This would all not be possible and smooth without the help of our friends housesitting. The dogs love them and they experienced a blended family. Lol. It was such a relief. There can not be enough thank you for their loving service. We spent the afternoon and night with Leo and Ev, in Langley, going out to the cranberry fields, and gearing up for the cruise early the next morning.
Getting on to the ship, orienting ourselves (took half the cruise to figure out what deck, what way to turn off the elevators, and got The Bee Man settled in the crow’s nest. Our favorite place to be on a cruise. Holland America did it up fine for 21 days of sailing, with stops at San Francisco and San Diego, in the States. Then down the Eastern Coast we went with stops at Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, and Huatulco, and Puerto Chiapas Mexican ports. Down we went. with the heat rising, to Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Down further to spend a day traveling through the locks of the Panama Canal. East and down to Oranjestad, Aruba, then a wild few days in the Atlantic to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We went from Bunny hugs to the airiest, lightest Central America dresses, panting as the heat rose, grateful for the Lido Market dining area where there was constant air-conditioning. There were not many times we all went out onto the back deck to stay longer than half hour or so. I went often because…well, because. It was an absolute adventure I wish everyone could experience. Yes, there were highs and lows but I was determined to enjoy the adventure. If this creates a bucket list idea, you will never be sorry.
It took me, and most others, many days to orient ourselves as to what floor and where room. I kept track of most of my footsteps on board and I average 8700 – 11,000 steps a day from bow to port, when I bothered to take my phone with me. A Sail-Away party was held on the back pool deck area and it was freeing. I thought I would not need anything but I bought a couple of bunny hugs to keep us warm, not knowing that would just be extra luggage for the rest of the trip. But, traveling the decks and getting to know our room was awesome. Our room was an extra-large room with a larger deck because of Larry’s Scooter and disabilities. Our bathroom was a full shower and tiled bathroom that really helped. There was a stool and handles (which eventually became weapons to The Bee Man’s thin skin. He eventually hung his swimming shorts over them because they were placed lower inside of the bathroom door.) It took us forever to figure out how to turn lights and air-conditioning on. In fact, later on the cruise, he hit the wrong switch. More on that later.) The whole Lido market buffet had every kind of food you can imagine, and treats and sweets, and the sweetest staff that became our favorites, whatever station they were at. That night, the dinner menu included steaks, mussels, and every trimming you could imagine. Every station had different kinds of ethnic foods and the sweet stations always had some kind of special treats every day. That night, the entertainment areas had everything from Motown Love songs and Ports of call information. As well, there was a dive-in fast food place midship for hotdogs and hamburgers, fries, of every kind. And, at the back pool area, there was homemade pizzas made with whatever you choose on them. At nights, for a late-night snack, they always had buns and munchies at a couple of stations, and, of course, the ever ice-cream and sweet treats on both side of the Lido market. One would have to walk around all sides of the market to choose what you wanted to eat. We were grateful that the ship was bigger than the Volendam Cruiser (circa 1450 cruisers) and smaller than some of the big cruise ships that flowed us and/or were docked in the ports we stopped at. There were circa 2100 cruisers and 930 crew.
I met some fabulous people out back and we spent hours in the fresh air , as long as it was not a steam bath, and had many great laughs and really learned to like each other and hanging out together. I actually met a woman whose father had the band we danced to in late 60’s and early 70s, out of Lethbridge. We found out we have some common Scandinavian last names and she was drawn to me because I looked, spoke and had gestures that were so much like her mother’s. I became fast friends with a couple from Kelowna and Vancouver. One of our group was from Ontario, originally, and is a private chef on a yacht where she travels all over the world with them. This was her holiday. There was a table of four men, all drawn together, we later learned, because all four of them had stage 4m or worse, cancer. We disembarked with the couple from Kelowna and flew on the same plane from Lauderdale and Montreal. Funny story I will share later. We have arranged to meet again in the spring.
I made some fabulous friends. I met the daughter of the man who had a band in Lethbridge who played at our dances in the late 60s and 70s and happens we have similar paternal last names in our ancestry. Fast fast friends. They made the cruise all the more enjoyable. Much laughter and commonalities. We, certainly, will keep in touch.
I can say that, once we hit the Atlantic Ocean, skirted the edge of a hurricane, I became wicked seasick and could not eat for three days. It made the end of the trip not so enjoyable. It has taken me a few days to get back to some semblance of normal... for me. Many of us, mainly wives, had sunken to eye-rolling and it was noticeable that 21 days might have been too long a trip. We were all anxious about disembarkation and what might go wrong with connections to the flight home because the Northwest coasts were fraught with an atmospheric rain storm that would delay us, on top of those incidents of things not going smoothly. As expected, things did not go smoothly.
Carol Desjarlais 9.29.24
No comments:
Post a Comment