Live! The Grouch on the Prinsendam October 20, 2016 for 30 days.

[whogo]

October 29, 2016, At Sea, sailing towards Malta, Cubs down 2 games to 1.

 

Supervised our departure from Iraklion, Crete yesterday. The captain did fine, no need for me to intervene, he warned that seas would be higher. We did feel more motion. Others reported a lot of movement about 3 AM, I slept through it.

 

We are still plagued by demons in the electricity, blew a tube in the bathroom. You'll notice the poor job I did shaving one side of my face.

 

Was that a lightning flash that woke me up this morning? Indeed! Big change in the weather, it was pouring down rain, lightning, outside decks were closed because of high winds, the Caneletto area was closed because of leaks and a bucket was catching drips at the top of the aft staircase. Even the sheltered part of deck eleven was blocked off. Smokers still made it past the barrier to their little corner of deck eleven which is cordoned off by a fake hedge. A smoker said she meets the most fascinating people there. Cigarette smoke has not bothered me, only place I smell it is where it escapes the casino into the Java Bar, Explorer's Lounge, and Oak Room. Can't tell you about the casino, I have not even glanced inside. The photo gallery is not doing much business, few cruisers will pose for a picture and the photographers are not pushy.

 

There was free admission to yesterday's sites because of the national holiday. We received a note from the shore excursion team that we would both be reimbursed $19.20 from the price of the excursion.

 

Read, then ate tasty beef short ribs and lots of green beans for lunch in the Lido. I'm happy to find plenty of green vegetables, they have been scarce on previous HAL cruises. Assume the tall officer with all the stripes on his shoulder who was dining in the Lido was the captain. He was eating with another officer. The other officer might have been the captain, I don't know who is who. Hate to see staff taking up space in the Lido when seating is scarce.*

 

Lost at trivia and the bean bag toss. Staff must have been reading this, both of the lights in the bathroom have been replaced and are equally bright and need no warm up time. I have no excuse for shaving poorly.

 

Lingered too long over Royal Dutch Tea in the dining room with good company. Beef again tonight with excellent prime rib. We will set our clocks back an hour again tonight as European daylight savings time ends, I may stay up for the Filipino crew show at 11.

 

*Yes, I'm kidding.

[Krazy Kruizers]

You are so funny!!

[rafinmd]

Have you noticed that, unique among HAL ships, the Prinsendam has open bridge wings. If you go all the way forward on the Sun Deck, you can actually watch the officers taking the ship away from the dock, and even pressing the horn button. Watch your feet though, I think there are a couple of light conduits on the deck in that area.

 

Roy

[slidergirl]

Oh Whogo, I am still smiling.

 

I too have had my cards not working. It seems some of us are lucky that way ;)

 

A little note here from someone who replaces multiple guests' key cards all day long:

Do NOT put your key card anywhere near your smart phone. It will wreak havoc on it.

Do NOT put your key card in a wallet/purse that has a magnetic clasp - it will wreak havoc.

this summer, we had a convention at the hotel. The organizer provided name tags that came in a plastic holder that had a magnet to attach to your clothes. People were putting their room keys in the holder; they had to come down every time they tried to get in their rooms!!!

[newcruise55]

My mother in law and her friend are on the ship with you so it is interesting to read about your exploits. Your posts are very entertaining. Smooth sailing to you all.

[kazu]

A little note here from someone who replaces multiple guests' key cards all day long:

Do NOT put your key card anywhere near your smart phone. It will wreak havoc on it.

Do NOT put your key card in a wallet/purse that has a magnetic clasp - it will wreak havoc.

this summer, we had a convention at the hotel. The organizer provided name tags that came in a plastic holder that had a magnet to attach to your clothes. People were putting their room keys in the holder; they had to come down every time they tried to get in their rooms!!!

Good advice and the question asked of me. I am very careful to keep my key away from my Ipad, cell phone, etc.

 

I blamed it on the card's use in the casino ;)

 

No idea why, but about every 7 days, my card had to be replaced. A pain since I had to go to the spa to get a new star placed on the new card :D;)

[SilvertoGold]

About the cards:

 

Last cruise on embarkation we went straight to our stateroom and neither card would work.

Straight to the Front Desk: wrong lifeboat number on both the original cards. New cards with the correct lifeboat number, no problems over the 16 day cruise.

 

It turned out that the first cards had the lifeboat number of our first stateroom assignment, not the second assignment. So the lifeboat did not match the stateroom.

 

Who knew?

[whogo]

October , 2016, Valetta, Malta, Cubs down 3 games to 1

Attended soprano Annette Wardell's late show last night. She performed well known songs - the theme from Titanic, Habanera from Carmen, Tonight from West Side Story, etc to an appreciative audience. I hung around for the start of the 11:00 PM Filipino crew show, talented bunch of singers and dancers.

 

Two 25 hour days down, eight to go. The ship rolled pretty well at times last night, one guest reported that her cabin glassware fell over.

This morning we were traveling towards the left of the navigation screen at 5:37 AM at position 35°55.03'N, 014°52.43'. Saw lights of Malta off to our port side(that is sailor talk for left) as I breakfasted on eggs over easy, toast, and bacon in the Lido. The entry past the breakwater of Valetta looked awful narrow to me. I watched the sail in from the crow's nest. Had to move away from the people who provided a commentary in outdoor voices about things any darn fool could see for himself.

 

"The waves are really crashing."

"Here comes a boat. Look at it bob around."

"I think it's the pilot boat."

"It's the pilot boat."

"He's going to drop off the pilot."

 

Location guide Brett provided a better commentary about the knight's fortifications and defense against Suleiman the Magnificent. We received a "welcome" of cannon fire, it is surprising what foreigners consider a welcome. There was a Mein Schiff in dry dock, I would have liked to know about the huge yacht in the harbor. Narrow harbor, don't know if bigger ships call here.

 

The captain announced a little after eight that our next stop in Gozo has been cancelled due to expected rough tendering conditions. We will stay in Valetta until 6:00 PM tomorrow. I think I have been outed as the writer of this live report, assume I am receiving special treatment, everything is going well. Now that the bathroom lights light beautifully and immediately, my biggest problems have been a couple of overcooked eggs and an overcooked slice of beef, nothing to grouch about. The conspiracy theorists among you will know that I have been paid off. If I start gushing over the hard working crew you will know that my account has been hacked.

 

Our 9:00 ship's tour was "Mysterious Megaliths".

Approximately 31⁄2 Hours Adult $84.95; Child $12.95

This excursion showcases the archaeology of Malta -- long associated with pre-historic, megalithic structures that date back 6,000 years. The megalithic temples of Malta are among the most ancient religious sites on Earth, a UNESCO World Heritage Site described as ‘unique architectural masterpieces’.

First, visit Hagar Qim’s shrine to Mother Earth and view a short audio-visual presentation in the visitor center. Next, proceed to the temple site to view the Mnajdra Temples, 500 yards away and closer to the sea.

Visit the Archaeological Museum in Valletta. The building was once the Auberge de Provence, built in 1575, and now houses an important collection of archaeological finds from all over the island.

Maria was the best guide we have had, gave interesting information about Malta on our drives and guided us through the museum. A sign at the entryway clearly stated "Guide dogs only", but we were admitted to Hagar Qim.

Did not think I could stand another archaeological museum, but this was small and had different styles of artifacts than we have seen before. The huge stones at Hagar Qim were erected into temples about 3600 BCE, before the pyramids of Egypt or Stonehenge. Don't know why the excursion was listed as strenuous, it was no more difficult than a walk in the mall. Our guide said that the storm we sailed through had hit Malta hard, a ten year storm that had washed cars out to sea.

After lunch onboard Mrs. Whogo returned to the pedestrian street. Most shops are closed on Sunday, restaurants are open. I had a local Cisk lager from one of a string of restaurants near the port.

Halibut was the winning meal, we had a lamb strips wrapped in flatbread. Won at trivia and saw a group drinking and dining on a platform held aloft by a huge crane, interesting venue.

Received great advice yesterday, "Don't stand if you can sit. Don't sit if you can lie down."

[EDLOS]

October , 2016, Valetta, Malta, Cubs down 3 games to 1

Attended soprano Annette Wardell's late show last night. She performed well known songs - the theme from Titanic, Habanera from Carmen, Tonight from West Side Story, etc to an appreciative audience. I hung around for the start of the 11:00 PM Filipino crew show, talented bunch of singers and dancers.

 

Two 25 hour days down, eight to go. The ship rolled pretty well at times last night, one guest reported that her cabin glassware fell over.

This morning we were traveling towards the left of the navigation screen at 5:37 AM at position 35°55.03'N, 014°52.43'. Saw lights of Malta off to our port side(that is sailor talk for left) as I breakfasted on eggs over easy, toast, and bacon in the Lido. The entry past the breakwater of Valetta looked awful narrow to me. I watched the sail in from the crow's nest. Had to move away from the people who provided a commentary in outdoor voices about things any darn fool could see for himself.

 

"The waves are really crashing."

"Here comes a boat. Look at it bob around."

"I think it's the pilot boat."

"It's the pilot boat."

"He's going to drop off the pilot."

 

Location guide Brett provided a better commentary about the knight's fortifications and defense against Suleiman the Magnificent. We received a "welcome" of cannon fire, it is surprising what foreigners consider a welcome. There was a Mein Schiff in dry dock, I would have liked to know about the huge yacht in the harbor. Narrow harbor, don't know if bigger ships call here.

 

The captain announced a little after eight that our next stop in Gozo has been cancelled due to expected rough tendering conditions. We will stay in Valetta until 6:00 PM tomorrow. I think I have been outed as the writer of this live report, assume I am receiving special treatment, everything is going well. Now that the bathroom lights light beautifully and immediately, my biggest problems have been a couple of overcooked eggs and an overcooked slice of beef, nothing to grouch about. The conspiracy theorists among you will know that I have been paid off. If I start gushing over the hard working crew you will know that my account has been hacked.

 

Our 9:00 ship's tour was "Mysterious Megaliths".

 

Maria was the best guide we have had, gave interesting information about Malta on our drives and guided us through the museum. A sign at the entryway clearly stated "Guide dogs only", but we were admitted to Hagar Qim.

Did not think I could stand another archaeological museum, but this was small and had different styles of artifacts than we have seen before. The huge stones at Hagar Qim were erected into temples about 3600 BCE, before the pyramids of Egypt or Stonehenge. Don't know why the excursion was listed as strenuous, it was no more difficult than a walk in the mall. Our guide said that the storm we sailed through had hit Malta hard, a ten year storm that had washed cars out to sea.

After lunch onboard Mrs. Whogo returned to the pedestrian street. Most shops are closed on Sunday, restaurants are open. I had a local Cisk lager from one of a string of restaurants near the port.

Halibut was the winning meal, we had a lamb strips wrapped in flatbread. Won at trivia and saw a group drinking and dining on a platform held aloft by a huge crane, interesting venue.

Received great advice yesterday, "Don't stand if you can sit. Don't sit if you can lie down."[/quote

 

Sounds like Yogi

Profound advice like "If you come to a fork in the road, take it" or "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded"

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great reports.

Too bad about Gozo.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Speaking about key cards -- we had an unusual experience one time.

We were on a 21 day cruise. On day 19 we left our cabin to have breakfast in the Pinnacle. After breakfast we stopped in the Neptune Lounge for a couple of minutes. When we tried to get into our cabin -- neither ID card worked. So we returned to the Neptune Lounge only to find that neither of the cards worked on that door as well. Another passenger let us in. We explained our problem to the concierge.

Seems that our ID cards were programmed incorrectly -- they had us getting off the ship on day 19 -- a sea day.

Thankfully we got that fixed quickly.

[whogo]

Monday, October 31, 2016, Valletta, Malta

Our 6:00 AM position was 35°53.58'N, 014°30.72'E, docked at Valletta.

 

Email started working yesterday for unknown reasons, had not changed a thing. I was up before four to follow the NY Times inning by inning live coverage of the World Series. Cubs finally won one at Wrigley, trail 3 games to 2. Ordered the European cold plate for breakfast in the dining room, meat, cheese, onion, herring, tomato, and hard boiled egg. Don't need that one again, will try something different next time.

 

More rain this morning, we waited until it abated to leave the ship. A gate to the street is just a few yards from the gangway, but passengers have to walk a couple of blocks to the terminal and return those couple of blocks to get back to the gate. Bit of an annoyance, the return is worse as you have to pass through the duty free shop. We took the €1 elevator up to the town, must be the equivalent of eight stories, saved a lot of climbing. The ride down is free.

 

The rain returned with a vengeance while we were in the Church of St. Francis, put on our rain gear to walk to our next stop.

 

Visited the Co-Cathedral of St. John, an over the top baroque creation. Thought we would just peek at the Caravagio, but it was €10 admission with an audio guide with 24 different chapters. Baroque is not my style. The audio guide described each of the monuments to grand masters, maybe four in each of eight chapels, each monument touting the knight's accomplishments. I preferred the religious paintings. Every nook and cranny was unique, but all the gold leaf and marble made it very much alike. The crowds made it worse. Caravaggio's Beheading of St. John was worth the price of admission and beautifully described by the audio guide. We spent almost two hours there.

 

The rain let up and we dined outside at Caffe Cordina. I had the local dish Fenek bit-Tewn (rabbit). "Braised rabbit served with garlic, onion, and white wine reduction, finished off with a game jus served with lightly seasoned French fries and a side salad". Good cruise when I can have goat in one port and rabbit in another. Mrs. Whogo refuses to serve goat and rabbit at home. She had the local goat cheese salad, too much cheese, wished she had order the meat platter instead. I left her to her pursuits and returned to the ship. Celebrity Constellation has joined us at the pier.

 

Returned to find we would get free sparkling wine or soda with dessert for missing the Mgarr stop. Excellent dinner tonight, sweetbreads and Dover sole, passed on the free drinks.

[KirkNC]

That elevator is the way to go, saves lots of walking uphill.

 

We have been to Malta five times and everytime has been a Sunday so we have never seen the inside of the cathedral. :(

 

I take it your lunch was good? We always struggle to find good food on Malta.

[InTheWASide]

dork dots blue 14.

 

Sitting here in the office between phone calls and just about sprayed my drink when I read this. Best description EVER of those dumb little stickers

[whogo]

November 1, 2016, Messina, Sicily

Daybreak found us cruising in the Straight of Messina with mainland Italy close on our right and Sicily close on our left. At 7:00 we were almost docked at position 38°11.35'N, 015°33.51'E. Weather is pleasantly cool with partly cloudy skies, expected high 68°.

 

I found mindreader Luca Volpe's show too slow.

 

Internet has been surprisingly good, pages load quickly and I can download emails and post this drivel in two or three minutes, used to take much longer. We received in transit cards and a letter explaining the start of the second leg of our cruise in Civitavecchia, no surprises, think we can handle it.

 

Six of us took a private tour arranged by Cruise Critic member trident, can't thank her enough. Guide Michael was waiting for us at 8:00 and all went according to plan, except for a lapse by my primary care giver. Nice, nine passenger van took us out of Messina and on a good limited access toll road to the base of Mt. Etna, then on smaller roads. Made a biological stop and had a brief honey making demonstration and shopping opportunity at Oro d'Etna in Zafferana and then up narrow switch back roads past old lave flows to craters on the side of Mt. Etna and my primary care giver's lapse. Neat spot with great views. The closest crater was a nice walk on lava gravel until my primary care giver allowed me to trip over a rock. I took a real nose dive, sprawled prone in a hurry. Skinned my elbow and got a goose egg on my forearm that I expect to turn interesting colors. Fellow tour members and a concerned passerby helped me to my feet and I brushed gravel off me from head to toe. Most of the damage was to my pride, there were too many people around for me to act like it never happened. I have forgiven my primary care giver for not watching out for me better.

 

We made the right decision not to take the cable car and jeep tour up to the rim of the crater. It would have eaten up most of our time and I feared we would be in the clouds and see nothing.

 

Next stop Taormina, yet another charming village with a multitude of shopping opportunities. My purchases were all consumable, a pizza and a small Birra Moretti at Pizzeria Ristorante Varo'. Mrs. Whogo had a great looking salad of greens, mushrooms and more. Guide Michael was an excellent driver, explained that zebra stripes and stop signs were decorations. He barely slowed down at stop signs, somehow it works, no cars were damaged, no people injured. Even in the passenger seat I never stomped on an imaginary brake. Stopped for a great view of the Ionian Sea and the little island Isolabella. On return to Messina we stopped at a lookout and saw the Prinsendam, duomo, and more. Got up close and personal with the duomo, which has the most amazing clock tower. Date, planet and moon phases are shown on the one side, the other side has the bells and automated figures that ring bells, march around and get blessed by the Virgin Mary. Pretty impressive display, I will have to see the whole noon show on YouTube.

 

We were back onboard in time to lose at trivia and watch the narrated sail away. The harbor exit is narrow as is the Straight of Messina, only three kilometers separate the toe of mainland Italy from the island of Sicily. Pretty neat. The Stromboli sail past was a bust, no lava to be seen.

 

Took off my trousers to dress for gala night and a cup of Mt. Etna gravel fell out of them. I have seen ballplayers have similar problems after a headfirst slide. Saw very few dinner jackets, more suits and sport coats, wonderful lobster tail, drawn butter, and perfectly cooked filet. You might just as well quit reading, fantastic cruise, no minor problems to exaggerate.

[Yellow Lab's Rule]

Speedy recovery and glad your fall wasn't bad. Enjoy reading your travel stories

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry that you fell. Hope you mend quickly.

Looking forward to see how your In Transit day goes and to the next segment of your cruise.

[St Pete Cruiser]

Sorry to read of your trip, no not the Prinsendam cruise which is enjoyable, just the fall with much gravel. You only have a few days left to redeem your review. We are emailing the staff as you read this to block your toilet, starch your laundry to the max, and serve you the left overs from the crew's mess in order to assist you in keeping your title.

[whogo]

Wednesday, November 2, 2016, Naples, Italy

 

Cubs win! Series tied three games to three. "Watched" the last few innings on the NY Times blog. Wish I could watch game 7, picked the wrong time to cruise.

 

The nightmare begins. Put on my shirt, felt a terrible itching on my neck. It took me years of counseling before I could stand shirt labels, the little pieces of cloth that identify the maker and collar size and sleeve length. No problem until today, the itching was too much, thought I had relapsed and would have to remove all the labels from all my clothes. Took the shirt off and found a laundry tag glued around my shirt label. If you think the laundry tags stick tightly to clothes, you ought to see how well they stick to themselves. Removed the tag and will try to forget the deliberate provocation by the laundry crew. Who put them up to this? My cruise is ruined.

 

Our 6:15 AM position was 40°40.06'N, 014°13.49'E sailing towards the top of the map at 17.7 knots. We are at about the same latitude as Chicago. Saw Capri, not impressive before dawn. Saw a couple of conical mountains, one must be Vesuvius, though I don't know which one. Supervised our entry into port, did not need to get involved. My confidence in the captain is growing, may let him do a few ports without my help.

 

Well prepared eggs over easy with English muffin and bacon again today. Yesterday's were great, too, thought it was because a table mate had so much trouble getting his eggs over easy. Today's breakfast was just as good without the neener neener.

 

Navigation channel says we have sailed 2372 nm so far. Naples is another new port for us, debarkation was via a jetway, or whatever you would call such a device in a cruise port, from deck six, port side.

 

Grouch pill took effect again on our Holland America Herculaneum excursion. Tour departed at 9:00 AM, twenty-five minutes later we stopped at a surprise cameo shop. Aagh! Whose bladder can't last longer than that! Finally reached Herculaneum at 10:00. Glad we went, but what a slow experience. With about 40 participants we waited while each one took a peek into a little room, one at a time, sometimes two or three at a time, frequently fiddling with cameras, and then on to another little room or cluster of rooms viewed the same way. Herculaneum is great, the guide was good, but the tour was a frustration. There were adequate toilets at Herculaneum, the drive back to the bus was only 20 minutes, should never have gone to the cameo shop. Tour was 35 minutes shorter than advertised. Should have traveled on our own by train and rented an €8 audio guide and had a better tour for less money. (I see now that the cameo shop was listed on the PDF I downloaded, not on the excursion order form.)

 

Planned to go to the Archaeology Museum to see treasures from Pompeii, Herculaneum, and more. The museum was closed today because it was open yesterday during a bank holiday (All Saints Day). I heard that people who had bought a shore excursion that included the Archaeology Museum did not learn of its closure until this morning! Ouch! We have been affected by holidays in Israel, Crete, Sicily and Naples.

 

I was stung by the oldest trick in the HAL Excursion book in Malta:

 

"First, visit Hagar Qim’s shrine to Mother Earth and view a short audio-visual presentation in the visitor center. Next, proceed to the temple site to view the Mnajdra Temples, 500 yards away and closer to the sea." Silly me, I thought we would visit Mnajdra Temple. Nope, we viewed a small part of the tent over it from 500 yards away. I will have some fun with excursion reviews on the HAL website. Heard great things about the hop on/hop off buses in Malta. Should have taken that the first day, visited Mdina, and spent any remaining time on Valletta's pedestrian streets.

 

Handled a Dive In cook's mistake badly and figure the staff will spit in all my future meals. "Special meal for Mr. Whogo."

 

Bright spot of the day was winning at Trivia on trident's team.

 

Lamb shank for dinner, I am happy again. Our departure from Naples was delayed by 3 hours(!) due to what the captain called paperwork. To arrive in Civitavecchia we will cruise at 21 knots. Currently the navigation screen says we are traveling at 21.5 knots, don't know if I have gone this fast on a cruise ship before.

 

We will see if game seven of the World Series brings me happiness or sorrow.

[whogo]

Thursday, November 3, 2016, Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

 

Cubs win the World Series! Took an extra inning in game seven, would have been a great game to watch. Never thought I would see the day, assume it is snowing in hell. No big W flags, no mention of the World Series. Holland America probably does not appreciate moms or apple pie either.

 

Arrived in Civitavecchia on time, 21 knots was fast enough, those leaving the ship at this point had been concerned about flights. Parked at 42°05.69N, 011°46.79'E. A Costa ship and the Oosterdam are in port with us as well as the French ship Horizon. After "watching" the World Series, I had a leisurely first breakfast in the Lido before a leisurely second breakfast in the dining room. Ham was substituted for English bacon in my full English breakfast, but the Cubs won the World Series and little annoyances won't bother me. Today. Maybe.

 

Mrs. Whogo took a HAL Etruscan shore excursion with about twenty others in a big coach, found it interesting and they wrapped up the excursion at a farm-to-table type place with snacks. I took the shuttle from the port for a quick walk around Civitavecchia. The shuttle buses have a new lot at N42°05.842', E011°47.309' which is not as handy to the train station. (Heard that you can be dropped off near the old fortress, saw it done, don't know if they would do it with luggage. Saw a lot of people making the longer journey with luggage.) Nice day, I battled the wind and sun with my hat and lost. Decided yesterday against a trip to Rome, just not enough time with all aboard at 3:00. Might have made it with a preprinted ticket. Stopped in at the train station and saw large lines at the manned ticket booth and the ticket machine and lots of people with luggage. Not another Archaeology Museum! I stopped in for five minutes, free, mostly in Italian, nothing of interest on the ground floor and the other floor was closed.

 

I walked along the nice shoreside promenade and watched the waves crash before heading back to the ship, probably walked three miles total. Boarded with about 20 Italians who look like they will be working aboard. Heard an announcement at 11:00 that those transferring to the Oosterdam should debark for their shuttle. Mrs. Whogo and I dined near the Lido pool and noticed a lot of new faces. Word is that 328 of us stayed for this leg and that we would be full to Ft. Lauderdale, meaning there should be about 500 new to the ship.

 

Muster drill was unpleasant with a hot sun in our eyes. A later muster drill would have been a little cooler. We will sail to Barcelona at only twelve knots, it is penny pinching to have us leave port so early, gotta save fuel and open the shops and casino. We received a plate of chocolates from the captain and hotel director for continuing our voyage. Don't tell Mrs. Whogo about the chocolates, she would not have wanted any anyway.

 

We bade goodbye to Italy and sailed off into the sunset.

[DAllenTCY]

As Harry Caray would have called "CUBS WIN, CUBS WIN, CUBS WIN".

Yes, Hell is going to freeze soon, and the sun will not rise one day. 108 years....wow!

 

David

 

P.S. Please get this election over already! Suffering though 20+ flyers in the mail daily,

phone calls from advocates for this and that, and 20 minutes an hour of political mud slinging on TV. Such a ridiculous waste of money. Glad you chose to cruise and share your uneventful diary. I do not find it boring, more inspirational to cruise the Med which I have never done. Thanks very much for your enjoyable posts.

[KirkNC]

Congrats to the Cubs!

 

Not sure what they use to attach those laundry stickers but I would like to get some.

[crusinpsychRN]

What trivia games did you win?

[whogo]

Friday, November 4, 2016, sailing towards Barcelona

 

Nice strip steak for dinner last night fueled me up for a trivia loss. Slept well, did not see our transit of the strait between Corsica and Sardinia, saw a bit of Sardinia or outlying islands this morning.

 

This morning's 6:27 position was 41°17.52'N, 008°34.46'E. Looks to be a sunny day.

 

Second breakfast in the dining room was a comedy of errors, every order was messed up. I never received my English Muffin, no great loss.

 

Good crowd for our 10:30 meet and greet in the Crow's Nest, well done Vict0rian. We had a businesslike roll call, lots of private excursions have been arranged, Mrs. Whogo and I are not joining them. Our fellow passengers are all fine people, the Cruise Critic group especially so.

 

The Indonesian lunch Rijsttafel for Collector cruisers was a madhouse as hundreds of us showed up all at once, happens every time. Still a fun meal with interesting food. I should stay away from tables for eight, I can't hear people across from me unless they speak louder than they should.

 

Lost at 1:00 trivia.

 

Unlimited laundry for this leg is $8 per day, previous leg was $7 per day. Our speed is only 11 knots, wish we had stayed in Civitavecchia longer.

 

Won at evening trivia, got John Lennon right, missed Stevie Wonder. Lamb chops for dinner, I am happy. A table mate shared Belgian chocolates he won at the shops. What a guy! The white covers were on the chairs for gala night, lots of empty seats at 7:45, must be a lot of early diners. Our leisurely day at sea was extra leisurely, we have five port days in a row.

[kazu]

Friday, November 4, 2016, sailing towards Barcelona

 

Nice strip steak for dinner last night fueled me up for a trivia loss. Slept well, did not see our transit of the strait between Corsica and Sardinia, saw a bit of Sardinia or outlying islands this morning.

 

This morning's 6:27 position was 41°17.52'N, 008°34.46'E. Looks to be a sunny day.

 

Second breakfast in the dining room was a comedy of errors, every order was messed up. I never received my English Muffin, no great loss.

 

Good crowd for our 10:30 meet and greet in the Crow's Nest, well done Vict0rian. We had a businesslike roll call, lots of private excursions have been arranged, Mrs. Whogo and I are not joining them. Our fellow passengers are all fine people, the Cruise Critic group especially so.

 

The Indonesian lunch Rijsttafel for Collector cruisers was a madhouse as hundreds of us showed up all at once, happens every time. Still a fun meal with interesting food. I should stay away from tables for eight, I can't hear people across from me unless they speak louder than they should.

 

Lost at 1:00 trivia.

 

Unlimited laundry for this leg is $8 per day, previous leg was $7 per day. Our speed is only 11 knots, wish we had stayed in Civitavecchia longer.

 

Won at evening trivia, got John Lennon right, missed Stevie Wonder. Lamb chops for dinner, I am happy. A table mate shared Belgian chocolates he won at the shops. What a guy! The white covers were on the chairs for gala night, lots of empty seats at 7:45, must be a lot of early diners. Our leisurely day at sea was extra leisurely, we have five port days in a row.

 

congrats on trivia :)

 

Happy to hear Vict0riann's meet and greets went well. This is her first time (now how would I know that ;) ) and she took on a slew. Very happy for her and you that you enjoyed it :)