November 7 - Home, Lemons and Lemonade

We had an uneventful trip home. The flights were on time and our wonderful neighbor picked us up at the airport. Today I went across the street and collected our mail from our other great neighbors, Sandra and Don, who take care of things when we’re gone. How wonderful to have such great folks to rely on!

Now for a summary of our cruise. We have been on many voyages and each has been great. I think a large part of the trip has to do with the expectations you have before you go. We always expect to have a wonderful time and always have had one. I’ve read comments from some of our fellow passengers and their experience was different. On this Ruby Princess cruise we encountered nothing but crew members who were cheerful, hard-working and eager to help. The food was better than what we remembered from the last cruise or two. The weather was mostly cooperative. We don’t mind days on the ship when we feel some motion. I guess we are fortunate that we don’t suffer from motion sickness. We have actually been on some cruises where we were disappointed because we felt as though we were in a hotel on land not a ship. On this cruise there were bouncy days which we enjoyed.

We don’t go to many shows or activities but from the daily patter there appeared to be many things to fill one’s time. The ports that we visited were incredible. In each place there are many new things to visit even if you’ve been there before. Sadly, Princess has dropped Lisbon from the transatlantic next year. That’s a shame because it is a wonderful city.

One of the best parts of this cruise were our fellow cruisers. We had a lot of friends who were also sailing and the time we spent with them is, as they say, priceless! I find the friendships that we’ve made cruising to be one of the most wonderful things about the whole experience. On this trip we sailed with people we first met in 2005 and it’s like sailing with family.

Cruising is great!

November 5 - The last sea and Cruise Day

Well, this is it – the last day! The wind has kicked up again and we have some chop again. We go for our last breakfast in Sabatinis. I shall miss the mimosas and the apple turnovers. After breakfast we met our trivia team and played the final morning game. We won!! It’s funny, but the last time we did this cruise we played together and we won the last morning as well. Prizes were a fridge magnet and a lanyard! It’s not the prizes that count. It’s the fun of winning plus the companionship with Bill and Irene and Bob and Flora.

After trivia we did a packing marathon. It’s easier to pack for the trip home but we acquired a few things along the way so we have an additional bag. We were in a hurry to finish because we had invited the Gang of Eight for a leftovers party. We had all accumulated wine, cheese, crackers and cookies and other goodies which needed to be consumed. We managed to do a good job with what was left! When you have good friends and a great ambience, every wine tastes great!

Tonight we went for our last dinner at Sabatinis again. We love the venue and decided it was the place to be. There has been discussion on the Cruise Boards about the new menu at the restaurant. We love it. Add to that the fact that we have had special things prepared for us and we are happy campers!

This has been a lovely cruise. The weather has been mainly cooperative except for our day in Cannes. The service has been exceptional. The food has been good and the company has been outstanding. But now we’re ready to be home.

November 4 - Still at sea

Our first sign of life since the Azores
The trike garage!

Today was a little warmer and more sunny. It was also almost absolutely calm this morning. From our balcony first thing this morning we saw the becalmed sailboat in the photo. This was our first sign of other life since we left the Azores. It’s always amazing that we traverse this ocean without seeing other ships. Since the nice weather continued we decided to try the Sanctuary this afternoon. The Sanctuary is all the way forward on deck 17. It’s shaded and has the most comfortable loungers. It’s easy to fall asleep up there. We both read for awhile and then played a game of Scrabble.

In the late afternoon we went up to Skywalkers, the lounge perched all the way up and aft. The view from there is spectacular. As we looked out the windows we noticed the kids deck below us and saw the “trike garage.” There aren’t many kids on this cruise but the trikes were lined up and parked in anticipation of the Caribbean and holiday cruise season coming up.

November 3 - The last formal night

Hard to see, but this is a really long ship!

A sea day again. The chop has subsided and the ship isn’t moving as much. Tonight is the last formal night and I decided to get my hair done. Somehow I can never get my hair to do what these stylists can do.

Tonight we went to Sabatinis with what I have dubbed the “Gang of Eight,” two of our fellow Virginia couples and our honorary Virginians from the Chicago area. We had a great dinner and managed to be the last people to leave the restaurant.

I should mention something more about this place Sabatinis. It’s one of the alternative restaurants up on Deck 16. I think it is the most beautiful restaurant I have seen on a ship at sea. There are windows looking out to both sides of the ship and to a little terrace with fountains. It is a truly wonderful venue, but that’s not what makes it so special. What really does the trick is the staff. Marius from Romania is the Head Waiter and he does an exceptional job. He has been at Sabatinis for 4 cruises that we’ve done and he takes exceptional care of us. The team that works with him does a great job as well. I don’t know what I shall do when I’m home and not pampered like this.

November 2 - In the Atlantic

Our balcony - a nice place to spend a lazy afternoon!

Another sea day and not much happening. We are in our routine. We have breakfast in Sabatinis starting with Mimosas (I will miss those at home!). We play trivia with our friends. Our scores are improving but we haven’t won yet. We play Scrabble for awhile. We spend the afternoons reading, checking e-mails and lazing on the balcony. We’ve had some chop in addition to the rollers so the ship has been doing some bouncing around. We don’t think it’s too bad but there are people who are subject to sea-sickness who are feeling it.

Tonight we went to the Crown Grill for dinner. That’s the steakhouse on board. We have eaten there twice already, one time excellent, the other not as good. Tonight everything was absolutely superb. Our food was cooked to perfection and the chef came out to talk to us. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

November 1 - Another Sea Day

The long rollers are still with us. When we first woke up it was more cloudy than not, but the skies began to clear and became partly sunny. We’ve settled into our sea days routine of a leisurely breakfast followed by trivia with our team of Virginians and Scots. We haven’t won yet, but we have fun nonetheless. Today’s winning team received fridge magnets. We weren’t really heartbroken that we didn’t get them.

At noon we went to the traditional dining room for our group’s luncheon. 205 people had signed up but only 125 came. It was too bad because the staff had set tables for that many people. Nevertheless it was a pretty good turnout and we had a lovely time chatting with old and new friends.

Since there’s not a lot to talk about in terms of things going on, I shall tell you more about our ship. It’s more than 900 feet long and weighs (in gross tonnage) 113,561 tons. It carries approximately 3400 passengers and a crew of close to 1500. There are three main dining rooms, a buffet restaurant and two alternative dining venues. There are numerous lounges, a theater, a library and even a wedding chapel. There is no lack of activity most any time of the day or night. People who worry about being bored with multiple sea days needn’t do so. The problem isn’t finding something to do, it’s deciding which things to choose since you can’t possibly do them all.

October 31 - Halloween at Sea

We sailed yesterday evening from the Azores around sunset. It was our last port before the cruise ends in Ft. Lauderdale. As we headed west for six days crossing the Atlantic we could see the lights of Sao Miguel and some nearby islands for quite a long time.

Today it’s water, water everywhere. We are always amazed that once we begin the crossing we rarely encounter another ship or any sign of life until we approach the Bahamas. It’s as if we are the only people on Earth here in the midst of this ocean. I always wonder how it must have felt to the early explorers as they set sail and had their last glimpse of land. I can only imagine that it must have been both thrilling and frighteaning since they often had no idea what awaited them as they sailed onward.

Our day was partly cloudy with some long rollers which move the ship around a bit. We played some scrabble and lazed around until 3 PM when we went up to Skywalkers, the lounge atop the aft end of the ship. Our group had a Halloween cocktail party there. We didn’t wear masks or costumes but some of our friends were really decked out! I would say that most of them outdid themselves. It was nice meeting some more of the people with whom I’d been chatting online for many months. We planned to stay for only a little while and wound up sitting and talking until nearly 6 PM. For dinner we ate with friends from Delaware and enjoyed both the company and food, especially the former.

I should add that the ship was decorated for Halloween as well. There were orange and black balloons around and many of the day’s activities were geared toward Halloween. There was a pumpkin carving demonstration in the atrium and a costume parade and competition among other things. All in all it was a very nice first crossing day.