sarawithanh

I've been sending my mom all the "issues" gramps and I get into. Hehe. I have a good sense of humor about it. She says it's the same things she and my dad ran into when they went to Israel with him a few years ago.

Struggled to wake up at 8am. The beds are AMAZING!!!!! So comfortable. I like it cold in the room and snuggling with the thick comforter.

Since our excursion today isn't until 1pm we decided to wake up and head to Compass Rose for a served breakfast. I got western omelette with hashbrowns and crispy bacon. The bacon was perfectly crispy. Not impressed with the hashbrown PATTY. Super lame. I prefer shredded hashbrowns or home fries. Oh well. Grandpas lox and bagel was fantastic.

Went back to the room. I felt really sleepy so I took an hour nap! Woke up and then showered and now we are at Coffee Connection. I realized I needed caffeine. I hate coffee/espresso but I managed to scarf a extra sweetened frappe latte down :). I love the selection of snacks at coffee bar. I had some fruit meat and cheese as my lunch before our excursion.

Grandpa is on his 3rd cup of coffee and sleeping in the chair next to me. I'll wake him up in a few mins to head to theater for excursion

He said the coffee in compas rose is better than coffee connection.

After Checkin:

We went for a lovely lunch at La Veranda. as I shared earlier. This was 2pm. By 2:30pm our rooms were ready as promised! AND even better, by the time we made it downstairs to look at our room, my suitcase was there :D so I unloaded everything into the walk in closet - love love love.

Then we went through excursions to verify things, and I went off to run some "errands"

Reception desk to see if I could get euro cents - no dice!

Destination services to trade in some double booked tickets, change one of grandpa's excursions, and verify hills for any of excursions

Picked up gym schedule

Muster drill at 5:15. then tooled around and hung on balcony while grandpa took forever unpacking and resting.

Went to compass rose for dinner at 8. phenomenal!!!!

I edited a school assignment, am typing this and headed to bed now - midnight :) ciao!

Gnomie agree bout water but oh well

Fairmont hotel was not on same page for telling regent customers where breakfast was. We got mixed messages. That was confusing. I leave u with a pic of lunch

Getting on the bus was challenging. We thought orange was called but it was "red" a darker version of highlighter orange. Funny. So we were the last bus out I think. Bus ride and checkin a breeze

Big Fan of la veranda buffet. So fresh and clean. Yummy

Totally understand Rachel. Others were miffed about the time too

Grandpa going crazy cuz he can't remember where he packed stuff

Also go into it at restaurant in hotel for asking us if we want water and charging us 8 euro for still. He thinks he shouldn't have to be specific that when he says "water" it means tap. Story of my life but now he knows.

I'm havin trouble posting pic from iPhone. So u won't get pix til I get wifi on ship.

Housekeeping: 32yo female traveling with 87yo grandfather

car update: meineke is working on it. We are givin themselves the chance to redeem it

Trip update:

I've been up since 4am Friday June 20 - stress from car, anxious about trip, finishing school work for the week. Met my parents and grandpa at Airport.

Business lounge rocks. Thanks to all who encouraged it. I still wasn't able to sleep in those chairs. Oh well. But the food was so fresh and delicious and the extra leg room to move around was awesome

Wheel chair assistance at Frankfort took a while to get moving but once we did - they had a system down, it was early so airport was a breeze, motorized assistance entire way to gate

I slept on shorter flight from Frankfurt to Nice. Was feeling nauseous/motion sickness. Mom gave me sea bands but of course I packed them.

When we landed neither of us was payin attention to baggage claim number. Not a big deal. Once we got closer to baggage claim Regent was there and told us to meet at #6. So we did and then they loaded suitcases onto porters and had us follow to bus. It was relatively orderly. Then we proceeded to sit on bus for half hour or longer while waiting for 2 others. Started getting cranky. Also no provided water but 1 euro for private seller. No biggie

This was 10am. They told us rooms wouldn't be ready til 3pm so they were taking us on a tour of Nice and we could walk around. Beautiful! Exhausted. Met the bus again and had a nice narrated tour from Nice to MC. Arrived 15mins before 3. Unloaded bags. I was leery if them sitting there but turns out they were on top of it and after we checked in they had labeled our bags. I was worried

We had to wait 20mins to check in bc nobody would occupy the regent desk til 3, we got our room key quickly. Others did not. Went upstairs. Key didn't work! ***. It was fixed relatively quickly.

Going to take a 2hr nap and then dinner and casino tonight

Tomorrow is breakfast 7-10:30am. Our bags are expected outside doors at 10am - this is checkout time. So I think we will put our bags out at 9:45 and head to breakfast. HOWEVER our transfer isn't til 1pm to the ship!!! *** are we supposed to do for 3hrs?? I have two bags that I cannot check (camera and laptop) and they are heavy. Also 3hrs is like barely enough time to do some sort of tour. Super frustrating. Not sure why regent can't get a later checkout time...

The day has finally arrived!! I will try to liveblog our experience both for my memory/future Scrapbooking and for yours.

But first I must mention why it's 3:30AM EST and I'm awake. Hoping there's insight....

My vacation began June 13-15 with my college alumni reunion - 10 years! On June 15 my car broke down halfway to Nagshead, NC. (I have a 2002 Honda Civic with 147k) AAA towed my car 100 miles for free and we paid the 33 mile difference. It was towed to Meineke in Kill Devil Hills where they performed diagnostics and determined my timing belt skipped 6 teeth - I would need a new belt, water pump, spark plugs among other things. $1600 estimate (money hubby and I just do not have - our savings is depleted from paying his tuition for bachelors degree). Get my car back Wednesday and take it for test drive - seems fine.

I leave Nagshead yesterday at 7:30am and as I'm passing Meineke my check engine light (CEL) comes on. I turn Around and tell them what's up. They say oh we forgot to reset something lets check code. 420 catalytic converter code - oh no big deal the car needs to get used to spark plugs et. - "it'll regulate itself as you drive, we will clear the code. But if it comes back then get your catalytic concert checked. Totally safe to drive home."

3hours of driving later I'm noticing the temp slowly increase. I pull over to a gas station and hubby calls Nagshead Meineke. They tell me to go to Richmond Meineke a few miles away, so I do. My CEL comes back on as I'm pulling in. Richmond drives it and tests it and says it's fine. I ask about the code (420 again!) and they say it's no big deal but get a diagnostic on my catalytic converter when I get home. Richmond is two hours from home. I hear the guy on the phone with Nagshead guy saying they didn't find anything and putting me back on road.

30-40 min later, 95N has backups so I get on 17N hoping to avoid stop n go traffic. That road was backed up too! The road is under construction and gravely. At this point my windows are down and my heater is blasting (keep in mind DC is having a serious heat wave these past few days). I stop at some traffic backup. We start moving again and I hear what I think is clanking coming From my car but I'm not entirely sure. We stop again and move again and I hear clanking again. I see an opening for a shopping center (happened to be a car parts store) so I go to turn in and realize my power steering is completely gone. I park and look under hood - my serpentine belt is no longer tensioned and clearly off the wheels. I op inside and ask if anybody knows anything about belts. A wonderful man who owns his own shop in VA beach (4 hrs away) says Meineke screwed up big time. So I get my car towed to the Pohanka Honda dealership and they ran diagnostics and confirmed that Meineke ruined my car. I need a new motor for $3000! My car is only worth about $3,000 Kelly blue book.

I'm not really sure where to go from here. Not paying Honda to put a new motor in unless Meineke corporate agrees to give me my money back AND pay for honda to fix their mistake.

Still haven't returned Nagshead Meineke call asking if I got home safely. My car is sitting at honda for now. I'm trying to figure out our next steps. Sigh

safely

Tomorrow, the 3 of us are off to the Hermitage.

 

To be honest with you, I've been in far more beautiful parts of the world than St. Petersburg, with far more beautiful cathedrals and palaces.

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in 1998 I was in high school (sophomore) and taking Russian language for my foreign language requirement. I was able to go on a trip to Russia with my class and it is still a memorable experience.

It is amazing seeing Moscow and St. Petersburg in person. I love the Hermitage and st. petersburg is gorgeous (at least it was in 1998...).

Would love to go on a baltics cruise sometime. lucky you!

Forgot to add--dinner menu on captain's welcome night has just too many good options.

which night is usually captain's welcome night on a 7nighter?

Mmmmmm twice baked potatoes!! We usually have those at the beach - my MIL does a wonderful one but I think we are skipping that this year - yay for cruises.

--lobster ravioli

--lobster

--twice baked potatoes

--green juice

That's my list so far ;) keep it coming :D They are DEF going to have to wheel me off the ship on June 29.

Also my quiz is not being posted until Friday June 27 and I have until midnight June 29 to take it (we land at Dulles at 8pm)

Yeah I hope I don't run into issues using blackboard online or the website my class is using. If I do, I hope my professors are forgiving. Oh well. My GPA is good so I'm not too worried about a lower grade in this class. "Senioritis" is starting to kick in. Ha

And I am totally getting that open face lobster ravioli dish. That sounds delicious!!!!!!

Thanks guys! I just need to get on maybe twice. Once early in week to do a message board posting and then I'll prob either make Saturday a sea day or I'll stay up late Friday night an go to the computer room to take my quiz. Unfortunately with the quiz, I have an hour to take it and if the internet kicks me off whatever work I've saved is what gets submitted. If it kicks me off and I don't get much done - ill email my prof and advise of situation and see if he will let me back in.

It's due by Sunday June 29 but our flight doesn't land at Dulles til 7:50pm and quiz must be done by midnight. I'm afraid to let a flight snafu kill me so that's why I'll take the quiz on ship.

I thought I can't use my thumb drive on ship computers? Doesn't matter. I like having two monitors so I would prefer to take quiz on ship computer and then use my laptop to look at my notes.

I've gotten most of my school work completed for this week and next week but there are just a few things I won't be able to do until it's posted next week unfortunately. I'll be diligent.

Thanks for the tips guys! I'll make friends with Internet cafe peeps and I'll stay up late if I have to. Is the Internet cafe on board open late or have somebody working there late?

I also have data on my phone so if I need to use that on an excursion to do a quick bs message board post I can do that

Rachel - glad to see you made it onto your ship!!! yay!!!

Rachel & Rarintogo - please keep us abrest of internet situation. I really really need it next week on my cruise with Gramps - I have some school work to do and a quiz to take! :(

Any good cafes/restaurants or gelato places in the port of Portofino?

I might want to walk around after our excursion and get gelato! :D

My mother in law worked as a nurse at the VA for many many years - and has feet and knee issues - she had her knee replaced a few years ago.

My 87 yo grandfather worked on his feet all day til he retired and had his knee replaced too.

both overweight, and low exercise. carrying around too much excess weight will def ruin the knees.

EXERCISE IN YOUR OLD AGE. VERY IMPORTANT. even just walking around the block.

My mom is 58 and my dad is 65 - my dad had 2 hip replacements (approxi a year or so apart) but that was due to genetics - dysplasia of hip and his job on his feet (police officer) in an old building - Reports are the best shoes! He was also a fantastic patient and was walking around the neighborhood in his walker about 3 weeks (first one) and 2 weeks (second one) post surgery.

my mom works out more than I do (she's retired) and my dad also hits the gym. they both go on walks in neighborhood and do "senior" hikes with a group.

Thank you so much for that post. Just had a cortisone shot so I'm ready for our trip later this month. Whether I have the surgery before or after the cruise we are on together next year, we'd love to speak with the two of you. I do wonder what baby boomers have done to have so many of us need knee replacement.

 

Hope that I am as fit as 2oldforthis when I get to that age. In the meantime I'll have to settle for upper body workouts (not on the Navigator but on the Mariner and Voyager).:)

Please keep posting. with pics if possible ;)

We board June 22 in Monte Carlo!

I started "packing" a few weeks ago - there's 3 piles in the guestroom. hehe.

and the spreadsheet is coming in handy b/c its really helpful for figuring out my outfits for my college reunion and beach trip. and that way I can partially pack before I leave for beach and when I come home from beach, i'll just need to fill in some stuff for cruise.

Grandpa gave me the nice "leather" folder with all our information. Mailed to us by the TA. I haven't had a chance to look at it though I should. The TA gave us a list of excursions which was an "old" list that I had updated on May 12 - that was annoying, but quickly remedied with an email confirming that we are in fact registered for the "new" things we chose. I suppose time will tell with what paper list we receive in our cabin.

My schedule is super crazed between errands, homework, updating my packing spreadsheet and trying to think about what I need for the 2 trips preceding cruise.

Getting excited though.:D

and here I was thinking you wanted us to plan your cruise for ya! :D:p

I'm pretty sure my denim white skinny ankle pants would count as "slacks".

I think of Jeans as something men would wear - faded denim, etc etc.

I have tailored denim pants that I wear to work because they don't look like "jeans", they are denim yes, but they look like dressy work slacks.

Anyways, I digress. probably wearing dresses anyways.

and yes I know I can repeat outfits, but I really hate doing that - its an OCD picture thing w/ me :-D

Few clothes/attire questions:

Can I get away with wedges with my dresses for dinners (as opposed to heels)???

Can I get away with like white or dark blue denim skinny ankle pants, wedges and a fancy shirt for dinner? (right now I have 8 dresses packed for dinners, so I'm unsure if I will bring pants...)

It is really hard to trying to pack for my 10yr college reunion, followed directly by 5 days at the beach. followed by Mediterranean cruise. :D:cool:

Don't be cheap. Go to CVS before your trip and purchase some Dramamine or Bonine for the week. You need to take it an hour before you board transport.

If you wait til you're on the ship to take it and nausea hits, it'll take a couple hour nap to recover.

I take it the day of my flight and continue to take it for a week after disembarking since 1 week at sea = 1 week recovery on land where I still feel like my world is spinning :)

I'm going on Mariner in June.

Is the pool deck on Mariner where I can go to get a juice? Any other locations?

thanks in advance! I feel like I should probably make the effort to get a spinach/kale smoothie in my tummy b/c I doubt greens will make an appearance otherwise. hahaha! Your signature concoction sounds AMAZING. MMM WATERMELON!

Banyar is also the Pool Deck juicer in the morning, making Shauna's and my signature concoction (at least for this cruise): carrot, celery, banana, pineapple and watermelon juice. Delicious!

4.5 weeks.

Summer school started yesterday.

Packing pile is increasing.

Getting excited :D I truly can't wait for Monte Carlo.

I absolutely agree with TC, as long as you are very late at night (best time in my opinion) you will not have any problems!

 

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