Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures

We are leaving the St. Laurence today, passed by Quebec City last night at dinner. There was a hot air balloon over the city, what a beautiful sight, the Chateau Frontenac with the balloon in the sky. I did take a photo but wifi is too slow to post it, may add it later.
We are headed to Corner Brook, Newfoundland and will arrive tomorrow.

On the topic of time, we had to move our clocks one hour ahead before Montreal, then move them back two days later. Then last night, we moved them ahead one hour again. Here’s the surprise to me… Tonight, we move them ahead just 1/2 hour!  Then, before we arrive in Greenland, we move ahead another 1/2 hour. Good thing I have my dual time face watch, I could get very confused.

On the topic of the age of the passengers, we thought that almost all the passengers would be in our age range or older, especially the world cruise travelers who we assumed would need to be retired. Well, most of the passengers are in our age range, but on the first segment, there were several families with young children, one from Mexico that included grandparents, parents and grandchildren, one family from Belgium with the most beautiful children, they could have been models and several other young families. There was a French family with twin sons of about 20. One of them won the Texas hold ’em tournament, he was GOOD! I met his father playing blackjack. Then we found out that the oldest passenger was a man of 101, soon to be 102. A bit hard of hearing but very delightful. Also several honeymoon couples and a young (probably 35ish) couple who is on the world cruise!

There are a lot of new passengers who got on in Montreal and we haven’t seen enough of them to determine the demographic yet. Last night the entertainer at the show asked about years of marriage and there was a couple who had been married 60 years, so we can guess!

A new artist came on for this segment and I will take some of her classes. She brought a friend along as her assistant in the artist’s studio. We had dinner with them last night. Suzanne Stohl, the artist, is a corporate trainer whose first love is art. She is a potter and a painter. Interesting!

So today, I may join Norm in the bridge lessons, we will see if I have the patience for it. Seems that he is spending time studying notes between classes, which are only held on sea days, so I will keep you posted on my enthusiasm for THAT!

Even though we are here for 6 months, every time a new segment starts, we get the amenities again, so a new bottle of champagne was delivered. We haven’t even drunk the first one yet. They keep our room refrigerator filled with sodas, beer and water, all included, and now we have 2 bottles of champagne. They also allow you to bring liquor on from the ports, so Norm bought wine in Montreal. This is mostly for cocktail hour in our room or on the balcony, we are buying wine for dinner which they keep until the next time you want it when you don’t finish the bottle. This segment we bought a wine package. Tonight we have the Captains cocktail party again, where the officers are introduced. Of course, it is a repeat for us, but the cocktails and canapés are worth the repeat trip..also meeting new passengers.

On the topic of food, I posted some menus earlier, and the food continues to be amazing. We have never gone to the dining room for breakfast or lunch, we prefer the Terrace, where they have everything to choose from. Norm has an egg white omelet with vegetables every morning, usually accompanied by salmon or herring, and I stay pretty much with my Greek yogurt and fruit. Yesterday at lunch they had a Mexican theme,so I added the freshly made chips and guacamole to my usual salad. We love the variety in the dining room at dinner. They bake all the bread on board, make all the delicious ice cream and all of the pasta. What a treat!

We did go to Polo, the steak house, and had dinner with a couple from Georgia who just got on in Montreal that day. He is a retired United pilot and she is a retired Delta flight attendant who met later in life at an airline ski club in Switzerland. In port yesterday we met a couple who were on this ship when it had the engine fire in St. Lucia. We were in St. Lucia 2 days after that and saw the ship there before it was towed to Puerto Rico! So you can see that our conversations are interesting.

So those are some observations about shipboard life on this sea day. Stay tuned for Newfoundland.

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.