Tuesday 17 May

Well, Monday's come and gone and here I am in Brisbane's Virgin lounge.

The flight in Business was wonderful. I was in the middle section, 3 seats, but there's so much room to move around. The beds are made up by the flight attendants and even though they're not what you would call soft, they're easy for someone like me to fit in. I went to sleep about 2 hours out of LA, after a light dinner and woke up with the breakfast lights 1hr 30mins out of Brisbane! I was asleep a lot of that time, but work up now and again briefly. I had chatted a bit to the guys either side of me, but at breakfast time, the guy on the left commented that he'd noticed I gave thanks before eating. He's a Christian from Omaha and said he'll be praying for Graham too. :o)

 I've been here for about 90 mins and had a shower and a coffee. It's lovely and quiet and I'll be on my way to the gate lounge for my Sydney flight in about 20 mins.

Sunday 15 May

We're docked in Vancouver but disembarkation is running very late. I'm waiting for my cue so I don't miss my shuttle to Seattle! Radiance of the Seas just sailed in beside us - it's huge. Last night we had Ruby Princess and Norwegian Pearl with us - both big too.

Bad news - my flight from LA to Sydney has been cancelled. I'm now booked on a flight at 10 to midnight to Brisbane, with a 5 hour wait to connect to a Sydney flight! Pretty bad service! Oh well, God knows what He's doing!

When I got out to the shuttle terminals, I was told that my shuttle would be leaving from a different spot. At the appointed time it went right past! Thank God for mobile phones! An expensive call but it worked out that the local assistant arranged a local shuttle to take me to where the coach was picking up at a hotel, so I finally was on the coach. At that stage it was doing pick-ups here and there and I was nervously thinking about my airport arrival time. However once we were on the road, apart from 30 minutes at the boarder checkpoint when we all had to get off, get our carry-ons scanned and go through security, it was all fine and I was at Seatac in good time. When I checked in, I was put on First Class to LA (nice); don't know where I'll be sitting to Brisbane but it's at least Premium Business. The great thing about First Class was that I got through express security: there were at least 500 people queued for the normal security, if not more.

At Seatac: I got a Starbucks coffee (lunch had been crackers and water on the bus!) and settled here in the airport with free wifi, and power as well, so I'll be all set for my laptop power for a while. It's about an hour still to boarding, but I'm happy catching up on all the stuff I've had to let go in emails up till now.

In LA: Flight Seattle to LA was lovely in first class! I was in seat 1A. The young man beside me started chatting and we ended up talking all the way; he's about 30 and getting married shortly. We just had a lot of fun: passed the time very quickly and Bart and I are now the best of friends  :o)  . Now I'm in the posh Star Alliance lounge waiting to board at about 11.00pm; it's a really nice one - quiet, big, with plenty of food and alcohol but I'll be having dinner around midnight before I go to sleep (which is okay because I had lunch on the last flight at 6.30pm or so). After dinner and a glass of wine, I'll take a couple of the sleeping pills we've used previously. If I was flying into Sydney, I possibly wouldn't but seeing I have to go to Brisie, I won't need to be so alert. Bart decided to try reclining the seat not long before we were getting to LA - the first class seats are like the old business class - it really went back a long way, and is very comfortable, so that's what I expect to be sleeping in on the long haul flight.

God is so amazing - I paid a total of $27.27 for the privilege of First and Business! because it was supposed to be premium economy on points but somehow ended up business and first. It makes such a huge difference being comfortable. Even on that short flight we got a small meal - salad and meat, whereas cattle class got a coffee/tea and a cookie.

Even with priority, LA security was slower, about 40 in front of me but there could have been 800 people in the other lines!

Saturday 14 May

This morning seas are almost calm, just the slightest swell, vastly different from the big movement out in the open Pacific. I woke before the alarm (very unusual!) having dreaming about missing my flight home! It was actually God waking me up to see a message to pray for Rick, our youth pastor at church, so I was relieved to be awake. This morning was our last non-denominational service and now I’m in Victoria. Very pretty springtime display; I walked around the waterfront, past Fisherman’s wharf, to the Empress Hotel. Unfortunately, it’s closed for renovations, so there’s no high tea; I believe it’s also changed hands recently.

I’ll spend the afternoon in Victoria, finding the first wifi on shore in over a week. It’s quite cool here, although it’s warmed up since this morning.

Friday

A very grey day today; it’s lunchtime and I’m annoyed with myself for missing the time on the program for “On Deck for the Cause”. We always did this walk to raise money for breast cancer. Oh well, it’s not good out there and my face has some wind burn from previous walks, so perhaps I wasn’t meant to do it this time! I bumped into one of the drummers at morning tea and asked him if they’ve thought of coming to Oz – he said yes, they’d like to, so I gave him my card and told him my church could offer them accommodation (let’s face it, my house would be big enough anyway!). So you never know....

We got our disembarkation documentation and luggage tags today. I’m set for late leaving between 9.00 and 9.15. I will be looking for my coach on the pier, leaving at 10.00am to Seattle. I’ve almost packed one suitcase and it won’t take long to do the rest after dinner tomorrow night.

I went to the Filipino Crew Show this afternoon: truly beautiful girls and lovely traditional costumes and dances. It’s such a gentle culture. They did the traditional dance with the two sticks where the men have to jump between them – very exciting. It was very moving to see how much they love their country and they must miss it terribly, being away from their families for so long. I followed that with a tech session on using the digital camera and picked up some nice hints. Then it was time to get ready for tonight’s formal dinner.

Tonight the waiters came and sang for John and Nancy for their 67^th wedding anniversary, so we got extra chocolate cake, which we really needed after our big dinner!

The seas over the past few hours have become much calmer.

Tuesday and Wednesday sailing towards BC

Tuesday - A quiet day: service this morning, and the number has now grown to about 20 people. I got lots of reading done, some knitting and editing my photos, which are now up to date.

I got back from my wifi time up in Explorations Cafe to find a plate of huge chocolate coated strawberries, with a note from the Shore Excursions Team apologising for the unfortunate police involvement and waiting time on our Lahaina excursion: they arrived just in time for afternoon coffee – yummo!

It’s been quite cool today, with patches of pretty sunshine glistening on the water. At 4.30, it was time for a walk on deck before facing some more food. The weather is noticeably cooler again.

Tonight we have another time correction – forward 1 hour.

Wednesday, also pleasantly relaxing.

Some bright sunny patches now and again; the water here is over 5km down: a deep, deep, clear velvety blue. It’s very windy walking on deck.

This is what greeted me when I walked into my room after dinner!

We put the clocks forward 1 hour tonight again.

Wednesday 11 May 2016

Some bright sunny patches now and again; the water here is over 5km down: a deep, deep, clear velvety blue. It’s very windy walking on deck.

Thursday 12 May

This morning we had quite a bit of sunshine. However, by the time the service finished, the sun was gone. I tried a walk on deck but only managed two circuits: it was blowing a gale and the spray was blowing across the deck. The temperature is dropping as we get closer to the mainland; today’s range is 11 to 15. While I was having lunch, we sailed into a thick fog, with the ship’s horn blasting every few minutes; it’s lightened now, but there’s still fog around.

This morning the “professionals” covered the Lido poolside area with hundreds of towel animals. This “animal” looked like he’d had a heavy night - 

Our last time correction on the water – 1 hour forward again tonight. The ocean looks quite angry out there today: it’s a good thing this ship has stabilisers! I met Debbie and then her mum, Nancy in the lounge, Debbie’s shout, and then had dinner with Anita and Dorothy. Debbie and her parents went to the Lido – easier than dressing for the dining room.

The Island Magic Steel Drums were on again tonight to thundering applause and standing ovations. Tonight they played Elvis, The Beatles, Abba, Frank Sinatra and they finished up with To God Be the Glory, Amazing Grace and When the Saints Go Marching In. They were brought back for an encore , which was Hallelujah.

Monday 9 May at Sea

We lost an hour last night so I got up at 7.30 to be ready for the service at 9.00am; this was followed by the Mariner Reception, where I was presented with my Copper Medallion. There were lots of presentations, the highest being over 2,000 days on cruise ships: the President’s Medallion. If I get to 200 days (sometime) I’ll become a 4-Star Mariner, but the Silver medallion isn’t until 500 days, I think. No worries – I had no idea I would be getting my medallion, so that was a nice surprise, plus three kisses on the cheek (Dutch style) from the very nice Captain Chris Turner and then a picture with the Captain and the Hotel Manager.

This was closely followed by the Mariners’ Brunch, which meant I got a free glass of champagne: very nice. The ship is still rocking and rolling quite significantly and I heard today that that’s normal for the Pacific.

The thing is that today’s menu could be:

Breakfast

Reception – champagne and canapés

Brunch – 3 courses full meal, champagne, wine, petit fours

Dutch High Tea – pastries, sandwiches and cakes

Formal Dinner – 3 courses

Yes, that’s why cruises can be heart attack material!

I got my Mariner’s Delft tile to add to our collection as well.

Well, we did it tonight! Everyone was at dinner and we got some formal pictures done as well as some snaps on my camera. This morning’s picture with the Captain was waiting for me on the bed when I got back from dinner: an actual freebie!