Back Home
Home is good! We’ve seen all the kids, spouses, and grandkids (except Jordan @ Purdue). Our calendar is filling up with grandkids’ school, sporting, & miscellaneous events. We’re catching up on paper, house & yard work. So far we’ve seen deer, Turtles, ground hogs, rabbits, squirrels, robins, cardinals, starlings, doves, swan, blackbirds, ducks, and Canadian Geese (with babies) plus maybe others in the neighborhood. Jan came home with 8 Hard Rock guitar pins for a total of 90. She needs one from Seattle, Washington to complete all of USA and Canada.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
April 15, 2010 New York, NY, USA
Tuesday was 6th parade of the chefs; meaning lobster & baked Alaska. Entertainment has been good the last few nights. We played a little bingo & casino. Packing has been the order of the day.
We’ve traveled 42790.4 Nautical miles in 101 days. We used 1631 minutes of internet time.
Our 101st we woke up about 5, did necessary things. Room service delivered breakfast before 5:30. Finished packing, were in the Queens room by 6:30, off the QM2 at 7, at La Guardia, and in the air by 10. The plane had the longest & fastest ride taxiing when we arrived at O’Hare. While waiting for our plane we stroke a conversion with a couple from Brisbane, Australia that were traveling to Madison, Wisconsin to visit people that they had met on another cruise. The departing plane was late getting to O’Hare but we still left only about an hour late. Jan was able to move the flight schedule up, therefore we got to Ft. Wayne about 6:00 instead of 9:00. Chris was the one who drew the long straw and picked us up and brought us home. Home was indeed “Home Sweet Home”
Friday we worked only laundry, mowing, banking, getting & sorting mail, garbage & recycling, clothes to the dry cleaners, etc. Oh yes, taxes. Both cars & the mower all started right off.
Tuesday was 6th parade of the chefs; meaning lobster & baked Alaska. Entertainment has been good the last few nights. We played a little bingo & casino. Packing has been the order of the day.
We’ve traveled 42790.4 Nautical miles in 101 days. We used 1631 minutes of internet time.
Our 101st we woke up about 5, did necessary things. Room service delivered breakfast before 5:30. Finished packing, were in the Queens room by 6:30, off the QM2 at 7, at La Guardia, and in the air by 10. The plane had the longest & fastest ride taxiing when we arrived at O’Hare. While waiting for our plane we stroke a conversion with a couple from Brisbane, Australia that were traveling to Madison, Wisconsin to visit people that they had met on another cruise. The departing plane was late getting to O’Hare but we still left only about an hour late. Jan was able to move the flight schedule up, therefore we got to Ft. Wayne about 6:00 instead of 9:00. Chris was the one who drew the long straw and picked us up and brought us home. Home was indeed “Home Sweet Home”
Friday we worked only laundry, mowing, banking, getting & sorting mail, garbage & recycling, clothes to the dry cleaners, etc. Oh yes, taxes. Both cars & the mower all started right off.
Monday, April 12, 2010
April 12, 2010 Fort Lauderdale. Florida, USA
After leaving Barbados we watched a very good movie: “The secret of bees”.
Saturday night the entertainer was the comic John Evans. Unfortunately he was on earlier in the cruise & last year’s also.
Sunday while eating lunch the Oasis past by on the port side. Last night this group of Cunard singers & dancers did “On the Westside”, their best performance yet.
From New York to Fort Lauderdale we’ve traveled 41783.1 Nautical miles & it’s day 98.
Arrival in New York is approximately 7:00A.M. Thursday on day 101 having traveled 2790.2 Nautical miles.
Fort Lauderdale is known as the “Venice of America” because of its expansive & intricate canal system. We went through the long immigration line and caught the shuttle to the Galleria Mall. We met the Webster’s & Strokes there and all had lunch at Seasons 52. We killed the afternoon enjoying some time with Webster’s at the mall. Once back onboard we watched “Recount” before the evening meal and “Overboard” before bed. The best part of the day was talking to the family.
This is properly the last blog update until after we get home as we need to pack, etc.
After leaving Barbados we watched a very good movie: “The secret of bees”.
Saturday night the entertainer was the comic John Evans. Unfortunately he was on earlier in the cruise & last year’s also.
Sunday while eating lunch the Oasis past by on the port side. Last night this group of Cunard singers & dancers did “On the Westside”, their best performance yet.
From New York to Fort Lauderdale we’ve traveled 41783.1 Nautical miles & it’s day 98.
Arrival in New York is approximately 7:00A.M. Thursday on day 101 having traveled 2790.2 Nautical miles.
Fort Lauderdale is known as the “Venice of America” because of its expansive & intricate canal system. We went through the long immigration line and caught the shuttle to the Galleria Mall. We met the Webster’s & Strokes there and all had lunch at Seasons 52. We killed the afternoon enjoying some time with Webster’s at the mall. Once back onboard we watched “Recount” before the evening meal and “Overboard” before bed. The best part of the day was talking to the family.
This is properly the last blog update until after we get home as we need to pack, etc.
April 12, 2010 Fort Lauderdale. Florida, USA
After leaving Barbados we watched a very good movie: “The secret of bees”.
Saturday night the entertainer was the comic John Evans. Unfortunately he was on earlier in the cruise & last year’s also.
Sunday while eating lunch the Oasis past by on the port side. Last night this group of Cunard singers & dancers did “On the Westside”, their best performance yet.
From New York to Fort Lauderdale we’ve traveled 41783.1 Nautical miles & it’s day 98.
Arrival in New York is approximately 7:00A.M. Thursday on day 101 having traveled 2790.2 Nautical miles.
Fort Lauderdale is known as the “Venice of America” because of its expansive & intricate canal system. We went through the long immigration line and caught the shuttle to the Galleria Mall. We met the Webster’s & Strokes there and all had lunch at Seasons 52. We killed the afternoon enjoying some time with Webster’s at the mall. Once back onboard we watched “Recount” before the evening meal and “Overboard” before bed.
This is properly the last blog update until after we get home as we need to pack, etc.
After leaving Barbados we watched a very good movie: “The secret of bees”.
Saturday night the entertainer was the comic John Evans. Unfortunately he was on earlier in the cruise & last year’s also.
Sunday while eating lunch the Oasis past by on the port side. Last night this group of Cunard singers & dancers did “On the Westside”, their best performance yet.
From New York to Fort Lauderdale we’ve traveled 41783.1 Nautical miles & it’s day 98.
Arrival in New York is approximately 7:00A.M. Thursday on day 101 having traveled 2790.2 Nautical miles.
Fort Lauderdale is known as the “Venice of America” because of its expansive & intricate canal system. We went through the long immigration line and caught the shuttle to the Galleria Mall. We met the Webster’s & Strokes there and all had lunch at Seasons 52. We killed the afternoon enjoying some time with Webster’s at the mall. Once back onboard we watched “Recount” before the evening meal and “Overboard” before bed.
This is properly the last blog update until after we get home as we need to pack, etc.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
April 9, 2010 Bridgetown, Barbados
From New York to Barbados we’ve traveled 40345.9 Nautical miles & it’s day 95.
The exchange rate $1 equals 2.03 Barbados Dollars.
Barbados is an island that is 21 by 14 miles located in the far southeastern corner of the Caribbean islands.
The Noordam (the Holland American ship that was first cruise back in 1994) and the Caribbean Princess were docked on the QM2 port side. We watched them leave shortly before the QM2. What a beautiful sight!
We got caught by downpour going into Bridgetown. After the rain subsided some we continued viewing the city doing window shopping. We didn’t do as much as we had planned because of the rain. Jan got sprayed & soaked from behind apparently by a passing car & had to do laundry once last time. We met some Midwestern folks. They recently opened the Harley Davidson shop. Both had worked at Harley Davidson in Milwaukee. They seemed to be about our age and when they retired, they took on a new enterprise. I think they were glad to have some “local” folks to talk to. Arrival in Fort Lauderdale is approximately 6:00A.M. Look out USA, here we come!! Two more ports (of 34) & then Home!!!
From New York to Barbados we’ve traveled 40345.9 Nautical miles & it’s day 95.
The exchange rate $1 equals 2.03 Barbados Dollars.
Barbados is an island that is 21 by 14 miles located in the far southeastern corner of the Caribbean islands.
The Noordam (the Holland American ship that was first cruise back in 1994) and the Caribbean Princess were docked on the QM2 port side. We watched them leave shortly before the QM2. What a beautiful sight!
We got caught by downpour going into Bridgetown. After the rain subsided some we continued viewing the city doing window shopping. We didn’t do as much as we had planned because of the rain. Jan got sprayed & soaked from behind apparently by a passing car & had to do laundry once last time. We met some Midwestern folks. They recently opened the Harley Davidson shop. Both had worked at Harley Davidson in Milwaukee. They seemed to be about our age and when they retired, they took on a new enterprise. I think they were glad to have some “local” folks to talk to. Arrival in Fort Lauderdale is approximately 6:00A.M. Look out USA, here we come!! Two more ports (of 34) & then Home!!!
April 4 thru April 8, 2010, 2010 Sea Days
The night before we got to Rio de Janeiro we saw an oil drilling rig that was lit up like a giant Christmas tree. Another rig could be seen from our foyer in Rio and another out at sea the next morning. An albatross flew along starboard side for several miles as if it was an escort. The temperature has been about 80 degrees lately.
We haven’t had ESPN since the conference tournament week then we got it Saturday night. Unfortunately we didn’t discover this until Butler had already won. We did see most of Duke’s win. Monday we watched Butler’s courageous effort. Close doesn’t count or show how great a game it was.
Our last wine tasting (fourth) was Monday afternoon. We attended our last Captain & Senior Officers’ cocktail party & then attended a new production by the Cunard singers & dancers.
Entertainment has been very good with a comical magician Friday night (& again Monday afternoon) and a comical juggler Monday night. Thursday evening we saw “Rachel Getting Married” until we walked out. Several others walked out before us (it’s a terrible movie). Also Monday afternoon was the Country Fair (a charity event). Jan ran the Second Hand Rose (like a garage sale) & I helped a sport director last year. Several other booths and games are some of the events.
The serving staff sang “Let me call you sweetheart” to Gloria & Lloyd when serving their 62nd non-anniversary cake (their anniversary is in June). Another night we had popcorn served with our deserts for the Stokes since they had never had popcorn.
We have received a couple of E-mails from Mary & Vince, a Chicago couple we enjoyed from last year’s cruise. Vince is originally from Barbados.
The night before we got to Rio de Janeiro we saw an oil drilling rig that was lit up like a giant Christmas tree. Another rig could be seen from our foyer in Rio and another out at sea the next morning. An albatross flew along starboard side for several miles as if it was an escort. The temperature has been about 80 degrees lately.
We haven’t had ESPN since the conference tournament week then we got it Saturday night. Unfortunately we didn’t discover this until Butler had already won. We did see most of Duke’s win. Monday we watched Butler’s courageous effort. Close doesn’t count or show how great a game it was.
Our last wine tasting (fourth) was Monday afternoon. We attended our last Captain & Senior Officers’ cocktail party & then attended a new production by the Cunard singers & dancers.
Entertainment has been very good with a comical magician Friday night (& again Monday afternoon) and a comical juggler Monday night. Thursday evening we saw “Rachel Getting Married” until we walked out. Several others walked out before us (it’s a terrible movie). Also Monday afternoon was the Country Fair (a charity event). Jan ran the Second Hand Rose (like a garage sale) & I helped a sport director last year. Several other booths and games are some of the events.
The serving staff sang “Let me call you sweetheart” to Gloria & Lloyd when serving their 62nd non-anniversary cake (their anniversary is in June). Another night we had popcorn served with our deserts for the Stokes since they had never had popcorn.
We have received a couple of E-mails from Mary & Vince, a Chicago couple we enjoyed from last year’s cruise. Vince is originally from Barbados.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
April 3, 2010 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
From New York to Adelaide we’ve traveled 37100.2 Nautical miles & it’s day 89.
The exchange rate $1 equals 1.75 Real
Rio de Janeiro means “marvelous city”. Population is approximately 6.5 million.
The shuttle was provided by H. Stern in Ipanema. We were given an enjoyable self-guided tour with head phones, followed by a salesman giving gifts. He didn’t pressure us & showed the retail jewelry shop. After looking around we walked a couple of blocks to the beach. We walked along the beach on the sidewalk with curvy designs and did an about face to take the shuttle back. Gloria & Lloyd were at H. Sterns also. After lunch Jan went out to check out the shops on the dock. Arrival in Bridgetown, Barbados is approximately 9:00A.M.
From New York to Adelaide we’ve traveled 37100.2 Nautical miles & it’s day 89.
The exchange rate $1 equals 1.75 Real
Rio de Janeiro means “marvelous city”. Population is approximately 6.5 million.
The shuttle was provided by H. Stern in Ipanema. We were given an enjoyable self-guided tour with head phones, followed by a salesman giving gifts. He didn’t pressure us & showed the retail jewelry shop. After looking around we walked a couple of blocks to the beach. We walked along the beach on the sidewalk with curvy designs and did an about face to take the shuttle back. Gloria & Lloyd were at H. Sterns also. After lunch Jan went out to check out the shops on the dock. Arrival in Bridgetown, Barbados is approximately 9:00A.M.
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