Slinkie & Grumpy Live from Prinsendam Mar 09

[Grumpy1]

Wednesday, March 11, Day 0

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OK, folks, here we go again with another chapter in the Adventures of Slinkie and Grumpy aboard the Prinsendam. Back in December when Grumpy encountered a patch of black ice that resulted in plates and screws being installed to put his pelvis back together again, there was some question whether or not he and Slinkie would be able to go on this cruise. Grumpy stated then that his goal was to be able to regain enough mobility to be able to go and enjoy this cruise. After enduring about 8 weeks of “nothing more than touchdown weight” on the right leg, the Orthopedic doc took another set of x-rays and decided that “some” weight would be OK. He recommended that the cruise be cancelled until some future date, but stubborn Grumpy decided not to take his advice.

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Grumpy took the advice of a CruiseCritic member and upgraded his walker to a model with four 8 inch wheels and a fabic seat and back. It’s called Diamond by Drive, Inc, so Grumpy now claims that he has a 4 wheel drive walker. He finds that he can move at a much quicker pace than before and has been able to walk several blocks without difficulty. Being able to sit down and rest when necessary is a very nice feature. It folds up into a fairly compact package for storage or just to get it out of the way. Another advantage is being able to partially fold it and maneuver through narrow spaces. Grumpy wants to say a special “Thank you” to NancyQuilts for her excellent advice.

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With the cruise scheduled to begin on March 11, Slinkie and Grumpy finally started packing on the afternoon of the tenth. Two large one medium and a small suitcase took care of most of the clothes, and another medium suitcase was filled with Grumpy’s wedge pillow. There was also a case of wine, well padded with air pillow packing and Styrofoam sheets inside of a larger box. The second case of wine was packed as individual bottles wrapped in bubble wrap envelops in a small carryon suitcase. Valuables, medications and one laptop were in a second carryon. The second laptop, camera, GPS, chargers, documents, etc went into a computer bag. With a little practice, Grumpy found that he could handle the computer bag and the rolling wine case with no difficulty. Fortunately, Grumpy owns a large Chevy Suburban so it was no problem getting all of the above into one vehicle and still have room for Slinkie, Grumpy and their driver, Grumpy’s sister.

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The trip to the port started at 9:00 am and after a quick stop to top off the gas tank and “shake the money tree” at the local bank one more time, they made the 100 mile drive from Naples, FL to Port Everglades. Arriving just a few minutes after 11:00, there was a parking spot right by the door where the checked luggage and wine box were handed off to a porter, goodbyes to Sis were said and Slinkie and Grumpy proceeded to the security checkpoint. After putting the carryon items into the x-ray scanner, Grumpy opted to hand off the walker to security and walk the few steps through the metal detector instead of asking for hand wand and patdown. After collecting the carryons, the next step was to fill out the medical questionnaire and then to the checkin. Since the forms had all been filled out online, that went very smoothly and in just a few minutes Slinkie and Grumpy had been photographed for security, had their passports confiscated, were handed their boarding cards and were headed up to the gangway.

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Captain Gundersen was coming down the gangway as Slinkie and Grumpy were boarding and he stopped to welcome them aboard. He also asked Grumpy if he would be writing anything on this trip. Grumpy was pleased and flattered that the Captain remembered his previous efforts to entertain and educate. Grumpy asked if the Captain was planning anything as exciting as the twelve not u-turn that Prinsendam made in the Amazon last year. Captain Gundersen said, “Oh, we’ve been practicing some… “ After going through the ship’s security checkpoint Slinkie spotted a couple of familiar faces. The ship’s doctor, Richard, and his wife, MaryAnn, who were on the Prinsendam for the 2008 Circle South America/Antarctica Grand Voyage were there… probably looking for anyone that had obviously lied on their medical questionnaire. They had joined Slinkie and Grumpy for dinner on that cruise. Next in line was Lucy, the Social Hostess from that previous cruise. Slinkie and Grumpy had the pleasure of having Lucy at their table, also. It was nice to see familiar faces again. “We’re HOME!!!!”

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Since it wasn’t even noon yet, cabins were not ready. Slinkie and Grumpy headed up to the Lido for a nice lunch. Less than one hour after arriving at the port, Slinkie and Grumpy were enjoying the first of many meals to be consumed over the next 50 days. Recalling a few threads about trays being removed from the Lido on some ships, Grumpy was pleased to see that there was an abundance of trays available. With lunch out of the way, Grumpy decided to see if their cabin might happen to be ready. It was, so they dropped off the carryon items and headed off to check out the ship. Stopping by the Java Bar, Grumpy found that there has been a “slight” change. They have acquired a brand new cappuccino machine, supposedly far superior to the previous machine. They are also using a supposedly superior coffee. Ah, but these “improvements” are accompanied by one more change. The Java Bar coffee is no longer free. Prinsendam has joined the rest of the HAL fleet in charging for coffee.

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Slinkie and Grumpy had an invitation to attend the first cocktail party hosted by their travel agent, Cruise Specialists and meet their host and hostess. It was held at 2:00 pm in the Crow’s Nest. Grumpy heard a few different numbers bandied about, but it appears that somewhere close to 20% of the passengers are booked through that agency. The president of that company was onboard for the cocktail party. There were a few people that Slinkie and Grumpy had sailed with before. They enjoyed chatting with Esther, a delightful single that they had met on the 2005 GWV. She practically lives on the HAL ships.

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Returning to their cabin, Slinkie and Grumpy were pleased to find all of their luggage had arrived… except for the big box with the case of wine inside. It didn’t take too long to unpack and find places for everything. Six bags were nested together into two bags and soon were handed off to cabin steward Budi with instructions that they weren’t to be seen again for the next 48 days. A couple of items were stored under the bed and the cabin looks like it’s ready to live in for awhile.

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There was the usual lifeboat drill at 4:15… except that this one was a bit unusual for the group at lifeboat station one. Just about the time everyone was in place and the men were packed tight in the back row against the windows, the sprinkler heads above the windows that provide a curtain of water that cools the glass in case of fire somehow were activated. Rusty water cascaded down the glass and sprayed on the people in the back rows. Grumpy suspects that CD Thom was in the fire control center and said “ hmmm, I wonder what this button does?” Lifeboat 1 group quickly relocated a few steps away and the drill continued without further incident.

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The Daily Program was a bit evasive as to the sailaway time. There was no sailaway party listed… just a “Grand Voyage Bon Voyage Event” by the Lido pool at 5:00 pm and “All aboard and prepare to sail” at 6:30 pm. There were rumors that sailaway might not be until 8:00 pm. However, at 6:30 pm the Captain announced that all passengers were aboard, all provision loading had been completed and it was time to get underway. Returning to the cabin, Grumpy was pleased to see that the missing carton had arrived and there were no red stains on it. Two cases of Masi 2005 Campofiorin, sometimes called a “baby Amorone” should keep Slinkie and Grumpy well lubricated at dinner for a good portion of the cruise.

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A year ago the internet access by wireless from cabin 31 was slow and sometimes non existent. This year the connection seems to be much faster and more reliable… so far. That will be a welcome change…

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The first night dinner is usually somewhat disorganized, but not on this cruise. Slinkie and Grumpy entered the dining room at 8:00 pm sharp and were seated at table 114, right next to table 112 where they have been on both previous Grand Voyages. The staff were prompt and efficient, the wine steward, often a very elusive person, was “Johnny on the spot” and it was a very enjoyable first dinner. Table 114 is a table for 8 but there were only four for dinner. Waiter Ade said that one couple had moved to early dining. He thought that there would be another couple assigned to the table the next night and it would be set up for six. Slinkie and Grumpy found their dinner companions, Pat and Vince, to be quite pleasant… hope they feel the same about Slinkie and Grumpy… and dinner was a very enjoyable time. Grumpy enjoyed a steamed mussel appetizer, spinach salad and a delicious pork chop. Slinkie usually goes for whatever fish is on the menu and found the Cobia to be very good. Grumpy has seen comments on the Grand World Voyage threads that HAL is going all out to improve the dining experience and quality. It would appear that those efforts are also being applied to Prinsendam.

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Slinkie and Grumpy decided to skip the entertainment, which was a “silver screen movie” “The Duchess”. It was time to call it a day and see if the luxurious HAL beds were still the same as remembered.

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Thursday, March 12, Day 1

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Slinkie pronounced the bed too firm for her liking, but Grumpy thought it was just right. That reflects the settings that they use on their “sleep number” bed at home. Slinkie keeps her side pretty soft, Grumpy keeps his firm. But they did sleep in until 7:30 before deciding to go to breakfast. The lines were very short and the cooks were making a point of learning the names of the passengers.

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Next on the agenda was the first CruiseCritic Meet & Greet. Thanks to the efforts of Bra1nchild it was a good gathering. Some of the group had brought treats that were representative of their home area. Chocolate covered peanuts from Virginia, key lime taffy from Key West and other treats, along with the cookies provided by HAL , ensured that the expanding waistline on Grumpy’s slacks will get expanded.

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Since St. Bart’s, St, Lucia and the Canary Islands are new ports for Slinkie and Grumpy, they attended the port talk before lunch. Several of the shore excursions look interesting. Grumpy will have to choose carefully, though. He can travel quite well across the ground, but stairs are still a problem. After lunch, after getting caught up on email, Grumpy decided it was time to get a thread started on CruiseCritic. And that is where he ends this installment. No shopping trips to report on yet… but that will change once the Captain finds a place to park the ship…

[Copper10-8]

Great to hear from you, Jerry! Enjoy your Prinsendam cruise with Slinkie and buy her lots of jewelry. Tell Capt. Gundersen the cop from the 'search detail' for the elderly passengers on the Split, Croatia, shore excursion a couple years back, says hi!;)

Looking forward to more!:)

[marle7]

Yay! A Grumpy and Slinky live thread. I'm so pleased you are well enough to go on this!

[Mary Ellen]

We're looking forward to following your adventures - and getting a preview of our 2010 ship. We haven't sailed on her since she was still with RVL.

 

Good to hear that you have something to help with the mobility and are doing better.

[hammybee]

Fabulous nws to hear that you both are cruising, again.

 

I have my seat belt on and am eager to read all about your coming adventures.

[Cristiano]

My two favorite travelers who got me hooked on cruising.....great to see you on board and has brightened an otherwise bleak day here in Sydney.

 

Have a wonderful journey and will look forward to seeing your posts up until we leave Fort Lauderdale on the 25th April.

 

I am really glad that you are well Grumpy and that you got to do the cruise on the wonderful Prinsendam.

 

All the best to Slinkie...you did a great job looking after Grumpy!!!

 

Talk soon,

 

all the best my dear friends,

 

Cristiano.

[aliaschief]

This is going to be fun!! Thanks for taking us along.

[WTXCRUISER]

Glad you are well enough to travel. Thanks for the posting and look forward to keeping up with your journey.

[Sage]

I'm so excited, another great adventure. Thanks so much for taking us along.

[mechcc]

Hi Grumpy and Slinkie! It is so good to see you cruising again and I look forward to reading all about your cruise.

 

And thank you for the info on the walker, it is unbelievably timely. Hermon was in a car accident 3 weeks ago and is now in a halo for some fractures to his C1 and C3 (fortunatly no intrusion on the spinal cord) and using a walker in his rehab. Going to go check out this walker now as it looks like he will need one for awhile.

 

Enjoy your cruise and would love to cruise with the two of you again.

[ger_77]

Grumpy, I am so glad to hear that you are far enough into your recovery to allow you to go on your cruise. And thank you for taking us with you! I'm really looking forward to your adventures with the beautiful Slinkie. Stay well, both of you.

 

Smooth Sailing! :):):)

[arzz]

Grumpy -- delighted that you will be sharing your cruise with us and especially glad that you are well enough to cruise. Say hello to Bra1nchild from us (Roxanne and Ed) -- we are also following his blog -- more vicarious cruising for us -- almost as good as being there!

 

We will be waiting for your next report!

[Marianne]

Grumpy ---

I knew you'd recover enough and make this trip. We are traveling with you in spirit and I know you'll have a fab time on our beloved Prinsendam. As the trip progresses you will get stronger and probably throw the walker away. Have a wonderful time. Oh, how I wish we were there too.

Marianne

[RuthC]

Just can't keep a good man down, I guess. Glad to know that you both are up and at 'em. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

[jbhcw]

Very glad you are well enought to cruise and thank you so much for doing another live thread. I have followed your travels on your other cruises. Wishing you both a wonderful cruise on the Prisendam:):):)

[mountainmare]

Hi Grumpy and Slinkie--we'll be on the Oosterdam--maybe we'll see you in Monte Carlo.

I'll have to wait to catch up with your adventures.

[LindyLou2]

Oh, this sounds like so much fun! Where all are you going? I totally enjoyed your first post, and look forward to all that are to come. I hope you have a great, HEALTHY cruise! :)

[scopewest]

I'm so glad you're able to be cruising again, looking forward to your posts.

[DFD1]

Grumpy, Glad you're up and around again. Hope you and Slinkie have a great time. We're looking forward to reading your posts along the way.

[Grumpy1]

Friday, March 13, Day 3, At Sea

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Friday the 13th!! Seems like we just had one of those a month ago… Fortunately, SNG have no bad news to report for the supposedly unlucky day. It was a rather uneventful day at sea. SNG did find a few more acquaintances from previous cruises and spent some time getting reacquainted.

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There are several Explorations Series Speakers scheduled, speaking on a wide variety of topics. Frank Buckingham is also on board to provide information about the ports. Grumpy usually finds his talks interesting and will either watch them live or catch them later on the TV. Today was Frank’s debut for this cruise. SNG attended to learn all there is to know about the history of St. Barts and St. Lucia… or all that will fit into a one hour lecture. Frank is certainly a fountain of knowledge on the ports of the world.

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There was a wine tasting in the afternoon that featured some of the wines that are in the Navigator package. The offerings were a Reisling, a Chardonnay, a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon. Ben, the Cellar Master, gave a good talk and power point presentation. There was a plate of assorted fruits, cheeses and crackers to demonstrate how the whole impression of a wine can change depending upon the food that it is paired with. There will be several other wine tastings offered during the cruise. This one was inexpensive, $15 per person. Some of the others, such as the Pinnacle wine and food experience are rather pricey.

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Tonight is also the first formal night of the cruise. Table 114 was set up for 9 and Ade informed everyone that an officer would be joining the table. The officer assigned to ply the table with wine was Tina from the front office. Grumpy would like to have gotten her more involved in the conversation, but she was across the table from him and there was a nonstop talker seated next to Grumpy (NOT Slinkie) so no one really got to know much about Tina.

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Dinner was followed by the Captain’s Welcome Toast and then the debut of the Prinsendam Cast and their show Europa. As with most of the entertainment, there were those that thought it was great and those that felt it wasn’t very good. Grumpy enjoyed Ian Finkel’s xylophone performance the night before a lot more than he did the cast show…

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Saturday, March 14, St. Barts

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After two days of trekking south across the Caribbean Sea, Prinsendam found Gustavia, St Barthelemy and dropped anchor. SNG had not signed up for any tours and went ashore on the tender to explore the area around the port. Grumpy found that he could board and exit the tender with little problem. Getting around town was a little bit of a challenge as there are lots of steps and very narrow sidewalks. St. Barts is a part of Metropolitan France and is definitely French. Most of the residents would probably just as soon the cruise ships stay away. One thing that SNG noticed is that all of the mentions of the port on the ship refer to St. Barts. In the port, however, all of the signage referred to St. Barth. There are a few souvenir shops, but most of the shops cater to the island clientele. All of the designer names are there and the prices are pretty high. The French word for “sale” has probably been stricken from the island dictionary. SNG wandered through several shops but purchases were limited to a few items at the local grocery store. The prices there seemed fairly reasonable. After wandering around the port for a while, SNG tendered back to the ship and enjoyed a Lido lunch. There was a sailaway later in the afternoon on the aft Lower Promenade deck. The featured drink was Pirate’s Grog, which set the tone for the theme of the evening, Pirates of the Caribbean. A few passengers donned pirate costumes, but most were content to get by with an occasional “Arghhhhh” as their contribution to the festivities.

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Sunday, March 15, Day 5, St. Lucia

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Prinsendam was docked and the all clear to go ashore was given on schedule at 10:00 am. There were some tours that departed from the dock in Castries and would be picked up by tender at Soufriere later in the day. Since it was Sunday, there would not be many shops in town open. St. Lucia, unlike St. Barth, welcomes those tourist dollars and has built a pretty good sized shopping area adjacent to the dock and they were all open. Several of the HAL recommended stores are there… Diamonds International, Tanzanite International, Columbian Emeralds International, etc. were all to be found within a short walk of the ship’s gangway. St. Lucia has a lot of French History but is now more British than French.

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Slinkie had learned a few days ago that the first formal ball would be the St. Patrick’s Green and White Ball. Now Grumpy had anticipated that and brought his white jacket with emerald green cummerbund and tie set. Slinkie was half prepared with her white formal dress, but didn’t bring any green shoes or scarf to go with it. Her mission in Castries was to find her accessories. Now those of you that know Slinkie know that she likes accessories that are easy to pack and don’t take up much space. You know, things like earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings… Well, she did bring those green accessories with her, but she’s been looking for an opportunity to upgrade the earrings in her emerald collection. With all of those stores selling emeralds, “sale” signs posted everywhere, and St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner… well, Grumpy knew there would be some spending of the green before there would be wearing of the green. After going through every shop on the dock, noting possible acquisitions, SNG ended up back in the second store they had been in and picked up a pair of cute dangly earrings in just the right shade of green. At 50% off, plus an extra 30% off that, Grumpy’s Visa didn’t get nicked too badly.

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Prinsendam sailed from Castries and went south down the west coast of St. Lucia to Soufriere to pick up the overland tours. Frank Buckingham provided commentary from the bridge as Prinsendam came into viewing range of the Pitons that are the main geological feature of the island. Captain Gundersen sailed a little south, swung around and sailed north so the starboard cabins could enjoy the view, hung around for a very nice sunset (some, including the Captain, saw the green flash) and then Prinsendam sailed around the southern tip of St. Lucia through the St. Vincent passage and turned east by Northeast toward the Canary Islands. The next 6 days will be transatlantic crossing sea days.

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Monday, March 16, Day 6, At Sea.

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SNG enjoyed a leisurely morning of doing next to nothing except eating a late breakfast. Grumpy did pick up and solve the daily Sudoku puzzle and Slinkie read her email. Internet connections have been much better than in the past, except for a few hours in Castries when the connection was down. There have been some modifications to the internet software since last year. The login user name no longer requires or allows the cabin number to be padded to 4 digits with leading zeros. Also, a loss of signal between a laptop and the router will automatically log out the laptop instead of continuing to chew up minutes as the system was known to do in the past. There is a warning on the sign in page for laptop users to be sure and log out via “http://1.1.1.1” instead of just closing their browser. Failing to do that or at least turning off the wireless connection will result in disappearing minutes.

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Once Prinsendam crosses the Atlantic, the cruise will become quite port intensive. Grumpy has a better feel for his ability to get around so he and Slinkie picked shore excursions for the next five ports and got them booked. With all of those details out of the way, Grumpy decided it was time to put fingers to keyboard and get caught up on the thread. He wants to thank those of you that have posted so far for your good wishes. There was a question as to where this cruise goes… It’s from Ft. Lauderdale, through the Caribbean, across the Atlantic to the Canary Islands, to Gibraltar, into the Mediterranean to Spain, Monaco, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey, then into the Black Sea for stops in Bulgaria and the Ukraine, then back to Turkey, Greece, Malta, Spain, Portugal and the Azores before another Transatlantic crossing with a stop in Bermuda. Arrival in New York will mark the end of the voyage for many, but the official end is back in Ft. Lauderdale on April 30. There’s a fur piece to travel yet…

[RuthC]

I'm glad you're able to get out and about. Hope your strength (and leg) hold out.

I'm looking forward to reading about the Europe ports, as I will be in some of them (for the first time!) on my eastern Med/trans-At next fall. Thanks for your contribution to my good time! :D

[jhannah]

Friday the 13th!! Seems like we just had one of those a month ago… Fortunately, SNG have no bad news to report for the supposedly unlucky day.

I'm glad your day was "uneventful." So was ours, even though on that day we were in an Austin hotel, 13th floor, room 1313! I kid you not!

 

Thanks for taking us all along again on your excellent adventure. We'll stay tuned for more. I'm glad Ms. Slinkie has gotten some accessories shopping in! I'm confident the more serious pursuits will soon follow. ;)

[2bout2c]

I'm glad your day was "uneventful." So was ours, even though on that day we were in an Austin hotel, 13th floor, room 1313! I kid you not!

 

Thanks for taking us all along again on your excellent adventure. We'll stay tuned for more. I'm glad Ms. Slinkie has gotten some accessories shopping in! I'm confident the more serious pursuits will soon follow. ;)

After what you went thru this past year. 13 couldn't be any more unlucky.

[Grumpy1]

Tuesday, March 17, Day 7, At Sea

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St. Patrick’s Day at sea. Fortunately, the luck of the Irish has been with the Prinsendam and has provided good sailing weather. Grumpy thinks that “Green around the gills” passengers would not be a good way to celebrate the day. North of the Prinsendam’s position the seas have been quite rough but the path from St. Lucia to the Canary Islands should continue to provide smooth sailing.

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The ship is appropriately decorated and there are Irish themes everywhere. Of course, the jewelry shop got in on the act by introducing their emerald collection. Green champagne was poured at the unveiling. Slinkie and Grumpy agree that the color did nothing to improve the taste. There was a contest held to see who could guess the caret weight of an emerald ring that had a large uncut natural emerald. Prizes were given to the six contestants that guessed closest to the actual weight of 62 carets. Five of the prizes were $100 gift certificates and the grand prize was a $500 certificate. One little problem, though… the certificates could only be applied toward the purchase of something in the emerald collection. Grumpy didn’t win a certificate but he did price a couple of the cheapest items in the collection. He won’t say that the collection was overpriced, but will say that he feels extremely good about his purchase in St. Lucia by comparison.

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Most of the ship’s staff were outfitted in their finest Irish attire, too. Being that it was a formal night, shimmering green coats and tails were in abundance. CD Thom was either a very large leprechaun or the biggest grasshopper on the planet. For those men that did not bring their own Irish top hat and for ladies that forgot their emerald tiaras, the ship provided a cardboard version. There were a few gentlemen that brought their own toppers, though.

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Dinner was followed by the Officers’ Ball. Usually billed as a Black and White Ball, this one was a Green and White Ball. Slinkie kept her record intact by snagging Captain Gundersen for a dance. She has managed at least one dance with the Captain on each of her four Prinsendam cruises. She also managed to get a dance with Francois Birarda, the hotel manager. Grumpy and his 4 wheel sidekick stayed off the dance floor, but he did have a nice chat with Lucy, the first lady of the ship, while Slinkie and Francois were dancing. Lucy had introduced Slinkie and Grumpy to her parents the first day on board. They had come to Ft. Lauderdale for a quick visit. Grumpy knows that Lucy’s mom follows the threads on CruiseCritic so he’s going to have to be careful about what he says about Lucy’s shenanigans on board…

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Today was also the first time change since leaving Ft. Lauderdale. Up until today all of the ports visited were either on Eastern Daylight or Atlantic Standard time, which are the same. Now that Prinsendam is heading east across the Atlantic, there will be a few hours to lose. The time change was made in a different fashion than what Grumpy has been accustomed to doing. Instead of the little card on the bed that said something like “Be sure you set your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed tonight”, there was a note in the daily bulletin that said “During the Atlantic Crossing we will traverse four time zones. That’s the “bad news”. The good news is that WE can decide when to change the clocks! In order to make the least impact on your nights, the ship’s clocks move forward at twelve noon. Therefore when you hear the PA tones for the “Voice from the Bridge”, that will be your cue to move your watches forward. “

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Sure enough, right at 12 noon (except that it was really one o’clock, because everyone knows that Captain Gundersen’s Voice from the Bridge always occurs at one o’clock and never at noon) the PA tones sounded and Grumpy’s half hour lunch suddenly became an hour and a half lunch. It’s a good thing he didn’t have any appointments between noon and one…

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The dinner menu featured everything from Surf and Turf to Corned Beef and Cabbage. Grumpy can attest that the lobster tail was a nice size, very tender and sweet. The Filet was also quite delicious. Slinkie stayed with her tradition of ordering the “Fish of the day”. She has our waiter trained to look for a smaller serving for her and he makes a point of proclaiming that he has found a baby fish especially for her. Service in the dining room has been very good. There is one old tradition that has disappeared, though. The waiter no longer precedes the ordering of dessert with a display of the evening’s offerings. This probably does speed up the process a bit, but Grumpy misses the exaggerated presentation and description that he has enjoyed in the past.

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Speaking of old traditions that have disappeared, Grumpy is glad to report that there is one he won’t miss at all. Park West is not on the ship, cluttering the Ocean Bar and adjacent hallways with endless displays of art to be auctioned. There was a brief announcement at the start of the cruise that Park West would not be on board but nothing was said about whether this is a permanent situation or whether there will be another company taking their place.

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There have been a few changes in the cabin amenities since last year. There is a bud vase with miniature carnations on the coffee table (expected) and also one on the counter in the bathroom… something new. The fruit basket was empty but there was a card in the basket asking for preference of fruit. The choices were bananas, red apples, green apples, pears and oranges. Slinky and Grumpy always have a banana with breakfast at home, but they are sometimes hard to find or way too green in the Lido. Grumpy requested that bananas be supplied in the fruit bowl. That night three very green bananas appeared. Now some people like them that way but not Slinkie and Grumpy. They need to be yellow and have a few brown speckles on the peel before they are ready to eat. Grumpy let the bananas ripen for a few days. The cabin steward apparently was paying attention as the bananas are replenished each day with ones that are just right for consumption (by Grumpy’s standards) the next morning.

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There was one other reason for Slinkie and Grumpy to celebrate. St. Patrick’s Day just happens to coincide with their 79th anniversary! (You do remember that they celebrate in months, not years, don’t you? The original idea was to get to fifty and then revert to years, but that idea got lost somewhere and Grumpy has gotten used to saying “Happy Anniversary, Lover” twelve times a year. He’s less likely to forget the big one in August each year, too, if he has just celebrated a month before.

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Wednesday, March 18, Day 8, At Sea… again… or still

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With breakfast finished and the Daily Sudoku solved, Grumpy figures he should get another post to the thread ready to go. Grumpy doesn’t want to get behind as the cruise will soon enter the “different day, different port” phase of the cruise shortly and there won’t be a lot of time for writing.

Prinsendam is about halfway across the big pond now. Captain Gundersen announced that he is kicking in the fourth engine and increasing speed a few knots. He has been running about 17 knots since leaving St Lucia since that speed seems to provide the smoothest ride for the sea conditions. He needs to kick it up a notch to keep the arrival schedule in the Canary Islands and he said the seas are now favorable for a faster speed. The amount of rocking has been just right for sleeping and not bad for walking around the ship. Sightseeing has been rather boring though. One freighter and a few flying fish pretty well sums up all that has been seen since leaving St Lucia and all that is likely to be seen for a few more days. Fortunately there will be lots of scenic viewing once Prinsendam reaches the Canary Islands.

[RuthC]

It's great that the "resetting of the clocks" hasn't been restricted to sleeping hours! :)I bet that some folks are disappointed to lose some daytime, though. :( Can't win on an east-bound crossing.

I did hear that on one eastbound trans-At the clocks were changed a half-hour in both day and nightime. Not a bad compromise.

Enjoying your reports, as always. Thanks.