added prunes to breakfast instead of yogurt. I asked to ride in the glass atrium elevators and I took a picture of the statue of David up at David's steakhouse.

David's steak house (extra price)

They had a big US flag hung across the lobby for Veteran's Day.

Flag in atrium for Veterans Day - from glass elevator

For lunch we all asked for cream of spinach soup. And we got the Carnival cube and a tomato type soup - so we complained that it didn't look like spinach and they finally brought the right soup.

and then I had chicken parmesan

and Bob had some salmon thing which didn't have much salmon.

Bob's salmon Paillard

.
For dessert, he had an

Eclair

and we both had

Pina colada cake

Someone asked if we were going to afternoon tea which we had not even noticed on the schedule as it didn't seem like a really Carnival type thing. We turned up in the upper dining room at 3:30 and everyone filed in and filled up the tables. They came around with a box of tea to pick from, and then a cart with cheese cake, a chocolate cookie sandwich with fudge in the middle, chocolate pudding, a cheesecake and some strawberries, plus something which I had and was good but I don't know the name of it.

Afternoon tea

This carried us over until dinner.

Snails - very salty

Delice of the ocean

Chateaubriand with Bearnaise sauce

Baked alaska

Passengers and waiters dancing at dinner

Sea Day- November 12th

This morning, I asked for oatmeal and poached eggs on toast.

Poached eggs on toast, bacon and hash brown potatoes

This time the oatmeal came with brown sugar and raisins and milk (last time I just got the raisins). I had to ask a second time for the eggs as they were not brought right away. So I think that there is something to the untrained waiter thing.

Pan fried king clip - because I wanted to know what king clip was

Bob walking ahead of me

I've used up some of the minutes I won by putting photos up on facebook.

New England crab cake

Norwegian Salmon

Prime rib

Cappuccino pie

November 13th

The ship has spent the last day just fooling around off Cape Hatteras.

Bob with the remote

November 14, 2011

When we looked at the bow camera at 0700 on Sunday, we were coming into Baltimore. We had breakfast and I saw for the first time the Captain's dining room area. There were stewards in there folding napkins.

Inside the Captains Club - napkin folding at lunch

Table for waiters to put their trays on, and to dance on at dinner

All the chairs in the atrium had signs on them saying that it was not a waiting room.

About 10:30 they called and said they were ready for us. Apparently the other 3 people on the B2B had gone into town, so it was just the two of us. They took us down the ramp past all the people and thru customs and then back up the ramp and took our new photos.

On deck after coming back aboard on B2B - spa inside window

I asked to go up to the Lido to see what was up there without people in it, and they were cleaning.

Lido cleaning crew (walking toward me - Bob is walking away from me)

Sweeping the floor

They had kind of a street sweeper machine which was cleaning the hard surface floors.

Tile sweeper in the Lido (Mermaid cafe)

Tile sweeper

Cleaning crew on the pool deck

Water slide

Adult area

Pool before passengers arrive

Top of the atrium elevator

Mural near the statue of David

Looking through the door of a veranda room

Fruit basket we got at beginning of second cruise

When we got back to our room there was a fruit basket and a bottle of wine there that said it came from the Hospitality Manager.

Bon voyage card

Eventually the Lido opened and we went back up and I got a pastrami sandwich and a piece of cake and some lemonade. There was a thing in the schedule that said the M&M (Meet & Mingle) for Cruise Critic was at 1430, but no one else was there, and it would have been silly to have it then because not everyone was on yet.

14 November - back on board

Someone's suitcase has been delivered

Selfie

We were at a table on the other side of the dining room for dinner. Our companions are Jim and Brenda from York PA, and Gladys from Clinton MD. Her husband is from St. Mary's, but we didn't know any of the same people. She is traveling alone because her husband was having to deal with his father who has dementia and also got sick and needs full time care.

My salad- hearts of iceberg lettuce

Bob's cream of tomato soup with croutons

Bob's Sweet and sour shrimp

(which he remembered when he saw them were shrimp that had somehow been straightened out)

I tried the

Chicken a la grecque

Which I didn't really care for - it was on big pasta with a tomato sauce which gave me reflux. I had the

Chocolate melting cake

for dessert, but the first time I had it I got two scoops of ice cream and this time I only got one.

Sea Day - November 15th

We went to breakfast but I forgot my camera so couldn't take a photo of the waffles - I got two pieces, which were cold. Then we went to the real Cruise Critics meeting.

Others at the Cruise Critics meeting

Ladies room outside theatre

We went and looked at the photo gallery - there was a pirate going around the dining room last night so we look or our photos with him (but didn't buy them).

Pirates 'R Us

At lunch we were at a very big table and several people came in, sat down, and then just left. I had a salad and the

Mongolian steak salad

It is really some pieces of beef with a side salad - I had seen it that someone else had ordered last week. It was very tasty. Bob defaulted to spaghetti. I had pineapple sherbet.

Calm sea

Then we just hung around until dinner.

Bob had shrimp cocktail and I had strawberry soup and we both had lobster.

Lobster

This time they pressed us to eat more lobster, but we didn't.

Singing waiter for dancing

I got the same dessert as last week, thinking it had ice cream with it, but it didn't.

Caramelized apples on puff pastry

I should have asked for some.

Monkey towel animal

I have heard that the decor on Carnival was garish,

Lounge

Pool table

but I don't find it so. There were some nice drawings on the walls of the halls

Petulant Paul - wall of the hall

Art in the halls

Nude in the hall

There are an awful lot of breasts and penises on show in the Renaissance art especially in the atrium but the people that mind that are people with little boys.

Huge statue of David in the atrium outside the Steak House

Large nudes

Big nudes in the atrium

But even in other places there is a lot of 'art'

I usually am facing this guy's crotch in the elevator - on a scooter right at my eye level

Art in the elevator which someone has enhanced

They have framed pictures over the couches and seating in various places and the only thing wrong with that is that the colors are muddy and the lines are blurry - they are very poor reproductions.

Renaissance art

Renaissance art

"Art" over couches in the lounge

Artwork

Portrait behind the bar

Shore excursion desk adorned with art

The art on the landings of the stairways is very nice modern art.

Modern painting at the top of the stairs

I think all the Grecian columns are a bit excessive

Plastic columns at the door of the Game Bar

and there is a lot of plastic,

Sprinkler over the windows

and a lot of purple

Top of atrium from glass elevator

and maybe also the mermaids on the ceiling in the Lido, but I like the geometric mosaic squares that are all over the ship.

For lunch on the 15th, I had the

Chilled curried apple soup

which was reasonably good, and Bob had the fresh fruit. He ordered the

Chicken caesar salad

for the main course and initially confused that with the starter. I had the

BBQ Baby back ribs

which were very good. I had the

Lemon mousse

for dessert which was very light and good and Bob had the

German chocolate cake

Before dinner I noticed that the lights over the band-stand were changing color.

Lights changing color - blue, white, and red

I heard that we wouldn't hear the calypso band at all on this cruise because to cheer people up on the last two cruises, they played for nine days straight.

For dinner I had the

Smoked chicken quesadilla

but it was more intense than I like. Bob had the

Fruit cocktail - everyday menu

which was not the canned variety but actually cut up fruit. Then I had

Meatloaf

which was OK and Bob had the

Mahi mahi from every day menu

and he said it was dry. I had

Strawberry cheesecake

for dessert and it came with the strawberries in a separate dish - and it was strawberry sauce.

They had the dancing and singing at dinner with the waiters getting up on the serving islands.

Dancing waiter

Jim and Brenda didn't come to dinner, but Gladys got up and danced with them.

Gladys dancing with the waiter

Our towel animal was (I think) a goose

Swan? or Goose

November 16, 2011- Port Canaveral

The Cape Canaveral lighthouse is near where they now shoot rockets into space, and I have been trying to see it in person without going onto the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. But I didn't get up early enough to see the lighthouse today and we might have been too far out to see it anyway.

Bob's cereal and yogurt - he has skim milk for the cereal, bacon and tea every morning, except sometimes he had prunes instead of yogurt

I had French toast which was supposed to come with cinnamon sugar, but came with syrup. I also had grits.

Cream of wheat and French toast

They forgot to bring the sweet roll tray.

Drinks cart in dining room at breakfast

We managed to get the scooter across the gangway and down two different elevators, but when we got out onto the road we found that we were on the other side from where we were last year and I could not just scooter down the sidewalk to the Jetty Park or the marinas on that side. Yuk.

Port Canaveral (the other side where we docked before)

So - plan B. We got a taxi and went to a cemetery In Georgiana on Merritt Island called Crooked Mile.

Taxi ride from Port Canaveral to Merritt Island

On the way we saw Beasley's Tuxedo Shops.

Beasley's Tuxedo Sales and Rentals

Georgiana sign

Crooked Mile church

There were some nice zinkers (made of white metal) and some very old graves.

Zinker with one side punched out

Unfortunately when I got back I found most all of them had been entered and photographed. But we had a good time and the cab driver (who was from NYC) really got into it.

Of course we had to eat in the Lido, but there weren't a lot of people there.

Corned beef/pastrami from the deli - my favorite Lido lunch

Pineapple upside down cake and cream puff in Lido

When we went out on deck, we saw a sea turtle swimming around in the slip.

Sea turtle from the deck

There was a parking garage which had huge painted screens that hid the same effect of the painted screens in Baltimore.

Parking garage

Pride reflected in the dock area at Port Canaveral

Carnival Pride (reflected)

We walked around the deck and photographed the goods they were loading.

Taking on supplies in Port Canaveral

One thing was marked as an engine,

Engine (crate on left) and Do Not Stack package with something stacked

and there was one labeled ,

Jar tickets

and another that said Lido deck signage, but also glassware, chairs, sheets, beer, propane, rice, soft drinks, ambrosia, refried beans, sliced water chestnuts, wine, Jack Daniels, soy sauce, and bottled water.

propane, rice, wine, whiskey and beer

For dinner we both had the

Chilled peach soup

which was good in spite of coming with a little cube. The we both had

Seafood newburg style

which was disappointing - not what I expected - I expected a cream sauce and it wasn't that. Then we had

Bitter and blanc (bread pudding)

which was dark and white chocolate bread pudding and was too rich. They did the dancing thing again

Waiter dancing on the table

Brenda dancing with the waiters

and this time Brenda got up to dance with them. I think our towel animal was a bear.

Towel animal - a bear?

Tomorrow - Nassau

17 November 2011 - Nassau

I had poached eggs for breakfast

Poached eggs, bacon and grits

and then we went up on deck to watch the docking.

Seagull

Coming in to Nassau

Coming close to Paradise Island

Paradise Island hotel

He went really close to the Paradise Island side. We docked between the NCL Gem and the Regent Seven Seas Navigator.

Life boat of the Norwegian Gem parked next to us

We went to the Lido to lunch and I had one chicken nugget, a hamburger and potato salad.

Hamburger, and potato salad and chicken nuggets from the Lido

Then we got off. I had figured out where some cemeteries that I wanted to visit were, and one of them was Potter's Cemetery.

Driving on the left and the taxi stand

We negotiated with the driver and he said he would drive us for 2 hours for $70 plus tip. But he thought I wanted to go to Potter's Wharf, which has a seafood market and I was happy to go there but it was at the other end of where Potter's Cemetery was.

Phone booth

First we went to Ebenezer Methodist

Ebenezer Methodist cemetery

Stephen Bethell's and The Rev Baker's gravestone

and we were looking for a particular grave and the driver asked the sexton where it was and we found it.

It was for Sir Roland Theodore Symonette

A native of Current, Eleuthera, Bahamas, he served as the Chief Minister of the Bahamas from 1955 to 1959, and as the Prime Minister of the Bahamas from 1959 to 1964, and from 1964 to 1967. He also served as a Member of the House of Assembly from 1925 to 1977. Known for his vast fortune, and his generosity towards charities, he was honored with his face being put on the Bahamian $50 dollar bill. He was knighted in 1959 by Queen Elizabeth II. His family also became known as the Bahamas first family. His sons went into politics and started fortunes of there own including real estate. Symonette retired from politics in 1977, and died at his "Green Roots" Estate in Nassau.This time I took my cane with me so I could sit down without sitting on someone's gravestone. It was quite hot and I was exhausted when we finished.

St Matthews Church

Then we went to St. Matthews. Bob took some photos

Roxanna Rolle and Hon. David Andrew Brice grave

but I stayed in the van and cooled off before I got out and went to the cemetery. Here the person who knew where everything was wasn't there so we didn't find the person we were looking for (a baseball player named Curry).

The grave digger people said that the next cemetery over was Eastern Cemetery,

Eastern Cemetery gate

so we went over there (I hadn't known where that one was from the map). Bob got out and took some pictures for me - he is getting quite good at that.

Sir Stafford Sands

Then we drove over to The Parish of St. Mary The Virgin Cemetery

St mary parish cemetery gate

Parking reserved for the rector

At one point someone's car stalled and the man behind him and our driver helped push him up the road.

Helping push a car

He also got some fuel..

Getting gas

We also saw St. Agnes and St Francis Xavier, and got to Potter's Cemetery

Entrance to the Potter's cemetery

and right next to it was Bahamas Veteran's Cemetery,

Bahama Veterans Cemetery

which I had known nothing about and haven't been able to find anything out about it since.

After that we went back to the ship - of course we had to go around several detours.

Straw market outside the ship

We put the scooter together but when we started to get back to the ship we discovered that the only ramp was for getting OFF and there were stairs to get on. So we just waited until there wasn't anybody on the gangway, and went up the Out.

The ship doesn't leave until 2300. We were the only ones at dinner, and there was no dancing. We both had the mozzarella and tomato appetizer but Bob felt that it lack something - not much flavor. He got fried shrimp which he said was good and I got a

Pumpkin yam casserole with the fillet

(the vegetarian option) which was supposed to have cheddar with it but if it did, I didn't find it. I also got the filet that I had on the last cruise which was good again

Then Bob had apple pie and I decided to have

Orange sherbert and vanilla ice cram

- just like a creamsicle. Our towel animal Bob thought was a snake, but I think was a swan.

Swan that fell apart when Bob moved it so it is propped up with the basket

18 November 2011 - Freeport

The ship didn't leave Nassau until late and got to Freeport early because they didn't have far to go. So we had breakfast,

Waffles - blueberry and syrup and bacon - Bob tried the turkey bacon which he had at home but it was awful

and then debated whether to take the scooter off the ship or not. I had signed up for the waiting list on one of the historic tours because it had the Pinder's Point Lighthouse on it, but it was fully booked and we didn't get a place, which was perhaps as well as part of it was snorkeling and I don't think with the weather we've been having that we would have seen much.

We did take the scooter, but really didn't need it except to get to the forward elevators. I think I could have gone with just the cane. We told the dispatcher that we wanted to go see the lighthouse, and eventually a driver came over who would take us. We didn't discuss price this time.

Taxi dispatchers - Carnival Pride in background

Our taxi driver

Instructions to go to Port Lucaya

We loaded the scooter into the van, and I got into the front seat and we drove out to see the lighthouse.

Picture of a Junkanoo Beach on an oil tank

Warning and safety signs

Offshore oil platform

This lighthouse was built around 1960. It was active when we were there, but has been Inactive since 2014. Pinder's Point Lighthouse is a 40 ft round cinder block tower, painted with red and white horizontal bands. According to a historical marker at the site, there was a 19th century lighthouse at or near this location. The historical marker also says the current tower was built in the "mid 1900s." Probably this was in connection with the development of Freeport Harbour, which began in the late 1950s. Sometime before 2007 the light was removed from the lighthouse, and during 2007 its traditional red and white bands were covered by white paint. In early 2009 the tower was restored and relit, and benches and the historical marker were installed. In 2013 the lighthouse was designated a Grand Bahama Heritage Site.

Pinders Point Lighthouse

Pinders Point Lighthouse

Then we drove by the Mermaid pool (which was on the tour we didn't get)

Mermaid Pond

Bob was talking to the van driver and told him we were taking picture of cemeteries and the driver (who lives near the Freeport docks) said that there were two cemeteries near where we were. The one closest to the lighthouse was the Pinder's Point Cemetery - apparently the first settler was named Pinder. The Pinder's Point area is a string of four connected villages, each named after a white settler who owned the land. Freed slaves took over the lands and passed them on to their descendants, and the four communities grew into each other.

Me entering Pinder's Point Cemetery

Taleus Fatal in Pinder's Point

Pinder's Point

Heart shaped stone for Leonard Russell at Pinder's Point

Bishop Knowles in Pinder's Point

Pinder's Point Cemetery

Upper Zion Baptist Church - Pinder Pastors

Then we went to the Hunter Public Cemetery which was the cemetery for the town of Hunter where the cab driver lived.

Hunter Cemetery gates

He took Bob all over showing Bob his mother's grave, his sister's grave (she was only 47), and so on. It seemed most of the people there were his relatives.

Rest in peace Mama

Hunter Cemetery

Funeral home marker - new grave - died 2011

Painted pink grave marker for unknown woman who died in 2011

Hunter Cemetery gates

Several of the cemeteries along this coast including Pinders Point and Hunters were damaged by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. There were several feet of water over the cemetery and some bodies and coffins were unearthed.

We also saw some of the little town of Hunter

Parish of the Good Shepherd

House after hurricane that was 4 years ago

Best Kept Yard

Friendly Sunrise Burial Society

We went back to the ship.

Bahamas Celebration (ferry)

Shops around dock

Port area

Looking down from the Lido deck

Tuna salad sandwich

Desserts

When I went on to the internet, I saw that neither cemetery was listed on FindAGrave. There was an internet "Happy Hour" sale which was for every minute used you got half a minute back onto your account. There was one on the first cruise that I didn't know about, and this cruise they had one from 7 to 9, so I got on the internet right after dinner. This one was 5-7, so I logged on and didn't get off until 6. But the internet was extremely slow so I didn't get much done. I made up a spreadsheet and after dinner I loaded it for Hunters, but I didn't get enough in Pinder's Point to do that- to do a spreadsheet you need at least 25 names

Spinach soup

Shrimp

Photos at Dinner

Towel animal

The ship left Freeport at 1400 and really poured on the power - we were going 23 knots and the top speed is 24 knots. the wind was on the beam and she was rolling a bit. It's OK for me on the scooter because that's not affected, but others were having a problem.

November 19

On our last sea day I had pancakes for breakfast.

Pancakes

They had norlander bread on the menu so I asked for that and was told that they didn't have any. Bob got packed - he insists on having TWO carry-on bags. I don't know why. We've eaten the bananas, one apple, one orange, all the grapes, and all the dried apricots, but the kiwi fruit and the pears are still in the basket.

It is now 0950 on the 19th and the ship is still going fast - 23 to 25 knots which I think is helped by the Gulf stream. But the wind is SE so we are riding a bit more smoothly and there isn't as much vibration.

One of our cabin stewards is going home to the Philippines tomorrow, so they have a trainee replacing him.

We have luggage tag number 15, so we will be one of the last getting off the ship. For some reason, Bob has not started packing yet. He went out to see if there was something to buy but didn't find anything.

For lunch I had

Chilled orange Sory with cube in it

(which was soup and was good), and

Neptune chef's salad

(which I didn't care for). Bob had

German lentil soup

Tuna salad baguette

Then I had an

Apple hollander

(which was a cake). Bob had a chocolate sundae which was supposed to have chocolate sauce, but didn't - just a piece of chocolate on the top.

Chocolate sundae?

Someone at the table ordered the tropical fruit terrine for dessert and that turned out to be a kind of slice of ice cream.

Tropical fruit terrine

I got packed.

For dinner I tried the

Caesar salad

which was dreadful - fishy tasting and with a lot of mayo. Bob had the navy bean soup, which he said was good. I tried the gourmet

Make it yourself hamburger - everyday menu

which was huge and the roll was toasted and that made it a bit dry, but it was tasty. Bob had the salmon. I had cappuccino pie for dessert which was good

Bob tipped the bathroom guy after dinner because he boasted that he would be off the ship and back to the Philippines before we were thru with breakfast.

Towel snake

I'm pretty sure our towel animal was a snake. I used up my minutes that I still had and went 5 minutes over - instead of charging the same price as the package I had like they said they would do, they charged the max $0.75 per minute for those five.

November 20th

At breakfast they seated us right by the staircase - for the first time we were at a table for 2.

Statue by the stairs in main dining room

I got a bagel because that was one thing I hadn't tried, and took it with me.

Bagels and tea

Poached eggs, oatmeal with raisins & brown sugar and pork sausage

After breakfast Bob said we should go down to the theatre because it would be comfortable and we would be on the correct deck to disembark so we did that and we were settled by 1000 They had ESPN on the big screen but no sound or captions which was kind of irritating. After a bit they turned the sound on

Waiting in the theater

We talked to the people behind us for a bit. They called the self assist people (the ones who carried all their luggage themselves) and this took a long time - there must have been a lot of self-assist.

Self Assist?

Deck 1 was first. Then they called the last self-assist and #1 and 2. Shortly after that it was 1-4. Then another short pause and 1-9. Then they called up to 20, so we got up and both went to the bathroom one last time. There was no TP in the stall I went into. We were in line inching forward by 1250 and inched our way through the casino.

Casino as we leave

Slots in the casina

Shrimp Mania slot

The lady ahead of us was taking the train and she thought she would miss her train, so when we got down to the bottom of the ramp, they took her to the head of the line.

People who are there to direct you when you embark (taken on debarking)

Bob said our suitcases were in a group all together and there weren't many others in the #15 spot.

We went out to the curb and Bob called the hotel and they said he would be there in 20 minutes. There were vans picking up other people - including a big van from Melwood.

I overheard a lady who was trying to reach the Comfort Inn which is right there in Linthicum by Rose's restaurant and apparently that hotel closed for remodeling right after they left and there was no one to pick them up - they were a group of about 9 people from Pittsburgh. The driver for the Sleep Inn (which is right behind the Comfort Inn) took four of them. When our driver came, I told him about the problem and pointed out the ladies that were still waiting and he went over and took them to the Comfort Inn before he took us back to our car. He was very happy with this arrangement, and they were happy too.

Ship from inside shuttle bus as we were leaving

I said we could still eat at the Linthicum Luncheteria which would be open until 2, but Bob decided not to backtrack and we eventually ate lunch at Chili's in Bowie - just up the road from Rips. Bob had a cup of chili and a milkshake, and I had the Southwest BLT which was supposed to be a Combo, but she said that was only for weekdays and not for Sunday.

Almost all the leaves were off the trees now. We got fuel at the Wawa and it was more expensive than some of the places on the highway where it was $3.19. We were home by 5:30.

Bob coming around the house after turning on the water

Bob turned on the water and unlocked the house - unloaded the car and brought in the paper. He went and got hamburgers at Wendys. Someone or something had knocked over the cat food dispenser and the cats were anxious to be fed. He says when he goes out of the house now, they all come running. He says he has lost 4 lbs but his waist size is still the same. I OTOH have gained six.

The mail came Monday and had my prescription from Expressscripts, the car monitors from Progressive, and the new Navy Federal credit cards which I activated. DirectTV was very upset that the old card had been refused, so I dealt with that and also Verizon, and the internet people (who would charge me an extra $2/month if I paid by check instead of electronically).

I checked the bank accounts for Bob, and all the PNC (formerly First National of St Marys) checks have cleared and my SS payment is going to Cedar Point. So he went up and closed that account because they now have a $3.00 a month fee for check images and you can't opt out of that. He asked for the money in cash, and then went and deposited it in Cedar Point CU. He thinks they still charged the $3.00 check imaging fee.

Bob tried to get a fresh turkey but could not find one that wasn't huge, so he took his frozen one out and put it in the fridge to thaw.

Then I lost my computer - it wouldn't boot. So I had to wait to post photos until I could get it fixed

My next trip was July 2012 to Australia with my granddaughter