The Happy Wanderer (reprise)

[grannynurse]

I don't believe a word of your claim to behavin', I know you better. Classy but baaad.

I'm glad you enjoyed Caen. Did you try any Calvados?

Yeah neither of us are the girls we used to be.

 

We haven't heard anything about your roomie, or lack of one.

And the verdict on Mr. Forrest, or is the jury still out?

 

We're still sweltering, boy I wish I was out to sea...(literally, I am out to sea mentally, but what's new?

 

Food? Any menu repeats? Are they giving the souvenir menus wrapped and ribboned?

BTW, if you want to sell me your Maasdam tiles, I only have 4 so far and compared to the Rotterdam tiles, they look lonely.

 

Let us hear more from "the good ship lollipop" we anxiously await every word.

Keep up the prolific prose,

Love

GN

[longtimecruiser]

Hi Ruth, I agree with Myra that I wish I was at sea too. It is so HOT and Humid here that you don't even want to be outside. Enjoy your cooler weather while you can. Glad you enjoyed your day in France. How was Plymouth today? I never got there last year due to rough weather. Hope you made it this year. Can't believe that you are rolling up the carpeting at midnight. That ship MUST be dead at night. Until the next installment...Adele

[jhannah]

Sounds like a great day, Ruth. We'll have to put the Peace Memorial on our "to do" list.

[RevNeal]

Just about everything closes up by midnight---everything except the DJ. Even the Piano Bar closes then; yes, I'm there when it happens, but it does seem more than a bit early.

 

Perhaps things will perk up once you're having long sea-days again?? Who knows?? One can hope!

 

It's probably for the best, though, as I'm not the gal I used to be and getting up for shore excursions on 5-6 hours of sleep is taking it's toll.

 

Say it isn't SO, Ruth! And ... you can sleep when you're back home. You're aboard ship for you 1 month a year! Live a LOT!

 

Hey ... in 2006 you'll be on the Zaandam with me in October. What are you going to do for the other 15 days? Got any other cruises planned? Wanna book the Noordam in Feb!? :D

[noddie11]

We have just returned from 17 nights on HAL Boston to Rotterdam( Maasdam). We had a fantastic time and i would like to thank Ruth for organising the initial CC get together. I felt like we knew several of the posters already, it was good to put faces to names. We met a lot of very nice people on board from cc and others.

 

I have just put out some of our photos from the cruise which were excellent.

 

It is strange to hear about what is happening on board from Ruth and Liz involving a lot of people we met, without us being a part of it anymore.Keep it up girls.

 

Hope Plymouth was good and the weather kind.

Debbie

[Ziggy7]

We have just returned from 17 nights on HAL Boston to Rotterdam( Maasdam). We had a fantastic time and i would like to thank Ruth for organising the initial CC get together. I felt like we knew several of the posters already, it was good to put faces to names. We met a lot of very nice people on board from cc and others.

 

I have just put out some of our photos from the cruise which were excellent.

 

It is strange to hear about what is happening on board from Ruth and Liz involving a lot of people we met, without us being a part of it anymore.Keep it up girls.

 

Hope Plymouth was good and the weather kind.

Debbie

Welcome Home Noddie11 !! Glad you had a good time :) Where did you put out your pictures, I would sure love to see them :)

[RuthC]

From ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties and things that go bump in the night, good Lord preserve us.

Old Scottish prayer

 

Sometime during the night I was roused by the most God-awful shaking. It did not feel at all like heavy seas; what it did feel like was the ship breaking apart. The the power went off. I knew that since my breathing machine stopped working---I was now fully awake. Seems some kind of regulator stopped working and the engines shut down.

It was 6:50 AM.

 

No lights, radio/TV, A/C, or water. Sure made a challenge out of getting dressed in an inside cabin. Thought getting dressed might be a good idea, too, since there was no guarantee I wasn't going to have to bail out. I had planned on sleeping late. Shall I repeat that "best laid plans" piece?

 

By 9:00 AM the A/C, some lights, and the elevators were back so I headed off to find breakfast. Food was readily available; clean dishes were not. HAL has a supply of paper plates and packaged utelsils for just such occasions. Imagine that. Also imagine RuthC on an elegant cruise ship eating her Cheerios out of a cardboard box.

 

So we arrived late to Cobh, and departed a bit late to make up for it. It was a pretty day in the Emerald Isle. Sunny, very warm. Made for a beautiful sail-away.

 

The Internet Room is open 24 hours/day. The Internet is down almost as much. :( That's why this post is so late. RuthC is heading to bed---she's got to get up for an early shore excursion in a couple of minutes. (Or, at least it seems that way.;) )

[dakrewser]

Now Ruth, appears to have been just a tad after midnight when you posted - but, then, maybe you didn't get your afternoon siesta...

 

Did you ever find out what broke?

[jhannah]

Yikes! The first thing I would have thought of is "iceberg." :eek: Glad they got everything back up and running ... and everyone fed.

[longtimecruiser]

Oh How Terrible Ruth. That must have been kinda scary being dead in the water. That was a challenge to get dressed in COMPLETE darkness in an inside room. What about your roomie , if you have one? This is one for the books that you will never forget. Hope all is well from now on with the engines. Enjoy Dublin and let us hear all about it. Until the next installment... Adele

[elmorejj]

UH OH, is the Maasdam up to its old tricks again? Dave, I don`t think they have icebergs around the Emerald Isle!!!...........jean :cool:

[Ziggy7]

Thanks for the reports RuthC, I hadnt heard from my parents and was a little worried that the internet was down again :) Now I know :) I hope the ship is fixed and nothing else happens on your exciting cruise :) Oh wait, thats what has made it interesting hehehe j/k :)

[obriendan]

Here are pictures from Honfleur and Plymouth.

[obriendan]

Here are more pictures from Plymouth, and Cobh.

[RuthC]

1.) The food is good, hot and varied. :) "Comfort food" items appear, but are not called such. The menus on the return leg are repeats of the cruise over.

2.) The missing glass door from Lido (starboard) to the aft deck has been replaced. :) Thus making it harder to carry a tray of food outside.

3.) There were no daily Team Trivia prizes on the eastbound cruise :( . Only the cumulative total high score team got prizes. Plural.

4.) The Lido (starboard) lady's room lock that was broken five weeks before I sailed was finally fixed this week. :)

5.) Some heathen has been trying to convince me that attending two BINGO's equals one Sunday Service. :rolleyes:

[longtimecruiser]

Hi Ruth, I found your last post to be quite interesting. There is NO excuse for a lock to not be fixed for five weeks. I thought your comments about no daily trivia prizes was a bad sign. It is a sign that Hal is economizing WAY too much. Those trivia prizes were NOT expensive items. That is just plain cheap, IMHO. Speaking of being cheap, has there been any caviar on the menu? My guess is no. They repeated the menus last year on the return leg. Is the entertainment a repeat also? Sorry to hear some of these negative comments. LizB also mentioned in an email to me that there weremnay cutbacks from two years ago when she made the trip. Enjoy you day in Dublin and have a relaxing day at sea tomorrow. Don't listen to that heathen!!!! Have fun... Till the next installment Adele

[grannynurse]

Methinks an exorcism is in order. Beasties aboard a HAL ship, dam them!

DH got a real laugh out of your Heathen Bingo comment. He also says that he can't picture you scarfing Cheerios out of a cardboard box.

 

I hate to diasgree with Adele but I don't think that all our westbound menus were repeats. Some were, but with all that broccoli flying around last summer, who could have fond memories anyway?

 

Tell us about Plymouth, please.

GN

[jhannah]

Some heathen has been trying to convince me that attending two BINGO's equals one Sunday Service.

Doesn't it????? ;)

[dakrewser]

Good pictures, Dan, thanks!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Oh, poor Ruth!!! I forgot you were in an inside cabin! Thanks heaven it wasn't me. I would have had a panic attack immediately. I'm claustrophobic anyway, but in a dark cabin with no air pumped through. OMG:eek: !

 

Love the Cheerios story;) .

[longtimecruiser]

Myra, you disagree with moi? I remember commenting at our table that they were repeating so many things on the westbound leg. What's this about the broccoli? Now I don't remember having a lot of broccoli floating around. Enlighten me please!!!!

[RevNeal]

Oh, poor Ruth!!! I forgot you were in an inside cabin! Thanks heaven it wasn't me. I would have had a panic attack immediately. I'm claustrophobic anyway, but in a dark cabin with no air pumped through. OMG:eek: !

 

Love the Cheerios story;) .

 

All the more reason to NOT forget the travel pen-light. :) I have one that I take with me on every cruise. Only ... I forgot to check the batteries in Feb and ended up taking one that was DEAD. GRRRRRRR. Thankfully, I didn't need it. Still ... always take a small portable and lightweight penlight so that IF power goes out (and even if you're in an outside cabin it can be D A R K) you can see to get dressed and get down the hall and out side. :)

[RuthC]

Oh, no. Not "you" sailing along with me. Another "you" entirely.

Yesterday I re-read this thread to jot down questions you've been asking; there were several inquiries about my me having a roomie. Thats the "you" referred to in the title. Yes, I'm sharing the cabin.

The last two years I had wonderful roommates who were considerate; this year my roommate doesn't seem to understand the word "share".

When I first entered the cabin she had already arrived, claimed a bed and a closet. Fair enough. I then chose a side in the bathroom, the top drawer, and a shelf in the closet. Later on she "told" me to change shelves as she wanted the one I had placed things on. Had she "asked"---explaining she is shorter and it would be easier---it would have come across as nicer. That was immediately followed by "and I'm taking the safe".

I had noticed immediately that there was no TV schedule, but thought it was another cutback; I didn't mind as I don't turn the TV on except to check the weather. It was several days later that I saw her reading the schedule! She had taken it for herself the first day and had hidden it away with her things!

She couldn't have left it on the TV where we both could look at it? :confused:

I got even. She doesn't know the trick to turn on the TV and I'm not telling her. :D

She leaves her laundry hanging in the shower, then gives me "permission" to put it away for her when I want to turn the water on.

It has crossed my mind to simply move it to one side. He-he-he.

Not yet. There's still two weeks to go. ;)

So far I've kept quiet since I do have to share a small space for five weeks. She hasn't discouraged me from doing a guaranteed share again, but I'm not going to give her a letter of recommendation, either. :p

[grannynurse]

does the nickname "warthog" appeal to you? Your great sense of humor has arrived with something better, I'll bet. "Clutch-lady"? "Grab-bag"?

she's not a "purple people eater" is she?

 

I surmised that this trip had an underlying wrinkle. "We shall overcome". Passive aggressive behavior isn't pretty.

 

I don't suppose the breeze in the bathroom could inadvertanly blow her undies into the potty, or waste basket, hmmm?

 

Fees for maid service comes to mind. On the last evening put a HAL envelope

on her pillow with your name on it. What about swiping her pillow chocs?

 

Your bad-intentioned friend (me) is getting defensive. Not that you need it however...BUT

You can turn this into a comedy act, I'm sure.

Let's get Adele's dark side working on this too.

Love,

GN

[the2ofus]

Oh, poor Ruth! I think you must be rooming with my older sister! LOL You have all my sympathy. We shared a room all our young lives. What a pain! Then we ended up 'sharing' space again on the first cruise I ever took. Nope, she hadn't changed, even at 50!