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Go With Me on My 2014 Grand World Voyage

Esri

By Esri,
in Holland America Line

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cccole

cccole

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I am so sorry for the death of your father. He sounds like a fabulous dad and person. Even when a death is expected it does not make the passing any easier. I'm sure when you look up in the night sky you will see a bright new star. I look forward to your reports on your world cruise and hope that you find some comfort in him wanting you to make the voyage. Cherie

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startwin

startwin

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Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful memories of an amazing father with us. As someone who spends many hours weekly in a hospice, I feel sure he picked his time and waited until you were on your way. My deepest condolences to you and your family.

Edited by startwin
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KirkNC

KirkNC

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I am so sorry to hear about your father. I can tell from your write up how close you were and what a strong influence he was on your life. Hopefully you can find joy on the world cruise and remember all the wonderful times you had with him.

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Esri

Esri

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Read it on Go With Me!

 

After I cried myself to sleep on Sunday night, I slept like a baby. I had set my alarm for 8:00 AM, but I woke up at about 7:30. I showered and went to breakfast – orange juice, Denver omelet, and toast. It was very good. I’m picky about eggs – I only like them the way I like them. HAL’s omelet passed the test.

 

Breakfast behind me, I came back to the cabin and worked on my blog post about my Dad for a bit. At 10:00 we had our first Cruise Critic Meet & Greet. I kind of sat in the corner and let folks come to me. Which they did – apparently the photo booklet and initial organization I did for the roll call was a big hit.

 

I was more than happy to let Wowzo/MaryAnn emcee the meeting though. I can do public speaking and teaching, but I prefer not to. MaryAnn did a great job though. The Meet & Greet was well attended and both Henk, the Hotel Manager, and Glenn, the Cruise Director, came and spoke. Waiters were serving champagne and mimosas and there was food, although I didn’t partake in any of the offerings so I’m not sure what kind of food it was.

 

By the way, Diane S. said I should send a shout out to her son, who reads the blog. If she told me his name, I forgot and I apologize, but “Hi, Diane’s son!”

 

I only told two people on the ship today that my Dad had died. I was talking to a woman who is taking a tour I arranged in Lima and she asked me a question about what time we’d meet and I drew a complete blank! I just said “I’m sorry. My father died yesterday and my mind just turned to mush. Could you call me later?” Of course she was most gracious and sympathetic.

 

Then at dinner one of my table companions, Mary, who is on the world cruise with her father, asked me if my father was still living. I said “No” and she asked when he passed. There was nothing for it but to say “Saturday night”. She took my hand and told me how sorry she was and that I could call her anytime I needed to talk.

 

Despite being kind of out of it, I had a pretty good day. Writing the blog post about my Dad was kind of cathartic. It reminded me that I was very lucky to have the parents I had. I still miss my Mom every day after ten years. I miss Paul every day too. That said, I’ve made a life and gone on. I have fun and I laugh just about every day. I’ll continue to do so.

 

Other than the Meet & Greet and working on the post and picture gallery for the blog I read a few chapters of “The Hobbit”. I’m reading it for what is at least the thirtieth time. One of the last things I did before losing free internet access was download it and “The Lord of the Rings” to my Kindle. I love my Kindle – I can carry a whole library in less weight and space than one paperback.

 

I did my reading in the Ocean Bar this afternoon – I’m testing out the most comfortable chairs and environments for reading as I plan to do a lot of it on this cruise. As I was out and about I watched the crew working hard to decorate the ship for our first formal night.

 

I have to say, I was impressed with everything about the evening. I did not attend the Captain’s Champagne Reception, but my dinner companions told me it was exceptional. The same goes for dinner. Every course tonight had so many things I’d like to have eaten!

 

I decided on an antipasto plate for a starter, skipping the escargot (although I like it). The antipasto was delicious – I even ate the romaine garnish! I stuck to my Caesar Salad although I was tempted by the spicy corn chowder – I didn’t want to spill soup on my good clothes.

 

Then I had to choose between three things I dearly love: Filet Mignon & Lobster, Chicken Kiev, and Eggplant Parmesan. I went with the surf & turf and it was excellent. The steak was a perfect medium rare and very tender. The lobster was well-cooked, sweet, and tender.

 

Dessert? Oh, there were only three or four things I’d have gladly eaten. A Dark Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce, a Pear Purse, Cheesecake, Vanilla Napoleon, and Crepes Suzette. I decided on the Napoleon and then Mary went and ordered one of everything so we all ate our own dessert and tasted whatever else appealed to us. I was so full I just had a little piece of the chocolate cake with my Napoleon.

 

I am having just the greatest time every night at dinner. I think we’ve been the last early seating table to clear out every night so far and poor service is not the reason. We just laugh and have fun and time gets away from us.

 

After dinner I came back to my room, absolutely firm in my plan to attend tonight’s show – “Forbidden Broadway” performed by a troupe of off-Broadway performers. As soon as I hit the door I just wanted to put on my sweats and stay in. It was exciting to find my first towel animal and second “pillow gift”. Last night we got a nice Moleskine travel journal and tonight we got a canvas Messenger bag. It isn’t padded, but it’s big enough to hold my laptop or my camera. Very nice. It doesn’t say “Grand World Voyage 2014” or anything at all, but that could be a bonus when out and about in port. There was a small bag of “travel swag” inside that does say “2014 Grand World Voyage”. It had things like hand sanitizer and lip balm in it – nice to have on a shore excursion.

 

Tonight we turn back the clock an hour to Central Time. I’ve ordered room service for breakfast at 9ish: juice, mango slices, and a bagel with cream cheese & lox. I’m hoping to take my camera out and get some pictures around the ship tomorrow so I may be spending part of the afternoon tomorrow working in Lightroom so I can post some when I post this to the blog.

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