Fall Coastal Cruise
I was planning on going to the Panama
Canal, but that didn't fit in the schedule, so I had to cancel it. I still
wanted to do something, so I found a four-day
cruise that did fit into the schedule. I needed to get away for a while at
least.
We had been on Holland America twice last
year and were warming up to the line a little. So, when this cruise came up
that wasn't too expensive, we jumped. Coastal cruises are easy for us because
it's only one-way airfare to go down to
California, or come back to Seattle or Vancouver. It was Vancouver this time.
My daughter-in-law wanted to have dinner
with us. Since they live north of us, we decided to just keep going into
Vancouver after dinner. It didn't make much sense to go north, then south, then
north again the very next day.
We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express near
the airport. They would keep the car for the four days of the cruise. We would
pick it up when we arrived back in Vancouver. They had a regular shuttle to the
airport so it worked out very well.
The elevator at the hotel was interesting.
It had doors at both sides. You would enter the one door from the lobby and
then when you arrived at your floor you would exit the other door. One time Deb
and I climbed into the elevator from the lobby, and this family also walked in.
They had suitcases and children in tow.
He hit the P1 button and the other elevator door opened.
"Oh," he said as he climbed back
out the other side. I did check later on. They could have gone around instead
of through the elevator.
Day 1 Vancouver
Deb forgot her toothbrush. I only mention that because we had to walk blocks to
find her one and not because of the many many times she has harassed me for
forgetting things. We walked to a Chinese market just as they opened in the
morning. The toothbrush the hotel had given her had fallen apart after just one
use.
I looked around the place. I definitely
felt out of place, because we were the only non-Chinese people in the place.
Deb enjoyed walking around and seeing stuff that she can't get at home. We
found the toothbrush and then walked back to the hotel.
As we were checking out I tried to give
the man at the desk the key card back.
"No, keep it as a souvenir," he
said. Souvenir? This is a Holiday Inn not the Ritz Carlton. It did come in
handy as we arrived at our ship's cabin. It requires a keycard to turn on the
lights. The idea is you will take your stateroom keycard with you, so the
lights will be off when you leave. We had the hotel keycard in there the whole time
instead.
Vancouver’s Canada Place.is notoriously
bad for getting through security and check-in
and getting on the ship. One time it took us over four hours. This time, with
only one ship in port, was a lot easier. The whole process took less than an
hour. When we arrived at US Immigrations, they sent us directly to the customs
agents. Everyone else was sent to a check-in
computer. I later counted. We skipped forty people by doing that. I don't know
why, but I liked it.
The only place open for lunch was the
buffet. One of the options was veal parmesan. At least that is what it said on
the menu. It was only a breaded veal patty. When he put it on my plate, I asked
if there was any sauce, so he put gravy on it. It wasn't what I was hoping for.
In fact, I was downright appalled.
I did eat it. I had a little room after
the first round, so I went for seconds. This time I grabbed the veal patty from
the homestyle area, went over to the
pasta bar and got some spaghetti sauce, then walked over to the taco bar to get
some cheese. Not perfect, but a lot better than gravy.
We explored the ship, had a nap and then
did the mandatory lifeboat drill. I don't
like it, but I figure the cruise actually starts the second it’s over. We ran
around the ship. Up to the side watching it leave the dock. Then up to the top
to see it sail under the Lion's Gate bridge. At dinner we met a nice couple
from Ottawa. They were both French teachers, but since retired. They retired a
lot better than I did. I started working again and they haven't.
Music Walk on this ship is a whole bunch
of venues on deck two. You have Lincoln Center, then the BB King Blues Club and
then Billboard Onboard which has dueling pianos. We started at Billboard Onboard with a trivia game. Deb ran
to a Windows 10 class while I stayed and drank a diet Sprite. Then she came
back and we listened to the English Invasion songs until the Blues Club opened.
The female vocalist was absolutely amazing. At 9:30 they had a preview of all
the shows they would have on the ship. A full and enjoyable evening.
Day 2 Seattle
Woke up to an announcement playing in the
hallway. Couldn't hear what it said, but the gist was we were in Seattle. Deb
and I have opted to spend the day on the ship. Something we rarely do, but
because we are in Seattle often, and because we are in port only 4 hours, we
saw no real reason to hop off.
They have three omelet stations on this
ship. I love omelets so I was all smiles because I didn't have to wait in line
for one.
The world is taunting me, or maybe it's the Cosmos. I see the NCL Pearl at pier
66. It was the ship we were going to take through the Panama Canal. To make
things worse, this ship is headed through the canal too. Cursed the schedules
that don't let you do what you want to do. Five times I've booked a Panama
Canal cruise and five times I've had to cancel.
As I sit up in the Crow's nest while I'm
writing this, I see the Washington State Ferries sail back and forth in front
of me. My thoughts about the problems at
work are miles away. I came on this ship to relax and I'm accomplishing that goal.
Deb took a computer class and I met her in
a cooking class, that was all after we lost trivia again. Oh well. Didn't need
a deck of cards anyway.
The class was on Mediterranean cooking. I
seemed more excited about it than she did. She doesn't like olive oil, but I
do. Now I have some recipes to try.
We went to high tea, or was it low tea. I
don't know. Wasn't much else to do that hour so I agreed to go, much to Deb's
surprise. It wasn't that bad. I liked some of the treats they gave us and had
some herbal tea.
A guy from the San Diego area sat down
next to me. We had a good chat, so that helped too. He is getting off at home.
I was feeling like the poor relation. Getting off in San Diego and watching the
ship sail on to Panama.
Our door has been giving us problems so we
called maintenance. The guy came, tightened two screws, sprayed a half a can of
WD-40 into the latch, called it good and left. Deb says it works now, but the
room has a vague odor of WD-40.
We are headed out to sea. Saw the pilot
boat pull up against the ship and pick up the pilot. That means we are in open
waters. Also saw a dolphin in the distance.
We arranged to have the same tablemates again at dinner. We are having some
good times. Our table is by the rear window of the ship so we can see out, and
it isn't as noisy back there. I still have a hard time hearing Castel when he
tells stories.
Tomorrow is formal night and I don't even have a tie. Oh well, I hope the shops
will have something. I thought I had brought one, but I didn't find it when we
unpacked.
We lost at trivia again, then went to see
the illusionist. He was really good. Castel was brought up on stage at the
illusionist. I'm sure he was more than a little embarrassed. It doesn't seem
his thing, but he was a good sport and played along.
Day 3 Sea Day
It has been a little stormy during the
night. Instead of rocking us to sleep it just kinda jiggled us the whole night.
It's foggy this morning. Can't see much of the horizon.
Deb didn’t want breakfast so I went up to the
buffet by myself. I should have gone to the dining room, I think. The buffet
has great omelets though. I’ll save that decision for another day.
Deb is taking all sorts of computer
classes while she’s here and learning all sorts of stuff. I was going to go to
the galley tour, but it was mobbed so I went up to the cabin and wrote some
more. Found Deb at trivia, where, with a good team, we missed winning by one.
Went to tea again. I go for the little
sandwiches and the pastries. I’m a fool for pastries. Our friends from dinner
were saving us a spot, Castel and Colette, but we must have slipped in ahead of
them. Would have much rather sat with them. Instead we sat with a sheepish man
and an overbearing women, like the TV
show Maude. She kept looking around and every time a steward was in earshot she would demand another small
sandwich. They ignored her.
Speaking of table mates. We had any time
dining, which means you come anytime you
please. Someone mentioned that if you had reservations, you wait time would be
less, so we made a reservation for the
first night. That sat us next to Castel and Colette. They are retired French teachers from Ottawa. We hit it off so
well, that from then on we had dinners together every night.
We skipped tonight’s show. We had seen it
before and not liked it so much. Didn’t see going again, but we enjoyed to
Blues Club until we went to bed.
Day 4 At Sea
Last day, sigh. So many of them are going
on to the Panama Canal, I feel like a poor relation having to leave early
before the best part of the trip. I do know we are busy people and another
seventeen days away is impractical, but I still feel that way.
Had breakfast together with Deb in the
main dining room. It wasn’t that much
more delightful than the buffet. I missed my omelet so will go upstairs instead
of down tomorrow.
Wasn’t a whole lot going on today. Seems
to be fewer activities than on previous
cruises. We did go the America’s Test Kitchen presentation on Breakfast. I
know, I’m talking about food again, but there were no samples, I promise.
Kept passing by the Neptune Lounge. It’s a
suite member’s, or long-time cruiser’s club. They have treats and
alcohol there. So, if you go on a hundred cruises or so, you get extra food,
instead of the 24 hours of food you can get on the rest of the ship. I guess I
just don’t get it.
Speaking of which, I went to tea again. I
hope that doesn’t make me less of a man. It’s actually fun. This time we sat
next to a young couple who were also leaving in San Diego. They can almost walk
home from the pier. They spent the whole time talking to us about our books.
Deb brought up that we were writers. I usually don’t. They seemed interested, but
I didn’t learn much about them though.
Said goodbye to Castel and Collet after
dinner today. Did get their email address and promised to stay in touch.
The food has been really amazing on this
ship. I have not eaten anything that I wouldn’t eat again. That usually not the
case for me. I’ve been pleased. I even ordered the vegetarian dinners twice because
they had eggplant. Those were good too. Normally I’m of the opinion that vegetables
are food for food.
We went to the comedy show tonight.
Frances Dilorinzo. She spent half the time talking about her sex life. It was
more of a woman thing I guess. I did laugh a couple of times though. She kept
saying, “I’ll save that for the late show.” I don’t know what she was saving
but she didn’t seem to be holding back to me.
Went to the blues club after the show, but
they were a little off tonight, so we made our way to the piano bar.
Day 5 End of Cruise
I turned on my phone too soon today. Was
still in international roaming. Paid fifty cents a message for my friend
at work to tell me that he was in a fight for his life with cancer. I turned it
back off. I can deal with that when I get to San Diego. Its six in the morning
as I’m writing this.
Almost glad to be stepping off the ship
today because I have so many things to deal with back home.
It was fun while sailing past the Navy
base, the Star-Spangled Banner played. Even the guys in the middle of docking a
ship stopped what they were doing and stood at attention.
Been a great, but short cruise. Better
than most. The ship is a little smaller than I like. Also, would have loved
more things to do. I did get a lot of writing done, however.
The food beat all expectations. My hats
off to the chef. The ports? Didn’t do anything there. We stayed on the ship in
Seattle. The city tries so hard to solve the homeless problem that it attracts
more homeless which increases the problem. It’s killing their tourist industry.
There were a lot more people disembarking
than I thought. It was a painless process as we grabbed our bags and headed
out. Somehow, I was under the impression that our flight was at three o’clock,
but decided to head to the airport anyway. I could get some reading in. I
talked to a shuttle van driver. His cost was $8 a person but a taxi would be
$20. I thought how fun it would be sitting in his van until it filled up and
still having to pay $16. The extra $4 was worth it to me.
We waited in the taxi line until one
pulled up. Not the cream of the crop I have to say. It was an old Ford. The
molding around the door fell out when I shut it. I opened it back up and tried,
and failed to put the rubber back around the door. Got it ‘good enough’ and
shut the door.
It was a hot day so I didn’t mind my
window being down. When we got on the freeway though, it was a different story.
The thing didn’t roll up.
I have to say I’ve been in worse taxis,
but not much worse. The taxi trip to the airport cost $15 including tip.
When we printed out our boarding passes
Deb noticed, our plane left at 11:30. Not only that but we arrived in Seattle
at 2:40 and our connecting flight left at 2:20.
She called up the airline to complain, but
they told her not to worry, the flights were married.
Married? I’ve never heard of a married
flight. Don’t half of all marriages end up in separations, too? So now I have
something else to worry about. I’m glad I didn’t do the Midway Museum tour like
I wanted to. It was within walking distance of the ship. We would have missed
our flight. I had gotten an email that they had changed our flight time, I
didn’t know that meant totally messing it up.
When we boarded the plane, I noticed a man
with four pink spikes of hair, sticking up about two feet each. They were so
tall that two of them touched the overhead storage bin when he was seated. One
protruded over the back of the seat and I felt sorry for those people sitting
behind him.
We rolled away from the gate a little
early, stopped for a few minutes, then the captain said, “We have a problem with our paperwork, we’re going to have to go
back to the gate.”
Oh
no, this is bad. We’re going to be even later!
When we arrived back, an airline employee
came on the plane and asked the guy with the spiked hair and his girlfriend to
disembark. They left without complaint. Afterward
we were rolled back and on our way.
We're flying along and the pilot makes an annoucemtent over the PA. Then he forgets to turn off the PA and says, "I don't like that *bleep* I'm going to turn it off."
The whole plane is laughing. The PA is coming on and off as he tries to fix the problem. He's talking to the co-pilot, again not knowing the PA is back on. "I said *bleep* over the PA."
We all laugh again. I turn to Deb, "If the guy can't figure out the PA system, how is he going to land the plane?"
He managed. We arrived at Seattle ready to make a run for our next plane. I was anyway. Deb says, “This isn’t Denmark, I don’t have to run.” I guess our sprint through the Copenhagen Airport that one time is still a bad memory for her. She was also of the opinion that we could find a way home from Seattle and pick up my truck in Vancouver another day. I wasn’t of the same opinion. The good news is, our plane arrived early and the other plane left later. Still we were only at the gate a couple of minutes when they started boarding.
We're flying along and the pilot makes an annoucemtent over the PA. Then he forgets to turn off the PA and says, "I don't like that *bleep* I'm going to turn it off."
The whole plane is laughing. The PA is coming on and off as he tries to fix the problem. He's talking to the co-pilot, again not knowing the PA is back on. "I said *bleep* over the PA."
We all laugh again. I turn to Deb, "If the guy can't figure out the PA system, how is he going to land the plane?"
He managed. We arrived at Seattle ready to make a run for our next plane. I was anyway. Deb says, “This isn’t Denmark, I don’t have to run.” I guess our sprint through the Copenhagen Airport that one time is still a bad memory for her. She was also of the opinion that we could find a way home from Seattle and pick up my truck in Vancouver another day. I wasn’t of the same opinion. The good news is, our plane arrived early and the other plane left later. Still we were only at the gate a couple of minutes when they started boarding.
It was a half hour flight and we were back
in Vancouver. The longest wait was for the shuttle to take us back to the hotel
where my truck was parked. There was another wait at the border but not nearly
as bad as we normally endure.
We took a detour to purchase a birthday
cake and drop it off with the granddaughter on the way by. Her birthday was the
very next day.
She didn’t know we were coming, but was
texting Deb back and forth. Deb texts, “Open the door.” She takes off her
headphones to hear me knocking. She was so surprised. She kept asking, “How did
you get here?”
An hour later we were home. The house was
still standing, and that was good.
Cruise Books by Deb Graham
