Sea Day Six...

Tuesday, February 28. One more sea day after today. Same blue sky, calm sea. 25 C. Now 12 hour time difference to West Coast Time.

I think that we will now consider this ship AHEAD of West Coast time. From there, home, it will depend upon the time of day whether we are in the same time zone. 

From West Coast Time, New York is 3 hours ahead, the UK is 8 hours ahead and this ship is now 12 hours ahead, and diminishing each time we move our clocks back. The frequency of clock changes will slow down when we leave Cape Town, March 15, and head basically North for 59 days. There will be some back and forward time changes as we bump our way north around the big hump in North Africa.

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We were up early again today and were doing our little morning stroll before 7:30. A different set of walkers at that time of the morning of course. We spent some time trying to spot flying fish for Fellette but no luck this morning. Back to our cabin for a bit of time on the balcony as the stewards finished doing our room.

I lost track of time this morning as I spent too much time working on my camera stand and accessory, ostensibly for taking pictures of Fellette and I together for a photo project that I am working on. A couple of glitches and I have it under control, I think!

The heavy dump of snow at home seems to have resolved itself without any issues with our family. Pleased to hear. Tomorrow is March 1 which means, at home, that winter may be over. Yes, we can still get some frost and snow, but garden time is pretty close to being at hand for those who push their luck a little and get some 'Early Planting' underway soon. On the other hand, we could have a ‘Very Wet Spring’.

All this has absolutely nothing to do with travel. But, these seven sea days allows my mind to go in many directions, and not all to do with travel.

I have taken a picture of the calendar for the month of March that the Cruise Company gave us. The days with pictures printed on them are Port Days. That means a relaxing day is out of the question, we are going to get out and around for sure. The days marked with a 'Red Letter T' are days we have tours booked.

If you have the time to look at our schedule, you will see that there are some sea days spaced very nicely in between tours. We have eight tours where we know what we will be doing. We also have eight ports where we will be doing something, but don’t know exactly what. That is the exciting and unknown that makes things interesting and sometimes downright exhausting: but  exciting we hope!

Last night on the ship they had what they call a Block Party, it takes place in the corridors. At 4:00 pm, a knock on your door, and a steward announces “Block Party, open your door”. You go out in the corridor with a wine glass and then staff, including the Captain [and his wife], and officers fill your wine glass. This goes on for an hour and then the early sitting goes to dinner and others go about their normal procedure. We joined with Jim and Gail for some time in their corridor and then in their room where Jim seems to have an endless supply of crackers and a selection of Pates!

Tonight we are going to The Pinnacle Restaurant for a special dinner put on by the Travel Firm we booked with this year. It’s a classy affair with, of course, all the wine one wants. As you may be able to tell, there are ample opportunities to drink on the ship, as a matter of fact it is encouraged by its availability.

Another Highly Relaxing Day At Sea…

Fellette spending some of her leisure time crocheting her third quilt. [The sewing kit on the table was made by Ozzie friend Lyn for Fellette on their recent visit to see us in November.]

A selfie. The result of my fiddling this morning trying to make it easy for us to have a picture of us together a bit easier to accomplish. This is for the  project I am working on .{Getting a haircut, including eyebrows this afternoon.}

The coming month of March. Sea Days are blank. Port days are shown, with which City/Country. The red T’s shows  days we have booked tours with the Cutler’s. It will be a busy month. Some actual travel stuff coming up! We will soon be cherishing these Sea Days methinks!

Fifth Sea Day...

Monday, February 27. Blue sky, smooth seas. Day 55 of 128. 11 hours time difference between PST. 

Today was the warmest for some days. Clear blue, placid sea, a good day for reading or relaxing on the balcony. We had an earlier start to the day today for some reason. We turned in the forms they gave us last night for some of the upcoming African Ports at breakfast, then we were out walking before 8:00 am. It was a breath of fresh air to step out into the warm air. Only my darn toe acted up, a shoelace adjustment helped somewhat and we persevered. The deck-walkers were light today for some reason.

I think that a few people could be down with various maladies. Our neighbour was told to isolate for 24 hours with some slight stomach ailment. We met a friend of Fellette’s from Langley whose husband is sleeping in a public area, inside, because of a combination of seasick and claustrophobic feeling. Although with the amount of people on the ship there is bound to be people sick all the time. The number of sea days does seem to have a somewhat negative affect on many people. 

We attended a couple of talks today, one on Mauritius, coming up in a couple of days, the other on Reunion, two days after Mauritius. The other talk was given by an Australian gent on horses. We watched because there was nothing else of interest. In days past there would likely have been something slightly more stimulating than a horse story teller. Personal opinion. 

Fellette and I are quite at ease with the inactive sea days, knowing full well that we have some very active port days coming  up, soon! We have 10 Ship’s Shore Excursions in March plus who knows what we may do on the other six days in port where  we are without definite plans yet?

 

- Then, in April, it becomes very, very busy: There are 30 days in April, we are in Ports for 24 of those 30 days!!!

- The month of May is a piece of cake: 12 days total, three Ports and The Last Six Days at Sea!

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A bit of a Snow Dump at home, Our daughter and son-in-law's Hobby Farm got 10 inches of heavy wet snow with the power out for 19 hours. Fortunately his crucible full of molten glass was not damaged by the outage when restarting with solidified glass in the pot.

Relaxing Day...

Fellette is making use of the Sea Days by getting faster and better at crocheting.

The gate to our Daughter’s Hobby farm this morning. Thanks Snow Plow! [This was our previous home for 21 years.]

Fourth Sea Day...

Sunday, February 26. 23 C. Cloudy sky, rolling ocean. Now 11 hours time difference between West Coast Time.

- Half way point on this trip in 10 days Luci! -

Well, we are getting used to this Sea Day Thing! Three more after today. There is no shortage of things to do on these Sea Days, just none that suit us at this time of our life. Cutbacks have affected the number and quality of good Guest Lecturers or Speakers which we usually attended. And, we don’t play Bridge, don’t Paint, don’t Play the Ukulele, don’t play Pickle Ball, and don’t want to do Origami. And on and on it goes, heck I am 87 and sometimes I just want to spend some serious relaxation time with the love of my life!

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Today’s Ramble by Doug:

What is it with these people whose 'Life Is Travelling’?

Originally, I was going write about people we run into on the ship whose whole life seems to revolve around travelling. When I started to think about what I would actually write, I realized I had it all wrong. Sure, there are some people like that, there are even some people who actually live on a cruise ship and never get off it. It is their home. Holland America had one elderly woman, her name was Dolly, we saw her on a couple of world voyages. She lived on the ship, really. In March 2020 when they cancelled the World Cruise in Fremantle, Australia, she had to leave the ship, like everybody else and Holland America actually escorted her home with one of their staff. She passed away several months later. Dolly, and people who go on a World Cruise every year are generally the exception, but certainly many, many do.

I can only offer my opinion on the subject from a personal prospective. My own world travels started in 1959 when I got laid off while doing a six year apprenticeship as a Typographer in the printing Industry. I went to Europe for seven months and buzzed around on a scooter, staying at Youth Hostels. No serious travel for many, many years later.

I met the love of my life a couple of years after Europe, we had three children. During that time I was in The Reserve Army. The Army was my passion for 24 years. We moved to a rural area when our youngest was five years old. I joined the Volunteer Fire Department and was highly active in that for 14 years. We started our own Ticket Printing company, that consumed my life and my family’s life, forever. My wife and I then started to travel, going to Africa on a regular basis for 8 years; then long Cruises for 24 years.

When I look at my travel life as I have just related, we too were focused on Cruising for the past 24 years. It was one of a long line of ‘focuses’ that I/we have had over our life, as they were needed, wanted or able to fit into our life as time, money and inclination fit into our lives.

So, we too were guilty of that enthusiasm for travel, and I am delighted to see it in people, it is a wonderful, interesting and educational way to spend your time if you are lucky enough to have the three elements that are necessary to travel: Time, The Inclination and Money! 

Cruising is just another chapter in our 'Book of Life.'

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Well this is certainly not very interesting if the readers of this blog were hoping to see some exciting travel shots! Sorry about that, but now you know, travel is not always an adventure every single day! 

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After dinner we were invited to attend a 'Cabana Bash' up top, up front for an hour after dinner for drinks and Appetizers. 'The Retreat’ it is called. It is really quite a nice arrangement for those who like that kind of thing. About 20 or more Tent-like Cabanas, protected from the wind and sun, fantastic views of the ocean and unbroken horizon. We spent 3/4 of an hour up there, chatting with the Entertainment Coordinator, a lovely young lady, 36. She is trying to figure out where her life is going: marriage versus a career at sea, and how to have both, if possible. Good experience and very interesting. Not really our cup of tea though.

Three more days until we see land!

An OK Day...

Finished another Boy quilt today...

And got an assortment of yarn for a Girl quilt today.

Today we passed the half way mark to African Islands.

Up where the Hoi Polloi hang out, I guess.

Lovely evening for such an event.

Nice cozy private place to laze away a day, I suppose.

Sea Day Three...

Saturday, February 25.  Still chugging along at 17 knots. 20 C. Light overcast, easy ocean.

Another quiet day for us, spending much time in our room and balcony now that the temperature has come up a bit. Walking is a bit easier for me so we did a bit more today, not power walking but no foot pain so that is encouraging. Mind you, I have  have been mollycoddling my toes and feet somewhat lately.

Today I would like to comment on 'Wheelchairs, Walkers and Scooters'

I am NOT doing a rant on the subject, I am just giving my view on them.

We have never been on a ship that has had so many people using these devices. That is a fact. We are not sure why, but I have a thought or two... 

In 2020, the Holland America World Cruise 18 Week Voyage was stopped, suspended, cancelled or whatever you want to call it, after about 8 weeks. [about March 16, 2020.] While heading for Darwin in North Australia: The Port of Darwin refused entry to the ship, [even though there was no Covid reported on the ship]. It was not yet declared a Pandemic by the WHO.

Holland America appraised the situation on all their ships around the world and made a corporate decision. All passengers, and crew not needed on the empty ship were to be sent home from Fremantle! Passengers' luggage was then loaded into Ocean Shipping Containers and shipped to North America, then distributed to the passengers homes from there. It took until fall 2020, to get the luggage delivered to their homes.

Later, Holland America was reasonably generous when they finally settled with those people who were affected by this once in a lifetime experience of being put off a World Cruise half way around the world in the middle of what was soon to be declared a Pandemic.

As a result of these comparatively generous financial options offered, many/most people got their money back and a credit for future cruises of some sort. There are reportedly 453 such passengers on the this ship who were unceremoniously dumped in Frematle three years ago.

One thought as to why the high number of wheelchairs, etc., is that those in 2020 who were on 'Their Last World Cruise’, never completed that ‘Last' cruise and three years later, [older, and more frail] and  had all those credits said, “What about it Kiddo, want to have another kick at the cat and go on our last cruise?

 

That theory is certainly possibly responsible for some of these Wheelchairs, Walkers and Scooters on the ship.

Another thought is that seeing that Holland America certainly goes out of the way to accommodate wheelchairs, that may attract more people who need a wheelchair or walker to spend time at sea rather than coping by themselves at home. It certainly can put a bit of a bright spot into the life of the person in the wheelchair, and, a bit of a break to their spouse/caregiver. 

I will not offer other thoughts on this situation. I understand all people are different and make their decisions based on their own life experiences. You just never know what goes on in peoples heads! 

That is my ramble for the day…

Common sight in a corridor...

And here.

Here.

And here. This in no way conveys the amount of vehicles nor the number of seriously crippled walkers on board.

Second of Seven Sea Days...

February 24, 2023. 18 C. Cloudy sky, Rolly-Polly Seas. Nine hours behind West Coast Time

A little about Time Zones and International date Line stuff. This subject is of no concern unless you cross the International Date Line or are trying to figure out what time it is somewhere around the world.

My kids would like to have some idea what time is it where we are, on the ship as I often phone them when in port in the morning.

Time of day is one thing, what day it is is another thing. I write on my blog each time we have a Time Change on the ship.

Right now, and a few days after we sailed, [west], we were behind West Coast Time, eventually we will be ahead of West Coast Time. When does that happen you say?

We lost a whole day when we crossed the International Date Line East of New Zealand about a month ago. 

If the question were to be… “When will we be in the same DAY as west Coast Time?”

The answer would be…  “We have been in the same Day for part of the day since we crossed the date line and increasing an hour each time we move our ship’s clocks back.

Yesterday, by sheer coincidence,we passed the 100 Degree East Longitude mark. We were 180 Degrees away from Fort Lauderdale. [Exactly 1/2 way around the world, That is 12 time zones, so we have been in the same DAY as Fort Lauderdale for 12 of the 24 hours today. That time difference will decrease an hour each time zone change on the ship until we are in the same time zone as Fort Lauderdale, all day, and that is the day the cruise ends, May 12! Too much information, but not for me on a sea day!

- This information is very likely of no interest to anyone except me, and maybe my kids! -

Not A Bad Day, All In All...

First of Seven Sea Days...

Thursday, February 23. Bouncy-Boat weather. 19 C.   Day 51, [60% of the cruise left.] 

Now nine hours behind west coast time. We are in the same DAY as you, for some hours each day. It will make more sense as we sail West and are in UK time in late March.

What to write about today? It is a bit like being in solitary confinement this week at sea, for the passengers at least, to the Crew it is just another day or week on the job. [They do not get days off while working their contracts that vary in months up to six or seven months?] Some passengers just love the sea days, others despise them and everything in between.

Fellette and I quite enjoy the sea days, as the ports, although interesting can sometimes be very tiring and can  seem like a waste of time and money. In many, many cases we have visited these ports a few times over the years and are just nice to stroll in. Our tastes and enthusiasm have also changed over 40 years of being on ships. We go on ships/cruises for a vacation, not an extension of our home life. We are quite busy at home and need a break from that, that is why we are where we are: to RELAX.

It is challenging for me to relax, Fellette however can quite easily keep busy on quiet sea days as she was an only child and can easily entertain herself, that is a fact. I however can relax on a ship when there is no workshop, nor garden nor a Canada Ticket to visit or do work for. I love the life on a ship. However, I need to accomplish something productive every single day: my Father told me that 80 years ago but I think I misinterpreted his words!

For the first time this cruise, today, we went for a stroll after breakfast and, before lunch, just because we felt like it. We had to quit the before-lunch walk as my toe acted up because of the work it had to do struggling to keep me upright in a rocking and rolling ship. If this issue does not mend itself in the next 78 days I am going to seek out professional help. I am too young to have a limp!

Tonight, our table of six went to the Canaletto Restaurant, just because: to have some variety, and be over serviced! We just talked and talked and talked. Great night.

A Decent Day At Sea…

Jim, Gail and us, the two elderly women are sisters, widows, 80 and 83, fun ladies. It was a 3 3/4 hour fun dinner,

Our map shows us slowly creeping west to Africa. On lower right you can see we have about 3000 Ks, seven days to go before we hit the island of Mauritius. The Southern Indian Ocean is HUGE.

Fremantle Day 2...

Wednesday, February 22. Still tied up in Fremantle. Day 50.  30 C. 

Today we four walked off at around 9:30 and took the Ship’s Shuttle in for a 10 minute ride to central Fremantle. They dropped us into the centre of this very charming historical city that is just the right size for strolling, photographing and gazing at and in the interesting shops and old time architecture. 

We had some shopping to do, as did Jim and Gail. We did some of ours while Gail got her nails done and Jim tried to locate an item on their shopping list. We had our shopping done and caught up with Gail as she finished here nail session. I never realized how many women have their finger and toenails done and also leg treatments of some sort. The shop was loaded.

Having shopping taken care of, we then started to just enjoy the shops and architecture ending up in the waterfront area where the first Jail was built in 1831. Australia certainly has an attachments to Gaols, Jails and Penal Colonies. Of course it would, it was the start of the Nation!

We four took a break at a restaurant on the street: Small Size Fish & Chips plus beer for Jim and I and cool water for the girls. Jim and Gail took of to get some steps in while Fellette and I went into a couple of book stores and picked up a book and then shopped for stuff to take back home…

The area of the town we were at was teeming with young students. Apparently there is a Satellite College of The University of Notre Dame here, utilizing the many buildings originally built for Notre dame. 

Almost everybody agrees that the Australian people, at least those that we encountered, are kind, gentle and will go out of their way to aid you. I heard one American man say when as he got on the shuttle back to the ship that "Fremantle is now my favourite city, prior to this it was Adelaide” 

A Very Good Day, Simple…

Those were the days when they took time to create an attractive building.

Another.

Now a Backpacker Hotel.

I wonder what’s with The Fremantle Buffalo Club?

I love that frilly metal work.

Always a good sign.

The first Jail in Fremantle, built in 1831. Can you spot Jim and Gail? [Foreground on the road.]

At the jail, Fellette awaits at the landing for my release.