several more days

Sunday, May 5, 2013

No 7:30 a.m. wakeup call! Slept until 8:30. Bliss. Had to rush up to Blu to get there before 9:00.

Sat by the pool and read since we can't use our veranda. Also had to buy a t-shirt since we passed the sale table. Actually it was all Beth's and Carolyn's fault. I couldn't be the only one without a Celebrity t-shirt.

Another Cruise Critic lunch was scheduled for noon in the main dining room.

Came back to find a message from the guest relations manager that the engineers have decided to cease and desist from the activity which is causing the odor. Really? They couldn't have ceased when we first complained? Amazing. So we got to use the loungers on our veranda. One has a broken wheel. Maybe we can get that fixed by the time the cruise is over?

Carolyn has gone off to the thalasotherapy pool. I'm too lazy to change and walk there. Will just sit on the veranda instead. Am really into sloth mode. Our next two cruises are so port intensive, we will hardly have time to breathe. So this is the change to just veg out.

By the way, Domnik says his baby is due at the end of October and that he'll be home for the birth (for those of you who know Domnik). He's pretty excited to be having his first child.

Dinner in the MDR tonight. None of us ate much. We're all kind of tired of the food. Doesn't seem to keep us from having treats after dinner, though.

Then off to hear our favorite guitarist, Ric Steel again.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Awakened by our butler's call that he was bringing coffee and croissants at 8:00 a.m. So nice to be awakened by choice, not because someone is dialing the wrong number. Breakfast in Blu again. Met a very interesting couple, formerly from New Brunswick, Canada, then Iowa, now Florida. They live close to The Villages.

Went to Trivia for the first time. Formed a team with 3 other women who were already there. We did respectably well, but didn't win. Stayed for theater musical trivia. Were joined by 3 new people, one of whom really knew her theater music. Left to our own devices, we might have got one correct answer. With her help, we got 9 out of 20.

Came back and decided to enjoy the fresh air on our veranda. The weather is just gorgeous. Blue skies, warm breeze, and calm seas. Went up for a late lunch and then came back to enjoy the veranda some more. Marta showed up with a handyman to repair the wheel on the lounger, so now it's easier to reposition. Gene showed up to see how we were doing and wanted to know if we'd seen the whales and the dolphins. Unfortunately, we missed them.

Had Carolyn's friends, Ann and David, in for drinks before dinner. Gene produced shrimp cocktail and cheese and crackers. Had a very nice visit and then went down to dinner.

After dinner, we went to hear a different guitarist, Rob Ondras, in the Café. He's also quite good. Chatted with a couple from Florida—everybody seems so amazed when they find out we're from three different states. Then they want to know how we met, and when we tell them we all went to high school in Augsburg, Germany, that really freaks them out.

Back to the room to select the menu for the dinner we're going to host in our suite the night we get back from our shore excursion in Cherbourg. By the time we get back from the shore ex, seating for our seating in the dining room will have closed, so we decided that was the perfect night to have Marilyn & J to dinner. Plus we had to play some Elvis for Marilyn. We're enjoying having an iHome dock for our iPhones and iPads (it comes with the suite).

We lose another hour tonight.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Carolyn decided to sleep in this morning. I was up at my usual 8:00 for Gene's mocha and almond croissant. Will miss that when we have to move out of the suite! Had breakfast with two interesting women, one of whom was named Linda. Former professor at the University of South Carolina.

Mostly just a lazy day. Did walk around the ship a bit. Had lunch around 1:00 p.m. and then came back to use the loungers on the veranda. Saw a pod of dolphins! People had seen dolphins and whales yesterday, but we missed them. Today we saw them. They seem quite small compared to the dolphins we're used to seeing at Emerald Isle, but they were jumping out of the water with great enthusiasm.

Now getting ready to have dinner with Marilyn and J and Angie and Glenn in Qsine.

Had a great dinner and didn't overeat as much as I did last time at Qsine.

Tomorrow is our first port call, Ponta Delgada, Azores. It will seem strange to be off the ship after so many days on board.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Got up early. Carolyn had to meet her tour by 7:30. I was to meet mine at 8:30. Had my usual mocha and almond croissant and then went to Blu for breakfast. Was seated with the first disappointing table companion I've had up there. A woman who says she is almost 90. She hates everything about this ship. The pancakes weren't cooked to her liking. Domnic offered to bring new ones. No, she just wanted them taken away. She had come there looking for waffles. I told her where she could find them. She seemed to think the waiters should go up to the oceanview cafe and get them for her. She spent the whole breakfast complaining about everything she's experienced on the ship. I couldn't get away fast enough.

I, on the other hand, had an excellent breakfast. Domnic wanted to make my muesli himself (it's prepared tableside). He decorated the rim of the bowl with banana slices and piled nuts in the middle.

Went on my 4 hour tour with Susan and Bill, Shirley & John, and Angie & Glen. We had a most delightful guide, Pedro, who clearly loves his island and thinks he lives in paradise. All crops are raised organically. They have frequent rains and rich volcanic soil. A great variety of crops will grow here.

Pedro told us we would see more cows than people. We even saw them crossing roads and bridges. The cows stay in the pasture all the time; the milking machines are brought to them. They eat grass only, the food cows are meant to eat. As a result, milk and cheese products from the Azores are highly prized when they are exported to Portugal and other locations. The fields are separated by hedges of hydrangeas which the cows dislike, so no need to build fences. It must be absolutely spectacular when they are all in bloom—they were just beginning to bloom. The azaleas were already in bloom and wonderful.

Azorians pride themselves on the cleanliness of their cities and villages. We saw only a few instances of graffiti. And the streets were very clean. They have taken some pains to make their capital, Ponta Delgada, very attractive. The streets are tiled in patterns. There is a new cruise terminal.

We visited the village of Sete Cidades, the blue and green lakes in the caldera formed by a volcano, and the lakes of Empapadas, Canário, and Santiago. Also saw the Vista do Rei and a lookout over Mosteiros and Capelas, two villages located by the ocean. Great views and the sun came out there. We had a variety of weather conditions: light rain, fog, sunshine. More rain when we sailed away from port—just like our sail away from Ft. Lauderdale. Let's hope we have put the rainy sail aways behind us.

We passed a bread truck delivering bread to homes in the villages. Every day fresh bread is delivered to your door. I guess it really is paradise! They used to deliver the milk as well until they decided to start pasteurizing it in plants.

We also visited a pineapple plantation. Very interesting to see how they grow the pineapples. They plant the root. Up to 3 pineapple plants sprout from each root. When they are a year old, they are moved to glass greenhouses (the glass is painted white to keep the sun from burning the pineapples. They mature there until harvest when the plants are two years old. They do not develop the large, leafy tops like Hawaiian pineapples which are grown outside. (It's a tad chilly here to grow them outside—they actually have 4 seasons here. But no snow. Or real cold.) The growers remove the flower in the middle of the leaves to encourage the fruit to grow, not the leaves. We got to taste them and they were delicious.

We had Pedro drop us off in the town by the Church of St Sebastian and the Town Gates. I wandered around a bit, but we really didn't have much time left in port. Stopped in a cafe in the port to enjoy the wi-fi for the price of a Coke since the wi-fi on the ship has been mostly missing in action. So nice to be able to clean out my e-mail boxes from a phone—no need to drag a computer or even an iPod with me. Loved the Coke can—it had a great picture on it. Wanted to bring it back with me but restrained myself. If I'd had my wits about me, I'd have taken a picture of it before I tossed it.

Back to the ship for a late lunch and sail away. The wind has definitely picked up and it is not one of the calm, sunny, smooth seas days we've been having. Down in the cabin, relaxing, reviewing the tour information, and trying to keep my blog up to date in case I ever get a chance to upload it. I must tell you of the sense of shock we both experienced when we went to Marilyn's and J's cabin yesterday. They have what we used to consider a nice concierge class cabin on the aft of the ship with a huge veranda. It looked awfully small all of a sudden after being in this wonderful suite. It's so nice having a living room, dining room, and a separate bedroom. The move out of here for the next two cruises is likely to be traumatic. Carolyn reminds me that many people live their entire lives in spaces smaller than this. Not helping. I'm not one of those people!

Marilyn and J decided to skip dinner, so we were in and out in no time. Suddenly dawned on us in the middle of dinner that if we had known they weren't coming, we could have gone to Blu. Oh well.

Now back looking at pictures and relaxing in the living room.