spinnaker2

Lovely flowers to cheer away the drear. Y. Its the day to pack, but instead we are napping. We had a mandatory 8 am face to face with the Irish immigration lads. After last nights fog horn solo for hours and hours, I am exhausted due to lack of sleep. The early sail in was lovely with green fields, colorful row hoses and large estates. I took nary a photo as I could not move from the warm cocoon of the coverlet. We finally arrived at our dock and its opposite lots of freight containers. The primo dock spot seems occupied by Regent. We are 45 minutes bus out of town, Cork it is. We had our face to face and passport stamped. Crawled back into the bed, covers over head and drapes drawn tightly. Packing be damned. Need to stack up some zzzzs. And now as I look out across the bay, a thick white blanket of another sort is rolling in. The dratted FOG has found us. We thought we could escape, but nope.

Nothing is. Lots of changes. 🙂

Yes we are enjoying the suite. The shower has some issues, it leaks all over the floor and apparently cannot be fixed as it is a design flaw. A bit dangerous as water pools and puddles on marble floor. Aside from that all is great. The suite is spacious and since the ship is so crowded, we spend most of our day here. Our butler Neo and suite attendant Jonathan are exceptional. We are trying to stay away from the crowded venues as much as possible. There are about 200 Venetians onboard, the ship is full so that means its pretty equal in first time cruisers. Once again at 4 am the fog horn started to blast. At the same time i thought i heard a splash but since we didn’t stop or hear any calls, i guess it was a fish. At the moment no fog horn. On the horizon I can see a fishing trawler. Saw a sea bird earlier, all messages that we are getting closer to land. Captain keeps saying how lucky we are to have had this weather as opposed to the other weather.HAHAAAAA. Lunch in MDR remains a quiet refuge. Tonight is formal night and the crew parade.

I heard thru the grapevine that one will earn more points/rewards/whatever the currency depending on the category of suite booked. This is upcoming in the near future. I don't think it's to be retrospectively applied.

Bob from Iowa. I don't know how many Venetians aboard but my guess is there are a lot of new people who don't know what to expect. The weather certainly hasn’t helped. We are happy to stay in our suite and enjoy, breakfast every day set up before we awake. We do go to lunch, the MDR is a oasis of peace and food is lovely. LaT is a zoo of people. Because my husband likes sushi, we have gone to LaT, but hand washing not enforced and people using same serving utensils. That’s gross. We have had dinner from MDR in our suite as well. Enjoyable. Last night we went to laT it was informal night. Many people in casual clothes, wrinkly and one guy brought his Kleenex box to the table. Tables are really close to one another. We are reading books and enjoying each other’s company. We have no desire to drink until we drop or drink every drop or until we exhaust the crew. The crew is already sleep deprived from this route.

And it's June 9. Very windy and choppy white capped seas. Low hanging grey clouds. Seaspray on the sliding glass door. Shadow is creaking a bit. Like many pax and crew. Gave up another hour of sleep last night. I keep wondering where the pub lunch or diner lunch or seafood deck lunch is. Not on this cruise. This cruise is about lectures, boutique sales, an art class( not really any teaching),a mind reader, a magician and some other entertainment. Cruise is missing some joie de vivre, conviviality.

THE SUN IS OUT! A few hardy souls at the pool deck, but I suspect more will be there as the day warms a bit. Hot tubs are full, people bubbling away in the froth. We lost another hour last night, this schedule back to Europe is tough for the crew especially. And the Shadow moves gracefully through the jeweled sea.

Sun trying her best to burn off fog.

Question of the day. Who was clement? The weather is still inclement. Chilly, bright and fog. I am learning harmonies for the fog horn. Will solicit other members for the fog horn band later. Is there a crew member pressing the button for the fog horn? It's a sea day here in the Shadow. The chronicles has a lot of activities. None of which is lounging by the pool. Show tonight is a magic jester. A comedian illusionist. Please magic jester make the fog go away.

Nope

We have had a good number of meals in our suite. Breakfast everyday which the butler brings in and sets up on the dining room table while we sleep in the next room. Truly lovely. We have an illy espresso maker in the bar area if we need more coffee. Breakfast is very good. We have had several dinners en suite as well. The food in general, is definitely not as good as it once was. We were considering a world cruise, but we cannot imagine being on a small ship with only a few restaurants and food that really isn't up to snuff. I would eat chicken every day if it was prepared well. My husband would likewise eat salmon every day if it was prepared well. The grill was just awful the other evening. I asked that my food be prepared by the chef, the waitstaff person said she had to ask her boss if they could do that. When my request was honored, the food came out ice cold with grill marks on it and accompanied by a rock hard potato. When approached by the maitre d, to inquire why I wasn’t eating it, he actually touched my potato with his bare hands and said, yes that is really hard. What!!!! Of course there was the offer to redo it. NO way. I know food is subjective, but this isn't 5 star dining. Duck Ragu, the signature disk in La T, used to be amazing, not the same.

June 5. 42 F and fog horn every 2 minutes en route to St Johns. Fog conditions since last night. There is nothing like the sound of fog by itself. It shrouds the ship and covers the sea like a blanket, we move forward quietly, our sounds muffled. The foghorn warns others of our approach. Thirteen knots speed.

Hahaha yes you are right Bill Murray. Thanks. I understand he repeated the loop 33 years and 350 days. The paper delivered today was dated today but the same as yesterday. Its repeating. And repeating…. OMG. will we be aboard for 33 years and 350 days?

The coast of Maine is craggy and some of it pink. After the very rough tender ride into Bar Harbor, we enjoyed a tour of Acadia National Park and a lobster lunch. Temperatures in the 40’s F. Then back to the ship, another tippy tender ride. Captain announced the weather would deteriorate, and it did. Gale force winds and seas to match. The Shadow handles it with ease.

Bah Habah. Bone chilling damp. Jolly yes we are precluded from going to one port in NS due to smoke. One more sea day in lieu of Shelburne. We are enjoying the suite and our over the top butler, Neo. He mentioned this morning he would like to see it snowing. OMG its 44, so ten degrees less and we could see snow. We do expect rain. Last night we enjoyed a special mean en suite, vegetable and shrimp tempura with red chili sauce. Lovely. Today we are off to the lobsta lunch, but first we must survive the tenda. We are bundled up in several layers and warm socks. I knew I should have packed mittens. There is no one at the pool. The internet is good! Some strange things with the newspaper though. It seems to be ground hog day, as DrSpins keeps getting the same paper from the day before. I know he’s a dinosaur because he likes actual paper to read. Its just a small 4 page paper, but in the last several days its been exactly the same paper with a different date. Twilight Zone or Ground Hog day. Hello Chevy Chase.

Bon voyage from the Shadow as we leave Boston harbor.

‘Twas a lovely sail out as to the view. The Grill seemed unprepared for the number of pax. We arrived at 11:30 and my lunch showed up about 12:45. DH showed up shortly after mine, minus part of the order. Tables so close together now, tough to maneuver. Some crew indifferent or have attitude issues. We abandoned the Grill, came to our suite and ordered some room service. We sat outside and enjoyed the view, slightly soured by the Grill lunch travesty. Dinner will be another topic. I cant re-experience it by writing about it at the moment. We went thru the Cape Cod Canal during the early morning hours. Only ships that can fit under the Bourne Railroad bridge can use the Canal, which only has a depth of 32 feet. The Canal was completed in 1940. The Canal is about 17 miles long. There is no charge for vessels to use the Canal. We have been through it before, in the daylight hours. But FOMO took over and I was up and down looking for the Railroad bridge, listening to the bell buoys, watching for the channel markers, and inhaling the fresh sea air. Then I fell asleep. Coming into Boston Harbor is a treat, it’s very busy and the planes taking off from Logan look like they are coming right at you! We look out over a large active shipping crate dock. The planes landing at Logan fly right over it, we get a close up look at the planes and the landing gear. The US inspectors are aboard at the moment. They did not come aboard in Ft. Lauderdale or NYC. The inspection is always tense for the crew. 20230602_072933.mov

Looking at the Intrepid now for a day and a half. So close to it and also the nuclear sub, the former USS Growler. The Intrepid is huge, hard to fathom living and fighting aboard. The runway on the other hand is not LARGE, the painted sign on one of the bulkheads of the ship says Beware of Jet Blast. Seeing so many visitors to museum. Reminds us to thank for those who perished so we could be free. Thanks again to all who serve and served.

Lots of activity here at the port. With the addition of 150 more pax its a bit more raucous, or is it that inhibitions are being shed? Sleeping with the door open to hear the city sounds. Gulls squawking, horns blaring, traffic noise amplified by the canyons of the tall buildings. Ferry boats making wake, waves lapping the active coast guard cutter docked next to us. Choppers, many of them, in the sky hovering above us and up and down the river. My grand uncle Johan Alfred Larson, who came from Sweden, was a captain aboard a boat that traveled up and down the Hudson River in the 1900’s. He lived on the ship with his wife and daughter. The ship was berthed between 52nd and 55th street. Right here. I never knew him of course, but I am looking out at the River he sailed. When he was injured on the job and crushed his foot he could no longer work on the water and went to work in Roebling, New Jersey as a watchman. John Roebling was a civil engineer who built wire rope suspension bridges, to include the Brooklyn Bridge. As we had dinner last night, we had a visit from this helicopter who wanted to see the ship. 20230531_202743.mov

Sun kisses the rail at LaT and warms our faces as we enjoy dinner. Facing New Jersey. As soon as it set the temperature dropped rapidly.

Bon voyage!!!

Addendum today 150 new pax will board. University of Michigan alums. Go Blue.

Awake at 4:30 am and out the door at 5 something to catch the sail-in from the Obs. Did not disappoint. Very chilly outside as we made our way into the harbor. Today is GLORIOUS! Manhattan! I ❤️ NYC. Our glass doors are open to the fresh air. We look at the amazing city. We also look out over some of the weapons/tools of war or what some may refer to as peacekeepers. A battleship which is now a museum. The Intrepid’s deck holds many vintage planes, jets, and a submarine is along side. The Concorde Alpha Delta G-BOAD is also on the pier. What a plane! Last night was formal night but we did not leave the suite. Too rough. Instead we ordered from the main dining room and enjoyed the rolling seas without any missteps or mishaps.