Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The end of the trip
Saturday, April 24, 2010
At Sea
I woke up at 5am. The engines were very quiet but the ship was really rocking and rolling. I looked out the porthole and you could barely tell the difference between the sea and the sky. The waves were awesome. The spray from some of the larger swells crashed into our porthole. I kept thinking of the ship that was capsized by a rogue wave in the Mediterranean. I was mesmerized watching the waves. I read for a while and then went back to sleep until 8:00. John was up and dressed and had already been out on deck. He said the ship was very quiet. I got dressed and we went up to the buffet for breakfast. John warned me not to eat anything greasy or that might upset my stomach. I think upset stomachs are common today from the sudden appearance of barf bags at the elevators. After breakfast John went down to the cabin and I went to the photo gallery to check out the pictures taken yesterday and pick up a souvenir album and page kit for my scrapbook. We’ve decided to carry our own bags off the ship tomorrow (John’s decision). The gift shop is busy today but there’s really nothing that I need or want.
I heard on the grapevine that a lot of passengers were seasick last night and this morning. We were lucky but I think John’s admonition to avoid greasy foods was a big help. Plus we stayed away from alcohol and went to bed early when the ship was tossing and turning. There were barf bags at all the elevators today. We were on the level with the medical center and I never saw the doors open or anyone going in or out during the entire cruise. There was a lot of maintenance done on our deck during the week…something to do with the “pipes”.
We spent a few hours reading in our stateroom (John finished the book he borrowed from the ship’s library) and then went up to the buffet for dinner. The food looked like the same thing we have been served just about every day…salad, chilled asparagus, a fruit soup, a baked fish in a cream sauce, tikka chicken, beef stew, rice, pasta, pizza, Indian dishes. Nothing called to me. John picked up a few items and I had an empty plate. After he ate I went through the specialty menus and decided to go to Bamboo the Asian Fusion restaurant on Deck 7 near Dazzles Lounge and overlooking the piano bar. John went with me but only had soup and a beer so he wasn’t charged a cover charge. I had a steamed pork bun about 6” across, Singapore noodles and a Chengdu style lamb dish. For dessert I got the mochi ice cream again to cool my palate. After dinner we went over to Dazzles for Patti and Jose’s last show.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Back in NY
Yesterday we were told that there was no need to rush off the ship and that we could take our time and use the pool, etc, one last time. Unfortunately when we woke up this morning it was raining in NY. I missed seeing us sail past the Statue of Liberty by just a few minutes. John had already been up on deck and said that there was a long line for the dining room on Deck 7 so we headed up to 12 to the buffet. This was the busiest I saw the place. Everyone wanted to eat at the same time. I grabbed a couple of hardboiled eggs, some bacon, fruit and a croissant. I figured I’d ease myself back to the real world and my diet. After breakfast we went down to our stateroom and watched tv until the announcement that the ship had been cleared and those wishing to walk off could proceed to the gangway on deck 7. Right. We gathered up our four bags (one BIG suitcase, one carry-on suitcase, a small duffle bag and a back pack) and maneuvered through the narrow hallway to the elevators. We were not the only passengers with this brilliant idea. We had to wait for about 4 elevators before we could fit all our stuff in an elevator for the ride up to Deck 7. We were supposed to be able to exit either mid-ship or in the front of the ship but there was no way to get past the gridlock of passengers and luggage jamming the aisle at mid-ship. We never found out what the hold up was, but suddenly the line began moving and we made our way through security, down the gangway and through customs in just minutes. We were directed to an elevator to the 2nd level where there were taxis waiting but on our way to the elevator we were approached and asked if we were interested in a limo. Sure. I haggled over the price and got the driver down from $60 to $55 including tolls and tip. He put up a big umbrella and directed us across the street to a very nice black Town Car. I gave him the address and we sat back enjoyed our final 20 minutes of vacation. We were literally at my mother’s apartment 20 minutes after leaving the pier! We left our bags with the doorman and went upstairs. My mother drove us to her office to pick up my car and we went back to her garage to get our bags and head home. Once we were on our way I called Andrea and let her know we should be at her condo by 1:30. We hit a little traffic in Milford. We stopped for lunch at Cody’s again and arrived at Andrea’s at 1:30. Rocky was waiting at her storm door, looking for us. Andrea opened the door and he ran to us like he was happy to see us. We spent some time talking to Andrea but it became evident that Rocky was ready to leave.
As soon as we got home I began unpacking and sorting out laundry. After all the bags were emptied I started looking for the daily Freestyles that I had carefully saved and packed in an outside pocket of our large bag. I couldn’t find them anywhere. The only time the bags were out of my sight was when they were in the limo and when they were in the porter’s closet. I have a feeling that the pocket they were in might have been unzipped and maybe when the driver pulled the bag out of the trunk the contents of the pocket spilled out in his trunk. No big deal, I still have plenty of other junk that I brought back with me for my scrapbook.
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