Roll Call Pride, 3-17-08, Ft. Laud. to Lisbon

[GrannyLorr]

I think OUR train trip will qualify as the longest!! :D Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale (via Chicago)

[Martita B.]

Grannylorr

Happy to see you're posting on the board again!:p Won't be long now until you'll be heading for Ft. Laud and your South America/Transatlantic trek! Will be a fabulous voyage~~~

MB

[jgn]

GRannylorr: I'll be very interested to hear about your S.A. 72-dayer because we have signed on for the same voyage for 2009. By then we'll be creeping around on walkers and canes (Ihope not!) but we are certainly stretching it! Will be fun to meet Martha and the others for a great crossing. Hubby gave away most of his ties, Martha, long, long ago! But resale shops sound like the way to go. As for plaid??? I'll have to whip a little plaid number for the occasion!!

Jean

[jgn]

Martha: Forgot to add that yes it was Capt. Andressen on the Queen Odyssey that we sailed with way back when . He was an absolute delight and it would be wonderful to have him at the helm. He would sit with passengers at breakfast or lunch by asking "may I join you?" So friendly and down to earth.

[Martita B.]

Jean

Do bring "something" PLAID~~this is your chance to either dress up or dress down!:confused: I won't be hosting a big gala this Crossing, however~~it will be a simple impromptu, unrehearsed fun event!

And as to the tacky tie~~run by a resale shop and select THE WINNER~~:eek: (I'm going to bring some ugly ties for those that didn't know of the contest and wish to enter)

My very good friend, Herman Diaz (was called Mr. Seabourn) and Captain Anderssen were great friends. When Herman was dying I sent word to Erik on the Sea Dream I ship of his illness.

Whether our Master will be Capt. Anderssen or Capt. Dexter (I've heard he is a "hoot") we shall enjoy our 13 days aboard the White Pride Castle~!!~~!

Martita B.

[CruisinMatt]

Granny - have you checked into this: http://www.grandluxerail.com/

 

They hook onto regularly scheduled Amtrak trains and provide a more upscale rail experience.

[GrannyLorr]

Jean....I will be able to flatten the batteries in your hearing aid telling you all about South America....as we will also be with you for the 13 day Crossing!! I will have thousands of pics too. Maybe you should plan on hiding from me eh? I do plan on also writing regular reports in here, as long as the internet behaves!

 

Matt...thanks for that link....off to have a look now!

[GrannyLorr]

Matt....that train looks great, but a wee bit more expensive than Amtrak! Our trip is all paid for and we are really looking forward to it. We don't need the "fine dining" anyway...will get enough of that for the following 85 days......just burgers and fries will do for a few days on the train......good "heart food" :D

[Ms. J.]

Matt...

 

I loved looking at the train site. Sounds like it's worth saving up for. Thanks! Jini

[CruisinMatt]

Matt...

 

I loved looking at the train site. Sounds like it's worth saving up for. Thanks! Jini

 

 

I agree! I hope they do well and expand! :D

[jgn]

GrannyLorr: I'll be looking forward to meeting you on the crossing and will be especially curious to see how you look after 72 days on a Seabourn ship! If you haven't gained any weight I'll probably have to be restrained from harming you!! No, but I'll be very ionterested in your pics and hope to have many a laugh together. Must let on that we are more of the Great Granny age!!!

Jean

[GrannyLorr]

GrannyLorr: I'll be looking forward to meeting you on the crossing and will be especially curious to see how you look after 72 days on a Seabourn ship!

 

Jean....I will be easy to spot, I will be the one wearing the biggest Peruvian poncho you have ever seen! You may not have been in CC when we did our first cruise....55 days....but by the end of it, my hubby only had one pair of pants that still did up! Heaven help us after 85 days! However this time I am determined to only eat the calorie free, fat free food that the waiters told me about! ;) I cant see myself actually entering that place with the torture machines (aka The Gym) but ~might~ try deck walking once or twice!

[Martita B.]

Grannylorr,

So happy to read "your sense of humor" was not affected by your recent illness! The South American voyage will truly be a trip of a lifetime~~then upon your arrival in Ft. Laud, we'll all be "sitting on the curb waiting for you!":D A grand Crossing is planned~~~

Happy Week

MB

[jgn]

GrannyLorr: Yes, I followed your 52 day voyage with great interest! We did a long one on the Spirit in '05. You may remember the "Pirate Attack". We were on that one for 47 days, I think it was. Then again last fall on the Pride

for another three segment one from London to Canada and back. So I've eaten my way around Seabourn, too, and am still trying to lose the weight. Sorry, I didn't know, though, of your illness. Hope you are top notch now.

 

Martha: Clyde has already found a plaid jacket.He was just about to give it to the resale shop when I said, "hey, that's perfect for the Crossing next March! Does it still fit?" Well, it just about does so he's all set except for the tie. Still working on that. Not many ties worn around Amelia Island. JGN

[Martita B.]

Jean,

Oh tell Clyde he'll indeed look "spiffy" in his coat of many colors;) ! He might run by a resale shop and look thru' their vintage ties~~(even those silly Tee shirts with the painted tie on it would be funny) I think this will be a fun afternoon event. I'll arrange for the 4 judges to come with their official clipboards!

My friends from St. Petersburg, Fl. are sooo excited as this is their 1st Seabourn voyage. They are seasoned Cunarder's~~

Have a great week!

Martita

[GrannyLorr]

Martha...when we arrive back in FLL, we will be heading for the nearest Post Office to post home all the "stuff" I have bought and probably all the "summer" type clothing, don't think we will need much of that on the Crossing! Last cruise I bought fabric in every Port, had no idea how much that stuff weighed till I got it home and put it all together. No wonder Qantas gave us such a hard time! :D

 

Jean....I am soooooooooo jealous of you being on the "Pirate ship", I would have loved to have been there, you would have seen me pushing Norm out of the way so I could get the best pics! One of the crew members gave me some good pics though. ;)

[jgn]

Oh be sure to bring the Pirate pics. Would love to see them. We were too scared to go near the windows after Capt. Pedersen announced we were being attacked by pirates! (Except Hubby who immediately went to the windows "to see" after having been told by Capt. to "stay away from the windows") Guess Norm paid no attention to Capt.'s orders either!! (Fortunately, he got the great pictures.) Be sure to read the Smithsonian's article on Piracy on the high seas. Mentions our little adventure.

 

Jean

[Martita B.]

Grannylorr,

If you need a driver/sedan to meet you at the Port Everglades terminal, e-mail me and I'll give you "Chuck's" (a great driver) phone #~~he'll take you straight to the nearest Post Office~~we've used him several times while in Ft. Lauderdale.

Hope you are feeling ever so good!

MB

[Ms. J.]

Jean....

 

Could you elaborate on the pirate story? I didn't hear about it....when was that, where, what went down, etc.? Very interesting. Thanks, Jini

[GrannyLorr]

Martha, thanks but I think just a plain old taxi will do........we will check out FLL in the 4 days before our first cruise, to find the nearest Post Office and to see what bags or boxes to buy.......it will be good to get rid of some of the weight, I always seem to buy really heavy things!! You should have felt the statues we bought in Egypt!!:eek: The grandkids loved them even though they almost killed Granny!

I am feeling pretty good most days now, need to start on my "plaid outfit" soon....haven't quite got back into any sewing yet. Slowly trying to get the house in order after being away for so long.......

[LaPaloma]

Martha, thanks but I think just a plain old taxi will do........we will check out FLL in the 4 days before our first cruise, to find the nearest Post Office and to see what bags or boxes to buy.......it will be good to get rid of some of the weight, I always seem to buy really heavy things!! You should have felt the statues we bought in Egypt!!:eek: The grandkids loved them even though they almost killed Granny!

I am feeling pretty good most days now, need to start on my "plaid outfit" soon....haven't quite got back into any sewing yet. Slowly trying to get the house in order after being away for so long.......

 

I still treasure my little statues from Egypt. Although they seem redundant while there...get them home and they are fun treasures. And such fun bargaining.

[GrannyLorr]

I still treasure my little statues from Egypt.

 

My ~little~ statues from Egypt (2 of them)were about 2 feet high and each weighed a ton! They started off at $50 each....think we ended up at $10.....the Egyptian hawkers were tossing them around like they were made of plastic.......I nearly died when he handed one to me......my arm stretched almost to the ground with the weight!! :eek:

[LaPaloma]

My ~little~ statues from Egypt (2 of them)were about 2 feet high and each weighed a ton! They started off at $50 each....think we ended up at $10.....the Egyptian hawkers were tossing them around like they were made of plastic.......I nearly died when he handed one to me......my arm stretched almost to the ground with the weight!! :eek:

 

Mine were heavy as well...but about 1/3 the size of yours. My friend haggled for hers....and after dragging it around all day...dropped it and shattered it...I felt for her...cause it was a nice treasured remembrance.

[jgn]

Jean....

 

Could you elaborate on the pirate story? I didn't hear about it....when was that, where, what went down, etc.? Very interesting. Thanks, Jini

Ms J: I think you'll find an abbreviated version of what happened November 5, 2005 in the latest Smithsonian magazine. There is a large article on piracy dealing mostly with it happening on cargo ships. Our episode was covered pretty extensively in most periodicals at the time it happened. My own experience was pretty low key--we (husband and I) simply obeyed the Capt's orders to evacuate to the dining room and stay in the middle away from the windows while the Capt. manuevered the ship so as to throw a large wake at the two smaller boats shooting at us. Two security officers manned the LRAD device that emitted extremely high decibels and a water hose and although hurt by shrapnel managed to drive the small boats off. So together with the Capt's swerving of the ship and these brave men aiming their "guns" at the pirates we managed to evade boarding. Meanwhile, windows in the observation lounge were blown out and there were grenades launched from the pirate boat that lodged into the side of the ship and one that actually landed in a suite. Passengers (imo) were calm if not pretty scared. Norm came into the dining room where we were all gathered and showed us pictures that he had taken (in spite of the Capt.'s order to "stay away from the windows" !!!)

 

Please, anyone else who was there--add more or correct me if I left something out.

 

Hope this gives you a little explanation of the "event".

[JaneBP]

>"Could you elaborate on the pirate story? I didn't hear about it....when was that, where, what went down, etc.? Very interesting. Thanks, Jini"

'

If you 'Google' "Seabourn Spirit Pirates' You will find more articles. I think all of the posts on this BB have been archived/deleted.