The ocean trough

The good (going to the gym); the bad (hitting the buffet line or restaurant); the ugly (us at the end of a day of eating.

Our Chef and Head Waiter, Franz, await us at the Horizon Court, the 19-1/2-hour buffet line.

Day 2 (the second full day of sailing) came with our food service attendant arriving with coffee, juice and the continental breakfast we had ordered.  We’d changed time zones and he had awakened us.  Rather than a civilized 6:30 a.m. it was really 5:30.  We’d sprung forward.  We groggily got up and poured coffee to try to get some semblance of order.  But it didn’t happen quickly.  We looked out into the darkness and as it was beginning to lighten up, we could see some fog or clouds.  We could also still see the moon.  It was way too early.

Our plan for the day was to work on our blogs, which got posted between the previous night and this morning (Monday, February 17), hit the gym, maybe have a bit of food and then seek out some entertainment. 

We got to the gym later this morning, and while still crowded, there were a couple of elliptical machines, so we hopped on.  We got in our 30 minutes, did a little weight work and wandered back toward our room.  However, there was a bit of breakfast, including cooked food, being served in one area.  We did manage to avoid it, only snatching up some more orange juice and coffee.

Everywhere you turn there is food.  Of course, it is a cruise.  There’s an ice cream bar, but it’s vanilla, chocolate or swirl.  I was able to avoid that as they are not my favorites by themselves.  I may be more tempted later, but we’re having such wonderful desserts (last night crème brulee and bananas foster) that maybe that won’t happen.

Rhubarb Napoleon with nectarine ice cream.

The ocean trough does not mean the ocean waters, my friends.  I’m talking about bellying up to the food trough, like the hogs we are.  It’s hard to resist when it’s so plentiful.  There are three main dining rooms, the food court buffet, a pizzeria, two fancier restaurants that have a $25 cover charge to eat there, the ice cream bar and a bar and grill.  To make it more challenging, the ice cream bar is located on our way to and from the gym. 

You can stay here all day and eat to your heart's content.

You can eat starting at 5:30 a.m. until midnight.  That leaves only 5-1/2 hours that you can’t get something to eat.  However, we do have a small refrigerator in the room so you can squirrel away something for those hours that nothing else is open.

We sometimes get there early so we can be first in line as the race is on to get to the buffet line.

A plate of artistically-arranged food.  Franz told us we should use the platters, still larger plates that you can stack more food on.  I think not.  Okay, well maybe.  Sure, I can do that.

Our usual has been a little bit in the morning with coffee and juice, lunch at the Horizon Court buffet and dinner in the Bordeaux Dining Room.  Of course, it’s a matter of what you want and how much of it.  It tests our will power, of which we have none, so the gym has to be our fitness crutch … but I know I’m not burning anywhere near the calories I’m eating.

Just one buffet line with hot foods ... then there's the dessert line, the salad line, the sandwich line, the soup line.  Too much and I like to try as much as I can ... too much food, too little time.

The Horizon Court up top provides food of every kind, from soup to dessert.

Who gives a damn!!  I’m on holiday and my clothes still fit!!! 

To the left, the Maitre d'Hotel Rui Pereira and the Head Host in the Bordeaux Dining Room where we usually eat dinner.

The day has been gorgeous.  We’ve continued exploring the ship, revisiting some areas such as the splash pool up on top.  The water in this pool is only 8 inches deep, no diving allowed.  The water swirls around with little waves coming at you … and we put our feet in which felt wonderful.  The cool water and warm air is so relaxing.  All around us were folks on their loungers worshipping the sun, and you could smell the coconut scent of Hawaiian Gold sunscreen.

The splash pool up topside.

This felt so very good on our feet.

There are sun worshippers everywhere catching rays, getting as brown as they can.

We lounged on chairs on a lower deck so as to not be in direct sun.  It felt good and we watched people who were deck walking, around and around.  Three laps equals slightly more than a mile.  There’s always that in the event you cannot get to a treadmill in the gym.  

A whale made an appearance, but not nearly close enough to photograph.  We later heard there were dolphins playing around the ship, but we didn’t see them.

We attended a photo raffle, looked at art that was for a live art auction, located the casino, found that we shouldn’t enter the Winston Churchill Lounge which is the smoking lounge and quite hazy, and partook of afternoon tea.  At dinner we learned there are 380 Canadians onboard, more than a 100 from the UK, and then the rest of us.  It’s fun to have our little onboard community which keeps us entertained and we never have to go far.  There are way more activities than you can pack into a day … fitness classes, bingo, art classes, movies, wellness seminars, dance classes, live and DJ music, games.  The Princess Patter newsletter arrives every afternoon so that we can plan the next day. 

To round out the rest of Day 2, we arrived early at the Universe Lounge and watched part of a ballroom dance class … the waltz this time.  We then took our second photo seminar where we’ve learned a thing or two, and were sent off with homework.  We wandered around taking our photos to turn in on Day 3.  It’s fun to have a mission.   And we checked out music in the various lounges, but ended our day listening to the gentleman in the Crooner’s Lounge who was playing and singing some music that even I was not totally familiar with, with 30s, 40s and 50s songs.  It was lovely.  

A lot of folks take the dance classes.

Playing with the camera as another beautiful sunset overtook us.

But still, our work was not finished and we grabbed the cameras, long lenses and tripods and headed to the top deck to try to photograph the moon.  While that didn’t work out too well, we had an experience of a totally different nature.  Jaz said, “Look up.” Over our heads, moving above us back and forth, drifting and drafting with the ship’s movement were some large birds with white heads.  We were fascinated with them.  They were huge and just hovered over us, their large wings outstretched, slowly flapping up and down.  We watched for some time until they finally moved on.  What were they?  Jaz had brought her bird book and we identified them as Laysan albatrosses … a sea bird with a 32-inch wingspan.  They feed on the ocean, eating mostly squid.  They often follow boats for food and apparently showed up just for our entertainment.  Then, at midnight, it was time to end our day, a long one for us.

Day 3 (Tuesday, February 18) brought with it some fog that quickly burned off.  Our coffee attendant once again woke us, and the worst part is we lose yet another hour tonight.  He’ll think we are very lazy ladies when, in fact, we have been very busy every day conducting our business.

Our Captain's Log provides information constantly so we know exactly where we are, what the seas are, the time and so on.  It's interesting and we like to know these types of facts.

Guatamala, our first land stop.

These seas are great, no large amount of rocking and rolling by the ship necessitating us to hold on to handrails. 

Rather than hitting the gym we decided to do deck walking.  (Three times around equals nearly one mile).  We walked 2.4 miles … being rewarded with a wonderful breeze, a school of jumping fish of some sort and smiles and chat with other walkers. 

Our normal schedule is to now clean up and then wander to lunch.  Our head waiter, Franz, has taken a liking to us.  He has brought us dessert and taken my camera to photograph us.  It’s so nice to be among people who are always smiling and friendly.  (Yep, I know they get paid for that, but when I worked we were paid to do a job and it was always easier … mostly … to be pleasant and nice to others although that didn’t always happen.)

Franz brought us strawberry-filled meringues. 

Our usual lunch attendant is Manuel.  He hadn’t smiled at us up until yesterday although I heard him singing under his breath.  My mission was to crack that one … and did, being rewarded with a small smile.  Today there was a major breakthrough.  Manuel and Franz like our Canon cameras.  Manuel chatted about purchasing one for his son, and how expensive they are.  He said when we get to Cartagena to be very careful in how we carry them so they do not somehow get removed from us. 

After lunch was our third camera class.  This time we were doing a walkabout photographing different things such as low light and high light objects, no flash.  We were having a great time with our instructor, Julia.  We wanted more.  More classes, more assignments.  She said she’d do more assignments.  Our first one was low light with people, no flash.  That means we have to wander around looking for subjects.  But we got side-tracked. 

No tea for us today as we were too busy with our homework.

We’d been working so hard we needed a nap, so that became a high priority.  But to get to our cabin we once again got turned around on our own deck (Emerald).  “Ladies.”  We turned around and there was our cabin attendant, Allen, showing us to our cabin.   I think he wonders about us … but it was certainly a good laugh.  Even on board … good grief.

There's lots to photograph.

Once we’d drug ourselves from our nap, it was off to dinner as we were going to watch the “Movie Under the Stars.”  A big screen is set up on deck, along with lounge chairs and lap blankets.  Johnny Depp was Tonto in a spoof on the Lone Ranger.  It was thoroughly entertaining and we laughed out loud.  Popcorn completed the perfect movie setting of warm weather and stars creating a roof over our heads.  We’ve decided we need to do that again.

There is a lot of art on the walls around the ship, offering many photo opportunities.

There was a 50s trivia contest so we wandered down to the Universe Lounge.  We were divided into two teams, the Pink Ladies, and the Thunderbirds.  Jaz and I were part of the Thunderbird team (go East High Thunderbirds … my Anchorage school).  The idea was to name that tune and the artist.  To do that you had to run up front and sit in a chair to name it.  Jaz and I were sitting up front so it was easy to get up there and name it … and it’s always easy to name an Elvis tune.  Yep, the Thunderbirds were up by 2.

The songs were mostly known to me, but not the artist.  The Pink Ladies had a guy who knew them all and between him and his brother they were outscoring us.  Bah!!!  It was time to get tough.  We had help from our team and we pulled ahead by one point.  Our emcee said we needed a tie breaker.  What???  It was to get our team members up to do a chorus line to the song New York, New York.  The team with the most dancers would be the winners.  We were like the Rockettes … Jaz and I running up to start the line.  Left foot up, right foot up.  We didn’t have the numbers.  I broke out of the line and ran up and down the aisle and seats to muster my team, hustling members from their seats until our line snaked around through the seating, outdoing the Pink Ladies by half.  WINNERS!!!  Yes, Jaz and I certainly know how to get a group going.  It’s what we do.  Another success chalked up.

The next part of the evening in the Universe Lounge was “So You Wanna Be a Rock Star.”  The other name is karaoke … I signed up.  It was my first, and probably only opportunity to sing with a live band.  What fun that was.  So what if I couldn’t hit a high note … I had back up from the band and their lead singer. 

Our evening was complete by going on deck to see if we could see any more albatrosses.  Nope.  They were long gone and that may have been a very special sight for us to have seen them.  We wandered all around, but saw nothing.  When I say nothing, that’s exactly what I mean.  No people, no crew.  It’s like being on a ghost ship late at night.  Everyone is either at a bar listening to music and dancing, or gone to bed.  This has been great.  We even wandered into the Sanctuary area where we’re not supposed to go.  Hey, the gate was open.  Late at night, it’s quiet and there’s an element of peace just wandering and listening to the ocean as our ship glides along toward our first land destination.  Another late night for us as we made our way down deserted stairwells, our sandals silently landing on each step.  Another day at sea, another group of memories.

---

 [PB1]

The next great adventure ...

Several months ago Jaz and I decided to do a Panama Canal cruise.  We’d made our arrangements, booked our excursions, and talked about it lots … which is half the fun. 

On Wednesday, Feb. 12, I left Anchorage flying on Delta passes (thank you, Hobbs).  The flight from Anchorage to Minneapolis is usually a hard one to get on, and always crowded.  It was a breeze.  Then there were multiple flights to either Salt Lake City/San Francisco, or direct from Minneapolis to San Francisco.

It seems like I often have problems in Minneapolis.  I was trying to fly direct to San Francisco, but the flights were all overbooked due to bad weather in other areas.  I tried to fly to San Francisco, then Salt Lake/San Francisco, back and forth, back and forth.  It just wasn’t happening because there were too many people trying to get somewhere. 

I found a flight to San Jose that was only oversold by a few and decided to try that.  I was number 2 on the standby list.  Yay, I got on. 

Jaz was there to pick me up.  My baggage did not arrive.  Oh no.  I don’t want to buy new stuff yet again (like when I went to Michigan in October).  We checked at lost luggage but it was a rather difficult dealing. 

Another friend, Kris, was also coming to San Francisco, and was at that airport.  Off we went to get her.  We then also checked with Delta lost luggage at San Francisco, and there was my luggage.  I heaved a huge sigh of relief.  I was so tired by now I could hardly get that sigh out, but I did.

Home we went to Jaz’s mom’s.  I dropped like a rock into bed and slept for 10 hours.  I awoke refreshed and ready to hit the bricks. 

Kris, Jaz and I decided to catch the CalTrain and the muni train into the city and on to Fisherman’s Wharf to do lunch and just wander around.  We got off the muni train a little early and probably walked three miles to the wharf.  But we saw things we wouldn’t have if we’d been on the bus.

 

It's not my first choice of a place to sleep, but to someone else, I guess it is.

The Bay Bridge had fog rolling in and rolling out during our walk.

The wind was ruffling the feathers of this bird and it made me think of a turkey.

This guy feeds the pigeons often.  The one to the left appears to be covering his eyes with his wings.  What doesn't he want to see?  That the other pigeon is getting more than he is?

There are so many things to see just walking down the street, but flowers always gladden my heart, especially at this time of year.  The daffodils and tulips are wonderful to see.  Come on, spring.

 

We decided to have lunch first … the Fog Harbor Fish House … and what a wonderful lunch it was.  High recommendations.

 

Alcatraz in the fog.  Beautiful when you're on the outside.

 

A ship in the arch, fog behind it. Rails run right up to the edge, so there must have been loading and unloading from ships to rail cars, but there was no sign to tell us what it was.

Ya gotta admire his honesty.

 

Wind sock mobiles ... thank you, Jim and Tricia for the one you gave me.  Love it.

Rattle can art ... fascinating and some talent.  Do these folks start with graffiti?  Would love to have one but no way to carry it at this point and he doesn't ship.

From there we wandered down the street to the Musee Mecaniue, the arcade museum.  When Jaz first mentioned that she wanted to go there, I thought, well, I guess it would be fun.  I had no idea.  There were all the old-fashioned arcade machines from eras gone, from the carnivals, the old player pianos, the fortune-telling machines.  What a blast from the past … and fun.  A quarter here, 50 cents there, and we played and shot, and got our fortunes read and bowled.  It was something different and quite fun. 


The sign says it all.




Shooting games ... my favorite ... and fortune tellers, too.

Some things are just worth fighting for. 

Even an old bread bowl is worth something to someone.

The carousel on Pier 39 is a thing of beauty.

Street fun ... mimes.

We wandered down Pier 39 to where all the sea lions gather.  It was quite the get-together and you could hear them a block away, arf, arf, arf.  Some were just laying around on the wooden docks enjoying the sun, some had their noses up in the air in some highbrow way as though they were better than the other sea lions. 

This guy was enjoying his rays.

Some were playing and swimming in the water.  There were females nursing, and a platform that seemed to be the fight platform. 

These two were going at it for possession of the platform.

There would be one sea lion on it, then another or maybe two would jump up, only to be knocked off it, or fought off it by the first one.  Another might win the battle, and another one or two would take up where the others left off.  It was quite fun to see.  The noise would make your ears ring, but I could have hung out for a couple of hours watching them. 

Sweet faces.

The sun is going down ... was a beautiful and warm afternoon/evening.

Then it was time to head on back home for the evening as it was coming into dusk.  We caught the CalTrain, only to have it stop and back up.  There was a break down ahead of us.  But it wasn’t too much of a delay, and Jaz’s mom came and picked us up.

What a great day, but certainly a tiring one.  And there will be another tomorrow.

February 14 dawned with yet more fog, but it usually seems to burn off.  We hauled our butts to the gym for an hour to work out and work off some of the food we’ve been eating.  Jaz’s mom was going to be having lunch out so we just puttered around the house a bit, getting packed for our journey, boxing up a teapot Jaz had gotten me.  It’s a beautiful, heavy green one and she’d put it on the table in my room.  I’d noticed it immediately but didn’t know it was for me.  Wow.  Nice.  Thank you, Jaz.

We got cleaned up and decided to walk to town.  It’s mostly downhill, but still, three miles.  That three miles deserved a Five Guys burger and fries.  Heavy duty but oh-so-good.

You see some interesting things walking around ...

I wanted this sign. 

 

Then it was the post office, the bank, the store, a few errands and time to head home.  Please rescue us, Jaz’s mom, so we don’t have to walk all that uphill stuff.  Thank you. 

More readying because tomorrow will come early with a 9 a.m. flight.

On Saturday, February 15, we were up early to finish packing, head to the airport and get on the plane to Los Angeles.  The trip was a good one as I sat next to a lady who lives a town over from Jaz’s mom, and we hit it off.  Miriam is a school teacher, as is her daughter.  We had so much fun chatting that the flight seemed over before it started.

Once we got off the plane and gathered our luggage we looked around and saw the signs for “Island Princess.”  What an easy way to get to a cruise.  They took our luggage and loaded it, then we boarded a bus to head for the Port of Los Angeles. 

 

Yahoo, we're boarding.

The tug was pulling the tanker that had fueled us up away.  We were close to leaving now.

They must have heard about Jaz and me.  We had a police escort out of port.

A lighthouse as we were leaving, was beautiful as the sun was beginning its descent. 

 

The actual processing was pretty easy, passport/boarding pass, get a group number (9), sit and wait for your number to be called, board and be directed to your cabin.  In no time at all we were settled in and looking for food, which turned out to be a big buffet on Deck 14, Horizon Court, a restaurant that is open most of the time.

We got all settled in, with our suitcases open on the floor, a few things hung up, a few things put away on the shelves and in drawers.  After all, this is two weeks, so we can settle for a while.

 

Settling in.

 

Wandering around, with the port in the background.  It's huge.

We did some of the usual, the evening welcoming show that included a comedian who said there were only 13 children on this voyage (we’ve seen two of them), wandering around to get familiar with our surroundings, signing up for an Internet package so we could blog.  And … we found the Lotus Spa.  There was an embarkment deal, so we signed up for hot rock massages.  And dinner, of course.  We sat with several folks from Canada … some of our favorite people, and made lively conversation.

Then it was time to just enjoy the ocean waves sliding by, the quiet in the room, the slight movement of the ship back and forth, and bed.  It had been an early day and I know I was tired.

Sunday dawned, but was rather cloudy, windy and cool.  But we still enjoyed our balcony, coffee and a light snack.  We made our way to the gym at about 7 a.m.  Who knew all these old people would be in there working out.  It was packed.  All the treadmills were in use, the weights had lots of people lifting and putting down, machines were being used.  Wow.  Guess since there’s no port for a few days people are focusing on their well-being.  I found a rowing machine and worked on that for a while, Jaz worked with weights and then a couple of treadmills became available.  Thirty-plus minutes on those and we were done for the day.  Off we went to clean up and head to the spa.

Hot rock massage … ooooooohhhhhhh.  What a great way to start the day … Relaxing, with a capital R.  We had 75 minutes of it … from head to all your toes, fingertip to fingertip.  Wow.  What a nice treat to one’s self.

Then it was time to go to another presentation but we didn’t last because we hadn’t really eaten anything.  Up to Horizon Court for an early lunch, then at 1 p.m. we hit a photography seminar, Photography 101, but you can always learn something.

Back at the room, it had warmed up and the sun had finally come out, blowing sunbeams across the slightly-whitecapping sea.  Jaz saw some rocks and commented on the ship being away from them as we ran down the Baja Peninsula, southbound.  I hollered “whales” and we both made a beeline to get inside, getting stuck in the doorway trying to get inside to get to our cameras.  The doorways are only meant for one person at a time.  But we made it, got the long lenses on the cameras and took photos of whales breaching.  While none are close nor near-perfectly clear, we have them, and expect to see more.  It was stunning to see them … 

 

Hoping to see lots more whales.

At 3:30 p.m. we headed down to our usual dining room, the Bordeaux Dining Room, for afternoon tea, where we sat with some delightful folks from Florida and California.  We were ready for a cup of tea … little sandwiches without crusts, scones and pastries.  Yum.  Yep, the cruise ship of eternal eating.  But I was on top of it … and I was at the dinner trough, too.  Shrimp tonight.

 

At sea, not a bad place to be.

A swan and his future

Will O. arrived at the Baton Rouge Zoo January 30.  When I left, he was in a large enclosure, and was soon to be introduced to his new companion, hopefully mate.  I was so very happy with everything.

At home, I waited, but didn’t hear anything.  Of course, I had visions of him freezing to death because it had been cold, but everyone at Bird TLC assured me that he was fine.  Still, I worried.

By Feb. 5, my regular volunteer day at Bird TLC, I texted and said everyone wanted to know how he was doing.  I received a message back that Will O. had not yet been placed into the pond.

On Feb. 12, I left Anchorage, headed to California.  I was due to embark on a Panama Canal cruise.  Then, surprise, I got a note and photos from Heather, Executive Director, of BTLC.  Will O. was doing fine and there were photos.  Wonderful news.  It certainly made my day.

 

Swim free, my handsome swan, swim free.

Will had been put in the pond and was swimming freely.  I wonder if he remembers being on any lakes in Wasilla swimming around before he ended up in captivity and in a much smaller area.

 

Happy boy swan.  Yay.  How wonderful he looks swimming in a large pond, free, no human coming around to move him or blow dry his feathers, or clean his space.

 

He was also introduced to Roberta, the resident Trumpeter.  By the photos, she is quite large by comparison, but Will is still a youngster, still sporting grey feathers and not full-grown.  We are told she appears interested in him and was chasing him around a bit, perhaps an older woman looking for a younger man? 

Roberta is way larger than Will O., but he'll grow up and turn white, and what a gorgeous couple they will be.

Everyone figures they will be doing just fine.  And I’ll show up in July sometime to check on him.  Maybe there are some little ones in the future?

All of this news, the photos, made me teary again.  How often do you get to be a part of a happy ending?  Not so much, but in this case, I helped do a lot, and it just made my heart burst to see how this ended.  Well, maybe it's not the end.  Maybe I'll have some grandswans???

Dreams do come true, persistence pays off, and Will O. is doing fine.

And now, with a clear mind about Will O., and no more worrying there, I'm off ... headed to a cruise ship with a buffet line named after me.