bluenoser2

So, following the spinning, we girls headed to look at antique dollhouses (but NOT the dolls – they creeped the girls out) in the indoor museum while the guys braved the shower to see a few other buildings and exhibits. Then, since the shower had pretty much ended, DH and I went to explore the old Golstave Church, c. 1200, and moved on site around 1880. We thought about going in another building that seemed quite popular with a tour group of (much older than us of course) tourists who were all filing out, until we realized they had just been in there to be sheltered from the rain, and after helping many of them down the stairs, DH nodded at me in that “let’s get out of here” way, and we headed back down to the main museum.

After a look at the rest of the museum and gift shop (where I promised DD#1 that she’d find that cute little troll at all the other gift shops we’d be going by…..she didn’t….my bad) we headed on our way to the Viking Ship museum, with barely a misty drizzle to contend with. The museum was fascinating, even for me, who isn’t really a shippy kinda gal.

The stories were well written, and I found the bones and what could be told about the people who they belonged to incredibly interesting, while DD#2 found the same incredibly sickening, and just wanted to leave after seeing them. Ship yes, bones no.

After checking out the gift shop there, we noticed it wasn’t easy to see outside…what’s this? A shower? A really really big shower? Maybe we’ll just look at the gift shop a little longer, and never mind that line-up to purchase something, we’ll get something anyway. Hmmmm, it’s really not letting up. So, mustering all our courage and putting that ball cap firmly on my head so I’d still be able to see through my spectacles, out we went. We were completely soaked by the time we got to the road….there’s that point where you try not to get your feet wet, and then there’s that point where you realize there isn’t a dry spot on your body, so what’s the point in worrying about it. DD#1 who I was concerned would be a basket case about this, was literally singing in the rain as we went. Fortunately for us, and all the people of Norway, and the Royal Princess, there was no lightning or thunder, because that would have surely put her over the edge. By the time we got to the 3rd museum where the ferry terminal was, we knew that we couldn’t go IN to the museum, so we decided to call it a day, and head back to the ship.

Which we did. Umbrella-less, raincoat-less, and totally wet-ful. Interestingly, later in the trip, Oslo was proclaimed one of the kids’ favourite places. We were a little disappointed that we missed the Sculpture Park, but as those downpoars continued throughout the afternoon, we knew we couldn’t have done that. So we got on the ferry, where the floors were VERY slippery – the girls, in their flip-flops (I tried, ok? I tried to be the mom who encouraged them to wear “walking shoes” – I failed….) were slipping, and DD#1 said to DD2 – “be careful, it’s really slippery” just as DD2 did a glorious fall right after getting down the steps. You could have heard a pin drop – everyone on the edge of their seats, waiting to see how badly hurt she was. And then, and then…..she laughed, and couldn’t stop laughing. She was ok., everyone relaxed, and when we later discussed favourite parts of the day, that was hers. So, a trip on the ferry to Newfoundland, use the washroom, sit backwards AND fall on a slippery deck should be good next time. Once underway, DH was trying to get the soaked Oslo Passes out of his pocket to be scanned. He was waving them gently trying to dry them off as one started to disintegrate in front of our very eyes. When the guy came around to scan them, he tried in vain, and finally said (our Quote of the Day) “uh……it’s ok.” and ran away.

So, maybe I should try WEARING the raincoat, instead of just packing it.

After a reasonably good night’s rest, we had a lovely leisurely breakfast in the dining room. Oooooh…..chocolate Danish? You bet! Every day if I can…..oh right, I’m the one being exemplary and showing restraint. Well then, just one. Today. Well, this morning.

We docked in Oslo around 10 a.m. and got set to go. With the help of Cruise Critic we had determined that doing Oslo on our own would work easily enough and we prepared to launch ourselves. What a beautiful day!

Sure, the forecast in the patter had been “partly cloudy with a chance of showers”, but we’re from Canada – we can handle itty bitty showers! So raincoat – no (it’s enough that I packed it in the first place), umbrella – why bother, ball cap – yes, and off we went. We got to the tourist information place easily, not too much of a walk – basically just followed everyone else who was walking with confidence toward something and that worked. While DH got our Oslo passes, DD#1 and I made quick use of the free Wi-Fi, and we were on our way again quickly.

We headed to the ferry and were the 2nd party in line for the next crossing, having missed the last one by 5 minutes or so. We were glad to stay in line, as the lineup quickly grew and once we boarded, many had to wait for the next ferry, which I think comes every 20 minutes.

From the stop on the other side, we enjoyed a leisurely walk to the Outdoor Folk Museum. A few sprinkles while we walked, but they were refreshing, and no problem.

The folk museum was very interesting – at the first indoor exhibit where DD#2 got to card and spin wool the old-fashioned Norse way, the heavens opened and we said “Good thing we’re indoors for this shower!”

First, allow me to congratulate those of you who are still hanging in there, waiting for me get on with it. I did warn you at the beginning though, did I not? Here we go…….

Having gotten on the ship by 12:30 (I think…who looks at their watch once they’re on vacation….oh, me, right….) we headed up to the buffet. Wow. This one is big, but you’ve heard all that from everyone else already. Hardly anyone else was up there at this point, and I didn’t even see all of it – basically, once I saw the scallops, I was done for, and that’s as far as I got. DH made it to the fajitas and he was superbly content. We loved the Horizon Bistro area with its lighter brighter décor, and it became the meeting place for our family if we had gotten separated – always easy to find a place to sit – even for 5 of us…..er, 6 of us…sorry Florence.

Exploring time was next, and you know what that means! Treasure hunt! Well, we lasted through the first stop – the spa tour, which was great in that we got to see all the spiffy rooms where one can spend lots of money, but if I could have taken a picture of the pained looks on the guys’ faces while we wandered obediently through all the areas, that would have been priceless. So, to reward them for their suffering, we threw in the towel so to speak – actually, the treasure hunt cards, and gave up the hunt.

That the piazza was spectacular was unanimous. The string quartet was playing as we went through and now our children REALLY knew they were not on Carnival! Once they saw the International Café, they could hardly contain themselves. The peanut butter cups were calling them, and they had no attention for the rest of our exploring time.

We took some time to unpack all our wrinkly clothes (finally!), and met our room stewards (who were both excellent, though we seemed to “connect” more with other room stewards in our respective hallways!). Muster drill was next, and we were on opposite ends of the ship from our kids for that – one of those things we didn’t really give much thought to when we booked, but now, with visions of the string quartet playing as we tipped over into the icy sea, it was a bit disconcerting. However, we survived it, and they found their way to their station – though, they did lose DS along the way. DH and I dozed through our drill (sorry…) – there’s something about the air in the theatre that makes us fall asleep within minutes of sitting down. Having proved we could wear a life jacket (except for DS whose sisters promised him that they would help him should the need arise…), we were off and running.

(Florence would like to debate the one size fits all subject)

With the Love Boat theme sounding on the ship’s horn we were pulling away. Corny, but it never got old for me! The rest had an ice cream cone as an appetizer for dinner but I chose to be exemplary and not over-indulge (yeah, right…).

We had anytime dining and went to Symphony dining room on deck 5. Our waiter was efficient if not personable. The girls were giving us their best Carnival Snob looks, which implied strongly that the wait staff on Princess was definitely lacking – ALL the wait staff of course, since they had experienced ONE by this point. Everyone was happy with their meal, and we then set out to see what was going on.

(DS's photo....remember this for later....if I remember....)

DS, DH and I went to the Where in the World game in the Vista Lounge, where we scored horribly, but blamed it on the poor picture quality of the slides we were shown. We did however get Vancouver, which would have been terribly embarrassing to miss. (Yes, it IS on the other side of our country, but I am from BC originally).

Because so many had mentioned how hard it was to get a seat in the theatre, we arrived 30 minutes early for the 10:15 Welcome Aboard Showtime. There was no one there. No one.

However, AFTER 10:15 it filled up totally, so apparently the people who complain about not getting seats are not getting there BEFORE the lights go down? In fact there were still people trying to get in to seats around and in front of us at 10:45! Really? Why bother? Maybe THEY needed a quick nap too. DH dozed through the whole production, as he always does, waking after it’s over to say “that was nice.”

We have a rule in our family – no elevators, except for that time when they make you go on the elevator as you board the ship. I broke the rule that night, as we were trying to get up to the buffet to get some ice cream for DD#2 to take her meds with, and for anyone who would like to know if the buffet REALLY closes at 11, it does. Promptly. We were there at 11:01 and the ice cream place and the buffet were shut tight. So being very tired, I allowed us to take the elevator down to the International Café for another peanut butter cup to go.

DH was sound asleep by the time I got back, and while it took me a little longer, the beds and bedding were nice and cozy and there was so much room and there was air conditioning and …….ahhhhhhhhh.

And in the What I Learned Today on the Royal category…….the carpet colours are the same on both sides of the ship. Now how am I going to remember which is the odd side? Oh, of course, I’m on the odd side. That makes sense. (I only went ALL the way down the even side to 108 once……good exercise, good exercise.)

For those of you concerned about my laundry, I'm all caught up now. I'll be here shortly with the next installment. If I can figure out which pictures to include - I now have DH's, DD1s, and mine totalling 2900 pics.....that's a lot of choosing.

Can't wait for the rest! I do remember Florence from a previous review, which was great as well.

 

Have you started planning for your next cruise yet?

We haven't got a definite plan for the next one - we have dreams for another, but it'll have to wait until the funds are in place...so the next one will be closer to home, THEN on to Sicily the land of my DH's ancestry!

“All you need to sleep” apparently is a few minutes, because I don’t recall getting a full night’s sleep, but what I got was deep, and hey! Today was the day! Yay! (Such a poet…..) DH was up bright and early (well, early anyway….at 5) for his walk. I just couldn’t do it…..the eyes, the feet just wouldn’t cooperate, so I just read about Copenhagen for a while instead. He was back by 7:30 a.m. having seen everything he could by foot – including walking to the Mermaid statue, ascertaining that our ship had indeed come in, and seeing other beautiful landmarks. That I missed. Good thing one of us got to see all of that….if I want to see it all, we’ll just have to go back I guess.

We had breakfast egg mcmuffins back at the train station’s McDs, DD#2 had blueberries from 7-11….they were NOT the blueberries of Nova Scotia – very tasteless. Coke by the can worked out to $3….making getting carbonated beverages a real steal on the ship! (Not that we had coke for breakfast - oh my, no!) After having packed up but not checked out, we walked around a little of Copenhagen, saw the Rathaus and visited a lovely open-air market where the girls found some glassware as souvenirs of Copenhagen.

The front desk back at Cabinn City had ordered a large taxi for us for check-out time 11:00 and when we got back from our walk shortly before 11, it was already there. So we gathered our bags and tore ourselves away from our little rooms, and were off to the port!!!!!!

(sniff...we'll miss you little room.....)

Again, remember that it takes very little to amuse our girls and this day, it was getting to ride backwards in the taxi…… apparently we could really give them a good time without even going to Europe. A ferry ride to Newfoundland would have probably done the trick. Not.

We got to the port and entered the building by 11:20 and were in group #10 for embarkation. The excitement builds! We sat happily in our lineup of chairs and made it through the process quickly and without incident. Before we knew it we were on our way to the kids’ room – interior on Dolphin deck midship. Our offspring have never been on Princess – they have been on 2 Carnival cruises, so they thought it was very cool to get to go to their room straight away. DD#2’s luggage even arrived before we were done inspecting their room, followed shortly thereafter by the rest – I can’t think of a time luggage got to our rooms THAT quickly. Alas, her room card did not work and she and DH headed down to remedy that and then we were off to inspect our room on Emerald deck, #109. We booked it because of the balcony size and the lower price since it’s listed as “obstructed” because of the bulkhead. We loved it! Loads of room and great views, and as long as I didn’t look down over the edge too quickly I didn’t have palpitations. Yes, people can see you from above, but they just get to see how big your balcony is…..whoa, did I just say that? Pardon me. Stay tuned.....it's coming....cruise time is next!

Time to say goodbye (cue Andrea Bocelli music….) to our little fla in London, and move on – with most of our clothes reasonably dry-ish. By this point we were just looking forward to unpacking properly once onboard the ship, but we still had one more night on the road. As soon as we were all packed up, and finished watching all the Top Gear episodes we could handle, we went and stood forlornly on the street, hoping, praying, and wondering if we would be remembered by the people at TotallyDriven mini-cabs.

As the 9:30 time pick-up time came and went, we began to worry (the kind of worry you don’t let your children see….you know the type…) and at 9:32 my cellphone rang and dispatch let me know that the driver was 10 minutes out due to bad traffic. DH and I exchanged looks of relief mingled with great joy and we continued to wait. Sure enough, exactly 10 minutes later our van pulled up and we loaded up and were off for the longest ride in the history of car-rides to the airport. OK, I’ll admit it – I don’t actually have a lot of experience with getting to the airport from Bishopsgate – oh, right, this was my first time – but it sure felt like we were going in circles (and I’m not talking about those traffic rotaries either….) most of the time with all the detours, and festivals and roadwork. Again, we were glad we weren’t on a meter.

We arrived at Heathrow in good time, if not slightly carsick, since we are kinda OC about leaving a lot of extra time for unexpected adventures. We had our Jamie Oliver wraps while we waited for the gate to be announced for our SAS flight to Copenhagen. Heathrow is so much fun. And when I say fun, I mean fun in a Survivor kind of way. While either sitting in the holding corral for expectant travellers, or shopping through the myriad of stores, one attempts to nonchalantly keep checking the departure board for their gate number. Then once it appears, there is a race to use the washroom (one last time) and find the gate which one doesn’t actually get to sit down at, because they’re already loading the plane by that point. So what exactly IS the point of that departure “lounge”?

I digress. The flight was fine, tea and coffee were free, but not water (or pop…sorry, er…soda.). Go figure. Arrivals at Copenhagen were easy-peasy. We found all our luggage (I NEVER take this for granted – and again, that hot pink strip of duct tape was really helpful!), and procured train tickets relatively easily. Except…..for some reason it wouldn’t accept our MasterCard. Everywhere else on the trip before and after, we had no problem, but both times the Copenhagen train system wouldn’t accept it in their automated machines. So DH used the alternate card. Now, I have to say, that while getting to the train is relatively easy, I would recommend to anyone doing this the first time, that you speak to a real live person and get your tickets that way, instead of doing it as we did. Once we had tickets in hand, we went down to the right track, but there was no English signage at all, and no one to ask….well, there probably was someone to ask, but we are so independent…..finally as the 2nd train came by, I demanded we just ask the person getting off if it was the right train to take to Copenhagen Central. (Sometimes taking on the mentality of an Amazing Race contestant helps.) It was. We got on. What a lovely train! So quiet. So quick. So….Danish. We must have looked totally confused, because a lady sitting near us told us which would be our stop. I realized then that the only times English is spoken in the announcements of next stops, is for Central Station (and the airport stop on the way back) – just for idiots like us! (Loveable idiots, but idiots nevertheless….at least in Denmark.)

We successfully managed to disembark the train, and found our way out of the station, after getting some Danish currency “just in case”. Our kids were amazed by the amount of bicycles parked in front of the station – most without locks. It was the cause of much wonderment to them – that people could leave things and not worry about someone taking them. (When there are 3000 or so parked bikes to choose from, I would never FIND my bicycle- ah, there would be another use for the pink duct tape!) We then walked (big surprise) to our hotel that was about 3 blocks away, where we checked in to our 2 rooms.

Our hotel was Cabinn City – the perfect place to stay just before a cruise. “Why?” you may well ask. Let me tell you….first, the rooms are really really small which makes even an interior cabin for 3 on the ship feel positively cavernous. We didn’t care…we were only going to use them to sleep (hopefully) in for a short time. Then, the hotel’s motto is “All you need to sleep”……apparently A/C is not a “need”. Ah, but we were in Copenhagen! Who cared that the rooms were 2 bunk beds with a roll-out under the bottom bunk. Or that you showered on the floor of the bathroom…..it was a great memory maker. I had to hand it to them though for making the most efficient use of space available.

(Florence thought it was fine...she just didn't know where the rest of us would be sleeping.....)

The weather was gorgeous, so those who wanted to changed into cooler clothes, and we walked back to Tivoli Gardens (right across from the train station). We spent 6 hours and lots of DKK there (all for food – nothing was cheap!). There was so much going on there, and lots to do and see. We watched an old-fashioned pantomime theatre, a dance band with dancers on the stage that weren’t as entertaining as the “real” people swing dancing AMAZINGLY down below, and a laser show after it got dark.

Here, another first for us….while sitting and waiting for the pantomime to begin, I noticed that it was a nice photo op for Florence to take a selfie with the Tivoli Gardens sign in the background. I must look VERY uncoordinated, needy, or challenged when I do this, because one of the workers from Tivoli stopped, and said “Would you like me to hold him for you?” QUOTE OF THE DAY. No one has ever WANTED to hold Florence! Well, except for DD#2, but she’s like that. And so I let him. And I didn’t even try to crop his hand out of the picture. And I didn’t correct him that he was indeed a she (Florence that is, not the worker). These were special times.

Speaking of getting dark. It doesn’t. Well, later in the trip it wouldn’t. Now it was just really late when darkness fell. We opted out of the fireworks show that wouldn’t be until 11:45 p.m. and walked home by 11:00. We did get to see some of it in the reflections of the windows across the street and it was very very easy to hear!

Sleep in day! I had a Scotch egg for breakfast – never tried one before, but I quite liked it! (That followed my Cornish pasty that I had the day before….I let the guys work on the Fish and Chips entrée….).

This was the day we taught the kids how to use the subway/tube/underground.

We hadn’t even gone through the turnstiles before DD#1 started panicking! Our hotel was right across the street from Liverpool St. Station, and when we got to the platform it was so crowded we weren’t sure how the 5 of us would ever get on at the same time and /or find each other ever again. When we got off to switch to Piccadilly Line it was even worse due to some kind of snafu that had put one of the trains out of service – so there were less trains coming through and far more humanity waiting for them. We missed the first opportunity, and then braced ourselves to make it on the next one no matter what – the next one went right by us – out of service -. By that time DD had calmed down and was starting to see the adventure of our situation and after a few warm-ups, stretches and mental aggressive strategies, we all leapt (well, leapt might be a bit strong – perhaps squished, shoved and slid would be better) onto the next train. When we re-entered civilization again we were in Piccadilly Circus, ready to look around.

We visited Fortnum and Mason’s department store and realized we definitely weren’t in Kansas (or Nova Scotia for that matter) anymore. The displays! The hats! The candy! The tea! The perfume! On to lunch. We found a nice Italian restaurant that also served Fish and chips for the guys. DD#2 ordered a side of “chips” and was quite confused when they brought her mayonnaise. By the end of the cruise, I noticed she was always getting that as her preferred condiment (as well as her usual copious amount of ketchup).

Back on the tube we went – now it was more like what we remembered, and quite civilized. No waiting, no crowds and the kids were handling it like pros. See, she's smiling!

We popped up on the street this time at Harrods and spent lots of time there. The girls were particularly amazed by the formal dress salon – we dragged DD#1 out of that one and managed to get her through shoes without incident or bankruptcy. Since that wasn’t really our style of shopping, we let the girls wander through H&M for a while before getting on the tube again, this time popping up near Trafalgar Square where we just enjoyed some people watching. Everything was being set up for the Tour de France which would be in town after we left fortunately.

One last tube to our hotel, no more panic attacks, everyone had a great day, and a little time for re-grouping. The girls had a fabulous evening meeting DD#1s Facebook/skype friends that she had never met in person. They were able to come in by train from Oxford to get together, and after much hugging and laughter, went to Nando’s which was their favourite restaurant and happened to be right around the corner from our place. The girls actually showed THEM around “our neighbourhood” since they had actually never been in to London! There was no problem figuring out what their favourite part of this day was!

Liverpool St. Station:

While they were out we went for an innocent walk up Bishopsgate, down a little corridor and smack dab into the middle of Beerfest – thousands of people in a square, with the Wimbledon game on a big screen. We maneuvered around the broken cups and scattered bottles, squeezed through people, and made our way back to the train station! All the while with a small smile on DS’s face.

(the view from our place)

As this was our last night in London, we made use of the combination washer/dryer in the apartment. Not a great idea as we had a load of clothes that would not dry. We either didn’t set it right or it didn’t work right but at times it felt like the clothes were getting wetter not dryer! I ended up ironing our clothes dry-enough in the morning. How’s that for an exciting Friday evening?

Pia, the kids are our son 25, our daughter 19 (the one actually holding Florence who usually just embarrasses her to pieces - she must be growing up - no, I can get her to do pretty much anything if she knows the camera is on her....) and the one by the phone booth is our youngest daughter 17.

More to come soon! I'll get back at it.

We had an early start to the next day as we were taking a tour with Premium Tours of London. So that meant getting up at 5:30 local time (um…..that would be 1:30 a.m. for us….) in order to get everyone ready and out the door in time to walk to our pickup spot at another hotel at 7:20. We did it though, and I was so proud of our young adults for not complaining (too much) or dragging their feet (too much) – I think they may have just been sleepwalking that first bit. Florence was totally ready to go - she kept her wardrobe simple for this cruise, just some simple accesorizing with pink duct tape (to match our luggage which was similarily adorned).

We were shuttled to Victoria Station and then transferred to our double decker for a fun day around the town, seeing all the typical London things. We went for a boatride on the Thames, and were right at Big Ben when it chimed 9:00 (not necessarily in that order).

Our guide John was so good at getting us to all the best vantage points for the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace– this wasn’t a tour for those who don’t like to walk – quickly!

At the tour’s end we went up on the London Eye to see the sights we now recognized, from a totally different viewpoint. It was a very restful and a great way to end our touring day. So restful that DH and I declared that we could walk back to Bishopsgate. Fortunately, the girls didn’t know how far that was, and fortunately DS didn’t tell them.

Being the wild and crazy Canucks that we are, we (don’t get ahead of me here….) …..stopped at Tesco and got the makings for a Pasta dinner, that we whipped up back at our abode and actually made it to 9:30 p.m. before succumbing to sleep.

Favourite moments of the day: DD#1 – using the ‘restroom’ on the boat (go figure…give them a cruise, and their favourite moment is……). DD#2 – “the thing”. (That would be The London Eye, for those of you who don’t speak DD#2ish). DS – “When some girl came over and invited me and Dad to a Beerfest tomorrow….” (no editorial comment needed). DH – the changing of the guard (finally, a normal answer) and for me….watching my DDs take selfies EVERYWHERE, but especially the long photo shoot at the telephone booth.

Thank you for your encouraging words. If life didn't keep getting in the way - life, and laundry - I could really get going on this. Luckily for you reading this, I appear to have a lot of life, and even more laundry to do, so it'll be coming in bits and pieces. Here's our first day in London, and then I'll be back!

So, once we were dropped at our hotel, we cased the joint, and declared it lovely, chose our rooms (it was a 2 bedroom apartment with full kitchen – the DS got to enjoy the cot in the living room…), and decided to look for something to eat. If there is just the 2 of us, this is easy, and actually an enjoyable quest. With 5 it becomes a quiet battle of wills. Fortunately, there was a Tesco just a few steps away from our place, and we managed to find something for everyone there to take back and eat in “our place”. The girls would have happily stayed there using the free Wi-Fi but we booted them out and went for a walk to the Tower Bridge which wasn’t far from our place. And by “wasn’t far” I should explain that DH and I love to walk…long walks. Our kids are not as keen, except for the DS, who, having very mild CP, had been trying to work out before the trip to make sure he didn’t “slow us down” and developed a stress fracture….sigh. He was ok by this point though and had met a few medical personnel back home that were pretty sure he should have a doctor travel with him just to be on the safe side……

I’ll just mention here that all of the places we went to on this trip were new to all of us – DH and I were in London once before at the end of our European Explorer cruise – for a whole 4 hours. So we decided to give it more time this trip. We had done a Mediterranean cruise with my parents from Rome to Venice, then the above mentioned from Rome to Southampton with my dad (after my mom passed away) and now that they’re both gone, we had wanted to continue the route starting in London and since we couldn’t get the itinerary with the ship we wanted to start from Southampton, we made the trip start in London anyway! I’m sure that was fascinating for you all, and for those of you who haven’t nodded off….I’ll now get back on track.

It was a beautiful day and I was smugly nodding to my decision to pack my raincoat in order to keep the skies sunny for our whole trip. Nothing keeps rain away like using up valuable luggage real estate for a raincoat. We ambled about around the bridge and the Tower of London, allowed the girls a chance to visit the souvenir shops outside and then moseyed back, stopping at (you guessed it) Tesco to get some pizzas to bake in our oven. Which we did, and tried to stay awake eating them. Everyone was in bed by 8:30 and of course, awake at totally inappropriate times during the night. The only negative to our lovely apartment was that the front of it, the part that faced the street, the part where DS had to sleep on his cot right next to the windows, was very noisy. So noisy that I was sure the windows were open. They were not. He, being the patient long-suffering type that he is, commented that it got quieter between 2 and 4 a.m.

When taking a big vacation, there are several important things to consider. One of those details that seems to take our family the longest, is – WHAT will we CALL this trip? To date, we haven’t come up with the definitive answer, but “Getting Funky in the Baltics 2014” is somewhere near the top of the list. But we weren’t sure that would go over well on the Princess board, so we’re open to suggestions.

My reviews, are long, indulgent and enjoyable for me to write. Consider yourself duly warned, and if you proceed, remember I told you so. If you haven’t read any of my other reviews, here’s the scoop on this year’s cast. We are 5 humans, and one small stuffed zebra – the aforementioned Florence. My DH and I are VERY EARLY 50s and we had planned this cruise for years to celebrate our 30th anniversary. Then, along came a good sale, and we decided to take 3 of our kids with us as well. So we did. 3 of them. Our kids. On our anniversary cruise. They had the delight of sharing an inside cabin on a different deck than us, who had a balcony cabin. Florence resided with us. Our 19 year old daughter was too ashamed to have the zebra anywhere near her. Fine. She stayed in my purse (the zebra not my daughter), making cameo appearances in many countries, fortunately without incident.

So it was, that with much trepidation we threw caution and our luggage to the wind, trusting the good folks of Iceland Air with our luggage. We almost always travel “carry-on” only, but since this airline didn’t charge for the checked baggage that we had, we decided to give it a go. And we were off – celebrating Canada Day in fine style, even getting to see a few fireworks as the aircraft rose above the city of Halifax (Nova Scotia, hence the bluenoser2 name….look it up.)

What can be said about Iceland? Hmmmmm……well, given that we landed at some ungodly hour for us, that was early morning for them, and that it was foggy and cold and misty, and we were tired and bleary-eyed, ….not much.

The airport feels like a galactic station with beings coming from everywhere and going everywhere. And here’s my one complaint – why, if all passengers coming into the airport are coming directly off an airplane, where they have just cleared security, customs, and a few have bought things at the duty-free shop before taking off from Halifax, did we have to go through the whole security thing again as we entered the airport, and anyone with liquids (including those precious duty-free liquids) had to give them up? The “What did You think of your Security Experience?” electronic survey got a big grumpy face from one of the DDs who had been forced to surrender her Icelandic water bottle. Next time she’ll drink it before saving it. To balance that negative comment, I have to say that the airport at Keflavik has outstanding washroom facilities downstairs. I lost count of how many ultra modern little rooms (one could certainly not call them stalls) were there. If Dyson can work out the kinks of their faucet that also blowdries the hands (and consequently blows soap foam all over the mirror, walls, and my clothes, and water up my sleeves) it will be a remarkable little invention.

With the hundreds or so of us waiting for our connecting flight to Heathrow, the person at the gate counter quietly nodded her head and whispered “we’ll board now…” and everyone quietly and calmly filed past her and on to the waiting bus that took us to our plane. Very laid back. I was also very laid back, and was asleep before we took off. Must be the Icelandic language.

Once landed in London without incident, AND (glory hallelujah!) with all our luggage, we proceeded to the information area and meeting area to meet our driver we had pre-booked online through TotallyDriven minicabs. We didn’t find him right away, but we were also late getting there, because the line at passport control had been so long (but, we got what could possibly be the only passport/customs officer in the history of the world with a witty personality who made the whole ordeal loads of fun – he really could have said anything, I’m a sucker for a British accent…but add funny to the accent, and our whole family is captivated). However, our driver WAS there, his little sign for us was just very small and I think he had started to give up on us. He was very good, and eventually we made it to our apartment hotel “196 Bishopsgate”.

Tripadvisor and Cruise Critic have been invaluable to us in all of our preparations for this trip and we were not disappointed in our pre-cruise stay in London. Since there were 5 of us, hiring the car service was definitely the way to go since it was a pre-set rate, no worries about a meter running, and we got a bit of a discount for booking a return pick-up when we had done so a couple of months ago. Was the hotel pricey? A bit, but we were staying 3 days and it really met all our needs very well.

I’ll be back later, with a summary of our pre-cruise adventures in London, if you’d like. Then it’s on to Copenhagen for our cruise!

I was just going to post a question, but because it is so similar to the original, may I pop in here? We too will be flying in to Copenhagen and staying at the Cabinn City on a Saturday (July 5) afternoon. There are 5 in our group - is public transportation difficult to do from the airport to the hotel? Would there be much of a walk to do with our luggage? Then, our ship leaves out of

Oceankaj (Ocean Key)

2100 Osterbro

Pier no: 330-334

Copenhagen, Denmark

What would be the most efficient or cost effective way for us to get to our ship from the hotel?

Also, from our hotel, can we do some sightseeing/eating on foot? We're just there for the afternoon, evening and morning before boarding our ship, and would like to see a little of Copenhagen, but know we can't do it all!

Thank you so much for your help!

Thank you so much for your speedy reply. That was just what I needed to know, and really helped. I WAS on the right track after all, and all your links were helpful. Much appreciated, and we're really looking forward to spending a few days in your part of the world! (The last time we were in London we had 2 hours to see the sights - so 3 days seems like a real luxury, even though we're having to make many choices - oh well, we'll just have to come back again!)

I've been googling, and checking threads here, and the more research I do, the more confused I get! We will be travelling this summer, and will require transportation from Heathrow to our hotel on Bishopsgate (not sure, but is the "postcode" for this area E1?) for our group of 5. Trying to figure out what the best way to do this would be. I'm assuming we will require a MPV+ since we will have 6 pieces of luggage as well. Any suggestions or advice on economical and efficient companies to deal with? Is it better to just get a cab when we get there, or should we book ahead? Thank you for your help.

Thanks everyone for your compliments and comments....I feel quite selfish when I do this kind of review - I get to relive my trip all over again!

Cormike1: We used to live a 5 minute drive from Peggy's Cove. We went there in the OFF season only. In fact, DH made it a New Years Day tradition to go there, no matter what the weather. There are dozens of beautiful little treasures along the coast. We just like to keep them a secret!

And Bruinboy: I'd be glad to go on a cruise sooner - perhaps Florence could administer some sort of Cruise Trust fund?

Time to wrap this baby up....here goes!

As our capable Captain had predicted, we were sailing under the Golden Gate again on our return at 5:30 a.m. We were on our balcony for that and then to deck 15 to see the skyline, which if it’s alright with you, I find much prettier in the daytime.

Then to the buffet our last meal......(sniffle, choking back sobs....).....by this time, I actually think I’ve tried all I want to try and after having my last chocolate Danish, and DH having his last yummy fresh pineapple slice, we’re kind of sort of well maybe not really mentally ready for the departure from the ship.

It was wonderful to not hear the creaking and bumping and rocking and rolling of the ship anymore as we did all the night previous. And I’m not complaining, I’m just sayin’......it was a really bumpy night, and I was happy to be snug as a bug in a rug in my bed during the worst of it.

We endured the last of the line-ups, this one for immigration before leaving, which was fine – lots of visiting others while we waited, and we got out of our room like good little passengers, before 8:00. We were in an 8:40 group for leaving; deciding against the walk-off option carrying all our luggage, as we had NOT used the elevators all week, and we were not about to start on the last morning – and we really didn’t feel like dragging all our luggage down all those stairs....so , um, deal with it – that’s how we roll! Literally. At this point, we’re kind of waddling, but rolling our luggage. We disembarked, and by the way, I think it’s right nice of them to keep that little bingy sound thingy on their hand-held scanners that we always liked to hear when we used to insert our card into the big machine ourselves. They don’t call these guys the Consummate host for nothin’!

We walked, yeah walked, to the Hertz rental car place which was only about 5 blocks – and not uphill – and after a very long wait in line, got our rental by 10. Our plan had been to go to Muir Woods for the day since our flight wouldn’t be leaving until 10 pm, but what with the government shut down and all, the park wasn’t open. Undeterred, we drove to the Golden Gate Park and enjoyed strolling around through it, before getting to drive over the Golden Gate that we had passed under and taken pictures of from every possible vantage point – though we found a few more ways to photograph it before the day was done.

And then, and then, we decided to try driving up the #1 – the Panoramic Highway I think it’s called? So after a lovely lunch in Sausalito at El Patio, we were on the road again. Today was my day to feel motion sickness – as beautiful as the drive was (or so I’m told) I did not feel well with all of that, and it did not make me feel much better to know that DH was making himself sick with his own driving! Beautiful trees, yes, but we thought it would never end. When we got to a crossroads of sort, I was asked “what would you like to do?” “GO BACK!!!!” “On THAT road again? No way!”

So we got to the main highway and got ourselves back to San Francisco – one last time over that bridge, and spent an enjoyable couple of hours back downtown at the mall and a few places around it, gathering the necessary clothing souvenirs that our daughters would expect (and for which we scored major points on our return!).

And with that, our vacation was officially over. To the airport, and after a long red-eye flight, we arrived back in our cozy little home shortly after noon the next day. Florence, for those of you still hanging on to the bitter end, was none too happy with us, as we unwittingly and thoughtlessly kept forgetting to take her with us when we left the ship. However, she is waiting and working on choosing her wardrobe for our next adventure. Florence bids you all adieu, and will return next summer with her review of the Scandanavia/Russia cruise we are ALL (yes, all 5 of us – sorry, 6 including her) doing on the Royal. Now, what color bow to choose........or maybe a hat would be more appropriate......

Cheers! From Florence, with love.

[/color]

Yes! We were some of those out and about - it was just that lousy packing and having to get ready to end the cruise that made one of us woozy I think! Other than that one afternoon we loved where our room was though. Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet! Perhaps next time.

So it was that after being awakened at 3:15 a.m. by our oh-so-fun neighbours, we began our last day on the cruise. (Cue chorus of muffled sobs and sighs.) Our neighbours’ fun sounds seemed to turn into something a little less fun sounding as the rocking and rolling of the sea became more evident! That quieted them down fairly quickly and we returned to our sleep.

In the morning we opted for the buffet for breakfast since we hadn’t tried this before, and enjoyed the fare there. Lots of choice, and lots of room – we actually never had a problem finding a place to sit in Horizon Court. Perhaps we don’t choose rush hour times, but it was all very civilized and yes, we ALWAYS used the hand sanitizer. We tried to read down in the Piazza to enable Roger to do his work in our room, but it got pretty loud after awhile, so we decided to check out the sale in Michelangelo, which is really no sale – just the same stuff from the $10 and some of the same things from outside the shops at the same prices. We were not fooled into buying. We are savvy. Trying to find a quieter spot, we headed for the library so I could finish my ship’s library book, and have my last granola parfait. DH was so wonderful to run up to Horizon for a cup of tea for me (since I learned you can’t get that at International Cafe, and after finally getting the kind of tea I wanted, I was willing to stick with it and not buy anything fancy). The crowd from the cooking demo filed through at one point, just as the ship lurched a bit and they scored bonus points for all exclaiming “ooooooooooh!!!” in unison. I was impressed. They must have rehearsed.

No cruise, even a Princess cruise would be complete without the obligatory towel animal constructing demonstration. Florence was impressed.

Yes, it was a rough day – I don’t have enough cruising under my belt to be able to compare, I can only say that it was “up there” with the best of them (or the worst, depending on your outlook). The sick-bags came out a little later in the day, so it must have been worthy of mention. DH went out on the promenade for pictures before it was totally blocked off to passengers, while I chose to stay indoors. We really enjoyed standing up on deck 15 and watching the surf in the pools, which of course were not available for swimming. I wonder what it would be like to be in the pool when it’s like that. Some of the spray reached the 15th deck!

We attended most of the Kevin Hughes “50 minutes to a better brain” lecture after lunch – it was actually very good – he’s still funny, but actually very knowledgeable and a great motivational speaker.

Later in the afternoon, we had to admit that it was time to start packing our worldly goods back into the suitcases. This sounds like it would be easy, but with the swells, we started to understand the difference in being on deck 10 as far forward as one could be, and being on deck 5 in the middle! Pack a little, lie down a little, pack a little, and lie down a little more. Not our most efficient packing time, no prizes for speed here. DH started to feel lousy – amazingly, I did not!

We got our suitcases out in the hall and headed down to the 5th deck to try to get him to feel a little better before supper. We ate a little lighter (ha!) that night, and he ordered meatloaf – but it came pretty pink, so he left it all, and ate all his mashed potatoes instead. We stayed low for awhile after dinner to listen to the quartet in the piazza, and to avoid our room a little longer. However, we did go back, deciding to forego any entertainment this evening, and he used up the last of our internet minutes, while I watched The Proposal (my traditional Princess movie). Fortunately, our bags hadn’t been taken yet, and I was able to dig out my Gravol for him. I got him some cookies from Horizon later to have with his pop/soda and we called it a day.

We spoke too soon about our quiet room at the end of the hall. (Depending on whether you’re a glass half full, or half empty kind of person we’re the very first or the very last room in the hall.) Our neighbors decided to have a little get together at 2:30 a.m. Someone must have complained before we even had a chance to think of it (is it our Canadian-ness that makes us not even THINK of calling to complain?) because they seemed to shut down very abruptly.

(the looking up view from our balcony)

No matter, it was Eggs Benedict in the dining room this morning and they served it with asparagus. Heaven. As we neared port, the seals or sea lions (I do know the difference if I can see them, but I couldn't see these close enough to tell) were having a fine time and of course, making me smile.

We decided to check out the main street of Ensenada in the morning. Of course, we were there so early, the shopkeepers were still opening up. I don’t know what it’s like later on in the day with more shoppers and keepers, but it was pretty funny to us at this point in the day:

“Turn RIGHT –HERE!”

“Come in! You never know......”

“It’s my turn! Come in here now!”

“Everything! Almost free!”

“This is my life work. I made these.” (and all the others in all the other stores that are the same?)

“Who knows?......”

And our favourite: “Come buy things you don’t need! Make my day! Then I can go home early today!”

(what men take pictures of....)

We managed to walk both sides of the street a couple of times, and still made it back to the ship without buying more than a magnet. Earlier I had tried to use the coin Laundromat on our deck, but a sign posted said “unavailable until further notice”. This is not a sign one wants to see when one packs just enough to get to that certain point in the trip where one can do more laundry and start over the clothes cycle. Happily, the sign was gone upon our return, and we were able to get that task done while others were buying in Ensenada.

Burgers at the Trident for lunch before going on our (ship) tour in the afternoon. Our tour guide Irma (or EEEEErmah as she pronounced it) was very good. In spite of the fact that the bus ride clocked less mileage than we had on foot in the morning, I still managed to nap immediately upon movement and the sound of the guide. Maybe I’m just a selective narcoleptic. Our only stop was the Convention Centre. I had heard less than stellar reviews of this tour before we went, so my expectations were pretty low. However, given that I don’t get out much, I really enjoyed the time spent there. We don’t have a lot of mariachi bands in our Nova Scotia town, so it was a lot of fun to listen to them and the program with the dancers was really well done – about an hour’s worth of various dances and singing.

We were “home” by 4:40 and did a very quick change for formal night – it was after all, lobster night. DH was as happy as a clam (ironically), with all the seafood he could have tonight. I had decided today that I have actually had enough seafood and eggs to do me for awhile, and chose my favourite Beef Wellington instead. (With asparagus, in case anyone’s counting) A quick glance at the dessert menu was all I needed to secure chocolate hazelnut soufflé for dessert. Dom brought more little treats to choose from after that, which we didn’t say no to.

(Anyone know what this one is called?)

On this cruise, after the first production night when people were struggling to get seats, they put on 3 shows in the theatre each night for the production presentations. So we went to the early show of “British Invasion” and I enjoyed it, and DH actually stayed awake for it – which is to say he enjoyed it as well. We strolled, and hit the Vista Lounge for the Impressionist who did a decent Louis Armstrong and BeeGees tonight. Party-ers that we are, we ended the evening with pizza AND dessert from the Lido and took it to our room, to try and nab a few winks before any partying began in the room beside us later on.

OK, remember the DH who likes to get up for his 5:30 a.m. walk in the dark? This morning he tells me that when he got up at 5:30.....wait, I interrupt him at that point, saying that there is no way he got up at 5:30 because I was wide awake playing solitaire on my phone (I know, another wild and crazy move by yours truly) and wondering why he was still asleep. Patiently, he attempts to return to his narrative, saying that he went out on deck and was surprised to meet a few people in the hallways, and then, as he made his way through the ship, wondered why his eyes hurt, he saw it. The clock. The clock said 1:30 a.m. There were still people at the bar. He got up at 1:30 for his morning walk. He completed his route and came back to bed. I was blissfully unaware the whole time. (Turns out that instead of his watch, he looked at his phone which was turned off since we left Canada and the clock was still on Atlantic time.) What did he do to get himself back to sleep? Count ships. Princess ships. Named all 18 and then went to sleep.

Having successfully avoided doing ship’s excursions thus far, we caved today and participated in a bus tour of Los Angeles. This was never Plan A. That was going to Disneyland or Universal Studios, but thinking we wouldn’t have enough time to do either justice, we, as mentioned above, caved. Finding out that the port time had been increased by 5 hours after our arrival on the Grand, we might have reneged on the tour, but we didn’t have a whole lot of brain power at that time to put into replanning Plan A, so Plan B it was. This apparently was the incognito tour – no bright little oval stickers for us. Which was good. When we didn’t want to feel part of a tour. Which was bad. When 2 of the tour participants were late for the rendezvous and no one could remember what they looked like.

Our guide Suzanne began by filling us all in on her life story, and I began slipping into my TBS (Tour Bus Syndrome). Which is to say, I dozed through most of her tale, and roused when we started hitting major traffic. (No, not literally hitting the traffic....)

Some of our most entertaining parts of this day were listening to the other passengers on the bus complain or argue with each other. I believe that finances and in-laws are touted as being the major causes of relationship problems. Air conditioning and camera use must run a close third and fourth. I am still surprised at how irritable people ON VACATION can be! ON VACATION! See, in our situation, DH holds and is responsible for the camera. That means he gets the window seat. His only other responsibility while on the bus is to drag me back out of the aisle should I fall into it when I nod off, to prevent me being a hazard to others. Well, that, and making sure I don’t drool on anyone while sleeping. Or snort too loudly.

So we stopped at places like Alameda Street, where our Amazing Race quest was to find a restroom, use it and be back at the bus (if it found a place to park) in 20 minutes. Score. We ditched the main group at Hollywood Blvd and did our own gawking, meeting back with the group at precisely the right place and time, and then waiting for 15 minutes for the two missing in action, who did find us eventually. My favorite spot on Hollywood Boulevard was the keyboard staircase which we found quite accidentally and which I happily played on for some time. We drove down Rodeo Drive, Sunset Strip, Route 66 etc. and ended up at the Farmer’s Market for 45 minutes where I ate a monster sized doughnut for my (nutritious) lunch. A slow drive back to the ship returned us just after 3:00.

oops! How did that get in there? That was for....er....Florence! Yes that's it, big fan, big fan.

Ironman....o.k. I confess, I have pictures of Robert Downey's footprints.....can I claim Florence again?

Hey, just like in our driveway at home....who would have thought? Well, the black part anyway.....

Now that the ship wasn't leaving until 10:30 p.m. we had lots of time, but not a lot of ambition, so we decided to enjoy some strolling around and in and on the Queen Mary, right next to our ship. After showing our cruise card at the entrance we could just wander around on our own. Various tours were available but since it was getting late in the day by the time we got there, we didn't try any of those. Definitely a fun thing to do – I enjoyed all the celebrity pictures on the walls, and the fashion shop with the old dressing rooms in it.

The donuts were wearing off, so we enjoyed dinner in the dining room as usual – one of my favourites – the twice baked goat cheese soufflé appetizer – ok, put the word soufflé in the title, and I’m obviously going to like it. Some Boston Bibb lettuce to pick out of my teeth all evening, raspberry sorbet and the mains. Scallops for DH, and some Trilogy of meats for me. It was ok. I could have just had more sorbet. By the time we finished our chocolate lover’s delight dessert we had no room for the petit fours being passed around, so we left while we could still move, er, waddle.

(Oh, come on, you know you weren't getting out of here without SOME food pics)

Knowing we wouldn’t be able to stay awake for Sailaway at 10:30 we chose the early show in the theatre – a vocal impressionist – followed by a stroll on the Promenade, before retiring to our room for a movie before snooze time.

Zoo day! (I’m not referring to any passengers, so don’t get your dander all in a knot.) I took a break from chocolate Danish this morning, and tried to be a little more virtuous about my dietary selection. Not. DH, the one who prefers his meat charred beyond recognition, and fully well done, should have known better than to order something entitled “minute steak”.

The day started foggy, but quickly cleared and was a good 80 degrees and then some. We got a taxi and went to the zoo for the day. If you do this, I would advise you to get to the zoo just before it opens – one of my favourite parts of the day was being there as they finished their little welcome to the San Diego Zoo speech, and then directed us to look to our right, where a gaggle? flock?......bunch of birds did an impressive flyby. Nice touch. We did the tour by bus after checking out the orangutans. Even though we didn’t get the first bus, the next was right behind and we were on that after an entertaining wait in line thanks to Zooman, the staffer who must either REALLY love his job, or is an amazing actor! The 40 minute tour took us all around the zoo, and then we were able to decide where we wanted to trek to. Despite our best intentions of doing the Australian and African areas when it was cooler in the morning, we got a bit turned around and ended up doing the rain forest/jungle areas in the cool of the morning. Our bad. Despite the recalcitrant guerillas and the somewhat comatose lions, we had a wonderful day. We took the overhead tram both ways – no lineup to get on going DOWN! We spent money at the shop – all for a good cause of course. By 2:00 we were happily exhausted and ready to go back to the ship. Which we did.

Line up, Line up - the dining room should have been open by now....come on people, line up - there is NO way we're going to get our table if they don't open soon.....what do you mean they're having a waiter's MEETING....make them open those doors!

Should have splurged for Crown Grille. The greens in the buffet just aren't up to much.

Oh my. What was I thinking? When they said I could have as many appetizers AND desserts as I wanted, I thought I'd have some control. Where's my bed? Never mind. This is good enough.

A facial at the spa? What are you getting at Myrtle? Are you saying I LOOK like I need a facial?

I could do this all day! Could someone unplug me from my slot machine so I can go get more food?

We stopped at the International Cafe for my favourite dish – the chicken cashew waldorf, and a quiche for the DH and took it up to have on our balcony before heading to the pool. There were very few people around, so we enjoyed a couple of good swims and some lounge chair time. Actually, on the whole cruise, it was always easy to get a lounge chair, which was quite a score for us, after our last two Carnival cruises.

By now, we were able to get the same table each night and really enjoyed our waiters Dom and Serge. Jeffrey, who had been our waiter in the mornings, and who had the section next to where we were, always came over to check on us as well. I managed to enjoy my supper very much, even though there was no asparagus.

In the evening we enjoyed the “Do You Wanna Dance” production – well, I enjoyed it while DH had a little rest in his seat. There were some passengers who complained loudly citing the “seat saving not allowed” policy – one person had just gone to use the restroom and the person who wanted that seat was quite incensed that the seat was being saved. So, apparently one needs a bladder of steel to keep one’s seat? I was a little nervous, considering all the tea I had imbibed. (Perhaps if the sound of seals had been piped in, those coming in at 7:45 for the 7:45 show and not finding a seat, would have been able to deal with it better.)

It was Cruise Director Martyn’s birthday, so we all sang Happy Birthday, and he gave a 30 minute stand up routine. Bonus!

Well howdy neighbour Liz54! We used to live in Shad Bay close to Peggy's Cove! Glad you're enjoying the review. I'll have the next instalment up after I get back to my computer and the turkey is roasting tomorrow morning!

Up before the sun, as usual, DH walked, while I cocooned and wrote. We watched the approach into Santa Barbara from our balcony, and enjoyed listening to the buoy bell and the sea lions (or seals?) barking from their perch on it. I honestly think that if there is anyone in a bad mood on board, (and why anyone would be in a bad mood whilst on vacation on a cruise is unfathomable to me!) just listening to those animals has got to crack a smile on even the grumpiest soul’s face. Wouldn’t it?

Dining room for breakfast where I indulged in my second Chocolate Danish of the cruise. Do the servers just automatically start reaching for the chocolate when their target is a woman? Mine did, while he started pointing to a fruit Danish for DH.

By 8:00 we were ready to go, so after checking in with the crew in the dining room as we were instructed to, they directed us to just join the tour group that was heading for the tender at that point. So we tried to blend in with the bunch, though our absence of the bright oval sticker made us fairly conspicuous I’m sure. By 8:40 we were safely on land, after enjoying the luxurious seating aboard the tender. (Some of the passengers needed to listen to some sea lions I think.)

We quickly separated from the masses, and strolled along the beach area. It was a beautiful day and already warm, albeit a bit foggy.

We checked out Stearns Wharf and asked about the HOHO trolley tour. According to our source, it really wasn't a HOHO on a busy day with the cruise ship in and all. We were advised to stay on it, or we might not get BACK on it. We stood in line for 20 minutes, and as the trolley pulled up, were reasonably sure we wouldn't get on, and if we did, we wouldn't be very comfortable, and we certainly didn't want to wait another hour for the next trolley, so we gave up our enviable spot in line to others, and trekked out on our own. We weren't disappointed, but we did miss the mission stop. We walked instead, up through Old Town, and really enjoyed our time in the Court House, overlooking the city from the tower look-out (up 144 steps according to the information man – we didn't bother to check his facts since we got distracted and lost count after the twelfth step).

Almost missing the McDonalds because of the unusually classy looking exterior (well, classy looking in comparison to what we’re used to) we were happy to go use some free WiFi there and have our bottomless large Coke there. We can make a buck go pretty far (and get really excited about it as you can see). 3 hat stores, a Macy’s and two jewellry stores later, we hiked back to the ship to enjoy a late lunch and some pool time for DH. My face was still screaming “indoors!” from the sun of yesterday, so I retreated to my favourite little table in the Piazza.

It’s all about the free entertainment – this afternoon it was when the servers came out and announced “It’s Cookies and Milk Time” – and crowds of adults surrounded them quickly, emptying their trays of the fresh chocolate chip cookies. Some things we just never grow too old for, do we? (I chose to continue reading and later when they approached, I oh-so-reluctantly allowed them to bestow a cookie upon me.)

Tonight’s dinner in the dining room might as well have been titled My Favourite Princess Dinner, since we both had the fettucine as an app, and I had the Ceasar Salad, and after Surf and Turf, DH chose the cheesecake, and I the Princess Loveboat Dream. No complaints here.

And tonight’s featured evening entertainment.....the Photo Gallery. We had a good laugh over our pathetic presence in some of the photos in the collection and felt quite liberated to know we would not be losing any money to this area of the ship. (As must have been the case for a few others we saw....they were more tempting to purchase than our own!) However, I must say we had no problem staying awake and had plenty of laughs when we went to see Kevin Hughes, the comedian later in the evening.

Eating as we do in the dining room each evening, we decided to go and see what the dessert area looked like up in Horizon Court. We had been missing out! The cakes look so pretty displayed there in their whole state, that we just HAD to sample a couple of them. (No pizza for us tonight.)

In bed by 10:00, asleep by 10:01.

Awake at 2:30, I enjoyed the silence and gentle motion of the ship, but must have dozed off again, only to be awakened at 5:15 by DH who got up for his early morning constitutional – he goes for walks at 6:00 a.m. at home, so why not go for a walk, in the dark, on the Promenade at that ungodly hour? I did not envy him, as many parts of it were blocked off for maintenance then – after all, who in their right mind goes for a stroll at that time of day/night?

We had breakfast in the dining room at the stroke of 7:00 a.m. with stomachs growling and ready for lunch! Oh the irony....DH had the MAINE blueberry pancakes – do we not have a freezer full of our own Nova Scotia wild blueberries? We live less than 10 miles from the blueberry capital of the world, but he crosses the continent to have Maine blueberry pancakes! I had a mushroom omelet and a whole lot of tea. There was an extremely rude guest that I mercifully had my back towards, making quite a ruckus in the dining room, and when we left, the head waiter apologized to us profusely – as if it was his fault? It was the most excitement I had seen (well, heard to be correct) on a Princess ship by a cruiser!

I chose daylight to do my mile on the Promenade deck (that’s 3 times around for anyone who doesn't know – it took me 2 ½ laps to find the signage that told me that....but that’s just me “discovering” things over and over again.... and it was lovely and warm, and not even terribly breezy as I would have expected. Must have been those black pants again, guaranteeing warm weather.

DH was doing some work in the room (I can hear your shocked gasps...let it go...) so I scored some points by ironing his shirts for him, and then took my leisure reading down to the Piazza to give him some space and peace, and enjoyed some people-watching while I sat. To stave off the temptation of bothering DH more, I went and collected all the stamps for his and my treasure hunt cards, and entered the raffle. I also discovered a new favourite at the International Cafe – the granola yogurt parfait. Mmmmmmm. Yummmmmm.

Where was I before the ADD kicked in? Oh yes.....after awhile we planned to meet, but I couldn’t find him – turned out he had been in another corner of the piazza deck and had seen me the whole time until I disappeared (looking for him). Once again, his impeccable spouse radar located me and we went to check out the $10 sale. I don’t even know why we bother with this, except to watch how many people love to spend money! We left the room no richer or poorer. I must say though, if I needed a formal clutch that would be the place to find one! In any colour or shape. We spent our money on the traditional and compulsory ship magnet and a sweater for me, who, no matter how many times I try to remind myself, never bring one from home, thinking – oh, the ship isn’t THAT cold inside....it is. I needed one. Souvenir for me - check.

We passed on the pub lunch in the Crown Grille, and the dining room fare and trotted up to the Trident Grill for some sustenance. And then, to cap off the lunch perfectly, I had.....drum-roll please....rice pudding. Sigh. I never get to make it at home - no one else likes it. This was yummy. For any of you who are actually still reading this, I’m sure you’re thinking, “wow, that lady is one wild and crazy Canuck”. Yup. That’s me. Party on.

So we went for the raffle draw, and as they drew for a men’s shave (I looked at DH’s full beard....), and other gift certificates, DH murmured “I’m holding out for the big one” to which I guffawed. And then, there it was, the $500 piece of art – and he was the winner, almost looking embarrassed as he went to collect it. (It was a Billy Dee Williams lithograph- it’ll look good in the music room. Souvenir for DH – check.)

We spent some time by the pool in the warm sun, with the cool breeze. Sun? Lovely. Sunburn? Not so much. Ouch. We did another mile on the promenade – much breezier this time, but still able to do the whole circuit, and then getting ready for formal night, and going to the theatre for the gold and ruby member’s presentation to get our free drink voucher (which we later forgot to use).

LOVED these guys!

Well, wanting to get that elusive table for 2, DH made sure we were in the line with the other starving souls by 5:00, many who were complaining that the dining room should be open already (I’m sure it said 5:30 in the Patter every day for opening, but people had decided it was 5:00 – and actually, they did open it shortly after 5. We got our table, having earlier realized that at least on this cruise, tables for 2 cannot be reserved – I still don’t quite get that whole reserving thing, but we were told that tables for 2 were on a first come first serve basis. So we first came.

A lovely meal, complete with my barramundi – with ASPARAGUS!!! Yay. In my third unsuccessful attempt to get the right kind of tea for dessert, I requested orange pekoe, and was given orange spice herbal tea with my chocolate peanut butter pie. It was actually a lovely pairing that I never would have chosen myself. The next day I learned the secret word “LIPTON” for my tea. Live and learn.

We watched the champagne waterfall and headed off to the theatre for “Stardust” where the orchestra was considerably better than they had been for the Gold –Ruby presentation earlier. Then we hoofed it to the other end of the ship for the Vista Lounge and our gently lulling magician, who we were able to enjoy more this evening as the time difference began to have less effect on us. After all that work out of chuckling and sauntering from one end of the ship to the other, it was obviously time for pizza, pop, and bed. (Sorry, that should have read soda for most of you.)