July 21Cruising the St. Laurence River and Seaway. Tomorrow we will arrive in Saguenay.

I thought I would share my experience of the first two weeks of this 6 month adventure.

Here are some of my musings so far:

This ship has 650 passengers and none of the traditional photographers following you around, having you pose for overpriced pictures, etc. No art auctions, sales and promotions of merchandise. So it seems more like a big private, beautiful yacht. Nothing seems crowded.

I don’t feel any self imposed pressure to do everything as I might on a 3 week trip (the longest we have done up until now). That miso glazed sea bass will eventually come around again! And so will the art classes, photography classes and more.  Some of the instructors and offerings will change.  We haven’t seen much repetition in the menu or activities yet, but the first segment of the trip ends on Friday in Montreal, so I assume we will then see some dishes on the menu again.

So really, it seems more like a place we are living instead of where we are having a vacation!

I asked Norm if he wanted to go to Horizons to dance last night and he said “maybe one of these months!” That is actually how it feels.

Our cabin is very comfortable and we love the balcony, there’s a couch where we sit and read sometimes, but there are so many other places to lounge, listen to the piano, etc, that it is so relaxing. There is a huge library with lovely chairs, couches and thousands of books. No need to bring any travel books, and they have all the latest best sellers, biographies, etc. I did bring my kindle but haven’t used it yet.

Now on to the laundry. We put it in the bag one evening and it is returned 2 days later. My nightgown and t shirts ironed and on hangers, my exercise shorts are hung on skirt hangers and the underwear and socks are folded and wrapped in tissue paper with a gold seal. I could get used to this! But I won’t be doing that at home.

Then, of course, there are the ports of call. Because the ship is so small, we can dock right in the towns and there is no need for long bus rides. We get our walking in right from the ship. There are a few ports, like Bar Harbor, that we need to anchor and go to shore on the tender.

There is a wonderful lecturer on the ship, Terry Bishop. Very knowledgable and entertaining. Today I heard about the history of Quebec and the battles between the British and the French.

Meeting wonderful and interesting people.  We like to share a table at dinner and so far we have only been with one couple twice.  Tonight is a special cocktail party for those of us on the whole 6 month cruise.  We have met some of them but look forward to meeting more.

More musings to come, but now, the head chef will be doing a cooking demonstration.