slidergirl

I’m not a dress up to go to dinner person. I would prefer an entree size salad, maybe Asian if it looks good that night. But if that isn’t your thing, go for what suits you. No judgement…

I didn’t look at much else since I knew I wanted a salad. There was a pasta spot and a place with the fish that also had red meat offerings. That’s all I remember but I know there was more.

I’m on the ship. When my Uber pulled into the pier area, a big “We (heart) Alaska” sign was on the front of the ship. It was a good day to start the season- very warm and sunny. A lot of sailboats out in the Sound going spinnaker only.

I’m on the Eurodam now. I saw 3 kinds of fish at the Lido: soy glazed salmon, salmon with an apple glaze and Alaskan rockfish. I added a piece of salmon w/ apple to the Asian salad that comes with pieces of seared tuna. Salads are my thing, too,

Day 2 at sea. After a hot and sunny day yesterday it’s cold and foggy with rolly polly water. But that’s OK. I’m just hanging out, more music and maybe some reading. Breakfast at the buffet was typical stuff. Got a nice little mixture of fruit, nuts and granola for my yogurt. As usual at a buffet, there were people who filled up their plates like it was their last meal on Earth. Never understood that one. Two pics: yesterday on my balcony and today. No food worthy of a pic. OOTD: Free People hiking pants, REI hoodie long sleeve shirt, and the Chameleon.

I’m on the Eurodam now. Seattle had it’s first warm and beautiful today, according to the guys at the wine store. It made for a nice day to walk around. BUT, with people getting off/on the Norwegian Bliss and Eurodam people, it made for a crowded waterfront and Pike Place Market. I stayed on the other side of the street from the Market to go to the wine store. Up the hill I wanted to go to Biscuit Bitches for breakfast but the wait was 45 minutes. Nope! Settled for a fresh-from-the-oven almond croissant and an excellent cafe latte at Le Panier. Boarding was relatively fast - about 40 minutes from dropoff by Uber to in my cabin. The security check did not care that I brought 2 bottles of wine with me, actually no one cared. So the $20/bottle was “waived”. My cabin the the last balcony on the 5th before the aft cabins. I thought this would be a good spot. I put on my headphones and sat out there from about 2:30 until 6pm. Listened to Bobby McFerrin with Chick Corea and then with YoYo Ma. Really esoteric stuff, but I love it. It was soooo relaxing! The ship is pretty underwhelming. I didn’t remember it being so bland and dark. The Lido was not a really pleasant place to eat, esthetics-wise. But my salad with seared tuna and a nice chuck of salmon added to it was a nice dinner. Might be my go-to. I went at 8pm and it was pretty well empty. Came back to the room to have some wine and catch up on the ‘net. The guys at the Wine Shop steered me to a nice Italian Rosso for $15 when I said I wanted an Italian but under $30. Sipping it now and it is a nice mellow sipper. The other is a Rosè that i picked up at a store across from the Market called, I think, Kitchen and More. Yuppie food, grab & go stuff, and some cute bottles. I’ll have that one the last half of my cruise. That’s all. OOTD: jeans, pink & white striped short sleeve T, Chameleons.

Thanks Lois. I’m sitting in the Hyatt Regency downtown SLC (love that new hotel smell). With the weird weather and the intermittent landslides on the Interstate the past 2 weeks, I decided to be cautious and stay here. My Flight is at 11am, so I wanted to keep away from the rush hour traffic, too. I think I overpacked. I’m going to go through my bag again and remove some stuff. I’ll just keep it in my car. I’m using the keyboard on my iPad now. It’s pretty nice. I can actually touch type, not the one-finger “peck” on my iPhone. OOTD: the Ralph Lauren jeans I got from my nice owner, Smokey Bear T-shirt, jean jacket and my Chameleons.

I board the Eurodam on Saturday. Leave it in good condition for me 😃

There is some that I have been looking at.

I want to do some color streaks but my stylist won’t let me. We’d have to bleach it to be able to hold bright color and my hair would break. So I make do with natural red streaks in my brown hair.

After Alaska on the Eurodam this weekend, I may set my sights on a ship that has entertainment and does singles pretty good - Virgin!! Maybe Europe next year. Yeah, I am an old matron but I think it would be fun. Whattya say Hank 😉

2 til I fly, 3 til I cruise. Based on the weather reports, I’ll be packing exactly what I’ve been wearing here at home - rain, snow and sunshine.

Take a look at Rip Skirt Hawaii. 4 different lengths of wrap skirts and a sport skirt. Sizes 0 to 22. I’m thinking of getting a length 3 to use as my “going to the church “ skirt. But I wear leggings with very short insulated skirts in the winter. Taking one or two of them on my Alaska cruise this weekend.

Ok. I couldn’t help myself. Went down to the valley. REI stop. Got my waterproofing. But wait, there’s more. Got a new Cotopaxi hybrid vest - half Sherpa fleece, half poly fill, with typical Cotopaxi color mix. And 3 more socks since more Wrightsocks came in. And another SPF long sleeve shirt. Then I went to the mall to the Apple Store and picked up an iPad (my eyes and fingers thank me!). Walking back to the car I spy the Cotopaxi store. Ended up with a little hip bag/crossbody. No more shopping!!! I think I will pack tomorrow. Play with setting up the iPad this afternoon. I did get my Osprey bag out and ready.

Cynthia- congratulations on retirement!!! I think I’m the oldest here (69) but I just can’t give up working totally. have to run down to the valley today. It’s sunny and not snowing so I should be good. Have to stop at REI to pick up waterproofing because no one had it up here. And I think I am going to buy an iPad to upgrade my 2015 one and have something bigger than this phone to type and read on. OOTD: jeans, long sleeve T, my Merrill Chameleons.

My bag is the Osprey Sojourn 60 wheel backpack. Not made anymore. They do make others. It’s 26x 14x 9 so not too big. Got it I think I’m 2010 when I went on a Kenyan safari. Love it. Have you thought about doing a fun color? I’ve seen many “mature” women rocking their hair that way. Have fun with it!

I fly to Seattle Friday morning. Board the Eurodam Saturday afternoon. I think I’m taking my Osprey roller bag instead of my Cotopaxi carry on. I’m not doing any trains or walking, just plane to hotel to ship. I can’t lift my bag into the overhead anyway ( the shoulder is really bad lately), so I’m not going to fret taking my Osprey.

Sharon - with any electronics, I always unplug, slowly count to 30 then plug back in. When that fails I’ll go to the ‘net and look for troubleshooting hints. Did this with the MacBook but nothing worked. Cynthia is on her way back from Japan. Then we start up next batch of cruises. We’re quite the cruising group now. It is “pick up the meds and sundries” day. And a rain/snow day. So OOTD will be jeans, T-shirt and my new Patagonia rain shell.

Apparently small bottles of sparkling water MIA so had to buy big bottles of Pelligrino was more than what was in the HIA.

Black tea? Whiskey? Lemons? Bottled water?

Host BJ - was the limoncello mixed with cream? That’s a yummy mixture!! Or sometimes limoncello is naturally cloudy due to the way it was made.

5 days until flight, 6 days until I board the Eurodam.

May I suggest you look at the thread here on the current Japan cruise on the Westerdam by Hlitner (aka Hank).

Cynthia - safe travels home! “Talk” to later on our usual spot when you get home and I get a new MacBook. I can’t deal with typing on my iPhone! Hank - I look forward to reading about the continuing journey on the Westerdam. Hope you get more provisions in Yokohama!!

Thanks for calling my experience odd. Do you work outside in the cold of Winter for $17/hr? Hard enough to pay for an inside, let alone a suite. I wasn’t trying to make “besties” of crew. It just felt to me that existing crew and passengers had things down and lone me was an afterthought sometimes: