November 26 - Jost van Dyke, British Virgin Islands

 Today we anchored in Great Harbour off the island of Jost van Dyke, one of the four largest islands in the British Virgin Islands. The island is named after a Dutchman but as with other islands in the Caribbean has been under the control of several nations. It ultimately came under British control. Like so many of the Antilles Hurricane Irma devastated it and stripped it of much of its vegetation. Al and I came here for a day 46 years ago when we took a vacation to St. Thomas and took a ferry for a day trip.

There were a couple of excursions available but I stayed on the ship and if I'm honest I basically did not much of anything.  The weather and temperature were lovely so I spent a while sitting on the veranda, writing in my journal and generally being lazy.  A small cruise ship came in and anchored near us.  It was the Sea Dream II.  I think I've read that it's super-deluxe, but truthfully I wasn't impressed by the exterior looks of it.

We sailed around 1:30 PM; it's a long haul to Miami from here.  The singers did a sail-away show by the pool.  What an incredibly talented group they are.  Chris, our cruise director, sang and he has an awesome voice. Not long after it was time for trivia.  We didn't win but we weren't at the bottom.

Dinner was interesting. I was invited to the table hosted by Katie and Mary Ann, two of the singers.  What nice and talented young women they are!  Mary Ann worked a season at Busch Gardens Williamsburg right down the road from me. Katie lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, so still in  my neck of the woods, sort of. But the most interesting person, or perhaps I should say unusual, was one of the other people at the table.  There were two sisters traveling together and I asked Rose, the one sitting across from me, what she  does.  She  lives in Texas just north of Dallas and she said she had a rather odd profession.  I don't know what I expected but she went on to tell me she repairs accordions. I have never met an accordion repairperson and I can't imagine there are many.  Coincidentally that was the instrument I learned to play since a piano was not something we could take along when my father was transferred. She and her sister seemed like two fun people; in fact they were two of the people who were dancing with me and others when we sailed from Antigua.

There was a show after but all this lazing around is tiring so I headed home to deck 10.  We have two more full days before it's back to the real world. Tonight off to our port side I could see the lights of San Juan and the north coast of Puerto Rico, but we're pretty far off shore. More blathering later...

I apologize but I'm into sunsets so I'm adding a couple here.

This was last night when we sailed from St. Kitts.  Look at how calm the seas were.

A hillside on Jost van Dyke - look at how dry and denuded it looks. It's not what I think of when I think of lush Caribbean islands.

I forgot to mention that  the British Virgin Islands are a big sailboat favorite. This sailboat was zipping along close-hauled toward us.

Our cruise director singing at the sailaway.   Some day I may figure out how to video something with my iPhone but for now I  haven't mastered that.  Trust me, he's very good.

And just one more sunset as we sailed north of St. Thomas

November 25 - Carambola Beach, St. Kitts and Nevis

 Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm not giving any history lesson today. This was just a fun day and that's what I'm going to write about. We anchored just off the southern coast of St. Kitts today near a beach called Carambola Beach.  Ashore there are a building and covered terraces with dining tables.  There are rows of lounge chairs, each pair with an umbrella for shade.  The water is crystal clear; you can stand in water up to your neck and see your toes and it was deliciously cool. I tendered ashore around noon and slogged through the soft sand until I found a nice spot. The sand was so hot that you couldn't walk on it barefoot. There was a steel drum musician playing all sorts of songs.  Bar stewards made the rounds with boat drinks and ice water.  Around 12:30 a zodiac came roaring up towing a surf board and blaring a siren.  It was time for one of Seabourn's signature events, Caviar in the Surf.  Once the board was in waist deep water, stewards gave out caviar and the trimmings and poured champagne.  You had to wade out to partake.

Meanwhile ashore in the pavilion staff members grilled split lobsters, burgers, hot dogs, and laid out all sorts of side dishes. It's a wonderful event and the logistics of getting it all in place is quite remarkable.  I went out in the lovely water and just floated.  The crew had brought the water sports toys again and I thought about going over and signing up for another ride like the one I took the other day, but truthfully the water felt so good that I thought floating was more my cup of tea today. I had slathered myself with SPF55 lotion and I sat in the shade but I still managed to get my shins red.  It must have been the floating that did it. Around three I decided it was time to go back aboard. It was a practically perfect day!   The only thing missing was Al, but I like to think he was there with me in spirit.

I have to tell you about last night because it was a lot of fun too.  We didn't sail from Antigua until 10:30 PM.  After dinner there was a dance party around the pool and when that was finished the party continued at the stern of the ship outside one of the lounges.  Lots of us (yes, me too) danced because it didn't make any difference if you had a partner or not; we were all just having a really good time.  I told Chris, the cruise director, that no one at home would believe that I stayed up that late (after midnight!!).  He told me he would vouch for me if I needed  corroboration.  Remember the song "I Could Have Danced All Night?"  Well, that's sort of how I felt and I knew I didn't have to get up very early today so it was okay. Anyway, in many ways I'll be sorry when Monday rolls around and it's time to get off.  I'll think about that later.  There are still three more days to go.

More later... 

                                                             Dance Party last night

                                 The ship anchored off Carambola Beach

   Carambola from the water.  The black roof in the background is the pavilion where lunch was served.

Caviar in the surf. If I knew how to insert an arrow I would but if you look in the middle right you'll see several guys in white shirts. They are staff members in their uniforms dishing out caviar and pouring champagne. You can see there were plenty of takers!

November 24 - St. John, Antigua

It's Wednesday and  here we are docked at St. John, Antigua.  This the larger of the islands that comprise the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Guess who first found this island and named it.  If you guessed Christopher Columbus you're right.  He named it in 1493 and the name was to pay tribute to the Virgin of the Old Cathedral in the Sevilla Cathedral in Spain.  Antigua means old in Spanish.

British colonists from the island of St. Kitts arrived in 1632 and stayed to develop a major sugar colony.  Antigua became Britain's gateway to the Caribbean. A pretty famous man in British history arrived in the late 18th century to protect Britain's shipping prowess. He was Lord Horatio Nelson, the hero of the battle of Trafalgar in 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars.

In 2017 the sister island of Barbuda was devastated by Hurricane Irma.  90% of the buildings were destroyed and the entire population was evacuated to Antigua.  All these islands have suffered terribly in the last several years between hurricanes and Covid. As you'll see in the photos below we are the only ship here today. One of the shopkeepers told me when I went ashore that today the Harmony of the Seas was supposed to dock here with her nearly 5500 passengers.  She was sent to another island and they got us with roughly 280 passengers instead.

Well, I did go ashore, but only briefly.  It is hotter than Hades here with not even a slight  breeze. Before you can leave the pier the Antiguan  health authority  takes your temperature as do the  shops  you walk into. There is one street which has the typical Caribbean islands stores - Diamonds International, Colombian Emeralds and assorted camera and what my husband used to call "trash and trinket" shops. I browsed in a few but didn't buy anything,.  Then because I felt as though I would soon melt into a big puddle on the pavement I headed back to  the ship. The ship doesn't sail until 10:30 PM.  We don't have far to go to our next stop and I think  the late stay is  giving many of the crew an opportunity  to  go ashore.  For many it's the first opportunity they've  had to  go ashore since they boarded in the eastern Med.  At breakfast this morning my waiter Oliver from South Africa told me he was going out this afternoon to a South African pub nearby to have a burger and a beer. He seemed excited about the prospect.

                                           Ovation at the dock in St. John

The main shopping street with my ship in the background

     Looking the other direction. Not exactly teeming with people.

                    St. John from the ship

November 23 - Cabrits, Dominica

 This has been a glorious day!  We're anchored today in a little bay off Cabrits, Dominica.  Dominica is properly called the Commonwealth of Dominica and is an independent republic.  It's the youngest island of the Lesser Antilles and is still being formed by geothermal activity. That's visible at a place called Boiling Lake which is the world's second largest hot springs.  The island is known as the "Nature island of the Caribbean" because of its lush environment and diverse flora and fauna.

Because of health restrictions only people on ship shore excursions were allowed to tender ashore.  The tours didn't appeal to me so I stayed on the ship and I had a spectacular day.  First I did something I haven't done in years. I went to the pool and sat in the sun for a while. It's been years since I've done that and it was wonderful for a change. The waiters were walking around with different boat drinks and I had something pink which was like drinking a strawberry smoothie with a little kick.

I had heard that today would be a marina day so I went to check it out. Seabourn opens an area at the stern of the ship and has kayaks, hobie cats (for people with sailing experience), banana boats (three  people ride astride like on a horse) and doughnuts (two people sit in it).  The latter two get towed by fast zodiacs. I signed up to go on a doughnut.  It was just me and when I got in the zodiac I asked if I could stay in that instead of transferring to the doughnut.  The two officers handling the zodiac were happy because if they weren't towing the doughnut they could go faster.  So off we went! They revved up the engine and we took off.  It was exhilarating as we zipped around the bay, did loop-de-loops and figure eights and roared around the ship. I felt like I was flying across the water.  Evidently not many passengers realized they could  do this or else they didn't want to so I spent more than a half hour in the zodiac. I loved every moment as the spray came and we bounced across wakes from the tender.  Wow, it was fun!  Unfortunately I couldn't take my camera so you'll have to take my word that I really did this.

Tonight I'm dining with one of the officers on the zodiac and I'm looking forward to that.  He's the ship's first officer which I think is sort of the equivalent of the First Mate.

                       Sunset leaving St. Martin

             These are two shots of beautiful Dominica

                    It's hard to see but if you look hard you can see a zodiac pulling a doughnut

November 22 - Marigot, St. Martin

I'm playing catch-up today.  We're anchored off the little town of Marigot, the capita; of the French side of the island. The other side is Philipsburg,  Sint Maarten, which is Dutch. Here's a little about the history of this place and how it came to be divided. The island was discovered by Columbus on his second voyage and the story is that he named it St. Martin because it was on the day of the feast of St. Martin. There was a lot of confusion on charts because so many little islands had been found and it's thought that what he actually saw on that date was the island of Nevis, but on the charts the name was given to this place.  So here we are today.  The Dutch arrived on the scene and began mining the island's ponds for salt in the 1620's.  The Spanish were busy occupying other islands.  Back in Europe the French were fighting the Netherlands and some French had made their way to the island.  In 1648 France and the Netherlands concluded a peace agreement and under the terms of the agreement the island of Saint Martin was to be divided.  The local story of how the dividing line was drawn goes like this. Each side selected a walker and the two men  were placed back-to-back on one shore and began walking in opposite directions along the shore.  They weren't allowed to run.  When they met again on the coast that was deemed to be the second point and a line was drawn between the two thus dividing  the island. The Frenchman must have taken bigger strides because the division is roughly 60-40 France to Netherlands but the population is approximately equal.  Most of the cruise ships that come here go to the Dutch side at Philipsburg. In fact I think there are  a Celebrity and a Royal Caribbean ship on the other side but we're here in pretty sleepy Marigot.

I  didn't book  any kind  of shore trip  today.  The majority of them involved sun and sand, two things I don't  do much of anymore. I waited until most of the people went  ashore and then  took the tender. The drop-off place was next to a pop-up market.  I walked through and saw the usual Caribbean souvenirs.  Colorful pareos, postcards, shell necklaces,and t-shirts.  You get the picture.  Away from the water it was blisteringly hot with not a hint of breeze. I felt like I would wilt any moment so after a very brief walkabout I went back and waited in the shade for the next tender.  A group arrived from their walking tour.  They looked hot and tired.  They had made a stop at a French bakery which sounded good, but on the other hand it was the last thing I needed. So I'm back on the ship, catching up  on my blog and cooling off. I set off on this cruise thinking I didn't care if I got off anywhere  and I'm still okay with that.  Being pampered is so nice.

I forgot to mention that Seabourn is definitely taking care of me.  Every night of this leg I've been invited to dine with one of the officers.  One night I was at the Cruise Director's table and one night at the Staff Captain's.  I've declined some because I was dining with new friends. Tonight I'me eating with some of my trivia team members, one of whom is the cruise lecturer.  The dinner with the Staff Captain, a Bulgarian, was very interesting and enjoyable.  There were five of us at the table and we closed the restaurant down.  He gave us a lot of insights into how Seabourn learns about what its passengers like and dislike.  They note things like whether you take cream with your tea or coffee or what kind of cocktail you usually order and sometimes the latter will magically appear when you sit down.  For us repeat cruisers the likes get put in our profiles for the next time we come aboard.  Since things like cocktails are all included, there's no problem if I've suddenly changed my favorite drink or have an urge for something else. I find it amazing that every  single crew member (not the sea crew, but the ones who come in contact with passengers) greets me by name when I walk by or go in a venue and this has been going on for many days now.  I have trouble remembering names so they astound me.  

There wasn't much to report today.  It's a lazy. laid back cruise which I confess is wonderful.  More later.  It's almost time for trivia and I think a nice boat drink sounds good.

 

November 21 - San Juan

We arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, around 9 AM. I had forgotten how nice the entrance to the harbor is here.  On our port side we passed El Morro (officially Castillo San Felipe del Morro), an iconic fortress built on the promontory overlooking the entrance to the harbor. Construction of the fort was done in the 16th century by the Spanish. In 1595 El Morro was attacked by Sir Francis Drake who at the time was considered invincible.  He was soundly defeated. A few years later another Englishman, George Clifford, learned from Drake's mistakes and attacked the fort from the land side.  He won and for a few months the English ruled Puerto Rico. Unfortunately for them they succumbed to dysentery and had to abandon the island.

I decided to take a trip up to El Yunque, part of the National Forest system and the only tropical rain forest in the US. There were two little buses, each capable of carrying 25 people but Seabourn never fills more than half the seats. Hence, our bus had 11 passengers. Off we went on a 40 minute drive eastward out of San Juan.  I could not believe the growth since the last time I was in San Juan. There are lots of tall apartment and condo buildings, many more than I recall seeing.  After we bumped along we got off the main road and headed up to the park.  We stopped briefly at a bakery where there was a bathroom available.  The pastries looked delicious, but after 15 days of eating and having had breakfast already, I couldn't try one.

We picked up our guide Richard and headed up into the hills and the forest. Think of forest so lush with all kinds of vines hanging down that you can't see even a few inches into the vegetation and you've got a picture of the forest. Our first stop was a bridge over the Mameyes River, a "wild and scenic" river running through the park.  We parked and walked out on the bridge.  The water rushed down through rocks and rapids.  In the little flat areas there were pools with people cooling off.  Lots of cars were parked along the side of  the road and families were carrying portable grills and coolers down to the banks to enjoy a Sunday barbecue and picnic.  The temperature on the bridge was refreshingly cool. Our guide told us about the flora and fauna.  I can't remember how  many species there were  except for 16 types of Coquis, the little Puerto Rican tree frogs.  i really tuned out when he mentioned that there were several species of snakes in the forest.  It was time for me to get back in the bus at that.

We headed up the winding road on our way to a waterfall and a watch-tower and it was then that our troubles began.  We were in a line of local traffic, cars filled with locals wanting to see the sights.  As we inched forward, we saw there was  a  checkpoint with an official sitting and checking permits to go further.  Most of the cars ahead of us had to make a u-turn and go back the way they came.  Our turn came and the official wanted to see our permit.  Our driver shuffled through papers and couldn't come up with the one showing the correct date, November 21. Call  me foolish,  but  it was pretty apparent that a little bus with 11 obvious tourists with  an official guide didn't just decide on a lark to visit this place. But if ever there was a proof of what happens when you give some people a little authority and it goes to their head, this man embodied it.  But wait, it got worse!

We made our u-turn and drove a little way back to a turnout.  Most of us got out and took some photos; the view was nice.  In the distance we could see Jost van Dyke, one of the British Virgin islands.  Meanwhile our driver tried getting his office to have them e-mail the required document. It was Sunday so no one answered.  On the bus a very elderly lady needed to use the bathroom.  Up by the checkpoint there was a porta-potty so our guide told the woman he would walk up with her so she could take care of her needs.  And now comes the really horrid part of the story.  They walked up there and the official told them "the porta-potty is only for employees" and  a law enforcement officer told the two that they didn't have a permit to walk there and if they didn't leave immediately he would arrest them!!!

When the two got back to the bus, the rest of us decided it was time to go back down, stop at the bakery with its bathroom and call it a day. The lack of basic human kindness by the two officials was really stunning to me.  They certainly weren't good representatives of their island.  We got back to the ship uneventfully.  I did see a little of the rainforest and the river was very pretty so I have no complaints.

We sailed away after dark and passed along the  north coast of Puerto Rico.  The lights in the distance were very pretty but I didn't get any photos.  I've been using my iPhone and to tell the truth,  I don't really like doing it.  During the day in the sunlight I have a difficult time seeing the screen and I just hope that I'm pointing in the right direction.  On the ship I have a hard time keeping the phone still.  I will have to rethink this in the future.  So that's it from Puerto Rico.  Tomorrow we're in Marigot, St. Martin. 

Some photos from the last few days

      Crew salute and farewell party the night before we arrived in Miami

            The Murano glass fish mural over the Observation Bar (my favorite venue on the ship)

                                                        A rainy Miami skyline

                    Sunset off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic

                     The swan and a rose that my wonderful stewardesses Oksana and Susan left for me

                  El Morro fortress at the entrance to San Juan harbor

                           Mameyes River, a wild and scenic river

                                 The view from El Yunque National Forest

November 20 - At sea

It's a beautiful morning  here on the Ovation. We're north of the island of Hispaniola moving at 17 knots with ESE winds of 12.4 mph and the temperature is 82°.  As we approach Puerto Rico from  the  northwest we'll be sailing in some of the deepest waters of the Atlantic known as the Puerto Rico Trench.  At its deepest point the  trench is nearly 27,500 feet deep!  It exists because it's at the boundary of two plates, the Caribbean which is moving east and the North American which is moving west. NASA has found that the area beneath this trench is so dense that it actually has a gravitational pull on the ocean which dips a little here. I wonder how they measure that.

Now that you've had a geology lesson for the day I'll make my report.  Yesterday we began this cruise's trivia contest.  My new team is named Abandon Ship and we did okay yesterday.  We have two PhDs in English on the team so naturally not a single question was asked about anything to do with literature.  Nonetheless they do seem to play for fun, not as if it's a bloodsport.

Yesterday I went to the lecture about rum.  The lecturer (one of my teammates) is entertaining but there were some inaccuracies.  When she spoke about  the Jamestown colonists she talked about them drinking beer despite there being "pristine lakes and streams" nearby. What can I say, she's from southern California and probably has never been to Jamestown.  The lecture ended with all of us having a toast with a jigger of rum. It made me remember why I stopped drinking rum a long time ago.

Yesterday there was a British Pub night before dinner.  The band is great and lots of feet were tapping. One brave couple got up and danced and they were very good. I suspect they've taken dance classes.  The assistant cruise director was making a drink called a Pimm's Cup which is evidently popular in the UK in the summer. He made one for me and I thought it tasted lovely.  I have no idea what was in it and I haven't googled it yet.  After the show I had dinner at the Cruise Director's table.  He was very excited because it was the first time they have been able to have hosted tables since everything shut down last year. It was a nice evening, but I think conversation is always a little stilted at those tables.  Afterwards I came back to my cabin because the show was the Latin Quarter which I saw on the last leg.

I guess that's it for now.  I wish I had some exciting photos to post, but the sea looks pretty much the same every day.

November 19 - Heading to San Juan and a little trip down memory lane

Good morning!  It's a sunny, warm, calm day as we sail just offshore of Cuba.  It's too far away to get a picture so you'll just have to take my word for it that in the distance I can see Santa Clara, Cuba. Oh, time out. We're just overtaking a little island hopping container ship. I'll get a picture.

I'm back. Yesterday evening the storm abated and the skies cleared. (Sounds almost Biblical doesn't it?) Unfortunately, I think we may have left a little late because by the time we sailed off I was in the dining room with some new friends.  We were seated by a window but really all we could see were the lights of the cars on the causeway connecting Miami with Miami Beach.

Where does memory lane come into the picture?  During the night I got up and we were doing some rocking and rolling, not bad but a little.  When I got back in bed I started thinking and I remembered a cruise 31 years ago when we sailed from Miami and our first port was San Juan.  It was the day after Thanksgiving and it was the first cruise we took Katie on. 1990 was a pretty big year for us.  Al left public accounting on November 1 and started his career at Virginia Health Services.  We had booked the cruise for the three of us before he changed jobs and he made sure there was no problem with him taking a vacation so soon after starting a new job.  We had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' home (it turned out to be the last Thanksgiving with my father).  The next day we flew to Miami and boarded the Nordic Prince for a 10 day cruise. She was a Royal Caribbean ship that had been stretched and carried perhaps 650 passengers and of course had none of the amenities of today's vessels. But we thought she was grand.

Our first two days were at sea and it was sunny and warm as it is today, but on the second sea day the wind had picked up and we were heading into the seas.  That afternoon we went up to an open deck space above the bridge and the spray from the waves came up that high, not soaking but more like a mist. I remember Katie standing there with a big grin on her  face reveling in the wind and the spray.  On cruises back then they still had passenger talent shows and Katie announced that she wanted to be in the show. Of course we agreed she could.  She had been taking piano lessons for a few years already and she liked to sing. She and I went to the organizational meeting and there were some passengers who  pooh-poohed the idea of a 10 year old participating but the cruise director didn't mind.  When each participant was asked what they would do, Katie said she would sing Memory from Cats and  accompany herself on the piano. (I wouldn't have had the courage to do that.) So  the evening came when the show was to be held. It was a formal night and I shall always remember the dress she wore.  It was a green girl's formal which my mother had made for her and it matched her beautiful eyes. Without even a little hesitation Katie sat down at the grand piano, adjusted the microphone, and sang and accompanied herself.  It was a stunning performance for a 10 year  old.  I had tears in my eyes and as I  looked around I saw other people did  too. When she finished and took a little bow, she got a standing ovation!  Al  and I were so proud of her that evening as we would be many times in the years that came later.  Katie, don't be embarrassed by my telling this story and I can practically see you rolling your eyes  and saying to  yourself "oh, mama."  I think these kind of memories that sometimes just pop  into our  heads out of nowhere are what help  us to realize we've lived full and wonderful lives each in our own way.

So enough of that.  At noon we start a new round of trivia games with new teams.   This afternoon our lecturer Laurel is giving a talk on "Rotgut, Riches, and Rebellion: How Rum Shaped American History." She's a very entertaining speaker so I plan to go.  This evening I'm having dinner at the Cruise Director's table. He has a spectacular voice. Of course, he won't be serenading us at dinner. 

That's all for now.   I should go and read the encyclopedia  or study something in the hopes of improving my trivia knowledge, but I think I hear a lounge chair in the shade calling my name. Guess what wins.

November 18 - Miami

 Here I sit in rainy Miami.  The cruise is half over and a whole new group of shipmates are boarding this afternoon. It's pretty easy to see who the new folks are because they look a little lost.  They'll figure out where they are going soon enough.

Yesterday we had our  final trivia game.  I'm pleased to announce that we didn't finish last; we were next to last.  I think  the entire group of teams thought we Rockettes looked like we had the most fun.  We made an entrance arm in arm doing the Rockettes kick (right, left  - you get the picture). Thankfully it was calm or else it could have been problematic.   I had lunch and dinner with friends I'd met who got off today.  It's always amazing to me that in a few short days you can make new friends.  I've stayed in touch with some I met more than 10 years ago.

This morning those of  us staying on gathered together and went ashore to go through Customs as a group so we could come right back on.  It was easier than I thought it would be.  This is the first time Ovation has come to the USA and this is the first Seabourn ship to arrive here since everything shut down in March 2020.  Seabourn was making sure that they dotted all i's and crossed all t's.  I was told that the president of Seabourn was coming on. I don't know if he's staying but I have seen a  lot of senior officers walking around with lots of stripes  on their shoulders.

When I went ashore I talked with the lecturer I mentioned who spoke about Anna and several other interesting characters.  She's on for this leg too and we're having  dinner together tomorrow evening.  She's a historical novelist and perhaps I can get some tips from her on how to unleash this inner story which I occasionally think I have lurking inside my brain.  Regardless, she will be an interesting dinner companion. 

All aboard is at 6 PM  and if it isn't raining I hope to get some nice photos of Miami lights when we sail southeast.  I guess that's it for now.  I wish I had something exciting to talk about but c'est la vie, I don't.  I did check up on Emma and they said she's doing great, eating well and teaching the ropes to any new pups who come.  That made me feel good.

More later... 

November 16 - At Sea (still)

 It occurs to me that this has been a  very boring blog; I guess it's inevitable since we haven't had any strange sightings or close encounters. Someone told me last evening that a Princess ship is somewhere nearby but I saw no signs of her. Our days onboard revolve around eating, going to a show, lecture, game, more eating, and more lectures etc.  It sounds boring, but somehow it really isn't and the days seem to speed by.  I also feel much more relaxed than I have in a long time.  I've met some delightful  people and shared a drink  and a meal  with them.   On this cruise we are almost exclusively Americans because of the US entry requirements at the time we sailed.  That's a little sad because I have always enjoyed meeting people from other countries with different customs from our own.  I'm told that on the next cruise which I'm staying on for we'll have some people from the UK and EU.  That will make trivia teams more fun.

I have an observation about e-mail which is not relevant to anything to do to cruising but I guess is something I hadn't  noticed before.  At home I check e-mails a couple of times a day and my spam filter seems to work pretty well.  Here I check it maybe once a day and the filters don't seem to be working at all. Who knew I was in such demand for the labor force.  I've had many e-mails from Pepsi telling me they want to hire me to do something starting at $54/hr.  Amazon wants me to be a driver, warehouse fulfillment person and tech support, but they aren't paying as well as Pepsi.  I haven't worked in more than 40 years and don't plan to change that soon.  I've also found that my home is in great demand, despite not being on the market.  One of my new-found friends told me I should open the e-mails and click on unsuscribe. I'm not taking her advice because I've always been told that's the worst thing you can do with that kind of e-mail.

We're now just one hour ahead of EST.  These 25 hour days have been  wonderful! This morning I woke up at 7 AM ship's  time which is more like 9 AM according  to my body clock.  Tomorrow we all have to have a rapid antigen test before our arrival in Miami on Thursday.  Most of my shipmates will  be leaving there.  Even though I'm continuing on I will have to go ashore and have an "encounter" with Customs and Border Protection and present my documents (test results, vacc status and passport).  It may not seem so to anyone else, but I find a certain irony in the fact that I must do that and present those in light of other things that have been happening elsewhere. It's okay by me though.

Last night by popular demand we had another Liars' Club. All the panelists  were hilarious  again but the star was the Croatian Hotel Manager Zoran.  Here's a useless word to add to your vocabulary  CALLIPYGIAN. The liars gave such funny definitions but for the only time Zoran told the truth despite no team believing his answer could possibly be true.  So are you ready?  The word means large, rounded, succulent buttocks.  Try using that in conversation.

Well I've rambled enough. Soon it will be time for trivia. Yesterday was downright embarassing but we're not at the bottom.  One team has consistently been there and they keep trying to change their team name but the crowd won't let them. Most people take it in great fun but you can see that there are a few people who think it's a bloodsport.  I'm glad we girls just want to have fun.

More later...

 

 

November 14 - Remembrance Sunday at sea

Today is our 6th sea day and it’s pretty calm, partly cloudy and in the  high 70’s

Today is the day on which the UK and Canada commemorate those who served their countries through wars and crises and perished.  There is a ceremony at 11 AM.  It’s also a time for some of us just to remember our own losses and  this is the only time I will do this here.  Katie has read this poem which someone posted on a cruise forum I visit.  I wish I could say I wrote it but I don’t know who did.  It perfectly expresses to my mind the way one feels after a loss.  So bear with me and please don’t think I’m being maudlin.

You don’t just lose someone once

You lose them over and over

Sometimes many times  a day,

When the loss, momentarily forgotten, 

Creeps up

And attacks you from behind.

Fresh waves of grief as the realization hits home,

They are gone

Again.

You don’t just lose someone once,

You lose them every time you open your eyes to a new dawn,

And as you awaken

So does your memory

So does the jolting bolt of lightning that rips into your heart,

They are gone.

Again.

Losing someone is a journey

Not a one-off.

There is no end to the loss

There is only a learned skill on how to stay afloat 

When it washes over.

Be kind to those who are sailing this stormy sea,

They have a journey ahead of them,

And a daily shock to the system each time they realise

They are gone,

Again.

You don’t just lose someone once,

You lose them every day

For a lifetime.

Okay, now I’ve had my time of reflection.  I’ll write more later about what’s going on here on the good  ship Ovation.

November 12 - At sea day three

I’ll probably bore you because there’s absolutely nothing exciting going on. Late yesterday afternoon I saw a ship way off on the horizon that seemed to be paralleling our course. Even I can’t make up a story that it was a pirate ship or something remotely exciting. If it was a cargo ship, she might as well take her time because she’ll be hanging out at a port for a long time waiting to unload. 

 Last night I had a lovely evening. Our trivia team went to the Liar’s Club before dinner. If you haven’t been to one let me explain. Four members of the ship’s staff are the “liars.” They are given 5 words and must give their definition. The audience has to determine who is telling the truth. The liars make up usually outrageously funny definitions and last night was no exception. The one who had us laughing so hard we thought we’d cry was Zoran, the Hotel Manager from Croatia. He was the only one of the four in uniform and he kept reminding us that since he was in uniform we must know he was telling the truth. You probably don’t care but I have to tell you about one of the words “nuddle.” Zoran with a completely serious face explained to us that nuddle came from the hippies in southern California in the 70’s. He explained the word "nuddle" was from  the root “nude” and the hippies would walk, sunbathe and play beach volleyball on the beaches in the nude. He continued to tell us that as the young men walked and played a part of their anatomy would “nuddle.” I think everyone laughed until their sides nearly split. I wanted us to vote for him just  because he was so very funny.  Not that we’ll ever need it but nuddle means to walk quickly forward with your head bent downward. 

 After Liar’s Club I joined the sisters for dinner. The food was good but the company was better. They are from some place in Connecticutt and I think they are all married but they take off for a cruise once in a while. After dinner there was a Latin show which was quite good. Katie, you would have enjoyed it. 

 Overnight we turned back the clocks again and I think we may be 3 hours off EST but I honestly don’t know for sure. At the moment I can’t figure out how to get online. I’ll take care of that after trivia. More later… 

 Today we've had some pitching fore and aft but not too bad and it has been cloudy. Around 2 PM there was to be a serenade by the pool with caviar and champagne. At almost exactly two it poured so that was that. They'll reschedule for another day. This evening there was a party for Seabourn Club members. There are 185 of us who have sailed with Seabourn before. Collectively we have more than 31,000 sailed days! I can't imagine; that's a lot of years. One couple received a bouquet of flowers and a crystal vase. They've sailed 1035 days. I'll never make it that far. I had a nice dinner with some ladies I met the other day. I wanted to go to hear the violin virtuoso after, but all this doing nothing is tiring me out. I'll have to learn to pace myself better. I took some photos of the sea, but they are so boring they're not worth posting. That's it for tonight. Until tomorrow.

November 11 - Veterans’ Day at Sea

There’s not a great deal to say today. I was turned loose at 2 PM yesterday as they had promised, The funny thing was once I knew I could go out I was perfectly happy sitting on my veranda , writing in my journal and watching the sea go by. This morning at breakfast I met 3 of my trivia teammates. They wouldn’t tell me how they did yesterday because they said it was embarrassing. I told them “it’s only a game” again. They are three sisters on a girls’ cruise. I think that’s so nice! They laugh a lot and that’s always a good thing. Before trivia today one of the lecturers gave a talk on the “Real Anna,” she of The King and I fame. It turns out that most of her life story as is popularly known is a fraud. She herself invented the story for a lot of social reasons. The part about being an English teacher for the King of Siam’s children and consorts is true and she was an influential advisor to the king as time went on. Most of the rest about her husband being a British officer and her childhood she made up. Interestingly, her son Louis who is a character in the play and musical returned to Siam (Thailand) after he finished his education and founded a large company which is still in existence there today. At 11:11 AM we observed two minutes of silence all over the ship for Remembrance Day as the Brits and Canadians call today. On Sunday we are having a service with several veterans who are on the cruise. Seabourn does a very nice job with lectures and activities. We have a gentleman who lectures on things more political. So far I’ve avoided those. They are far too serious for relaxing on a cruise and getting away from it all. There have been get togethers of knitters and needlepointers. There is bridge every day and I think they have had golf-putting a couple of times. I’m hopeful they’ll have some art classes. I know they have on previous cruises. There has been at least one wine tasting. That was yesterday when I was in isolation. There are more to come. Well, that’s today’s report about not much of anything. I see that I could very easily become a lazy slug of a person. Oh, the ocean is like a millpond. If we were on one of Columbus’ ships we might be becalmed without all the splendid food, drink and amenities we’re having to suffer through on the Ovation.

November 10 - At Sea and Brandon's Revenge

Here I am on my second full sea day somewhere in the Atlantic and in solitary confinement in my cabin. No, I didn't commit an act of piracy or any other such dastardly deed. My offense was that I tried to get a medicine that begins with I M O and ends with D I U M. So here's my story with hopefully not TMI. Somewhere between Washington DC and London last Thursday night I developed what some people name after the last Aztec ruler. Since I haven't been to Mexico and I like QE II I'm going to call my malady "Brandon's Revenge." It seems that I had an adverse reaction to a new medication my MD had prescribed for something entirely different and it combined with the stress of traveling alone for the first time; the two caused my problem. Despite the fact that I travel with half a CVS Pharmacy, I didn't have what I needed for this (believe me that will never happen again!). Anyway, I've never felt nauseous, feverish or anything else. My error was going to the shop onboard to find what I needed. They didn't have it but told me to go to the Medical Center because they would. And there began my problem. I had to call them and that was it. If anyone has any doubts cruise lines take medical issues seriously, have no fear they absolutely do. First to appear was a nurse in PPE's with the medicine I asked for. He instructed me that I couldn't leave my cabin for any reason for at least 24 hours or until they gave me the all clear. Next came another nurse (in PPEs) to give me a PCR test. Thirty minutes later they called to tell me I didn't have Covid. That made two PCR tests and two rapid tests, all negative, since 11/04. Nonetheless, I was still confined here. Over our many cruises Al and I had spent lots of afternoons in our cabin reading, playing scrabble or online. It's somehow different when you're told you MUST stay. I had planned to go to afternoon tea so that was my first effort at getting room service. They brought a very heavy tray with the tea accoutrements, deposited it on the floor outside my door and left. It was way too heavy for me to lift so I had to drag it in. When it was time for dinner several hours later, they tried to do the same thing but I stamped my feet and told them the tray needed to be brought in and placed on my table. More people with PPEs appeared and did that. Everything was cold by then but I'll live. This morning we went through the same drill for breakfast and then to get my cabin cleaned. The good news is that it looks like at 2 PM they will turn me loose. I have learned a few things from this experience. First, I will never leave home without pills for everything I can think of. Second, if I feel confined in a beautiful cabin with a veranda and view of a gorgeous blue sky and calm sea for just 1 day, I can imagine how awful it has to be for a person confined to a cell endlessly. I apologize for whining, but I have no one else to complain to; if Al were here he would be hearing me rant, but then I wouldn't be alone either. I know, these are definitely First World problems and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Oh well, tomorrow is another day and it will be better.

November 8 – Funchal, Madeira

Today is a beautiful, sunny day here in Madeira. This island is actually a part of a small archipelago consisting of three islands, Madeira being the largest. It’s approximately 320 miles west of Morocco and while it sits on the African tectonic plate, it is culturally and economically European. The population today is approximately 251,000. The island was originally uninhabited. After its discovery by Portuguese sailors in 1419 under the auspices of Prince Henry the Navigator, it was claimed by Portugal and in 1420 they began settling here. Madeira is considered to be the first territorial discovery in what we now call the Age of Discovery. Madeira lies at the same latitude as Bermuda and has a very temperate climate although in the highest mountainous areas it does get a little winter snow! This is probably more than you wanted to know about Madeira but perhaps one day in a trivia game one of these little factoids might help. A completely irrelevant thing but something some of you will understand, for the first time ever I went to breakfast in the dining room on a Seabourn ship. I had to be up early to get a rapid antigen test (everyone did in order to go ashore) and while I waited for the result I decided to check out the restaurant. There were six of us in there. My results came back negative and I have a green sticker on my card so I’m officially able to go ashore. Yeay! My driver today was Daniel, a man who has taken me around the island a couple of times before. He is a delightful septuagenarian who with just a little more padding and a beard could easily play Santa Claus. Anyway we were off for my little tour of the day. Our first stop was Cåmara de Lobos, a little picturesque fishing village whose claim to fame is that it was a place that Winston Churchill came to paint after he left office. He would reportedly drive up to the edge of the little village, set up his easel and paint away. There are bars, restaurants and a hotel named Churchill something and there are murals of him complete with bowler hat and fat cigar on several buildings.

Daniel - can you picture him with a white snowy beard and a little more padding?

Fishing boats in the little bay being unloaded and cleaned for tomorrow's trip. Next stop was Cabo Girão, one of the highest sea cliffs in the world, nearly 2000 feet above sea level. There’s a glass skywalk which you can walk out on to look down at the sea below. I walked down to it but I couldn’t bring myself to walk out to the railing; instead I clung to the wall. I did get a great view from the sides but that was as much as my heart could take.

A view from the top of Cape Giráo When we left the cliffs Daniel drove me inland toward a place called the Nun’s Valley, Curral das Freiras. Back in the 16th century a community of nuns on the coast in Funchal looked out to see and saw pirate ships approaching. They and many of the other residents hiked up the mountains into a valley created by an extinct volcano to elude the buccaneers. Many of the people who went stayed there and several little villages were born. Until about 60 years ago there were no roads going there so people walked up (and down) a huge system of staircases carved into the rocks when they needed to get supplies. The paths were too steep and narrow even for donkeys so everything was carried on the backs of the people. There were many people who were born, lived and died in the little villages who never saw the sea which is only a few miles away as the crow flies.

Valley of the Nuns... So I’m probably writing more than anyone wants or needs to know, but this helps me remember things and it was such a splendid day! When we reached the crest of the last mountain before the valley we stopped at a local restaurant for lunch. I don’t normally write much about food but I must this time. I had a Madeiran specialty, black spadefish with grilled bananas. It was delicious and reminded me of our sea bass which I would never have thought of serving with bananas.

Now this is a grill, isn't it? On the way out there was a ,little bakery which sold another specialty of that area, pasteis de castana. For anyone who has been to Portugal you know about the little custard cakes found all over (and also available now at the Lidl in Newport News). Well, these are filled not with egg custard but with a chestnut cream. I couldn’t resist so I bought three, one for me and two for my very nice cabin attendants who weren’t allowed off the ship today. I thought they could have a little taste of Madeira. I could have had a siesta then (I did have a little Portuguese wine with my fish) but we were off to the second highest peak on the island, nearly 6,000 ft. high. On a cloudless day I would have been able to see forever as the song went, but today the clouds were forming just around the peak. We drove through them on a winding road which gets shut down at dark and then suddenly we were above them and I felt as if I were on the top of the world. I couldn’t believe the number of cars parked along the road. They belonged to hikers who come up to trek for the day. After a brief but chilly stop at the top we headed down toward Funchal.

Several observations about the island. There is no flat land; the hills are literally covered with terraced fields where they grow lots of bananas (they export them), all kinds of veggies which have no season because it’s temperate in most parts of the island all year. There are flowers everywhere; poinsettias growing wild, bougainville, and aloe which was blooming right now. The Madeirans must have stout hearts and strong legs because literally you have to climb up and down even in the city. I’ve never seen the airport here but I can’t imagine how they built it since there’s nothing flat here.

Okay, I’ve run on enough. The next several days I’ll be sailing west and unless I have a close encounter with a pirate ship or an alien or a giant sea monster, I won’t have much to blather on about. So até logo and obrigado for reading this. I think that I wrote see you later and thanks for reading this.

Sunday Evening, November 7 – Heading southwest 225.18 °

Sunday Evening, November 7 – Heading southwest 225.18 ° Today has been absolutely calm as we head southwest toward Madeira. At noon I went to play trivia and joined a team of three sisters from Connecticut and a friend of theirs. We had a nice time. We’re in the middle of the pack in terms of scores but we have plenty of sea days yet to come.They are my kind of players because they are playing to have fun and are not so serious as some people I’ve encountered in the past. Today would have been Al’s birthday so it has been bittersweet. I hadn’t eaten much all day so I went up to the Observation Bar for teatime. There is a very good pianist there but he played a lot of songs which were ones we used to dance to and I got a little sad. Well, that’s the way it is. Tomorrow morning we all have to report to the Grand Salon before 9:30 to get a rapid antigen test in order to be allowed ashore. Such is the world after Covid. Speaking of which, the staff wears masks all the time. We passengers wear them as we move about the ship, but when we get into a bar, lounge, or dining venue we may take them off. I don’t like it much, but it’s not as onerous as I thought it might be and it’s worth it to be back at sea. That’s my afternoon report. No excitement here, but that’s a good thing. Assuming I am able to get off in Funchal tomorrow, I should have more to write. Ciao for now.

Living room of my suite

Sunday, November 7 - At sea off the coast of Africa

Well, I’m onboard the Ovation and spent my first night at sea in two and a half years. On Friday after my arrival in Lisbon and transfer to the hotel, the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz, I was completely exhausted. I lay down for a doze (I wouldn’t call it a nap) and when I got up an hour later I intended to get cleaned up and then dress and go exploring a little. That didn’t happen. By the time I showered I was so tired that I ordered room service, for the first time in my entire life, and then crashed for the night. Saturday morning I awoke to a gorgeous sunny, albeit cold day. There was a lovely breakfast buffet and then it was time to pack and get ready for my pickup to the ship. A word about the hotel. It is a beautiful old grand hotel which has been renovated recently. It’s in a great location and from the roof, where the fitness center is located with an outdoor jogging track, there are spectacular views of the city. Does it count as exercise that I walked around the track to take some photos? I think I’m going to count it. The plaza of the Marquis de Pombal, a central plaza in Lisbon.

Around 12:30 my car and driver came and we went off to the port. As we drove through the city my driver told me that things were getting back to normal. Portugal has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. Check-in was easy. They did ask to see the results of the PCR test I had done at home. Then I was on the ship and my suite was ready. It’s quite spacious and I will survive there for 23 days. At 5:00 PM we sailed away. It was spectacular! The sun was setting to the west as we headed west down the Tagus River. That river is the longest on the Iberian Peninsula rising in mideastern Spain and flowing generally westward for 625 miles before emptying in the Atlantic near Lisbon. Setting sun behind 25th of April Bridge which looks a lot like the Golden Gate Bridge in color and is also a suspension bridge

The Monument of the Discoveries with Prince Henry the Navigator leading other Portuguese explorers. We sometimes forget that at one time the Pope divided the world between the Spanish and the Portuguese.

There was a nice sailaway party on deck, a little chilly though. After that there was a gathering for solo travelers. The assistant cruise director hosted and I met three nice ladies. We went to dinner together and laughed a lot. Two of them have done two world cruises already and are booked on another for 2023. I’m not sure I could stay on a ship for that long. After dinner which lasted quite long I was off to bed. I’m still catching up to the time differenmce. We were four hours ahead of the east coast but I think we’re now five hours different for the time being since you changed last night. Anyway, today is trivia and some of my new friends and I will form a team. There are some lectures today and I’ll see if they interest me. If not, I’ll write some more in my journal. Be well everyone.

November 5 - Heathrow

I made it this far! The flight was great. I was in the first class cabin which had 8 seats, only 3 of which were occupied. The other 2 slept from takeoff to landing so I was treated royally by the cabin crew. I hate to admit it, but I played the little old lady card to get assistance from the gate I arrived at to the main terminal. It's a good thing I did because we must have parked the plane in Edinburgh. It was a long ride in one of those golf carts! Let me tell you if I have ever thought going through our TSA checkpoints was bad, I have revised my opinion. This place has it beat by a long shot. The lines to go through security (which you must do even if you're in transit) were incredible. All the traveling world must have converged on Heathrow this morning. Two and a half hours after landing I finally made it through and parked myself in the lounge here. I have a couple of hours to try to doze before I'm off to Lisbon. Ed, the 787 is a great plane. I know you'd like it. More later.

November 4, 2021 - On my way

The day has come and I’m on my way. I’m sitting in the British Airways Lounge at Dulles Airport waiting for my flight. Traveling internationally in this post-pandemic era is very different from a short two years ago and not for the faint of heart. In the last few days I have had to fill out Passenger Locator Forms for a couple of countries and get a negative PCR test despite having been jabbed twice and had a booster a little over a week ago. Everything has to be done online and for those of us who are not as tech-savvy it can be daunting. I must have crossed all my T’s and dotted all my I’s because they let me check in. Now hopefully I’ve done what I need for the next leg of my journey. About that, I’m flying to Heathrow in the UK and connecting to a flight to Lisbon, Portugal, where I’ll have a one night stay. On Saturday I board the Seabourn Ovation and head west. After one sea day we’ll arrive at the beautiful island of Madeira. Madeira is off the coast of North Africa and a Portuguese autonomous region. Europeans found it quite by accident when they were blown off course by storms when they were traveling nearer to Europe. But there are mentions of an island which was probably Madeira by the Romans as early as 79 BC. It was the jumping off place for explorers like Vasco da Gama when he went round the Cape of Good Hope many centuries ago. I’ve been there a few times before and have a tour guide who I traveled with before picking me up to take me to some favorite places for the day. When I leave Madeira we’ll head west across the Atlantic. There will be lots of sea days before we reach Miami. Some of my fellow travelers will be getting off there, but I’m staying on and spending the next 11 days island hopping in the Caribbean before the ship returns to Miami again. It will hopefully be a blissfully relaxing few weeks with a little sightseeing tucked in. Someone currently on the ship has reported that only 120 passengers will be on for the trans-atlantic cruise. If that’s true it will be like sailing on a private yacht because the Ovation can carry 600 passengers and has a crew of around four hundred. I wanted to go away to be pampered and it sounds like this will fit the bill. Well, there’s nothing exciting to say and I don’t think a photo of me sitting with my mask on would add anything. So for now that’s my report. Next check in will either be from Heathrow or Lisbon depending on how my transit is through the former. Ciao for now!