We're back from Disneyland, and had so much fun I didn't have time to actually post. So, here's a summary:
The flight down was uneventful and early. Beth and Lily, however were not. We waited for about 30 minutes, although, to be fair, if the flight wasn't early their timing would have been good.
We got to the Disneyland hotel at about 9:30 - hoping that at least something would be open for dinner. We also hoped we could get park tickets tonight, because we were anticipating big weekend crowds.
Our rooms were adjoining, and that was very nice. We dropped our luggage and then headed to Downtown Disney for dinner. The hotel restaurant at the DL hotel was closed for renovation of much of the pool area, and we were cutting it close for the other hotels.
So we headed to the Jazz Kitchen in Downtown. We left Lily and Glen there while Beth and I went to the ticket plaza to buy our tickets for the weekend. When we got back, they were enjoying an appetizer platter. We had a nice and tasty dinner (and maybe next time we're back during the holidays we'll eat there and I can finally try turducken!)
We decided to head to DCA at 9am on Saturday to pick up tickets for their new water show, just in case we wanted to go and then it was off to bed.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Abby, you just got a cool new job - what are you going to do?
I'm going to Disneyland!!!
Seriously, I am, although the two aren't related. My sister and niece are touring colleges in LA, so asked us a couple of weeks ago if we wanted to go for the weekend. We thought it would be fun. About that time, I started interviewing with a cool software company in SOMA in SF. Yesterday, they offered me a job, so what a great way to celebrate.
Right now we're in Red Carpet in SFO with about 20 minutes until we have to go to the gate. Not much to report, just setting the stage. It's been several years, sadly, since we've been to DL, so I'm really looking forward to it.
Nothing else to report right now.
Seriously, I am, although the two aren't related. My sister and niece are touring colleges in LA, so asked us a couple of weeks ago if we wanted to go for the weekend. We thought it would be fun. About that time, I started interviewing with a cool software company in SOMA in SF. Yesterday, they offered me a job, so what a great way to celebrate.
Right now we're in Red Carpet in SFO with about 20 minutes until we have to go to the gate. Not much to report, just setting the stage. It's been several years, sadly, since we've been to DL, so I'm really looking forward to it.
Nothing else to report right now.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
And in the End ...
Feb 18-19
Our day began before 7. I decided I needed to build in some time to go to the Purser's office if the credit wasn't applied, and given the wine situation, I wasn't holding my breath. Also, Montevideo is an hour later than BA, so we got to set the clocks back again.
I think that sometime around 4:30, we entered the BA harbor and started to move into position on the very narrow slip. The side thrusters were going and the shaking and noise woke us up. At some point we were able to go back to sleep.
At 6:45 the alarm rang. I got up and dressed, and opened the final bill. To my surprise, the credit for the loss was on there as a "good will" entry. Other than some outlet things that I loved that I probably won't be able to replace, it would have totally made up for it.
We packed our last minute things, swept the room and met Joan and Rich for breakfast. We ate a quick breakfast since we were supposed to meet Linda and Bob for our post cruise day trip at 8 in the dining room reserved for Platinum and above passengers. I sent Glen over while I went to the pursers desk to get a copy of my claim form. With the credit applied, I was pretty sure I didn't need to sign the form, but I wanted to be sure. The guy in front of me was annoyed because he'd tried to leave and they told him he still owed the ship 1.10 (yes, that's a dollar and ten cents). When I got up there, the purser looked for the form and after about 5 or 10 minutes came back and said that I didn't need it because the credit was given. I take that to mean that they destroyed it because they didn't need to send it to Los Angeles (or Santa Clarita more specifically). She did give me a copy of the laundry slip, though.
After that I went down to meet Glen, Linda and Bob, but as soon as I got to the dining room they told me to turn around, our number had been called. We walked off the ship, and waited for the next bus to move people to the terminal. At this point, I'm worrying about our checked luggage, since there are rumors of dishonest port workers in BA, and given the way stuff like this has been going, it wouldn't surprise me. However, we did find all 4 of our checked bags (only two are actual suitcases - the other two are two sportsac duffles) and Bob and Linda found theirs. We got a porter, and loaded most of the bags onto a large cart. Leaving the port there was an xray machine, but they waved us through. We went out to the exit and it was as chaotic as we remembered from embarkation - with several taxi lines, and a throng of greeters. It was 8:45 and our guide wasn't due for another 15 minutes, so we had our porter unload us to the side and we decided to wait. As we did, Cruise Critic friends kept coming out and we kept hugging goodbye. I periodically went out to check for our guide. At about 9, Glen noticed somebody outside holding up a sign that looked to him like it said Grossman. I went over there and it was our guide, Alexjandra. She went with me to our luggage, and immediately took charge, getting a porter, and communicating with the staff on how to get out. She contacted the driver, and we were soon loaded into the van. (We were relieved it was big enough for all our stuff). We drove out of town towards the pampas, about 75 miles I think. The driver apparently needed what Alexjandra called a "technical stop", which we learned meant a bathroom stop. Apparently, it's a non discussed subject in her family. She also got each of us a bottle of water, and we continued.
Our first real stop was in the town of San Antonio de Aresco, which has a historic area. We started with a visit to a silversmith's house which has a small museum of gaucho silver items, including spurs, whips (which weren't used much) and belts. Belts apparently were the start of the silversmithing in the Pampas, they needed to close their belts, and it started with two coins, and as belts got larger so did the number of coins, and it evolved to an elaborate art. We saw a brief video in which the silversmith spoke about how we got into it and what his vision is.
Here's an example of a belt. The 4 coin version.
We then saw the workshops, and the little hotel that is attached. The building is very Mediterranean style. There are also examples of his work, and that of his sons and employees in both silver and leather for sale.
This is the courtyard that separates the workshop from the hotel. It's very pretty.
After that, we walked around the square, looked at the town church, apparently the priest is Irish, and the town hall.
The square. That's the church in the background. It was a very quiet and peaceful day there.
From there, we went to the ranch. We left the main road, and went onto a dirt road. Alexjandra told us it was a typical Pampas road. The ranch was beautiful, several Spanish style building and beautifully landscaped grounds. They had a stable, and also some sheep and goats. The owner and hostess greeted us warmly, and we were offered our choice of drinks. We all opted for wine. We then sat down on the veranda and one of the servers brought us some empanadas, which were wonderful. They were so good, we had a second round - that round they fried, and in the first round they were baked. We decided we liked the baked ones slightly better. We sat on the veranda for a while chatting. Alexjandra asked if we wanted to ride horses or do a carriage ride. We thought a carriage ride would be nice so she went and arranged that. She was gone for a while, but we were enjoying our time socializing and Glen and Bob took pictures. It was very restful.
A view of the ranch. It was very nice.
And here's one of the buildings of the ranch. Those are the gauchos. In addition to their music, they also helped serve the meat at lunch.
Eventually, Alexjandra came back and said it was lunch time, and we'd do the ride afterward. She escorted us to a serious of nicely set picnic tables outside. On the table was red wine, water, bread and 3 kinds of salad - green, a simple cole slaw, and a very good potato salad. They also brought out a tomato salad.
Soon after, servers and gauchos came out carrying plates of barbecued meat. It was all very good. As we were finishing, the gauchos came back with guitars and played music that most closely resembled polka. Soon, other gauchos, including some young boys were dancing with the guests. One of the boys invited me to dance with him, which I accepted but the dance ended as we were about to started. I danced with one of the older men (who apparently wrecked his back breaking horses) and then with Glen. Somebody told the owner we danced tango, so she had the band play a tango and we danced for all the guests. It was great fun.
And now, the music.
By that time, it was after 3pm. Bob and Linda wanted to be at the airport by 6 for their 9:40 flight, since we'd all heard that the airport is a zoo in the evening as all the US flights depart. The driver, talking with other drivers, decided we should leave between 3:30 and 4, (they also discussed the best routes).
Linda and I looked at the hotel rooms, and they looked delightful. We both decided that if we were in Argentina, it would be nice to spend a couple of days there. A little bit before 4pm we thanked our hostess and headed out. We had a relaxed drive back, and circumvented BA. On one of the toll roads, which we learned were all private, we saw shanty towns, something we, at least hadn't seen on our BA visit pre cruise. Alexjandra told us the road is considered dangerous at night, as people get on the overpasses, throw rocks at cars to break the window, and when the car stops, the occupants get robbed. Like any scheme like that, it doesn't always happen, but it can.
When we got to the airport, it was busy with buses and cars. Our driver stopped and Alexjandra ran into the airport to get us luggage carts. She came back with two, and we each loaded our luggage into them. Alexjandra accompanied us into the terminal and then said her good byes. We then said goodbye to Bob and Linda as they went to the American line and we went to United. We will see them when we go to Florida next time.
There was no real line for United business, although I saw long lines for economy for both United and American economy and another for what I think is an Argentine airline. We were asked about our luggage going in, and each bag was tagged for Xray. I think all US bags get that.
When we checked in, we were given an Argentine exit form to fill out, as well as our boarding passes and luggage tags. When we found the area to enter the whole security section, we saw Linda and Bill, other CC friends filling out theirs. I know they were on our flight, so Glen and I agreed to take them into Red Carpet.
First stop was a check that we had boarding passes, and then we went through customs. It was about a 5-10 minute wait, not too bad. Glen's got stamped through easily. The agent stared at mine for a while, since there was no entrance stamp, but she read the police report, and my guess is finally decided not to bother with it, and stamped me through as well. We next went through security - compared to US it's sort of a joke - no pulling the quart bag, laptops, no shoes off, just put the bag on and go.
Once through there, we walked through the shopping mall that is the gate area. Mostly makeup and electronics, same stuff you'd find at home. We were told the lounge was near gate 6 so we went to gate 6. It took a few minutes to find the lounge but we got there. When we got in we discovered that as a member, I could bring one guest, and Glen, as business class, got 0. We apologized to Linda and Bill and said we'd see them on the plane.
We sat with Charles and Judy for a couple of hours and sampled the odd assortment of appetizers they brought out. The plane was supposed to board at 9:20, so about 9:10 we went out there. There was a security check at the gate - they opened all the carry ons and did a quick pat down of everyone. Soon after we boarded, and settled into our seats.
As they entered, Charles asked if we wanted to trade seats - we said no.
The flight left on time, and was off the ground quickly. The estimation was that we'd be in a bit early - we had over 2 hours, but our friends had less, so that was good.
After dinner, I settled down to try to sleep - never easy for me on a plane, but the seats in Business Class are lay flat, so it might work. I was able to get some sleep, until ...
Somewhere around the equator (cool - we crossed the equator), it got bumpy so the seatbelt sign went on, which sort of woke me up. Then, I heard one of the announcements you never want to hear on a plane, especially when you are trying to make a tight connection "If there is a doctor on board, please ring your call button". About 15 minutes later we heard "if anyone has nitroglycerin, ring your call button".
About 15 minutes later, I noticed on the other aisle of the cabin an IV line was hanging from the overhead compartment. I then tried to go back to sleep. While this was going on, I put on Glen's entertainment unit, and put it to the map. We were over Columbia. A bit later, I saw a couple of the flight attendants stop and look at it - that was pretty ominous.
Every so often, I checked the map, and saw we were now over what I think is the Caribbean Sea. Soon after, the pilot came on and announced that the doctor had told them that they should get the passenger off the plane and to a hospital, ASAP. So, we were heading to Kingston Jamaica to drop him off, refuel and get on our way.
Glen and I discussed it, and he thought since there was a refuel, the pilot was putting the pedal to the metal and going to try to make up time. Also, we had tailwinds, so it was possible that, if the stop was less than an hour, we might make our connection, and maybe some of our friends would too.
After landing, it took about 20 minutes to get the passenger off. I saw them take him off and hopefully he'll be OK - it was I heard a heart attack. He was awake and holding the oxygen tank as they took him off, so I hope it's a good sign.
We then sat on the tarmac for another 3+ hours. Periodically the pilot came on - apparently it took a long time to negotiate how to pay for the fuel since United doesn't fly into Kingston, and then there were what appeared to be hours of negotiating removing the bags of the 4 people who left - the passenger and wife and their traveling companions.
At some point, I got out my cell phone and called United about our rebooking. Turns out Glen and I were on different flights. The agent I spoke to said he was going to get us on the same flight, although because he was on an upgrade ticket, he'd probably lose it. Because I was being charged international rates, I asked the agent if I could get off the phone. He said I could, and he would work on it.
After about four hours, and seeing the sunrise on Jamaica, we finally were able to leave. At least we got to kiss in one more airport (if the entry road in Uruguay counted then the tarmac in Kingston should too).
Another 3 hours of flight and we were in DC. We were off the plane quickly and one of the first few people through customs. The immigration agent asked what happened to my old passport. He also asked if we'd been on a farm or ranch in the last few days. We had, but hadn't got near the cows or horses. They also asked about food, etc. All we had was 5 bottles of wine.
We then picked up our luggage and sailed through customs. Next step was to recheck the luggage and go through US security (apparently they are aware how lax international security can be). After that, we went to the Red Carpet Lounge to figure out our next step.
Here's where it got fun. I was on the 12:15 flight and Glen was on the 2:45 one. That was the problem with splitting the reservations. Apparently, the agent I spoke to (and probably wasted several dollars on the call) didn't fix anything. The agent was helpful, but apparently the only way to guarantee that we'd be on the same flight would be to wait until the 4:15 flight. She did however, bump Glen to the top of the standby list for the 12:15.
I went outside to wait for Linda and Bill since I think we could bring them both in. When they arrived, they said they were on a 1pm flight and wanted to get to that gate since it was quite far away. We said our final goodbyes, and they left. As soon as I got back in, I saw Glen had poured me some coffee and juice. I pulled out the PC to work on the blog, and as soon as I started booting it, the agent paged Glen. He was on my flight, although in coach. I plan to write United and say that I think upgrades should be preserved when a connection is missed. If not, either miles should be returned or the passenger should be given a complimentary upgrade later, with priority. I won't get anywhere with it, but it's worth a try.
That flight was uneventful. While on the plane before take off, I arranged from the ride back from the airport. At that point, we'd been awake most of the last 36 hours, so a ride was very appreciated.
The flight got in a bit early, and our ride arrived just after we got our luggage, so the timing was good. We arrived home with just enough time to get the mail. We headed out for an early dinner and early bed after being more or less awake for 44 hours.
And with that, the entries for this trip are finished. When I upload the full pictures to the web I'll post that. Also, a housekeeping point - Glen wants to correct that at the Crown Grill he had the sirloin, not the Porterhouse.
Thanks for reading. Since this is a travel blog, I'll continue to post my trips, but it will probably be a few months. Until our next biggie, I won't send email updates (and there will be an opt in for that).
And some closing thoughts. This was an amazing trip, other than a few problems, that over time will be minor. Next year is the last year, at least for a while, that the big ships will be doing Antarctica, so I'm glad we got this in. And, even though we missed a couple scenic spots, we were very lucky that we both made the Falklands and had that wonderfully sunny day in the Gerlache Straights. And there were many things I never thought I'd see/do - wiping penguin poo off our shoes, watching the Superbowl live from the same place where Shakleton fought for the life of his crew, and hitting the southern end of the Panamerican highway. We'll do more cruises, we may even have some that are more fun - but what we saw on this one (and the people we met and now consider friends) will probably never be surpassed.
Our day began before 7. I decided I needed to build in some time to go to the Purser's office if the credit wasn't applied, and given the wine situation, I wasn't holding my breath. Also, Montevideo is an hour later than BA, so we got to set the clocks back again.
I think that sometime around 4:30, we entered the BA harbor and started to move into position on the very narrow slip. The side thrusters were going and the shaking and noise woke us up. At some point we were able to go back to sleep.
At 6:45 the alarm rang. I got up and dressed, and opened the final bill. To my surprise, the credit for the loss was on there as a "good will" entry. Other than some outlet things that I loved that I probably won't be able to replace, it would have totally made up for it.
We packed our last minute things, swept the room and met Joan and Rich for breakfast. We ate a quick breakfast since we were supposed to meet Linda and Bob for our post cruise day trip at 8 in the dining room reserved for Platinum and above passengers. I sent Glen over while I went to the pursers desk to get a copy of my claim form. With the credit applied, I was pretty sure I didn't need to sign the form, but I wanted to be sure. The guy in front of me was annoyed because he'd tried to leave and they told him he still owed the ship 1.10 (yes, that's a dollar and ten cents). When I got up there, the purser looked for the form and after about 5 or 10 minutes came back and said that I didn't need it because the credit was given. I take that to mean that they destroyed it because they didn't need to send it to Los Angeles (or Santa Clarita more specifically). She did give me a copy of the laundry slip, though.
After that I went down to meet Glen, Linda and Bob, but as soon as I got to the dining room they told me to turn around, our number had been called. We walked off the ship, and waited for the next bus to move people to the terminal. At this point, I'm worrying about our checked luggage, since there are rumors of dishonest port workers in BA, and given the way stuff like this has been going, it wouldn't surprise me. However, we did find all 4 of our checked bags (only two are actual suitcases - the other two are two sportsac duffles) and Bob and Linda found theirs. We got a porter, and loaded most of the bags onto a large cart. Leaving the port there was an xray machine, but they waved us through. We went out to the exit and it was as chaotic as we remembered from embarkation - with several taxi lines, and a throng of greeters. It was 8:45 and our guide wasn't due for another 15 minutes, so we had our porter unload us to the side and we decided to wait. As we did, Cruise Critic friends kept coming out and we kept hugging goodbye. I periodically went out to check for our guide. At about 9, Glen noticed somebody outside holding up a sign that looked to him like it said Grossman. I went over there and it was our guide, Alexjandra. She went with me to our luggage, and immediately took charge, getting a porter, and communicating with the staff on how to get out. She contacted the driver, and we were soon loaded into the van. (We were relieved it was big enough for all our stuff). We drove out of town towards the pampas, about 75 miles I think. The driver apparently needed what Alexjandra called a "technical stop", which we learned meant a bathroom stop. Apparently, it's a non discussed subject in her family. She also got each of us a bottle of water, and we continued.
Our first real stop was in the town of San Antonio de Aresco, which has a historic area. We started with a visit to a silversmith's house which has a small museum of gaucho silver items, including spurs, whips (which weren't used much) and belts. Belts apparently were the start of the silversmithing in the Pampas, they needed to close their belts, and it started with two coins, and as belts got larger so did the number of coins, and it evolved to an elaborate art. We saw a brief video in which the silversmith spoke about how we got into it and what his vision is.
Here's an example of a belt. The 4 coin version.
We then saw the workshops, and the little hotel that is attached. The building is very Mediterranean style. There are also examples of his work, and that of his sons and employees in both silver and leather for sale.
This is the courtyard that separates the workshop from the hotel. It's very pretty.
After that, we walked around the square, looked at the town church, apparently the priest is Irish, and the town hall.
The square. That's the church in the background. It was a very quiet and peaceful day there.
From there, we went to the ranch. We left the main road, and went onto a dirt road. Alexjandra told us it was a typical Pampas road. The ranch was beautiful, several Spanish style building and beautifully landscaped grounds. They had a stable, and also some sheep and goats. The owner and hostess greeted us warmly, and we were offered our choice of drinks. We all opted for wine. We then sat down on the veranda and one of the servers brought us some empanadas, which were wonderful. They were so good, we had a second round - that round they fried, and in the first round they were baked. We decided we liked the baked ones slightly better. We sat on the veranda for a while chatting. Alexjandra asked if we wanted to ride horses or do a carriage ride. We thought a carriage ride would be nice so she went and arranged that. She was gone for a while, but we were enjoying our time socializing and Glen and Bob took pictures. It was very restful.
A view of the ranch. It was very nice.
And here's one of the buildings of the ranch. Those are the gauchos. In addition to their music, they also helped serve the meat at lunch.
Eventually, Alexjandra came back and said it was lunch time, and we'd do the ride afterward. She escorted us to a serious of nicely set picnic tables outside. On the table was red wine, water, bread and 3 kinds of salad - green, a simple cole slaw, and a very good potato salad. They also brought out a tomato salad.
Soon after, servers and gauchos came out carrying plates of barbecued meat. It was all very good. As we were finishing, the gauchos came back with guitars and played music that most closely resembled polka. Soon, other gauchos, including some young boys were dancing with the guests. One of the boys invited me to dance with him, which I accepted but the dance ended as we were about to started. I danced with one of the older men (who apparently wrecked his back breaking horses) and then with Glen. Somebody told the owner we danced tango, so she had the band play a tango and we danced for all the guests. It was great fun.
And now, the music.
By that time, it was after 3pm. Bob and Linda wanted to be at the airport by 6 for their 9:40 flight, since we'd all heard that the airport is a zoo in the evening as all the US flights depart. The driver, talking with other drivers, decided we should leave between 3:30 and 4, (they also discussed the best routes).
Linda and I looked at the hotel rooms, and they looked delightful. We both decided that if we were in Argentina, it would be nice to spend a couple of days there. A little bit before 4pm we thanked our hostess and headed out. We had a relaxed drive back, and circumvented BA. On one of the toll roads, which we learned were all private, we saw shanty towns, something we, at least hadn't seen on our BA visit pre cruise. Alexjandra told us the road is considered dangerous at night, as people get on the overpasses, throw rocks at cars to break the window, and when the car stops, the occupants get robbed. Like any scheme like that, it doesn't always happen, but it can.
When we got to the airport, it was busy with buses and cars. Our driver stopped and Alexjandra ran into the airport to get us luggage carts. She came back with two, and we each loaded our luggage into them. Alexjandra accompanied us into the terminal and then said her good byes. We then said goodbye to Bob and Linda as they went to the American line and we went to United. We will see them when we go to Florida next time.
There was no real line for United business, although I saw long lines for economy for both United and American economy and another for what I think is an Argentine airline. We were asked about our luggage going in, and each bag was tagged for Xray. I think all US bags get that.
When we checked in, we were given an Argentine exit form to fill out, as well as our boarding passes and luggage tags. When we found the area to enter the whole security section, we saw Linda and Bill, other CC friends filling out theirs. I know they were on our flight, so Glen and I agreed to take them into Red Carpet.
First stop was a check that we had boarding passes, and then we went through customs. It was about a 5-10 minute wait, not too bad. Glen's got stamped through easily. The agent stared at mine for a while, since there was no entrance stamp, but she read the police report, and my guess is finally decided not to bother with it, and stamped me through as well. We next went through security - compared to US it's sort of a joke - no pulling the quart bag, laptops, no shoes off, just put the bag on and go.
Once through there, we walked through the shopping mall that is the gate area. Mostly makeup and electronics, same stuff you'd find at home. We were told the lounge was near gate 6 so we went to gate 6. It took a few minutes to find the lounge but we got there. When we got in we discovered that as a member, I could bring one guest, and Glen, as business class, got 0. We apologized to Linda and Bill and said we'd see them on the plane.
We sat with Charles and Judy for a couple of hours and sampled the odd assortment of appetizers they brought out. The plane was supposed to board at 9:20, so about 9:10 we went out there. There was a security check at the gate - they opened all the carry ons and did a quick pat down of everyone. Soon after we boarded, and settled into our seats.
As they entered, Charles asked if we wanted to trade seats - we said no.
The flight left on time, and was off the ground quickly. The estimation was that we'd be in a bit early - we had over 2 hours, but our friends had less, so that was good.
After dinner, I settled down to try to sleep - never easy for me on a plane, but the seats in Business Class are lay flat, so it might work. I was able to get some sleep, until ...
Somewhere around the equator (cool - we crossed the equator), it got bumpy so the seatbelt sign went on, which sort of woke me up. Then, I heard one of the announcements you never want to hear on a plane, especially when you are trying to make a tight connection "If there is a doctor on board, please ring your call button". About 15 minutes later we heard "if anyone has nitroglycerin, ring your call button".
About 15 minutes later, I noticed on the other aisle of the cabin an IV line was hanging from the overhead compartment. I then tried to go back to sleep. While this was going on, I put on Glen's entertainment unit, and put it to the map. We were over Columbia. A bit later, I saw a couple of the flight attendants stop and look at it - that was pretty ominous.
Every so often, I checked the map, and saw we were now over what I think is the Caribbean Sea. Soon after, the pilot came on and announced that the doctor had told them that they should get the passenger off the plane and to a hospital, ASAP. So, we were heading to Kingston Jamaica to drop him off, refuel and get on our way.
Glen and I discussed it, and he thought since there was a refuel, the pilot was putting the pedal to the metal and going to try to make up time. Also, we had tailwinds, so it was possible that, if the stop was less than an hour, we might make our connection, and maybe some of our friends would too.
After landing, it took about 20 minutes to get the passenger off. I saw them take him off and hopefully he'll be OK - it was I heard a heart attack. He was awake and holding the oxygen tank as they took him off, so I hope it's a good sign.
We then sat on the tarmac for another 3+ hours. Periodically the pilot came on - apparently it took a long time to negotiate how to pay for the fuel since United doesn't fly into Kingston, and then there were what appeared to be hours of negotiating removing the bags of the 4 people who left - the passenger and wife and their traveling companions.
At some point, I got out my cell phone and called United about our rebooking. Turns out Glen and I were on different flights. The agent I spoke to said he was going to get us on the same flight, although because he was on an upgrade ticket, he'd probably lose it. Because I was being charged international rates, I asked the agent if I could get off the phone. He said I could, and he would work on it.
After about four hours, and seeing the sunrise on Jamaica, we finally were able to leave. At least we got to kiss in one more airport (if the entry road in Uruguay counted then the tarmac in Kingston should too).
Another 3 hours of flight and we were in DC. We were off the plane quickly and one of the first few people through customs. The immigration agent asked what happened to my old passport. He also asked if we'd been on a farm or ranch in the last few days. We had, but hadn't got near the cows or horses. They also asked about food, etc. All we had was 5 bottles of wine.
We then picked up our luggage and sailed through customs. Next step was to recheck the luggage and go through US security (apparently they are aware how lax international security can be). After that, we went to the Red Carpet Lounge to figure out our next step.
Here's where it got fun. I was on the 12:15 flight and Glen was on the 2:45 one. That was the problem with splitting the reservations. Apparently, the agent I spoke to (and probably wasted several dollars on the call) didn't fix anything. The agent was helpful, but apparently the only way to guarantee that we'd be on the same flight would be to wait until the 4:15 flight. She did however, bump Glen to the top of the standby list for the 12:15.
I went outside to wait for Linda and Bill since I think we could bring them both in. When they arrived, they said they were on a 1pm flight and wanted to get to that gate since it was quite far away. We said our final goodbyes, and they left. As soon as I got back in, I saw Glen had poured me some coffee and juice. I pulled out the PC to work on the blog, and as soon as I started booting it, the agent paged Glen. He was on my flight, although in coach. I plan to write United and say that I think upgrades should be preserved when a connection is missed. If not, either miles should be returned or the passenger should be given a complimentary upgrade later, with priority. I won't get anywhere with it, but it's worth a try.
That flight was uneventful. While on the plane before take off, I arranged from the ride back from the airport. At that point, we'd been awake most of the last 36 hours, so a ride was very appreciated.
The flight got in a bit early, and our ride arrived just after we got our luggage, so the timing was good. We arrived home with just enough time to get the mail. We headed out for an early dinner and early bed after being more or less awake for 44 hours.
And with that, the entries for this trip are finished. When I upload the full pictures to the web I'll post that. Also, a housekeeping point - Glen wants to correct that at the Crown Grill he had the sirloin, not the Porterhouse.
Thanks for reading. Since this is a travel blog, I'll continue to post my trips, but it will probably be a few months. Until our next biggie, I won't send email updates (and there will be an opt in for that).
And some closing thoughts. This was an amazing trip, other than a few problems, that over time will be minor. Next year is the last year, at least for a while, that the big ships will be doing Antarctica, so I'm glad we got this in. And, even though we missed a couple scenic spots, we were very lucky that we both made the Falklands and had that wonderfully sunny day in the Gerlache Straights. And there were many things I never thought I'd see/do - wiping penguin poo off our shoes, watching the Superbowl live from the same place where Shakleton fought for the life of his crew, and hitting the southern end of the Panamerican highway. We'll do more cruises, we may even have some that are more fun - but what we saw on this one (and the people we met and now consider friends) will probably never be surpassed.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Wine, Laundry and the Purser
Feb 17
Our last day of the cruise. We had a winery visit planned with 5 other CC couples, and the couple that added through the winery. We set the alarm for 7 because it would be our last day for breakfast at Sabattini's, and we didn't want to miss that. I woke up early and saw from the balcony that we were coming into the harbor at Montevideo. A little while later, I noticed the ship moving sideways, meaning we were docking. About then, the last couple called to say they were sick, and wouldn't be coming. He told Glen he knew there was a waiting list. It was annoying since it's impossible to pull someone off a waitlist at 7am on day of. I did email the winery before heading out of the room, hoping we won't have to pay for their lunch.
Montevideo at dawn. This was taken as we sailed into the harbor.
We had our last breakfast at Sabattini's, and at the end made a point of thanking Pedro and the crew for their outstanding and friendly service during the cruise. They made the breakfast experience really special.
We then met our friends at the wheelhouse and proceeded off the ship. Because we'd gotten in a bit early, there was no line at the gangway, and we all headed off the ship. I'd very carefully written down the information Maddy (the contact) had given me, and in dealing with the cancellation, left it in the room. Because I'd written it down, it was somewhat committed to memory, so we left the port. At the location where I thought they'd be, there were lots of vans, but they were all there to get passengers to take tours, none were waiting for us. As I was considering heading back to the ship to get the phone number, a van pulls up, a young woman jumps out asking if one of us is Abby. The van they usually use is broken, so that's why they were slightly (very slightly - about 3 minutes) late. She introduced herself as Cecelia or CeCe, we all piled in and went off for our city tour. She showed us several parks, monuments and historic buildings, and also a part of the original wall around the old city. We stopped at a beach park along their shore (remember that like BA, Montevedio is a port along the Rio de la Plata, not the ocean) to take pictures. We got some of parrots, which are wild here. As we were leaving, the buses from the ships (both the Star and one of the Royal Caribbean ships were in town) were arriving, and we were very glad that we were on our private tour.
Glen at the beach park. I can't remember exactly what the sculpture behind him is.
Still at the park, these are parrots. Yup, they are wild in South America. Birdwatching here certainly beats Alaska.
After that we headed towards the winery. We had a few extra minutes, so CeCe showed us the new international airport. As we drove by the entrance, Glen and I kissed, and we got another airport in. (If you don't know, we're trying to kiss in as many airports as possible - this started when we were both traveling a lot).
We arrived at the winery and were greeted by Maddy, the -it turns out young - women I'd set this up with. After a few minutes, we got a tour of the winery. Because it's harvest time, we tasted a grape called Tannet - one I don't see at home at all. It was, like every wine grape I've tasted, very sweet. We then did a standard winery tour, showing the crush and separation of stems and seeds, the fermentation tanks, the aging tanks, and the bottling operation.
This is the crusher. For whatever reason, I usually don't visit California wineries during harvest season. So it was fun to see it in action.
They make two brands - their fine wine and their table wine. One of the main differences is the amount of pruning of the vines. What was cool is that because it was harvest time, we actually saw the crush and bottling operation in action. Very cool.
The winery. It's very pretty and quiet there.
After the tour, it was time for tasting and lunch.
This is Glen in the dining room. It was very pretty and a delightful experience.
Lunch started with plates of cold cuts, veggies and cheese, and a white wine sample. After that we two red wines with potatoes, sprinkled with Rosemary (which we think was growing just outside the tasting room), salad and barbecue meats. It all very good. We finished with sparkling wine and flan with dulche de leche. Quite possibly the best flan dessert I've ever had.
I rarely do food pictures, but this tasted even better than it looked. I'm going to Uruguay for dessert every night from now on.
Once lunch was over, we had to pay for it. She asked me to pay cash for the transportation and tour, so we just split it 12 ways. It was probably only a dollar or two more per person, no biggie. Each couple paid for their own lunch and the bottle of wine we all felt compelled to buy. I think we were all sorry that Montevideo was at the end of our trip - we would have loved to buy more and and drink it during the cruise.
CeCe gave us a bit more tour on the way back - we saw the presidential palace - which the current president doesn't live in. He's a doctor, lives in his own house and btw, has kept up his practice since he's one of the best oncologists in Uruguay. He didn't run for reelection, and the new president (inaugurated next month) won't live there either.
After the tour, most of us went back to the ship. We went back to our room to to prepare for the drink off, and the laundry debacle began.
Two days earlier, I'd sent laundry out. It should have arrived on the night of the 16th, but it didn't. Our steward told Glen it was done, but they couldn't find it. They had a search procedure and were going through it. When the laundry didn't arrive last night, I called the purser's desk. They called the laundry, who said it was don't but would be ready between 8 and 9 am. When we got back to the room, it wasn't there. I called again. They said it still wasn't done. At that point, we paged the steward's duty manager. He came by about 25 minutes later, and said it was lost, and I'd have to file a loss claim. So down to the pursers desk I went. The purser I spoke to was the one I talked to last night, and she was very apologetic, and told me that was what she'd been told. She then called the laundry to try to get a straight story. They told her they didn't have the ticket, implying it hadn't been submitted - they went back and forth and involved our steward. To make a long story less long, I gave her the claim info and the whole thing to about 40 minutes, so I missed the first 20 of our drink off. I finally got up there, and watched sail away from the balcony with friends. We then said good bye to some of them. Rich suggested we go to the pursers desk and talk to the hotel manager about it - with management involved they might be able to find it.
At about 6:30 we went to the pursers desk and asked to speak to the hotel manager or the purser. After about 5 minutes we were ushered into the First Pursers office. Glen stated that we'd been given the runaround for two days, and we just wanted to be sure that all was being done that could be. He apologized, said it was, and that he'd personally been down there to look for it. He was going to have the night shift look one more time, and if it really wasn't there, he'd give us the loss claim as an on board credit later in the evening. He also offered to buy us dinner at the Crown Grill or Sabattini's, but we wanted to have dinner with Joan and Rich at our usual table. He understood that and asked if we drank wine. We said we did, so he got our time and dining room.
Just enough time to go back, change for dinner and pack. We didn't want to put our bags out yet on the off chance the laundry would show up.
We enjoyed our last dinner with Joan and Rich. I don't know what the purser meant about wine, but none showed up. Maybe our old table got it or it would show up as a credit.
After dinner they came up to our room to pick up the roses Glen gave me for Valentine's day. Once they left, after a fond just-in-case farewell (we were going to try to meet them for breakfast at 7:30) Glen and I decided to walk around outside for a while. We found a relatively dark and quiet spot to look at the night sky - wait for this - at the mini-golf course that's just behind the Jumbotron screen. We enjoyed the Southern sky one last time.
Bed was next - early day again tomorrow.
Our last day of the cruise. We had a winery visit planned with 5 other CC couples, and the couple that added through the winery. We set the alarm for 7 because it would be our last day for breakfast at Sabattini's, and we didn't want to miss that. I woke up early and saw from the balcony that we were coming into the harbor at Montevideo. A little while later, I noticed the ship moving sideways, meaning we were docking. About then, the last couple called to say they were sick, and wouldn't be coming. He told Glen he knew there was a waiting list. It was annoying since it's impossible to pull someone off a waitlist at 7am on day of. I did email the winery before heading out of the room, hoping we won't have to pay for their lunch.
Montevideo at dawn. This was taken as we sailed into the harbor.
We had our last breakfast at Sabattini's, and at the end made a point of thanking Pedro and the crew for their outstanding and friendly service during the cruise. They made the breakfast experience really special.
We then met our friends at the wheelhouse and proceeded off the ship. Because we'd gotten in a bit early, there was no line at the gangway, and we all headed off the ship. I'd very carefully written down the information Maddy (the contact) had given me, and in dealing with the cancellation, left it in the room. Because I'd written it down, it was somewhat committed to memory, so we left the port. At the location where I thought they'd be, there were lots of vans, but they were all there to get passengers to take tours, none were waiting for us. As I was considering heading back to the ship to get the phone number, a van pulls up, a young woman jumps out asking if one of us is Abby. The van they usually use is broken, so that's why they were slightly (very slightly - about 3 minutes) late. She introduced herself as Cecelia or CeCe, we all piled in and went off for our city tour. She showed us several parks, monuments and historic buildings, and also a part of the original wall around the old city. We stopped at a beach park along their shore (remember that like BA, Montevedio is a port along the Rio de la Plata, not the ocean) to take pictures. We got some of parrots, which are wild here. As we were leaving, the buses from the ships (both the Star and one of the Royal Caribbean ships were in town) were arriving, and we were very glad that we were on our private tour.
Glen at the beach park. I can't remember exactly what the sculpture behind him is.
Still at the park, these are parrots. Yup, they are wild in South America. Birdwatching here certainly beats Alaska.
After that we headed towards the winery. We had a few extra minutes, so CeCe showed us the new international airport. As we drove by the entrance, Glen and I kissed, and we got another airport in. (If you don't know, we're trying to kiss in as many airports as possible - this started when we were both traveling a lot).
We arrived at the winery and were greeted by Maddy, the -it turns out young - women I'd set this up with. After a few minutes, we got a tour of the winery. Because it's harvest time, we tasted a grape called Tannet - one I don't see at home at all. It was, like every wine grape I've tasted, very sweet. We then did a standard winery tour, showing the crush and separation of stems and seeds, the fermentation tanks, the aging tanks, and the bottling operation.
This is the crusher. For whatever reason, I usually don't visit California wineries during harvest season. So it was fun to see it in action.
They make two brands - their fine wine and their table wine. One of the main differences is the amount of pruning of the vines. What was cool is that because it was harvest time, we actually saw the crush and bottling operation in action. Very cool.
The winery. It's very pretty and quiet there.
After the tour, it was time for tasting and lunch.
This is Glen in the dining room. It was very pretty and a delightful experience.
Lunch started with plates of cold cuts, veggies and cheese, and a white wine sample. After that we two red wines with potatoes, sprinkled with Rosemary (which we think was growing just outside the tasting room), salad and barbecue meats. It all very good. We finished with sparkling wine and flan with dulche de leche. Quite possibly the best flan dessert I've ever had.
I rarely do food pictures, but this tasted even better than it looked. I'm going to Uruguay for dessert every night from now on.
Once lunch was over, we had to pay for it. She asked me to pay cash for the transportation and tour, so we just split it 12 ways. It was probably only a dollar or two more per person, no biggie. Each couple paid for their own lunch and the bottle of wine we all felt compelled to buy. I think we were all sorry that Montevideo was at the end of our trip - we would have loved to buy more and and drink it during the cruise.
CeCe gave us a bit more tour on the way back - we saw the presidential palace - which the current president doesn't live in. He's a doctor, lives in his own house and btw, has kept up his practice since he's one of the best oncologists in Uruguay. He didn't run for reelection, and the new president (inaugurated next month) won't live there either.
After the tour, most of us went back to the ship. We went back to our room to to prepare for the drink off, and the laundry debacle began.
Two days earlier, I'd sent laundry out. It should have arrived on the night of the 16th, but it didn't. Our steward told Glen it was done, but they couldn't find it. They had a search procedure and were going through it. When the laundry didn't arrive last night, I called the purser's desk. They called the laundry, who said it was don't but would be ready between 8 and 9 am. When we got back to the room, it wasn't there. I called again. They said it still wasn't done. At that point, we paged the steward's duty manager. He came by about 25 minutes later, and said it was lost, and I'd have to file a loss claim. So down to the pursers desk I went. The purser I spoke to was the one I talked to last night, and she was very apologetic, and told me that was what she'd been told. She then called the laundry to try to get a straight story. They told her they didn't have the ticket, implying it hadn't been submitted - they went back and forth and involved our steward. To make a long story less long, I gave her the claim info and the whole thing to about 40 minutes, so I missed the first 20 of our drink off. I finally got up there, and watched sail away from the balcony with friends. We then said good bye to some of them. Rich suggested we go to the pursers desk and talk to the hotel manager about it - with management involved they might be able to find it.
At about 6:30 we went to the pursers desk and asked to speak to the hotel manager or the purser. After about 5 minutes we were ushered into the First Pursers office. Glen stated that we'd been given the runaround for two days, and we just wanted to be sure that all was being done that could be. He apologized, said it was, and that he'd personally been down there to look for it. He was going to have the night shift look one more time, and if it really wasn't there, he'd give us the loss claim as an on board credit later in the evening. He also offered to buy us dinner at the Crown Grill or Sabattini's, but we wanted to have dinner with Joan and Rich at our usual table. He understood that and asked if we drank wine. We said we did, so he got our time and dining room.
Just enough time to go back, change for dinner and pack. We didn't want to put our bags out yet on the off chance the laundry would show up.
We enjoyed our last dinner with Joan and Rich. I don't know what the purser meant about wine, but none showed up. Maybe our old table got it or it would show up as a credit.
After dinner they came up to our room to pick up the roses Glen gave me for Valentine's day. Once they left, after a fond just-in-case farewell (we were going to try to meet them for breakfast at 7:30) Glen and I decided to walk around outside for a while. We found a relatively dark and quiet spot to look at the night sky - wait for this - at the mini-golf course that's just behind the Jumbotron screen. We enjoyed the Southern sky one last time.
Bed was next - early day again tomorrow.
A Generic Sea Day
Feb 16
Our last sea day of this outstanding cruise. We slept in, and missed breakfast and the line dance review.
Around 11:00 we decided to find some coffee and pastries. The Patisserie had no seating, so we decided to wander over to Rich and Joan's room because I had to give them something. As we were about to drop it in the mailbox, Rich came back so he invited us in.
I have never seen anything like their room (and, Rich and Joan, in case you're reading this, I mean it in the nicest possible way) - the walls, which I just learned are magnetic, are covered with magnetic clips with all kinds of spreadsheets, maps and other documents about their four cruises. They also showed us the various tools and medicines they take with them. I thought I was hyper organized, but I bow to the masters.
We spent some time discussing future cruises, and looking through a cruise atlas that the future cruise guy had given Rich. We hope to cruise together again sometime. By this time it was lunch time, and they invited us to tag along with them and the CC folk that were going to Montevideo with them. We won't be having dinner with them tonight because some of those people are treating them to dinner at the steakhouse as a thank you for shepherding them around in ports. It was a nice lunch.
After lunch, it was almost time for the boat race. Glen didn't feel well, so I went to the boat race. What's the boat race? teams build boats (or as our guide in Punta Arenas said, a boat on a boat) that have to be able to haul a 12 pack of beer across the pool and back without sinking. If more than one boat makes it, the winner is based on style points as decided by the audience and the cruise staff.
Our friend's boat was a whale made (at least externally) of duct tape. The belly held the payload. The team name was "Moby Drake", and they all had hats commemorating that. There is apparently a story, but it wasn't read. Hopefully someone will post it on our roll call. I got to be the official cheerleader and photographer for the team.
They were able to successfully send it across the pool and back, and a hose clever let Ralph, the driver, blow water out. However all three boats made it, so the winner was another boat that looked like a miniature ocean liner. However the audience vote (by applause) was so close that they were awarded duplicate first place - medals (plastic) and 12 beers. That lead to a problem - how to drink all those beers when the cruise was ending soon. They wanted to have a small gathering to drink it, and no one except us had room to host it. So we decided that at 4:45, just before sailaway from Montevideo, we'd have all the roll call people we were close to come over with their left over drinks and we'd have a small good bye party.
After a break it was time for our last trivia game. This time, Glen came with me and we both played and (and lost - so no trivia win for me). Following trivia, we went to the Elite lounge, then dinner prep, then dinner.
Rich and Joan were at the Crown Grill that night, so Glen and I were going to invite the couple at our waiter's other table to join us (they were alone at a table for 6 every night), but they didn't show up either. So, we had a nice "chef's gala dinner" together. After dinner, we went Explorers to hear Groove Babies, but they were finishing a set. We hung around during the break, and Glen gave the band some contact info to get them in touch with his brother, who has connections in the music business. By the time we finished talking with them, it was time for their next set, so we danced that entire set (sitting out a couple). The highlight was that we decided to follow the vocal line of Love Shack and dance a tango. When all you have is the rock band, you get creative. We had a great time.
We had an early day at Montevideo the next day, so went to bed soon after.
Our last sea day of this outstanding cruise. We slept in, and missed breakfast and the line dance review.
Around 11:00 we decided to find some coffee and pastries. The Patisserie had no seating, so we decided to wander over to Rich and Joan's room because I had to give them something. As we were about to drop it in the mailbox, Rich came back so he invited us in.
I have never seen anything like their room (and, Rich and Joan, in case you're reading this, I mean it in the nicest possible way) - the walls, which I just learned are magnetic, are covered with magnetic clips with all kinds of spreadsheets, maps and other documents about their four cruises. They also showed us the various tools and medicines they take with them. I thought I was hyper organized, but I bow to the masters.
We spent some time discussing future cruises, and looking through a cruise atlas that the future cruise guy had given Rich. We hope to cruise together again sometime. By this time it was lunch time, and they invited us to tag along with them and the CC folk that were going to Montevideo with them. We won't be having dinner with them tonight because some of those people are treating them to dinner at the steakhouse as a thank you for shepherding them around in ports. It was a nice lunch.
After lunch, it was almost time for the boat race. Glen didn't feel well, so I went to the boat race. What's the boat race? teams build boats (or as our guide in Punta Arenas said, a boat on a boat) that have to be able to haul a 12 pack of beer across the pool and back without sinking. If more than one boat makes it, the winner is based on style points as decided by the audience and the cruise staff.
Our friend's boat was a whale made (at least externally) of duct tape. The belly held the payload. The team name was "Moby Drake", and they all had hats commemorating that. There is apparently a story, but it wasn't read. Hopefully someone will post it on our roll call. I got to be the official cheerleader and photographer for the team.
They were able to successfully send it across the pool and back, and a hose clever let Ralph, the driver, blow water out. However all three boats made it, so the winner was another boat that looked like a miniature ocean liner. However the audience vote (by applause) was so close that they were awarded duplicate first place - medals (plastic) and 12 beers. That lead to a problem - how to drink all those beers when the cruise was ending soon. They wanted to have a small gathering to drink it, and no one except us had room to host it. So we decided that at 4:45, just before sailaway from Montevideo, we'd have all the roll call people we were close to come over with their left over drinks and we'd have a small good bye party.
After a break it was time for our last trivia game. This time, Glen came with me and we both played and (and lost - so no trivia win for me). Following trivia, we went to the Elite lounge, then dinner prep, then dinner.
Rich and Joan were at the Crown Grill that night, so Glen and I were going to invite the couple at our waiter's other table to join us (they were alone at a table for 6 every night), but they didn't show up either. So, we had a nice "chef's gala dinner" together. After dinner, we went Explorers to hear Groove Babies, but they were finishing a set. We hung around during the break, and Glen gave the band some contact info to get them in touch with his brother, who has connections in the music business. By the time we finished talking with them, it was time for their next set, so we danced that entire set (sitting out a couple). The highlight was that we decided to follow the vocal line of Love Shack and dance a tango. When all you have is the rock band, you get creative. We had a great time.
We had an early day at Montevideo the next day, so went to bed soon after.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Sea day, formal night, dance contest, balloon drop
Feb 15
Today was the day of our second bridge visit. We woke up at 9am in order to have a quick (pastry and coffee) breakfast in Sabatini's. We had to be at the deck 14 elevator lobby at 10:25 and we were right on time. At about 10:30 someone came to check off the names. We were soon led into the bridge and given an overview, similar to what we had on the Ultimate Ship tour but slightly different. Once again, we could wander around. Captain Fortezze was there (I think I mentioned earlier that he was the captain on our Alaska cruise). We chatted with him for quite a while, he's very personable once you get him talking - we talked about his family (when we went to Alaska we spoke to his wife a lot, and met his baby girl who's now 3 and a half. She also now has a baby brother). He also told us about the decision not to enter Iceberg Alley - apparently they were faced with almost solid ice and complete darkness - making it impossible to distinguish icebergs from white caps, so the decision to not go in had to be made. We also discussed the fact that it was good we did Alaska before Antarctica. It was a nice chat. We then looked at the flags - the alphabet flags and country and state flags - they fly those when visiting a port. Here's the Falklands flag.
This was taken on the day we visited the Falklands. They had just put the flag up. A trivia question. What animal is on the flag? See bottom of post for answer.
By this time it was getting close to noon, and their shift switch. I got my picture taken with the captain, we thanked the crew and headed out.
And here I am with Captain Perrin. Woo hoo.
Captain Fertezze was behind us on the stairs, so as we said good bye we asked him about the wave height on the Alaska cruise. His only answer was "It was bad. It was very bad". I guess we'll never know, but we were on deck 14 and getting sea water on the balcony. Definitely worse than anything here (actually, the water was never that bad it was wind).
We went back to the room, and then to the dining room for lunch. We had lunch with a woman from Canada and one from Alabama and had a very pleasant chat. After lunch, we dropped by the ballroom class, but it was in Explorers Lounge and the floor was very, very crowded. So Glen left and I stuck around for a bit to help one of our CC friends with her waltz and to figure out exactly what Rumba he was teaching. I learned the basic and then Clare, a young lady who was apparently a competitive dancer in Canada did it with me, as her partner was helping my CC friend. I also ran through songs on my Ipod.
After the dance lesson, at 2pm, we had a meeting with Ben of the cruise staff to go over what dances we'd be doing that night and to download our music. Because there were only 3 or 4 (he didn't have the right cabin number for one) couples, we got to select two dances each. We decided to do Tango to an Elvis Presley song, and Nightclub Two-step to our favorite Mana song whose name I never can remember. The other couples there were from the East Bay, and one was very experienced, and very very strong Latin dancers. Both of those couples chose rumba and cha-cha.
The tango couple was giving a lesson during that time, so we went to the class for a bit. It was, like before very crowded. We took part for a bit and then went up to the carpeted area to practice. Joan and Rich were there and we helped them for a bit. We also told them that we had to be out of dinner by 9:25 because our event started at 9:30. That's my biggest complaint with the cruise - most of the "fun" events began at 9:30 so we missed most of them. And the cruise staff has not been very responsive to that. Their attitude is that there is "only so much time". So fine, make late seating earlier.
After the meeting, we wandered around and headed upstairs. Linda and Bob had left a bottle of wine in our room, and we'd invited them over to drink it. We also invited Terri and Rod over because they didn't make the cabin crawl and want to see a suite.
We enjoyed the wine until about 5:20 when we decided to go up to Skywalker's for the elite lounge. We stayed until 7, with other friends joining us, practiced a tango on the way out and went to get ready for dinner.
Dinner was a rushed affair because we had to be out by 9:25 - usually it's around 10. Our waiter was fast and efficient, and we arrived just in time. We were ushered to the "green room" a corner of the Explorer's Lounge with a single entrance. Couple number 4, Dottie and Carl (very good west coast swing dancers, but not really ballroom dancers) arrived. Soon after, Ben and Veronica (dance instructors) showed up with some champagne.
At 9:30ish they played ballroom blitz. Then Ben announced that they found the four best dance couples on the ship (my comment - did they check every cabin - somebody else said something about the only 8 people willing to do this) and then the audience would choose the best by paper ballot, one per group, not person. They also stopped giving out ballots once the dancing started.
We were all introduced, and then we did a group waltz. Then each couple did their first dance. The first couple was one of the two east bay couples, and relatively new, but they did nicely. Next, Dottie and Carl did a very good west coast swing. Lily and Johnny went next and did a technically good rumba. We then did our tango, pretty good, not as strong as I would have liked, but no major mistakes. After the second dance, we were to be interviewed. Elaine and Gary, couple 1 did a nice cha cha, Dottie and Carl a good waltz, not as strong as their west coast, though. Lily and Johnny did a cha cha that was almost certainly choreographed and probably for competition, as it was that style, and technically pretty close to perfect. Cha cha is clearly their money dance. We finished with our two step, which I think we did well. Ben asked us how long we'd been married and dancing and where we danced. Of the four times he asked that, we were the third to answer California. Once we were done being interviewed, there was a swing while they tallied the votes - and the crowd was invited to join in.
The results were announced, and Johnny and Lily won (rightly so) and we were second so we are now the proud owners of a bottle of champagne and a second Princess dance trophy.
We then wandered around talking to people. There was a balloon drop at 11:15, so at 10:45 we went upstairs to drop our stuff and then came back down. By then, the atrium was packed and the Groove Babies (rock band) was playing. We would have gone to the dance floor if we could have got there, but we couldn't so we danced at the periphery. At 11:15 the balloons dropped, and we got one to pop.
To bed after that, with some internet time.
Trivia answer: A sheep.
Today was the day of our second bridge visit. We woke up at 9am in order to have a quick (pastry and coffee) breakfast in Sabatini's. We had to be at the deck 14 elevator lobby at 10:25 and we were right on time. At about 10:30 someone came to check off the names. We were soon led into the bridge and given an overview, similar to what we had on the Ultimate Ship tour but slightly different. Once again, we could wander around. Captain Fortezze was there (I think I mentioned earlier that he was the captain on our Alaska cruise). We chatted with him for quite a while, he's very personable once you get him talking - we talked about his family (when we went to Alaska we spoke to his wife a lot, and met his baby girl who's now 3 and a half. She also now has a baby brother). He also told us about the decision not to enter Iceberg Alley - apparently they were faced with almost solid ice and complete darkness - making it impossible to distinguish icebergs from white caps, so the decision to not go in had to be made. We also discussed the fact that it was good we did Alaska before Antarctica. It was a nice chat. We then looked at the flags - the alphabet flags and country and state flags - they fly those when visiting a port. Here's the Falklands flag.
This was taken on the day we visited the Falklands. They had just put the flag up. A trivia question. What animal is on the flag? See bottom of post for answer.
By this time it was getting close to noon, and their shift switch. I got my picture taken with the captain, we thanked the crew and headed out.
And here I am with Captain Perrin. Woo hoo.
Captain Fertezze was behind us on the stairs, so as we said good bye we asked him about the wave height on the Alaska cruise. His only answer was "It was bad. It was very bad". I guess we'll never know, but we were on deck 14 and getting sea water on the balcony. Definitely worse than anything here (actually, the water was never that bad it was wind).
We went back to the room, and then to the dining room for lunch. We had lunch with a woman from Canada and one from Alabama and had a very pleasant chat. After lunch, we dropped by the ballroom class, but it was in Explorers Lounge and the floor was very, very crowded. So Glen left and I stuck around for a bit to help one of our CC friends with her waltz and to figure out exactly what Rumba he was teaching. I learned the basic and then Clare, a young lady who was apparently a competitive dancer in Canada did it with me, as her partner was helping my CC friend. I also ran through songs on my Ipod.
After the dance lesson, at 2pm, we had a meeting with Ben of the cruise staff to go over what dances we'd be doing that night and to download our music. Because there were only 3 or 4 (he didn't have the right cabin number for one) couples, we got to select two dances each. We decided to do Tango to an Elvis Presley song, and Nightclub Two-step to our favorite Mana song whose name I never can remember. The other couples there were from the East Bay, and one was very experienced, and very very strong Latin dancers. Both of those couples chose rumba and cha-cha.
The tango couple was giving a lesson during that time, so we went to the class for a bit. It was, like before very crowded. We took part for a bit and then went up to the carpeted area to practice. Joan and Rich were there and we helped them for a bit. We also told them that we had to be out of dinner by 9:25 because our event started at 9:30. That's my biggest complaint with the cruise - most of the "fun" events began at 9:30 so we missed most of them. And the cruise staff has not been very responsive to that. Their attitude is that there is "only so much time". So fine, make late seating earlier.
After the meeting, we wandered around and headed upstairs. Linda and Bob had left a bottle of wine in our room, and we'd invited them over to drink it. We also invited Terri and Rod over because they didn't make the cabin crawl and want to see a suite.
We enjoyed the wine until about 5:20 when we decided to go up to Skywalker's for the elite lounge. We stayed until 7, with other friends joining us, practiced a tango on the way out and went to get ready for dinner.
Dinner was a rushed affair because we had to be out by 9:25 - usually it's around 10. Our waiter was fast and efficient, and we arrived just in time. We were ushered to the "green room" a corner of the Explorer's Lounge with a single entrance. Couple number 4, Dottie and Carl (very good west coast swing dancers, but not really ballroom dancers) arrived. Soon after, Ben and Veronica (dance instructors) showed up with some champagne.
At 9:30ish they played ballroom blitz. Then Ben announced that they found the four best dance couples on the ship (my comment - did they check every cabin - somebody else said something about the only 8 people willing to do this) and then the audience would choose the best by paper ballot, one per group, not person. They also stopped giving out ballots once the dancing started.
We were all introduced, and then we did a group waltz. Then each couple did their first dance. The first couple was one of the two east bay couples, and relatively new, but they did nicely. Next, Dottie and Carl did a very good west coast swing. Lily and Johnny went next and did a technically good rumba. We then did our tango, pretty good, not as strong as I would have liked, but no major mistakes. After the second dance, we were to be interviewed. Elaine and Gary, couple 1 did a nice cha cha, Dottie and Carl a good waltz, not as strong as their west coast, though. Lily and Johnny did a cha cha that was almost certainly choreographed and probably for competition, as it was that style, and technically pretty close to perfect. Cha cha is clearly their money dance. We finished with our two step, which I think we did well. Ben asked us how long we'd been married and dancing and where we danced. Of the four times he asked that, we were the third to answer California. Once we were done being interviewed, there was a swing while they tallied the votes - and the crowd was invited to join in.
The results were announced, and Johnny and Lily won (rightly so) and we were second so we are now the proud owners of a bottle of champagne and a second Princess dance trophy.
We then wandered around talking to people. There was a balloon drop at 11:15, so at 10:45 we went upstairs to drop our stuff and then came back down. By then, the atrium was packed and the Groove Babies (rock band) was playing. We would have gone to the dance floor if we could have got there, but we couldn't so we danced at the periphery. At 11:15 the balloons dropped, and we got one to pop.
To bed after that, with some internet time.
Trivia answer: A sheep.
The holiday that we ignore and Hooray for Google
Feb 14
Valentine's Day, and we slept in a bit. For the first time 4 days we didn't have an early event.
Breakfast started at Sabatini's again. Pretty much the usual great service. I left at 10:20 to go to line dance class. It turns out that Melissa, the teacher, is teaching her own line dances, rather than the ones that the cruise line gives her. That's all well and good, but her dances tend to be a lot of small footwork movement (heels and toes, stomps and jazz squares), and not a lot of the big moves such as grapevines and walks. Her logic is that people who do a lot of cruises tend to get bored with the same old dances. I can, on the one hand, see that logic, but on the other, it would be nice to have dances that are familiar and that would be useful for future cruises. Oh well, still fun.
After line dance I chatted with some CC friends, and then hung out until 1pm for the ballroom class. It was a review of jive, which is single step swing. We did that, and then, after some more time chatting with friends, headed to the Pub Lunch. This time it was a Scottish type theme - Scotch Eggs, prawns and chips, chicken curry and Sherry trifle. By the time we sat down they were out of both the trifle and chicken curry. So we had Prawns and Chips and then left. We stopped at the store to buy Joan and Rich some chocolate for their anniversary.
At 4pm, they were doing a mass vow renewal. We didn't sign up, but I wanted a coffee around that time, so I went down for it. and watched the renewal. The captain read a poem, had them all recite vows. He finished with "now the grooms may kiss the brides". A little Universal Life Churchish for my taste, but people participating seemed to like it. Our group was of two minds on it. They either loved the idea or thought it was the silliest thing ever. Some of the comments from the silly camp: "I haven't broken my vows, so I don't need to renew" "I didn't know they expired" and (Glen's) "I'm not renewing my vowel til Vanna White does it".
After that, trivia. It was romance themed and we didn't do very well.
When I got back to the room, I found that our "swag" bag from the Ultimate Ship's tour had arrived. In it (for each of us) was a deluxe robe, chef's jacket and laundry bag. There were also copies of all the pictures they took, including the one with us and the captain, and a personalized note pad. Nice souvenir - it's good thing I brought folding suitcases.
Following that was the usual get ready for dinner, relax have dinner. There was a special dessert tonight for us - on the previous set of menus, before the last overhaul, there was a dessert on Italian night that was peach halves stuffed with almond souffle. It got removed a year or so ago. I'd asked the head waiter about it, and he said he'd asked some pastry chefs and nobody remembered. He told me if I could get the exact title they might be able to make it. I googled, and found it, and had given it to him the day before. He had it made for us tonight. In addition, our waiter had a Love Boat Dream dessert with a candle for Joan and Rich. Since Rich doesn't like that dessert he wanted a menu and it took quite a while to get. So, when the headwaiter came over, Rich complained about our assistant waiter. I think he's a nice kid, just inexperienced. I don't know what will come of that, hopefully they'll work with Johnathan. He's very nice, so I think he'll eventually learn. Wolfgang (headwaiter) just felt bad that Rich had waited til the end of the cruise to tell him.
We did a couple of Argentine Tangos after dinner. Glen told me that while we were dancing, one of the Argentinian couples watched one of our moves and said "muy bien". I guess we're doing OK.
Then it was back to the room and bed. Another relatively early day tomorrow.
Valentine's Day, and we slept in a bit. For the first time 4 days we didn't have an early event.
Breakfast started at Sabatini's again. Pretty much the usual great service. I left at 10:20 to go to line dance class. It turns out that Melissa, the teacher, is teaching her own line dances, rather than the ones that the cruise line gives her. That's all well and good, but her dances tend to be a lot of small footwork movement (heels and toes, stomps and jazz squares), and not a lot of the big moves such as grapevines and walks. Her logic is that people who do a lot of cruises tend to get bored with the same old dances. I can, on the one hand, see that logic, but on the other, it would be nice to have dances that are familiar and that would be useful for future cruises. Oh well, still fun.
After line dance I chatted with some CC friends, and then hung out until 1pm for the ballroom class. It was a review of jive, which is single step swing. We did that, and then, after some more time chatting with friends, headed to the Pub Lunch. This time it was a Scottish type theme - Scotch Eggs, prawns and chips, chicken curry and Sherry trifle. By the time we sat down they were out of both the trifle and chicken curry. So we had Prawns and Chips and then left. We stopped at the store to buy Joan and Rich some chocolate for their anniversary.
At 4pm, they were doing a mass vow renewal. We didn't sign up, but I wanted a coffee around that time, so I went down for it. and watched the renewal. The captain read a poem, had them all recite vows. He finished with "now the grooms may kiss the brides". A little Universal Life Churchish for my taste, but people participating seemed to like it. Our group was of two minds on it. They either loved the idea or thought it was the silliest thing ever. Some of the comments from the silly camp: "I haven't broken my vows, so I don't need to renew" "I didn't know they expired" and (Glen's) "I'm not renewing my vowel til Vanna White does it".
After that, trivia. It was romance themed and we didn't do very well.
When I got back to the room, I found that our "swag" bag from the Ultimate Ship's tour had arrived. In it (for each of us) was a deluxe robe, chef's jacket and laundry bag. There were also copies of all the pictures they took, including the one with us and the captain, and a personalized note pad. Nice souvenir - it's good thing I brought folding suitcases.
Following that was the usual get ready for dinner, relax have dinner. There was a special dessert tonight for us - on the previous set of menus, before the last overhaul, there was a dessert on Italian night that was peach halves stuffed with almond souffle. It got removed a year or so ago. I'd asked the head waiter about it, and he said he'd asked some pastry chefs and nobody remembered. He told me if I could get the exact title they might be able to make it. I googled, and found it, and had given it to him the day before. He had it made for us tonight. In addition, our waiter had a Love Boat Dream dessert with a candle for Joan and Rich. Since Rich doesn't like that dessert he wanted a menu and it took quite a while to get. So, when the headwaiter came over, Rich complained about our assistant waiter. I think he's a nice kid, just inexperienced. I don't know what will come of that, hopefully they'll work with Johnathan. He's very nice, so I think he'll eventually learn. Wolfgang (headwaiter) just felt bad that Rich had waited til the end of the cruise to tell him.
We did a couple of Argentine Tangos after dinner. Glen told me that while we were dancing, one of the Argentinian couples watched one of our moves and said "muy bien". I guess we're doing OK.
Then it was back to the room and bed. Another relatively early day tomorrow.
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