Tuesday, April 28, 2026              At Sea

The disadvantaged segments saga finally came to an end after Ketchikan.  I have more time to work on telling the stories.

I hosted a pretty active desk hour, as these things go, and we delivered Farewell letters to a couple of people and another newsletter.  Maria Campos gave us a nice show.

Wednesday, April 29, 2026                  Seattle, WA

Seattle is a perfect place for my kind of tourism.  I went out for a local lunch and to find a fun birthday present for my cousin, John, who had boarded in Tokyo.  The ship docked only a few blocks from Pike Place Market, so I knew where I was going.  It was perfect.  I had a dozen raw oysters on the half shell and a bowl of thick New England Clam Chowder, a very Seattle lunch.

Joanne was having a birthday party for John on May 1, and I needed a silly little birthday present, so I started browsing the souvenir shops.  I saw John buy a shot glass in Ketchikan and figured he probably collects them.  I know he collects beer mugs, but he could be depended on to pick up his own.  Pike’s Place delivered.  They had a shot glass with an orange glass salmon appearing to go through it.  I picked it up and realized what a prize it was – a shot glass with a handle, and a comfortable one, at that.  Not cheap, but worth it.  Sold.

I browsed the market a little more, but I wouldn’t be buying any fresh fish, and they were closing soon, so I started walking back to the ship.  It was blowing stink.   As I was closing in on the building across the way from the ship, Rabbi Eliot caught up with me.  He had my silk scarf, which had blown clear off my neck.  Together we made it back the ship, trying to crash Holland Ameria’s Staff party on the roof of the building.  We were told to go to our own party on the ship.  We could see that from where we were, too, and we made straight for it.

The Volendam pulled out all the stops for this sailaway, because, you see, the President of the Company, Beth Bodensteiner, was boarding to be with us for three days, until Seattle.  As a President’s Club member, Dee was going to get to see a lot of her.  There were all kinds of free wine, punches, hard drinks, you name it, and I was in the middle of my dry month.  The parties waved at each other, us on the ship, the HAL staff on the roof. 

The show was yet another Elton John tribute singer.  This was the worst one yet, all costumes, little talent.  Not Sir Elton.

Thursday, April 30, 2026            At Sea

I wasn’t expecting that much from the HAL President, Beth Bodensteiner, encounter on the World Stage.  We were all spoiled by Gus Antorcha in 2023, who took questions for hours, and hours, and actually made most of the requisite changes, with the result that a lot of the regulars are back.  There are still too many segments, though and that would need to be addressed.  Beth had been dismissive in her first encounter with this crowd, but she appears to have learned from it.  She came across as sincere and we did believe she was listening and would be taking most of our suggestions into consideration.

She introduced the 2028 Grand World and the 2028 Grand Australia and New Zealand.  A lot of the core group will likely be taking that instead of the Grand World, which offers nothing new and exciting.  We know that isn’t HAL’s fault and we know whose fault it is, but still.

HAL’s World Cruise constituency is very loyal.  What keeps it coming back isn’t the decisions that are made in Seattle.  It’s the on board experience, the crew, the community, the shared experiences.  HAL’s selling too many segments tears that apart.  Everyone is hoping for less of them. 

We would also like more Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, and why is 2028 skipping Hong Kong?  That should never happen.

It was a big day.  Ben Sack, the Artist in Residence, unveiled his 2026 drawing and I finally bought one.  Ben conceived this gig himself and did his first residency in 2014, where Elvon and I not only met him, but spent a lot of our sailaway dinner hours with him. It was bloody well time I bought one of his works.  The one I have coming is big enough for the details to be visible and small enough to fit in my apartment.  It will go on view this summer, after it has arrived and been taken to the framer’s.  Ben is threatening to visit.  If he does, maybe I’ll have a vernissage.

Linda and Bob Eckert joined me, and Joanne and John for dinner and Charity Lockhart was on stage with an Aretha Franklin tribute.  I liked the first one better.  

Friday, May 1, 2026          At Sea

I wasn’t having a great day here.  I had an invitation to Breakfast with Beth Bodensteiner and a couple of hundred other people at 8:30AM.  As I don’t eat anything until 3:00pm, as a rule, and don’t get up until 8:00am, it wasn’t too hard to miss it.  When I realized it about 9:30am.  I wrote an apologetic note on the invitation and delivered it to the Dining Room instead of my good self.  I had been planning to make it.

That done, I betook myself to my desk and used the time to try to sign up for DV’s new expense account processing system.  I had all kinds of trouble doing that, too, mostly having to do with the fact that I didn’t have an authenticator app and there are way too many to choose from.  Hours later, I finally managed it but no way would it take my bank account details.  It might have been because of my location and its security.  I’ll try again when I get home and hope the fact that I am in Canada doesn’t block me

Joanne had a birthday party for John at the Four o’clock happy hour in the Sea View Bar.  I usually think of 4 o’clock as the middle of the working day, but, for this day, it was fine.  It poured rain, so we started out huddled under the shelter at the entrance to the area.  Even that was OK.  It kept us together.  It was fun and funny.  We included a few extra people with birthdays close, sang Happy Birthday in a few languages and were done in an hour.

The ship had a very extensive line up of entertainment this night.  It started at 7:00pm and would run until at least 10:30pm, on the World Stage.  They called it “A Night in Hollywood’ and could have called it “The Volendam Awards”.  There were awards for outstanding crew interspersed with all kinds of entertainment, some of it downright wonderful.  I had Linda and Bob scheduled to come to the table and we went into a huddle on how to make it work.  Luckily, they had provided a schedule to work with and we did.  We elected to have dinner in the Dining Room at 7:30pm, miss the red carpet, the headliners’ first show, a couple of awards presentations, and come in at 8:40pm, just in time for the Production Cast’s performance.  We could tell our DR stewards, Alice and Amin, to rush things just a bit and not order more than three courses.

That turned out to be brilliant strategy for us.  We arrived fresh just when things were really getting going.  The World Stage Cast gave a great performance, we got to see some well-deserved awards, and enjoyed performances from staff members with talent.  Our travel guide/port lecturer, Josh, is particularly good.  No great surprise when you find out he started with HAL in the production show cast. 

After a few more awards, they brought out Phat Cat Swinger.  OMG.  If you ever see this band on a ship, don’t miss it.  It’s 10-piece swing band, with a real huckster of a band leader.  He looks like Oil Can Harry, but he can really keep things moving, not to mention sing and dance.  The sax player is female and she’s fabulous.  They had us dancing in the aisles.  We would never have had as much fun if we had started at 7:00PM.  Went to bed tired and happy, and I wasn’t even drinking.

Saturday, May 2 , 2026              At Sea

It was time to have another day at the office, and I did.  I did DV work, travel work for my clients, sent out May’s birthday cards, and all that jazz.  It was Dee’s last night on board so we had Joanne and John and Ben and Kathy at the dinner table.  John and Ben were pretty fun together.  We all had a lovely time and we never did make the show. 

Sunday, May 3, 2026                 San Diego, CA

I got up early to meet Ben and Kathy in Dee’s room, where we were all helping her get miscellaneous precious baggage off the ship.  Dee was being met by her son Dave, with his truck, and daughter, Anne, whom we all know now.  She had the luxury of just being able to load it all into Dave’s truck and drive home.  Dee had gathered more entourage in the persons of Graham and Nora, for whom Anne was doing a favor.  They have a son, who was killed in action in the Navy, and is buried in San Diego.  They wanted flowers for his grave and didn’t know where they would find them, until the Wescott mother-daughter team went into action.  I was superfluous, after all, but I really wanted to meet Dave, about whom I had heard plenty and whom Dee is making into my newest client.  Off the ship we went, with rather a lot of stuff.  I found my worth in the terminal, getting us a porter with a very large luggage cart for a good ten suitcases that had been delivered there by the ship.  Dee doesn’t win the prize by a long shot, though.  There was a woman who had 40 pieces of luggage.  They were last seen still trying to load them into a very large, but not large enough, van.

Dave’s is an open pick up truck and it was nothing at all to get all Dee’s stuff into it.  I got my hug from him, and he’s as lovable as advertised.  More hugs all around and they were off.  We all wanted Dee to be there when Wells went, and they had started the morphine last night.  He was doubtless hanging on to have Dee in his arms once more.

You could see the Midway, aircraft carrier no 141, from the parking lot by the ship, where we waited for Dave and Anne to arrive.  It’s now a museum.  It wasn’t where I was going, though, I wanted the San Diego Zoo.  I was making a little visit in memory of Pat Finot, who used to volunteer with the elephants there. 

I took a taxi to the zoo, and bought a ticket – not cheap $US78.  They are good, though, if you live there and plan to go more than once a year, the annual pass is about the same as two tickets.  So they make their money off the tourists, and the residents can enjoy their fine zoo.  It’s well endowed and much beloved by its citizenry.  I met a few.  I rode the double decker bus on the top level for an overview and then set out to see the elephants.  It was a nice walk and I saw most of the animals on the way, and, eventually, for Pat, an elephant:

The SD Zoo is very clever with their photo shot.  They take one, as you board the bus, and then make composites of it with leopards, polar bears, koala bears, brown bears, flamingos, penguins and gorillas.  I bought it without knowing which animals I would get and was rather hoping for elephants.  But… No elephants, so I give you me and my closest relatives:

I met a bunch of my people at the zoo and was encouraged to bring Hump Fu 2 to sailaway again, so I did, and he was a hit again.  The seagulls put on a show, too.  We aren’t allowed to throw anything overboard, but there’s no law says they can’t come and get it:

Reuben Vilagrand was on the World Stage with a very good, totally silent magic show, and Dee missed it by a day.  He’s one of her favorites.

Monday, May 4, 2026                 At Sea

Back in the office, it was another busy day, mostly with my own clients. I can’t complain about making money.  Dinner at the table was a lot of fun with Bob, Toya, Toya’s sister Anna, Sobie and Al.  Charity Lockhart was on stage again.  I was sitting in the audience with Anna, who fell asleep, just when Charity was making a tour of the audience.  I had the picture of the two of them in my viewfinder, when some kind guest in the seat behind her decided to prod Anna awake.  I could have murdered her, but one mustn’t go around killing people one doesn’t even know.

Tuesday, May 5, 2026                Cinco de Mayo – At Sea

It was another day at the office and a nice dinner with Linda and Bob.  Reuben Vilagrand was on stage again and this time he was talking.

Wednesday, May 6, 2026            Manzanillo, Mexico

It was a very short stop.  There’s not a lot you can do with a 2:30 all aboard, unless you take a ship’s shore excursion.  Linda and I just walked around the little town a bit, looking for something to buy and finding nothing at all.  We did find a good bar, though.  Graham and Nora had a table to share and we had beer and nachos con carne.  Linda had beer.  I opted for a mocktail.  I had a little trouble picking it off the menu and it ended up being a frozen strawberry concoction.  It was good enough for me and the nachos were excellent. 

Back on board, I went up for sailaway at 3:30 and there was hardly anyone there.  The ships tours were stuck in traffic and Joanne and John were in the pool.  I went back to my stateroom, to work and to ready myself for dressy night.  Make that bare minimum dressy.  The production cast were on the stage again with “Feeling Groovy” and it was great, as usual.

Thursday, May 7 2026                At Sea

I finally found a day where I could log and blog pretty much all day, and I made a lot of headway.  I have to.  What doesn’t get done on board or in the airplane, might never get done, because it’s going to be straight into the heart of taxes when I get back

Friday, May 8, 2026          Puerto Chiapas, Mexico

I woke up to the sad news that Wells Wescott had died overnight.  Dee had four whole days to be with him, and no regrets.  What a gentleman he was, right to the very end.  Wells and Elvon had a lot in common and enjoyed each other’s company.  I wonder if they get to pursue their friendship in the hereafter.  I have no idea what the hereafter even is.  I’m not expecting much, but I’ll keep an open mind.  I had been tasked with informing the ship’s officers, which would have been easy on a sea day, but was a challenge on a port day.  I did find Jobelle, the Sommelier, in her office, though, and she agreed to contact the rest of my list, as soon as she saw them.  Later I the day, I was able to share hugs with Metka, the Housekeeping Manager and Jeffrey, the Assistant General Manager. 

Puerto Chiapas is new to being a Cruise Port.  It’s a long shuttle into town, and we decided against that.  The local government had built a couple of large palapas, and, of all things, a swimming pool, near the dock.  There were a few shops, one in each building with snacks and drinks.  A good bar with beer and nachos, would do really well here.  I hope somebody thinks about it.  It was pretty near as hot as hell, and we felt really sorry for the dancers, but it was nice of them to perform for us. I found a cute, colorful top for ten bucks, so it wasn’t a total loss.  We were soon back on the ship, and I was back at work, logging and blogging.  I went to sailaway at 6:30. There weren’t many people there, probably because of the heat, but it got really nice after the sun went down.  There were about six of us, and we mostly ended up bringing out stir-fry from the Lido.  It was one of those lovely magic nights.  The comedian, Steve Caouette, was on the world stage and he was laugh-out-loud hilarious.  He took the mickey out a young cruiser and a President’s Club member, without insulting them at all.  Just excellent.  Remember that name.  There aren’t many that good.

Saturday, May 9, 2026               Acajutla, El Salvador

Here’s where I made another bad decision not to go out.  You hear such terrible things about El Salvador and I would have been going out alone, when I certainly had plenty of work to keep me busy.  I later heard that the local authorities, and even the local people, were bending over backwards to erase the world’s perception of them and it was just the friendliest place.  So now you know that which I wish I had.  

I had work to do and I did it, and I logged and blogged, had dinner and went to Spencer Day’s show.

Sunday, May 10, 2026                At Sea

I spent the day researching Panama City, where we would arrive mid-afternoon and leave about 12 hours later, in the middle of the night.  The port was running a twenty minute, $50 shuttle for people who wanted to go into the city for dinner.  Since dinner was all I wanted, I started doing some online research.  What I learned was that there was a big shopping centre, with lots of restaurants, within walking distance of the ship.  I thought I’d find a restaurant there and float a group dinner near the ship.  I read a ton or reviews and booked two dinners for 6, one at Bucaneros, a big touristy place and the other at Fishlovers, a little gem with great ceviche, if you can believe the reviews.   I wrote a newsletter, floating the idea, got it delivered, had a nice dinner with Allan and Liane Brown, and enjoyed another excellent production show.

You may not have got the Email notice for Part 14 – Japan.  I sent it off from Puerto Chiapas, Mexico, and the Internet wasn’t swell.  I had to do it twice because the first one went out title only and I had to modify it nine times, once to get the text in, then once for each picture.  It’s here, though, just under this post.  You might want to read it first, to stay in order. 

Saturday, April 18, 2026

This is the first of eight sea days.  I had high hopes of catching up with my logs and blogs.  So why is it May 8, as I actually write this?  I wasn’t loafing, just taking care of business.  It’s also the beginning of about seven time changes where we go ahead an hour at noon.  It’s easier on the body because you do get a full night’s sleep, but it’s hard to keep track of, and you certainly can’t depend on your smart watch, which is tied to your phone and neither of them has any clue as to what’s going on.

Dee Wescott was our Distinctive Speaker at 4 o’clock, with a bunch more pretty fish and an audience that kept dribbling in, coping with the time change.  We were missing a couple at dinner, who had got trapped in Mass, which started at five, which they thought was four.  We still had a perfectly pleasant dinner.

Sunday, April 19, 2026

Another day at the office, another lost hour, ending with a nice dinner with Dee after which we saw two cellists on the World Stage. A nice safe act.

Monday, April 20 no 1

Another day at the office, another lost hour.  To relieve the boredom, the ship is rocking and rolling, pitching and yawing, defying the peace in the Pacific Ocean.  I am just as glad to have work to do, takes the mind off it.

It’s still too dangerous for our production cast to be dancing on a stage that might be three feet higher or lower that what it was when they took to the air, so our classical trio came out of the Explorer’s Lounge and climbed up on the World Stage.  It was very nice for a change.

Monday, April 20 no 2

If you noticed April 20 came twice, you aren’t seeing double, nor did I err.  We just crossed the dateline again and got back the day we gave up in February. We had White Magic again on the World Stage.  The ship is still riding some mean waves.

Tuesday,April 21, 2026

HAL hosted a cocktail party, for everyone on the full cruise, at 6:30PM.  If I had been in charge, it would have been held in January so we could meet each other.  It was very nice and I ended up sitting with Josh Laforce, the Travel Guide.  He has been to our table before and I know he and Dee are friends, so I invited him to dinner and he came.  That livened the table up.  We saw Cello 2 Cello again on the World Stage.  The seas have yet to calm down, but are improving.

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Another day at the office at sea, another time change.  They are starting to take a toll.  Everyone feels a little “off”.  The production cast hasn’t made it to the stage yet, so the World Cruise band gave us their Santana show again.

Thursday, April 23, 2026

And another work day.  This time it was DV work, time for another newsletter.

And Vivace, the Classical Trio were back on stage, if you can believe it.

Friday, April 24, 2026 – Kodiak, Alaska

Finally, land and I didn’t even get off the ship.  Kodiak isn’t much of a place.  There are better ones coming and still plenty of office work.

They had a Canadian comedian on stage, Tim Nutt, but I missed him.

Saturday, April 25, 2026                      At Sea

I spent this day putting in my DV expense account for the cruise.  There was a deadline as DV is changing the supplier that does our expense account processing.  It’s the day after tomorrow.  I meet my deadlines.

Sunday, April 26, 2026               Sitka, Alaska

Now Sitka is a port to play in.  Dee and Linda and I went out to see what damage we could do in the shops and find ourselves a good lunch.  We did both.  The lunch was particularly good.  We shared clam chowder and fish ‘n chips.  Halibut fish ‘n chips, really good.  Captain Frank and his wife came in and she wanted to know what to order.  We could recommend everything we had, so they had it, too. 

Dee hung back to do more shopping, while Linda and I headed for the pier.  There they had a kiosk serving “Fried Bread”.  That was intriguing enough for us to buy one to share.  It came with cinnamon and sugar and was so good that Linda bought another one to take back to Bob.  I almost bought another one to take back to me.

Just hanging out in Sitka was a popular thing to do for our Distinctive Voyagers.  I met 12 of 48 of them.  Back on board, I went to shore excursions to pay for Pat Sainz out of my own account.  I wasn’t going to have her miss tomorrow’s excursion for bad timing and I was pretty confident I wouldn’t have to come through.  I prepared farewell letters for Werner Mittermeir, getting off in Seattle and Jan Barnes and Dee Wescott, leaving in San Diego.

Sailaway was good, dinner was good and so was Maria Campos on the World Stage.

Monday, April 27, 2026              Ketchikan, Alaska

The shore excursion was fun.  It started out inauspiciously when Emily, our driver-guide, announced to the bus that it was just a ride out to a crab feed.  I hauled out the detailed tour description, with its HAL and DV logos all over it, and showed it to her.  She and I got off the bus to speak to her dispatcher and I went and found Magali (HAL Shorex), who, luckily, was still on the dock.  It took them 10 minutes to organize a second bus to finish the tour after lunch, as Saxman village now requires its own certified guide. Our people were very grateful that I caught this quickly, as a good few of them caught it too.  It was interesting how many of them brought the tour description along.  You wouldn’t want to try to put anything over on them.

George Inlet Lodge was a super destination

They serve up an “all you can eat” crab feast.  I sat with my Taiwanese people and we won the crab shell stacking contest easily.  He was responsible for most of the eating and his wife did most of the stacking but Werner and I contributed a good bit, too. Considering Werner didn’t think he even liked crab and ordered a chicken breast, which he ate, he was a good contributor.  I channeled my inner piglet.  It was a lot of fun.  

We got back in the bus, effected our change of bus and driver, and made off for Saxman Village with a guide versed in the totem stories.  I am glad we didn’t miss this part.  It was particularly enriching.  We got a nice little tour of Ketchikan on the way back to the ship and a bar recommendation.  It was “Sourdough” which is an odd name for a bar.  I was the only Distinctive Voyager up for it, likely because it’s my sober month so I hadn’t been drinking at lunch.  I ran into Renée, though and she liked the idea, so off we went.  It wasn’t far at all, which was part of its appeal.  It really was an old time bar, complete with old timers playing darts.  They were inclusive old timers and let a couple of ship people join.  I was grudgingly served the only non-alcoholic beer they had.  At least Renée bought a real one.

There’s not that much lingering in the Sea View Bar on Alaska sailaways, but one of my Distinctive Voyagers  and I found a heater to sit under and have a nice chat.

2026 – 14 Pacific Rim in 133 days – Part 14 Japan

Tuesday, April 7, 2026   Naha, Japan                    Port for Okinawa

I decided to stay on the ship and work.  I am so behind with everything.  We scored a second cocktail party and it’s so soon another Newsletter has to go out.  I went out briefly in a taxi to the city of Naha, and can’t remember a thing about it or even whom I was with.  It’s too long ago.  I did note that I had a nice dinner at the table with Dee and Anne and somehow, we missed the show.  

Wednesday, April 8, 2026  Amami Oshima (Naze), Japan              

This was truly a lost day.  I was sick from 5 to 8 am.  Woof.  Had to cancel my nice plans for eating out in Naze.  My cabin stewards ratted me out to the medical centre and the nurse called and put me in isolation.  Who knows whether I needed that or not but it was fine with me as I needed the rest.  Barfing is exhausting.  Chicken soup was a fine diet.

I missed Martin Beaumont’s second show, which was a pity, as he’s great.

Thursday, April 9, 2026     At Sea

Another day at the office.  

Friday, April  10, 2026       Nagasaki, Japan

We had a very good guide for our Nagasaki shore excursion to the Peace park, Museum and lunch.  

 It wasn’t easy, either because it was just pouring during the 45 minutes we were touring the park.  We were mostly dressed for it, but it was hard to keep track of who was where.

Miraculously, we lost no one in that segment, but one Distinctive Voyager caused us a good 15 minute delay, reading every little sign at the museum.  Thank God for telecommunications and Anne Bitonti, who was replacing Joanne.  Joanne had left us this morning to join her husband, John, who had flown in to join the ship.  She was having a little “overland”.  God bless Anne, she was equally efficient.

Lunch was really delicious and in a unique setting overlooking a rugby field.  We had all the Japanese favorites, sushi, sashimi, tempura, teriyaki, etc., beautifully served.  Our last stop was a relaxed visit to a cultural museum/Magistrates house. 

 The Distinctive Voyagers were happy with this excursion.

Dee, Anne and I were even happier with our dinner.  Our guide suggested we pick the Hamanomachi Arcade district which was close to the ship and offered good shopping and good restaurants.  I did some online research and came up with a few candidates.  The best looking one was going to have us doing our own cooking.  Dee and I are pretty lazy when it comes to that, especially after a big day, but Anne was all in and happy to cook for the old girls.  The name of the restaurant is Osakaya and we had a wonderful time in our own little pod, with chef Anne.  Note the wonderful marbling in the wagu steak, Anne’s attention to detail, and Dee’s contented smile.

I’ll never understand why people have dinner on the ship in these exotic ports.  I only do when I can’t find someone to go out with me and that makes me feel pretty sorry for myself.  Not this night.  It was fabulous.  There was even a birthday party in the pod next door, so we made a few brief Japanese friends by sending over greetings.

Saturday, April 11, 2026    Nagasaki, Japan

Yesterday was a big day, so I stayed aboard to rest and work.  Yes, again.

We had Ben Sack, the Artist in Residence, for dinner, with his mother, Kathy.  Ben is an old friend, Kathy, a new one.  We like them both, a lot.  The entertainment on the World Stage tonight was fabulous.  It was a group called The Boulevards, and don’t miss them if they come to a ship you are on.  The show was called “Rock & Roll is here to Stay” and it was my youth all over again.  Just for laughs I wrote down the songs from the show that I could remember and come up with: Great Balls of Fire, Rock around the Clock, Pretty Woman, Runaround Sue, Johnny be Good, Twist N Shout, Let’s Twist Again, Shake, Rattle ‘n roll, Tutti Fruity, With Love from Me to You, and that wasn’t the half of it.  I googled, got The Boulevards | Rock & Roll Band | UK and their full repertoire is up there.  They are for hire.

Sunday, April 12, 2026      At Sea

Another day at the office.  Now I am working Sundays, too. It was a formal night and we had Martha and Bob and Jeffrey Jack, the Assistant Hotel General Manager and it was a lot of fun.  I know I complain about the work, but it keeps me going and I sure like this cruising life.

Monday, April 13, 2026 – Shimizu, Japan

Anne and I went out in Shimizu.  There was a shuttle to a shopping street, near the fish market and that sounded good to us.  We spent an hour on the shopping street, where Anne picked up a bunch of chopsticks for presents, and I bought a very nice blouse.  Then we went to the Fish Market.  It wasn’t the best Japanese fish market I had ever seen, but it was pretty good and very clean.  We had no qualms about eating there.  The Bento Box of everything was a proper adventure.  All the pictures landed on Anne’s camera or I would have something wonderful for you here.  We had a lovely time bonding, eating and drinking.  It was quite magic.  We parted company after lunch as I was looking for a pedicure, which I never found, these lovelies found me, though.

I am told they were probably guys.  Do I care? 

There was a good view of Mt. Fuji from the dock, but it was overcast so not a spectacular picture. 

Tuesday, April 14, 2026       –   Yokohama, Japan – Port for Tokyo

Today, my cousin, Joanne’s husband, John Sidorchuk got on.  I moved into the cabin Joanne booked for him on Deck 3.  I like it here.  The cabin is a little smaller but I am alone with little luggage.  The size difference is outweighed by the fact that it is just four cabins away from access to the Promenade Deck, which is a wonderful place to log and blog. 

I was unpacked and ready to go out by 11:00 am.  I met Linda and Bob and we did the short walk to the Red Brick Warehouse, a nice waterfront redevelopment of a couple of old warehouses.  They had turned the space between into a flower show and it was lovely.

It brought out a lot of locals, too, a surprising number with their dogs, a more surprising number with their dogs dressed up to have their portraits taken.  Get a load of this, tongue and all:

The best restaurant was on the third floor of one of the warehouses and it served wagu steak.  Linda ordered the wagu burger and Bob and I had the steaks.  They were excellent but came with absolutely nothing.  They were at least four times as expensive as the burger, which was very well dressed.  I am not sure I will ever understand the Japanese, but it was still a nice experience.  The dress I bought was another example – it was Japanese made but proudly marked “European Style” or maybe that was them, laughing at us again.  I like the dress though.  It’s long and red.

Ordinarily, I would have wanted to eat out in Yokohama but it was time to introduce John to Dee at the table.  That went swell.

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

It was our second day in Yokohama, we went to Chinatown for Dim Sum, Bob, Linda, Lenora and me.  Yokohama has a cute little Chinatown but we couldn’t find a big Dim Sum house and had to be content with a little restaurant that served it.  It was a pretty complicated system but it worked.  First you figured out what all you wanted, then you ordered four dishes only.  For example:  spring rolls, cashew chicken, har gau, chau siu bao.  There would be 4 pieces of each, one for each of us.  When we had finished that lot, we could order four more. When we finally found the rules on the menu, we saw that they did it that way to avoid food waste from eyes bigger than tummies.  The menu warned we would be fined at the end for unfinished food.  Not a bad system, and not a bad lunch.  We managed three rounds of four dishes.  No fines.

Linda and Bob took a taxi back to the ship and Lenora and I continued to mosey around Chinatown.  She was looking for dog bane tea and guess what? She found it.  The tea vendor managed to google it, find out what it was in Chinese and sell it to her.  I had even better luck, I ran across Hump Fu 2. Those of you who have been following my travels since 2007 will remember Hump Fu 1.  Ruth Berggren still has him.  The Fu brothers are naughty Fu dogs that run along by my side and hump the legs of anyone who shows the slightest interest.  Just as HumpFu 1 had been on Oceania in 2007, so was Hump Fu 2 a hit on the Volendam.

I don’t know how many times he had his picture taken.  This is the only one on my camera.

The Boulevards were on stage again and it was just as good as the first time

Thursday, April 16, 2026     At Sea

Sure enough, we have another new Distinctive Voyager and a lot of correspondence with Distinctive Voyages and her Travel agent getting her in.  I could hope this is the last one, but it isn’t. Christine Allado was on the World Stage and she was good. 

Friday, April 17, 2026                    Hakodate, Japan

And would you believe another day at the office?  In all fairness to my DV assignment, a lot of my office time is spent serving my regular client’s and there’s nothing wrong with making money.  The Canadian government should be delighted with me.  I pay them enough.  No geriatric drain on the system, moi.

2026 – 13 Pacific Rim in 133 days – Part 13 Hong Kong and Taiwan

Wednesday, April 1, Hong Kong

The sail in to Hong Kong is hard to beat, but have sailed in so many times, I don’t even get up for it when it’s before 8:00am.  Dee did, though and got some great pictures.  I like this one because, even though the land has come way out into the harbour, I can still see where I lived for my first two years in Hong Kong.  On the rightmost of the two red-banded buildings, on the right, on the 14^th floor, facing towards Macau, was my 700 sq.ft. apartment.  I loved it.  It was right over the Macau Ferry, which is now only one of about 6 ferry piers, the rest going to the Outlying Islands, Lantau, Lamma, Cheung Chau, Peng Chau, Sai Kung.  You can see the piers and some ferries in the picture, if you aren’t too gobsmacked by the buildings.  Here’s Dee’s picture:\

And that’s not even the Central you usually see, just my end of it.

Joanne missed dim sum with the Lams.  She was taking care of DV business at the Kwong Wah hospital.  Thanks, Jo.  This was one of the top two events of the cruise I didn’t want to miss.  The other is tonight.

Joanne enjoyed her “shore excursion” to the hospital.  She was particularly struck by the pages that carried messages around, and swept the floors while they were at it:

When I met Dee and Anne at the desk to go to Dim Sum, with my HK family, I was on the phone with our host for the evening, seeing if we could pick Joanne up at the hospital on the way to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, ShaTin, and that will be easy. 

Dee, Anne and I walked through Ocean Terminal to the Star Ferry.  The ship is literally next door to it but they make you walk past about a hundred shops to get there.  The star Ferry just implemented a new way to pay the 40 cents that it costs.  You can tap a major credit card from anywhere in the world.  I still had a few rides on my old Octopus card, so I used that.  Yung Kee isn’t very far from the Star Ferry either, but farther than it used to be, since they added a good quarter mile of fill to the harbour, and it’s straight up from there, so we took a taxi.   There’s a handy stand between the Star Ferry and the Outlying Islands Ferry docks. 

When our group was assembled it consisted of:

Irene Lam, Mabel Lam, Dee Wescott, Chi Wai Lam, Anne Bitonti, moi and Alwin Lam.  Alwin was Elvon’s 2 I C in Hong Kong.  Irene and Chi Wai are his children, Anne is Dee’s and Mabel is one of my best girlfriends from my time there, with Helen Pakchung, whom I just met in Sydney, and Linda Chew, whom I saw in Kuala Lumpur in December.  Now, if everyone would just come to Montreal.

Alwin ordered the most delicious dim sum lunch you can imagine, and he still remembers that I am not overly fond of vegetation.  The appetizer course was roast goose and char siu.  Then we moved on to a nice assortment of dumplings, steamed, fried and baked, a noodle course and Elvon’s favorite, daan tarts. We got caught up with the next generation, who weren’t with us because they are mostly at universities abroad at this stage.  It was surprising how many coincidences Anne found.  Small, wonderful, world.

It was one of those rare afternoons in spring when there wasn’t much fog and there actually would be some kind of view from the Peak and the locals were recommending it us.  It was easy to get to from Yung Kee, a cheap taxi ride to the entrance to the Peak Tram.  We were on it, there was no line, the ride was fun and soon we were in the Peak Tram Building, where about four escalators took us to the highest spot.

Our next stop was the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club to change and freshen up for our night at the races in Shatin.  We were welcome as always and the Ladies’ Locker Room has been totally refurbished.  Very nice.  We just had time for one drink at my favorite waterfront bar in Hong Kong.  It was such a great place to come on Friday nights after work.  You can’t beat the location.  Elvon’s driver would pick him up, then me, drop both of us, and the car, at the club and go home on foot.  The whole circuit was easily walkable, but the car was nicer and we needed it to get home to Stanley.  Those were the days.

This day, we took a regular taxi to get there, which was just fine, and were picked up by David Pong and his driver, Rodell.  He has one of those new Chinese Electric SUVs, with seats like an airline’s business class.  We crossed the harbour, picked Joanne up at the hospital and settled in for the drive to Shatin, in the New Territories, about as far from Central as you can get, and still be in Hong Kong. 

We were in the voting members’ box, and I had information from Bill Benter, so it was pretty exciting.  There’s a good view of the finish line from there:

I love bringing friends to see the horses race for the first time. The Hong Kong tracks are the best in the world, and certainly the heaviest bet on. I have written about this before, so I won’t bore you. In any event, I was busy betting. I have made enough money on the horses in my time, that I always feel I am betting with their money. I allocated $US1,000 to this race meeting and took home over $1,500, so it was a good night. It would have been three times as good, if I had bet all the races evenly, as I used to do, but I let myself be discouraged by losing – and then the tierce on the last race came in. Great night, any way you look at it.

Thursday, April 2, 2026    Hong Kong

Nothing too strenuous today.  Hong Kong can wear you out if you let it.  I had to meet up with David’s driver, Rodell, so that David could cash that winning bet for me.  Even that was a bit of a feat, but the nice lady at the information desk outside Lane Crawford and Rodell himself, got me through it.  I was meeting four of my people at Jade Garden for lunch and they had all passed me while I was trying to hand off the ticket.  I made it there eventually and it did not disappoint.  We ate pretty much what we had eaten yesterday at Yung Kee, maybe a few more dumplings.  It was all delicious and well priced, in the end.  My people enjoyed it.  More should have come, it was that good, but you can’t force them. 

After lunch, I took a little walk along Canton road, looking for a few odds and ends, which I did not find.  The place has changed a lot since the ‘90s and most of the stores are in the mall, but they aren’t the cheap ones.  I walked back through the mall and at least have a lip pencil to show for it, an expensive one.  I met my Taiwanese Distinctive Voyagers in the mall on the way back, three generations of them.  Their daughter and son-in-law had come by train from Shenzhen to spend some time with their parents.  Nice.

It was a rainy sailaway, but it was Hong Kong, so I hung out on deck.  One of my Distinctive Voyagers joined me and we talked about races.  She likes the car races, more horsepower, I guess.  I need to get into that.  I have Grand Prix guests, this year, Melinda Mendelson and her daughter and son-in-law and I’m going to those races, too.  Thanks to Melinda.  Can’t wait.

Martin Beaumont was on the World Stage.  He’s probably the best comedian we’ll get. 

Friday, April 3, 2026         At Sea and Saturday, April 4, Kaoshing, Taiwan

These were just a couple of days at the office.  This cruise is the busiest DV ever, having a lot to do with all the segments it was divided in to.  The repeat world cruisers are not very happy with all the new people coming in and out and they have nothing on me.  The ones who have qualifying travel agents are causing yours truly a veritable ton of paperwork.  It should be fixed for next year.

Dinner at the table on April 3 was a real treat.  We had comedian Martim Beaumont and port lecturer Katie Chang, with her husband, Mark.  Martin and Mark are British males, who are encouraged to be witty as they are growing up.  Get them together and they are exceedingly entertaining.  We missed the show.  The one at the table was better.

Sunday, April 5, 2026        Keelung, port for Taipei

My Easter Sunday dinner consisted of a trip to Miaokou – The Keelung Night Market, with my best people to do that with.  Asian night markets take a little getting used to, but they steep you in he culture like no other experience and provide fabulous taste sensations, to boot.  Just don’t eat any cooked food that has been left sitting around.  There wasn’t much chance of that in this place:

It was packed and there were line ups at the stalls my research recommended.  We started with the thick crab soup, at stall 5 and it was to die for.  You had to be willing to sit down and eat it, on a cheap plastic stool, with no more counter real estate than could fit one 8.5X11 inch sheet of paper, at butt level with the people in line.  But, it’s to die for.  Close your eyes and enjoy. With the edge off our hunger, we went deeper into the businesses behind, looking for bargains.  Travis found them in tech, like USB to HDML, and I found hair toys and phone tethers.  We all found the experience highly interesting.  Then we grabbed a chicken roll, which was delicious and actually made of pork.  We had a sugar glazed strawberry, while waiting in line for a “one-bite” sausage, well, a bag of them to share.  We stood in another line some more for deep fried soft shelled crab

That’s them on the left.  If we weren’t so full we would have ordered some of the squid on the right, too.  I’ll bet it was super but all we wanted at that point was the chocolate ice that we saw so many people eating.  It wasn’t elegant, but it was all delicious and, while there were a lot of ship people there, three quarters of the crowd was local.  This is how the local people eat, either the way we did or taking bags of food back to the apartment to feed the family.  It’s cheap enough that most people can afford it every night.  Stuffed and happy, it was a short walk back to the ship.

Monday, April 6, 2026       At Sea

Joanne and I got Newsletter 13 out.  No sooner did we have it delivered than the Group Event manager, came to tell us that we now had a cocktail party, in recognition of the problems the Auckland shore excursion had caused.  It would be on April 9.  That meant I immediately set about writing Newsletter 14, for delivery on the 7^th. 

Had dinner in the Pinnacle – Bob Eckert’s treat for Linda’s Birthday.  Her Bridge partner, Kathleen, wrote her a poem and I wrapped up a gift.  She wouldn’t take it until I promised her it cost less than $5.  It’s one of those little plastic cats that waves money in for you.  She charged it’s solar panel up in her window and finds it very cheerful.  It was a fun evening. We missed the show again.

Thursday, March 19, 2026    Komodo Island, Indonesia

I didn’t get off on Komodo because it would have been about the fourth time and how many Komodo dragons can you see?  They all look alike.

Except maybe for the one’s Dee saw making little dragons.  You find that on her Facebook page. DeesDragonPorn

Joanne picked the village tour and saw some very different things – the village itself:

And the children, enjoying the pens some cruisers are clever enough to carry for them.

I spent the rest of the day logging and blogging and working on Bali tours.  We have a DV tour tomorrow, but Dee and Anne will be going to Made’s house for a cooking lesson and a look at how a real Indonesian family lives.  Made was once a Dining Room steward of ours non the Amsterdam.

Our table in the Dining Room was very busy tonight as the news of Dee’s dragon porn spread and everyone and his steward stopped by to see.  Dee is a great wildlife photographer and monumentally lucky.  She took the slow lane on the dragon tour, following the crowd by just enough to see the effect all the visitors had on the dragons, foreplay and all. The Grand Voyage Band, 3 Canadians and a Chilean, gave us an excellent Pink Floyd tribute.

Friday, March 20, 2026    Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

I love our Distinctive Voyages excursion days, but sometimes I wish they wouldn’t land on ports where I already have something wonderful to do.  Dee and I had been waiting years to go to Made’s house for a cooking lesson, a great lunch, and to see how real Indonesians, that we happened to know, lived.  Dee and Ann decided to skip the DV Excursion and do exactly that, as who knew when we would have an overnight on Bali again.  Made lives a couple of hours from the port, and you wouldn’t want to miss the ship.  Instead of Joanne and Helen, they took George and Jan Sranko.  George is a naturalist and gives very good talks on board.  They were delighted and had a stunning day, by all accounts.

Joanne and I went out, with a friend of Made’s, for a short tour in the morning with Ben Sack, the artist on board, and his mom, Kathy.  When we had to return to the ship to take the DV tour out around noon, they kept that car, went to see the monkeys, had dinner, etc., etc.

Our DV tour turned out to be one of the best ever.  We, too, got into a family compound to see how Balinese families live.  Our guide explained it in the bus along the way.  Most Indonesians are Muslim, but the island of Bali is about 90% Hindu, which explains all the altars, and the style of them.  We stopped in the stone carvers’ town to see how they made the carvings and ran into an offering procession.  These lovely ladies were even willing to pose with some of us.  Here they are alone:

Balinese people live in small houses in big compounds.  When a girl marries, she moves out of her family compound and into her husband’s family compound.  With any luck, she and her husband acquire a little house therein, so she doesn’t have to live under the same roof as her mother-in-law, but that happens, too.  Within the compound, there is commerce, like dyeing, weaving, carving, carpentry, etc. There is also a central temple area, where we were first received:

Then we were walked around, seeing many private homes, tasting the liquor one family made, etc.  Eventually, we found ourselves walked through the family’s rice paddy to a purpose-built event space, because tourism is now a family business.  We met the family oxen and could have worked the paddy a bit, but no one was ready for that.  We were happy to eat and drink and watch the very excellent cultural show they put on, complete with monkey dance and fire eater. We mostly slept on the bus back to the ship, arriving about 9:30PM.  We go a lot of compliments on this excursion and we caught the tail end of the cultural show on stage.

Joanne did a much better job of Bali than I did.  If you want to see it go to her Facebook page: JoanneonBali

Saturday, March 21, 2026   Bali, Indonesia

I don’t think it was the Indonesian food, because everyone else was fine, but I had a bad night after all that fun, and spent most of the second Bali day resting.  It’s a good thing they had a pop-up market opposite the terminal, because that was about as far as I could manage to go. I did get three dresses, a pair of pants and a couple of tops.  I’ll be donating one of the dresses, which looks terrible on me, and the pair of pants, which shrank, but two dresses and two tops are big hits, and the most expensive item was $15, so I am fine.

I was well enough for dinner and the show on the World Stage.  It was Liam Cooper, who plays the piano and sings Billy Joel and Elton John stuff, and he was pretty good. 

Sunday, March 22, 2026    At Sea

A number of our Distinctive Voyagers stopped by the desk to thank us for the great excursion in Bali.

It was a formal night.   We had Gloria, the Purser again, with her husband, Pops, the Provisioner.  Captain Rens is leaving us in Singapore and his wife had just boarded in Bali.  You have to hand it to them, they danced every dance.

Monday, March 23, 2026  At Sea

The Indonesian crew show always gets me.  They performed their version of the Kecak, or Monkey dance:

We had people getting off in Singapore, so they got a farewell letter, and I had a newsletter to prepare to be delivered on the second day in Singapore.  Jocelyn Ng, the modern violinist was on stage and I like her a lot.

Tuesday, March 24, 2026   Singapore

I stayed on board and worked most of the day.  I have been here so often and as recently as December.  I worked on lots of things: regular travel agent follow-ups, newsletters, birthday cards, electronic ones for friends, and and paper ones for Distinctive Voyagers on board.  There’s always plenty to do.  Joanne was out and about in Singapore.  She went all over the place like:

Which I get, but what I didn’t believe she did was go to the airport. I had to admit, it was pretty cool:

Singapore is a city made right.  If only the rest of the world would learn.  JoanneinSingapore has more pictures of Joanne’s mad tear around Singapore.

Our captain for the rest of the voyage is Frank Van der Hoven.  I have sailed with him before.  He is excellent, but not nearly as much fun as Rens.  Few are.  I went out around 5pm and took the ship’s shuttle to Marina Centre, which is right near The Mandarin Hotel.  All I wanted was to do a little shopping for necessaria and eat some good local food.  If I had spoken to the Eckerts first, I could have been eating with them at The Mandarin, where they were staying. But I’m not that smart, so I just ate in the Mall.  I had some good stuff, though, from a dumpling shop and a pancake place.  The servers were delightful in both outlets.  They weren’t busy. 

Dee and Anne glamped out at the new Zoo, co-located with the bird park.  They had a wonderful experience, in part because it wasn’t busy either.  There were only six people doing the overnight, so they got to tour the zoo at night in a golf cart, rather than a train, and they actually had breakfast with the animals the next morning.  It’ll fill up. 

Wednesday, March 25, 2026       Singapore

I didn’t go out at all the second day in Singapore.  How blasé can I be getting.  There was planning work to do for Hong Kong and I’m still trying to catch up with my logging and blogging. I did get a Newsletter out, which follows.  Sunny Chen was on stage with one of the best magic shows I have even seen.

Thursday, March 26, 2026    At Sea

A few people came by the desk for some HK handouts.  The disadvantaged segments problem is starting to resolve and the people are seeing their DV excursions on their phones in the Navigator App.  That’s great.  It’s not finished but we are getting there.  I got a bunch of work done, we had dinner and saw another good production show.

Friday, March 27, 2027      Phu My, Vietnam

I did a little work in the morning, then Lenora Walkes, who had got on in Singapore, and I took the shuttle from Phuoc An Port into Phu My itself, while everyone else went into Saigon, which I usually do.  I’ll be doing it again next time, too, because Phu My was a bust.  It was monumentally sad.  COVID wreaked havoc all over the world and really hit this little place hard.  The shuttle took us to the King Mall.  It looked like it had been built maybe a few years before COVID, emptied out during the pandemic, and never really came back.  The ground floor supermarket, with a clothing section for locals, had a few things we needed, and the prices were sure right.  Then we ventured into the neighboring streets to find smaller shops, but most of those were closed, too.  Lenora was looking for a hat and ended up with three of them because she didn’t have change for $5US, and that was the price – 3 hats for $5.  They were pretty nice hats, too, cotton, with good wide brims.  Lenora won’t get sunburned now.

Matthew Croake was on the World Stage.

Saturday, March 28, 2026           At Sea

One of my people came by the desk for a suggestion on what to do in HK on day one, with a wife who can’t walk very far.  I suggested Cheung Chau, because it’s just two ferries to take.  There’s plenty of walking to get from the ship to the Star Ferry, mind you, but it’s a great ride and the ferries to the outlying islands are the closest thing, when you get to the HK side.  Cheung Chau is wonderful because there are no cars on it, so it’s relatively unspoiled and you can get super fresh seafood from the seaside restaurants, right near the ferry.

I logged and blogged the day away, until it was time for Wells Wescott’s 89^th birthday party.  It was a more subdued event this year because Wells was not on board.  In past years, it has been dinner for 14 in the Pinnacle, often with the Captain.  This year it was our table in the Dining Room, with Josh, the Port Lecturer, and Anne Maree, the Art Teacher..  Anne and Dee had been in touch with Wells and he’s hanging in there and glad we were celebrating his 89^th.  Panjang Amurnia.  Flanking Dee and Anne, are our wonderful Dining Room Stewards, Alice and Amin.

Emer Barry was on the World stage and she held her own against “A World of Music” going on simultaneously in every bar on the ship. 

Sunday, March 29, 2026             DaNang, port for Hue, Vietnam

I treated myself to Eggs Benedict in the Lido, yum.  Then I made for the shuttle bus but got turned around by reports that there was a long walk and a very busy street to cross to get to the market.  It turned out it was a good thing I chickened out, because I had left my dong and credit cards back on the ship, in my safe. So I had a lovely day working from a deck chair on the shady side of Deck 3.  I had a dragonfly for company for an hour or so but could never get a picture.  By the time I’d have the phone ready to shoot, someone would walk by and scare him away.

 It was a very nice sailaway and it was Jan Sranko’s birthday at Table 43.  Wells’ birthday flowers got to bloom for Jan, too. It was another lovely, lively night.  Matthew Croake was on stage again, and we missed him again, what with all the celebration going on at the table.

Monday, March 30, 2026            Halong Bay, Vietnam

I don’t report everything we do.  Some of it isn’t fun and is confidential.  Today was one of those days.  It ended on a nice note, though.  We had Emer Barry for dinner, which made Dee and Helen particularly happy.  We love her and have been following her career.

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

One of our people is going to the races and I am delighted.  I love helping this one.  She takes serious notes. She is really going to do it.  This will be the first time in 15 years of my recommending it.

Emer Barry was on stage and we were mesmerized.

Wednesday, March 11, 2026        Townsville, Australia

My clients are safe and sound home in Napa.  They are pretty tired and it feels like the mother of all jet lags.  I think it’s the almost unbearable amount of stress they carried for the last ten days, the war news reports, the obscene escalation in price to re-route, the last minute flight delays…OMG.  We are all happy it’s over for them. We still have the whole world to worry about, though and we are in Townsville, Australia.

I made the decision to stay in and work again, and it turned out to be a bad one.  Everyone came back telling me what a charming little town it was.  Many of them found unique things to buy, etc., bummer.  But I did get my taxes paid, both 2025 tax owing estimates and 2026 installments.  I am now considerably poorer but still enjoying life on a pretty high level, so I am not complaining.

I spent the most of the day working on my Hong Kong talk, admired Dee’s purchase, that she wore at dinner, and went to the show.  I had to sit through John Milligan to get to Angie Narayan, and she was worth it.

Thursday, March 12, 2026      Cairns, Australia

It’s always a bad day when you lose a good friend.  Today I received the sad news that one of my boat crew, Theresa Benedek, was gone.  She was over 90 years old, and had had a good run, but still. You can find her obituary and some pictures and words that I added at Theresa-Gayle-Benedek Click on ‘see more’ and then scroll all the way down for my comments, because I was first in.  It’s a fun scroll, many happy memories.

Nick Nicolas was on stage with his magic show.

Friday, March 13, 2026   At Sea

It was a busy day of DV work and I just deleted most of my report, which was written for my head office, not you guys.  It was a night at the Kentucky Derby on board, so no show on the World Stage.

Saturday, March 14, 2026   Sea Day   Scenic Cruising the Torres Strait

It was yet another work day at sea.  There was client work to do and Newsletter 10 to write.  Robert Bannon was on stage with a show called “The Evolution of Rock”.  I thought that was the music of my age, but I only recognized two songs.

Sunday, March 15, 2026    At Sea

Joanne and I were assembling and signing Newsletter 10 at our desk, when Captain Rens stopped by to ask if my “people on the train” had got home.  He remembered our conversation from the speakers’ dinner, when I had been so worried.  I was happy to report they were safe and sound in Napa and I am sure they are delighted to read that the captain of the Volendam cared about them.

Robert Bannon was at our table tonight.  He’s Irish and was a lot of fun.  So was the show on the World Stage – “Celtic Spirit”  Full of Irish song and Dance.  Not sure what Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah was doing in there.  Last I knew, he was a Jewish boy from Montreal.  I love the song, though.

Monday, March 16, 2026    Darwin, Australia

Last year I had a fabulous lunch on a shore excursion, at a place called “Wharf One”, which I remembered as having been within walking distance of the ship.  I rounded up the Linda and Bob Eckert, who got Kathy and Don Sachs, and off we went like a burly herd of turtles.  It was the right restaurant, but the crocodile ceviche and fresh barramundi had been specials for our DV shore excursion last year.  No matter, we enjoyed an excellent array of bar snacks that included calamari, fried brie, hummus and dips, a couple of burgers and fish ‘n chips.  Sharing is good.  Drinking is better.  There was much lamenting about the fact that we couldn’t drink like we used to, but we tried. We did.  We did.

We needed a nap after that and I did enjoy it.  I woke up for sail away, which was a good thing or this blog wouldn’t even have one picture but Joanne wanted this one and I am grateful

I am grateful for a lot of things, among which this fabulous voyage, with its glorious sunsets, the health to enjoy it, and Joanne, herself, who makes it all so easy for me.

Since the sun was setting, I left sailaway for dinner and a show.  The show was Nyree Huyser, doing a tribute to Céline Dion.  It was good, but it wasn’t Céline.  I was happy to read this week that the real thing will be performing again this summer, starting in Paris.  I have to wonder why not Montréal?  I have some suspicions, mind you.

Tuesday, March 17, 2026    At Sea  –  Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Joanne took the desk, as I was rehearsing for my talk on Hong Kong in the afternoon.  It was a quiet day.  About 35 people came to my talk and 17 DV people came to dinner after.  Joanne led a few out on the St Patrick’s day Bar Crawl and Robert Bannon sang a bunch of Irish songs on the world stage.  I don’t know where the man gets his material.  I only recognized two of those, too.  

Wednesday, March 18, 2026    At Sea

Nyree Huyser was back onstage this time with Hollywood based songs.

Monday, March 2, 2026    Auckland, New Zealand

After two months at sea, I was in dire need of a place to shop and Auckland was going to be it. I headed off to Chemists Warehouse, where I managed to spend $NZ300 on miscellaneous essentials, like Rogaine, Collagen, etc.  Old bods require a lot of upkeep. I met Travis Kienholz near the checkout and we hooked up for my next stop, which was The Occidental, where I was leading a group for dinner at night.  When Travis heard they had oysters, he knew that was where he was having lunch.  We ambled over there and firmed up the evening’s two tables to one big one that the Internet had not let me book.  Then we sat outside and ordered oysters on the half shell.  Oh, yes:

They were perfect and so were the fries that went with them.  I keep coming back to this place because it never disappoints.  Travis was in thrall.  He restrained himself nicely because we were coming back.  I went back to the ship and Travis went off in search of a second hand book store he had heard of.  He likes buying lots of books and leaving the good ones in the on board library.  Works for me.  I like reading from the on board library.  At five o’clock our little DV group met at our desk on Deck 3 and we made off for Occidental again.  It didn’t hurt that green lipped mussels were on sale on Mondays, because that’s what we wanted.  They came steamed and grilled, with various sauces and they were wonderful.  We were one very happy little group.

Tuesday, March 3, 2026    Auckland, New Zealand – DV Shore Excursion day

 We had a Distinctive Voyages Shore Excursion to the Auckland Museum today.  The cultural performance is excellent and moving.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026         Waitangi, New Zealand

I stayed on board and worked.  I have seen all Waitangi has to offer.  Don’t miss it, if you go, but I needed to work.

I’m having, at my own expense, a dinner in the Pinnacle for my Distinctive Speakers, tomorrow night.  I was bold enough to invite the Captain and today, I got this:

Please be advised that the captain will be joining the dinner with your group.

Very cool. 

Thursday, March 5, 2026

At 10:30 am, there was a meeting at our desk for everyone who is going to Madama Butterfly at the Sydney Opera House.  They picked up the hard copies of their tickets from me and exchanged coordinates.  They can figure out where to meet, or not before the show, and I am suggesting the cloakroom bear the exit afterwards to share taxis back to the ship, go find a bar or restaurant, whatever.

In the evening, I hosted the “Speakers’ Dinner” in the Pinnacle.  This usually happens more towards the end of the cruise, but we know who all the speakers are and Skip Pratt is getting off in Sydney, so he and Jan would miss it if we waited.  Captain Rens Van Eeerten came and he is totally delightful.  All of the speakers, Skip, Dee Wescott, Larry Suttton, Paula and Norm Radder were delighted with the event.  It went right through the entertainment and the Captain stayed right with us. I invited Travis Kienholz for the technical support he had given us and Pat Gustafson invited herself.   There was no way she was going to be left alone at our table while this was going on.

And…she got her prize picture with the captain:

Friday, March 6, 2026       at Sea

Through all of this period, I have been WhatsApp chatting, and actually talking, to my clients on the Maharajahs Express, in India.  The war in Iran casting a pall over their trip of a life time.  They are trying to enjoy a very enjoyable trip, while wondering how they will get home.  Emirates is not cancelling flights through Dubai.  They are doing all they can to make that experience better, but they aren’t cancelling it.  I research alternate routes, like through Singapore, which would be fun, but prohibitively expensive.  My clients are hanging it, figuring Emirates aren’t going to put them in real danger. It’s still scary. Four days to flight time.

I finalized arrangements with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia for day 2 in Sydney and packed to get off with Pat for our adventure in Sydney. 

Saturday, March 7, 2026             Sydney, Australia

Pat’s son Mark had come up with the brilliant idea that we should stay at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Sydney.  The people we were meeting for dinner, Helen Pakchung and Nick Hamilton-Kane seconded that, because it was a short walk from the restaurant we had all settled on, Mr Wong.  So, we got off the ship as soon as we could, which was around nine, hopped into a taxi and were checking in before 10.  You can never get your room that early, but it didn’t matter to us, we had plans.  We were taking a ferry ride to the Zoo.  Easy to do and promised to be fun. 

The ferry was even closer to the hotel than we had dared hope and in its path was the Copenhagen Gelato place, of which I had fond memories.  That, for sure on the way back. We boarded the ferry without incident and got this picture that proves how good the Four Seasons idea was.  It’s the brown sandstone shorter high rise right in the middle of the picture.  I may never stay anywhere else in Sydney.

When we got off at Toronga, there was a bus to take, up to the entrance of the park.  We were meant to walk down, visiting various animals on the way.  That was a little more challenge than we were up for, but these Australians are clever and they located the food courts smack in the middle of the zoo, just when we thought we couldn’t take another step.  A fish and chips lunch, with a couple of Cokes did wonders for us.  There weren’t a whole lot of animals, but all the Aussie favorites were represented.  This is my prize:

We made our way back to the ferry, and to the Copenhagen gelato, which was as good as I remembered it.  Then it was back to the hotel to relax and freshen up for dinner.  After a little nap, I had occasion to toss something in the trash and found out we had this view, from our waste paper basket:

It doesn’t get better than that in Sydney, unless you are on a cruise ship docked at The Rocks.  We were happy campers. 

Helen and Nick are friends from my Hong Kong days and I always enjoy their company when I am in Sydney.  I was starved for Chinese food, after two months on board, so we chose Mr Wong, a trendy Chinese place.  Sure enough, I have a picture of the food, that I took myself but none of our cameras seem to contain the picture the waiter took of our group.  He must not have pressed hard enough.

That is luscious looking food, though.  It’s hard to talk in restaurants these days, though, so we tried to continue in the hotel bar.  We hated the music there and they wouldn’t do anything about it, even though we were just about the only people in the place.  We went across the street, where it wasn’t quite as bad and it was a lovely night.

Sunday, March 8

Whenever there’s a good yacht club in town, and it fits the schedule, I invite my DV people there for a meal. I was also really anxious to meet “Mini-Me” Dee Wescott’s daughter.  Ten of us went to CYCA for brunch.  CYCA stands for Cruising yacht Club of Australia and it is the home of the famous, in sailing circles, Sydney to Hobart race.  You’d think I would have a picture, and I should do but the Uber came too fast and all I have is the set-up.

It proves we were there, but that’s all it does. The Uber dropped Dee and Anne back at their hotel, Pat at the Four Seasons, and me back at the ship.  Pat didn’t fly out until 9:30pm, but the hotel let her spend time by its pool, and between that and the lounge at the airport, she was all set. We got welcome letters out for Anne Bitonti and Lou Ann Powell.  I had a little rest and got back into the rhythm of the ship, dinner in the Dining Room, with Anne replacing Pat at the table, and the World Stage, where John Milligan sang and played the piano.

Monday, March 9, 2026     At Sea

In my copious free time, I am working on my Hong Kong talk.  I created it 14 years ago, and it needs updating every time I give it.  Restaurants and bars close, the harbour gets filled in and the technology changes everything.  I lived there 35 years ago.  It seems like yesterday.  One of my people offered to help me with a digital map that wouldn’t require your phone to have the internet out there on the street, but it was just too complicated for me and my technology.  I’ll just send everybody to the HKTB for a paper map, while they are buying their Octopus card.  Dinner at the table was fun, Angie Narayan was on the World Stage and I liked her a lot.  I was delighted to meet the artist in residence, Ben Sack, after the show.  He had just boarded, with his mum, this time.  We go back all the way to 2012.

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

This is the day my clients fly from Mumbai to San Francisco, with a stop in Dubai.  Tripit keeps me posted on flight delays and I got five messages from them, reporting delays of ten minutes here, twenty minutes there.  Finally the plane took off and everyone could breathe.

Ben Sack and his mother, Kathy, came to dinner with us and we went to a Production Show on the World Stage.  I love those.

Saturday, February 21, 2026       Papeete, French Polynesia

We had our DV Shore Excursion, Tahiti Culture, in Papeete today. I think we skipped Paul Gaugin’s home.  That was a drive by, but our tour guide, Ganu, was indigenous and he was excellent, not to mention gorgeous. He brought the stories to life. I got my best picture at Vaipahi Tropical Gardens.

The bar scene at the end was chaotic at first but sorted itself out and everyone ended up with the drink they wanted, and some people two of them.  The “sunset” was still a couple of hours away, though, and the awnings were down in the venue because the light and heat would have been unbearable, had they been left up. A re-think might be in order, but our lovely group didn’t complain, and seemed to be enjoying each others’ company.

We got back to the ship in plenty of time to enjoy the sunset there, and about ten of us headed out for the food trucks.  It wasn’t the party scene it once was but we enjoyed feeding the local pussycat and the dessert crepe was really yummy.  We got back in time for the cultural show on board, which was excellent and eye candy for old broads.

Sunday, February 22, 2026         Moorea

Joanne curated this day off the Internet and it was a pretty good one.  There was a free shuttle to a little restaurant on an Island.  It was called Coco Beach Restaurant.  The shuttle was a van and an outrigger. It was a nice sporty ride to the island and a bit of a surprise when we had to get out in the water and wade to shore.  My beach shoes weren’t quite a match for the sharp rocks, but I had help and all was well.  The setting was idyllic and the food was very good.  Dee had poisson cru marinated in coconut milk, I had tuna tartare with avocado and shared some with Pat because her salad wasn’t the best choice, and Joanne enjoyed a fishburger.

Joanne went in the water a bit.  I tried but there were just too many sharp rocks and I was too big of a wuss.  This getting old is nasty. But, we do what we can and this was one pretty good day. On the boat ride back, we passed what used to my dream accommodation.  More than half of them are boarded up now.  Tahitian tourism has either fallen off a lot or these just weren’t sustainable.

We got back, tired and happy, cleaned up, went to the Sea View Bar for sailaway, had dinner and saw the comedian on the World Stage, Simon Palomares.  I did find him funny.

Monday, February 23, 2026         Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Bloody Mary’s is closed for renovations and the hotels aren’t doing nice lunches with beach time anymore, there was a newsletter due, and I had a talk to prepare for Hong Kong, so I just stayed on board and worked. I didn’t even go to the show.

Tuesday, February 24, 2026        At Sea

Web got Newsletter Number 8 out today.  It was full of good stuff.  Akos Laki, a Hungarian saxophonist, whom Dee and I know well, was at the table and there was another good production show on stage.

Wednesday, February 25, 2026    At Sea

I put in more work on the disadvantaged segment people case, worked on my HK talk and at 3:30pm, toddled off to the Wajang Theatre where Skip was getting set up for his talk at four o’clock on the SR-71, the fastest operational airplane the U.S. Air Force ever had. A good 50 people attended and 18 of our DV people came to dinner.  Daniel Thompson was on stage with a Johnny Cash tribute and he was excellent.

Thursday, February 26. 2026       At Sea – Crossing the Date Line

Crossing the Dateline means there will be no tomorrow.  There will however be a next day, so don’t panic.  I worked on all the stuff I work on, including Newsletter No 9, which was coming out November 28 and that was now tomorrow. Simon Palomares, the comedian, was good again.

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Akos Laki and his sax were on stage and he was very, very good.

Sunday, March 1, 2026               At Sea

It will be Auckland tomorrow and Sydney in 5 more days.  We’ll have farewell letters, welcome letters and a newsletter to get out and I am planning an overnight with Pat in Sydney before she flies back to California and I sail the rest of the way around the Pacific. People are signing up for our evening at the Occidental Pub in Auckland.  I am sure Elvon is smiling on his cloud because he started this one and it’s become a real favorite. Pat and I played Bridge as usual and Daniel Thompson was on stage again, with more “Country Gentlemen”.  I liked him better when he was all Johnny Cash.

Wednesday, February 11, 2026    At Sea

This is the first of four sea days, during which I used to accomplish a lot of logging and blogging, but I can’t seem to find time to do any of that between office hours and Bridge and just running the DV. 

We put together and delivered Newsletter 11.  There was a block party at 4 o’clock and I managed a half-hour of it.  It’s always fun.  It was quiet at the table and Mike Lynche was the vocalist on the world stage, pretty good, nothing special.

Thursday, February 12, 2026  At Sea

We sailed from Santiago, Chile, with new passengers. 

We had Linda and Bob Eckert to dinner at the table.  David and Dawn were on the World Stage and it was a most interesting act.  He plays what appears to be an electronic xylophone but it does a lot more.  He calls it a Xylosynth and it was captivating.  Google “David Meyer – xy” and that will bring him up.  It’s classical music, mixed with rock and funk and very high energy.  While he was blowing me away with his act, his looks and mannerisms were for all the world those of John Sidorchuk, my cousin, and Joanne’s husband. That just made it more fun.  Joanne wasn’t there but Dee stayed and invited David and Dawn to dinner, which pleased me enormously. Do not miss them if you are ever on a ship with them.  They are fascinating.

Friday, February 13, 2026     At Sea 

Our Distinguished Speakers today were a couple who had circumvented the earth in a 35-foot sailboat, named “Real Time”.  They lived on it from 1988-1997.  The dinghy was “Online”.  Can you tell they were both programmers?  They set off from San Francisco and barely made Australia in what became their first talk.  The audiences loved it and wanted more.  There were more than 50 people in the room.  At least 25 of them were DV people, 19 of whom came to dinner afterwards in the dining room. The entertainment were called Supernova Duo and what they did was a Fleetwood Mac tribute.

Saturday, February 14, 2026     At Sea 

It was an ordinary work and Bridge day, but David and Dawn came to our table for dinner and were positively delightful. 

We missed Pablo Bendersky on the stage, we were having so much fun.  He’s good too, though.

Sunday, February 15, 2026     Easter Island

It was a gorgeous day on Easter Island and Joanne and I went on a good HAL shore excursion to see the moai up close and personal. I’ll let the pictures tell this one:

It doesn’t get better on Easter Island.  This is at least my fourth time there, but we couldn’t dock, twice, and I just walked around the third time.  This is a place where it really pays to take the excursion.  Pablo Bendersky came to dinner at the table and was a most charming and interesting guest.

Monday, February 16. 2026

I have clients enjoying the Maharajahs’ Express in India at the moment and flying home March 10, on Emirates through Dubai.  They contacted me to start looking at alternatives. Irina Guskova entertained us with her violin.

Tuesday, February 17, 2026        At Sea on Mardi Gras

Here it is Mardi Gras, and the first day of the Chinese New Year, all at the same time.  Kung Hei Fat Choy and Happy New Year of the Horse.  Just in time to feed on pancakes and sober up for lent.  It happens.  It was another pretty ordinary work day, with Bridge in the afternoon, like all sea days.  I know I am over a month late.  It’s all I can do to keep up with the stuff that needs to be done and pronto.  I do let myself relax every night.  My happy hours in the Crows’ Nest have been mostly solitary rest time for me. 

Our dinner guest was Willie Ames, one of the enrichment speakers.  He was the most entertaining dinner guest yet.  The man is an old Cruise Director for Regent and Oceania, a Hollywood stuntman, saw stardom and infamy, got shot out of cannons, etc.  You name it, this guy has done it and can he ever tell a story.  Now he makes a career of going around on ships, talking about whatever he thinks will interest the group.   If he doesn’t know anything about it, he just googles himself up a presentation.  Amazing, and a lot of fun.  Big Mike Lynche was on the World Stage again and I enjoyed him.

Wednesday, February 18, 2026             Scenic Cruising Pitcairn Island

And you had to wonder what that meant.  We can’t get off on Pitcairn Island, but it comes to us.  A large contingent of residents pulls their long boat alongside and boards us.  Some of them lecture aboard and they sell a goods to us from stalls set up around the swimming pool.   In 2016, I bought a cheeseboard, in the shape of a whale, by Brad Christian, age 13.  I went looking for him, or another relative.  That would pretty much include the whole island, as they are pretty much all descended from Fletcher Christian, of Mutiny on the Bounty fame.  Sure enough, I found one Andrew Christian, who is a cousin.  He told me Brad was 23 now, living in New Zealand, and had a girlfriend.  They both looked swell in the picture Andrew had on his phone.  I bought a nut bowl, made by Andrew, of mirowood.  It’s very smooth and slick but ‘mirowood’ doesn’t google well.  I wouldn’t say it came from a tree native to Pitcairn Island.  I didn’t buy any T-shirts, either.  The ship pays the islanders to entertain us, and they certainly make money selling T-shirts and trinkets.  They take back a lot of it in kind.  Their longboat goes back laden with food and drink, especially drink.

David and Dawn were back on stage and this time we made sure Joanne saw them.   She saw some resemblance to her husband , but was not as struck by it as I was.  I get it.  She knows him better.

Thursday, February 19, 2026

We had an appointment with one of our people at the desk.  He had volunteered to be a Distinctive Speaker and we wanted to hear what he would have to say.  We were sorry, but we were afraid we couldn’t take this one.  Afraid was the right word. He wasn’t selling anything.  He was merely planning to discuss financial planning and some of the options.  He said he could explain Bitcoin, which I have never understood.  He said it was a scary thing but he believed there was one brand of it you could trust.  We weren’t going to risk someone losing millions of dollars and suing DV because they heard it from one of our Distinctive Speakers.  We respectfully, but firmly, declined his kind offer.

Then we printed and delivered another Newsletter. Pablo Bendersky was on the world stage with a piano concert.  I like him a lot and I love a piano.

Friday, February 20, 2026

I found out where the ship would be docked in Hong Kong, so I could start preparing my talk.  The Supernova Duo were on stage and they were good again.

Sunday, February 1, 2026 – Antarctic Experience

The Captain woke us up to muster for an up close and personal encounter with an iceberg.  I rolled over.  The picture is Joanne’s.

When I did get up, I decided this was the day I was going off my intermittent fasting for Eggs Benedict and were they ever good.  I ate with Joanne, and Peter and Sue Ann from the next table at dinner.  Then Joanne and I went to the bow for a better view and hot chocolate.  All good.  I spent the rest of the day with Pat in the Crow’s Nest.  The view was too good to play Bridge.  In a strange twist, we received a photo from Palmer Station: 

Monday, February 2, 2026 – At Sea

We are having a wonderful time in the Crow’s Nest.  I am getting to work on my Logs and Blogs, while socializing and catching the odd commentary on passing icebergs, ice floes full of penguins and the like.  I realize these missives are unlike those of many travelers, who actually take the learning experience seriously and try to pass the knowledge on.  I just sail along and live my life, running my business, serving my clients and my passengers aboard, playing Bridge, having lovely meals that I don’t have to cook, and taking in the live entertainment, almost every night.  It’s a great life and I am falling behind, trying to record that which is probably not of that much interest.  So I am going to start paring this down, if I can.  I am over 20 days behind as I type this.

Tuesday, February 3, – Drake passage and Cape Horn

Of course the log part for DV continues. It got sad today.  One of my people came to tell me that her mother, who’s 95, can’t walk at all anymore.  They would be getting off the ship in Ushuia for medical evaluation and might be shipped home.  The lady is otherwise healthy, and the ship has loaned her a wheelchair.

The show was good a variety splash of the last four headliners.

Wednesday, February 4, Ushuaia, Argentina, Beagle Channel, Glacier Alley

We were only in Ushuia from 7:00am until 2:00pm.  I got off, walked around but everything was closed until about noon.  I had a beer and a couple of very good empanadas and then met ten of my DV people in the line for the tender back to the ship. 

I used the afternoon to write Farewell Letters, with comment cards, to five people in three cabins and welcome letters for the two cabins who would be boarding in San Antonio.  Sebastian Fucci was on the main stage and he’s very good.

Thursday, February 5, Punta Arenas, Chile, Strait of Magellan

Pat and I walked out in Punta Arenas, just looking for a local bar or something.  We met Toya, on her way back, who recommended Sara Braun House, which is a museum.  We walked through the main square, which was lovely and where a busker had attracted a small crowd. There was a dearth of bars in the vicinity but Sara Braun house had one, and it was lovely.

We had a nice empanada lunch there and caught a cab to take us around for an hour or so.  Our driver was young and very sweet.   He didn’t have much English but that was OK.  The last place he took us was the cemetery, which we think we would have enjoyed if it hadn’t been for them doing a cremation just as we arrived.  The thick, foul smelling smoke chased us right back to the car. In all fairness, it was 5PM.

Back on board, Newsletter 5 got delivered and the pianist, Sebastian Fucci came to dinner. I just loved him.  He doesn’t eat his vegetables either.  He has read studies that say they have very little nutritional value.  We can survive nicely on meat and potatoes.  Yes!!!  We just got to the show in time for 15 minutes of Mariana Mazu.

Friday, February 6, Scenic Cruising, Amalia or Brujo Gia

Our 95 year old who can’t walk will be disembarking and going home.  The doc on board will start the claim on their HAL CPP Platinum.  I spent an hour with them going over the insurance claim(s) they will be making

Then I went to the Front Desk to order flowers for Dee’s 45^th Wedding Anniversary, from Wells and me, and made up cards to go with them.  I have a few nice pictures from past cruises.

The Chinese on Board decided to celebrate Chinese New Year early because some of them were disembarking in Santiago and the Hsiaos invited Joanne and me.  It was a blast, with good Chinese food and karaoke, and an appearance by the captain:

Saturday, February 7, 2026   At Sea

It was another work day for me, DV work, client work.   Skip Pratt gave his Distinctive Speakers talk on the U2 Spyplane at 4:00pm.  Over 60 people showed up, 22 of them ours, and our 22 came to dinner in the Dining Room.   It’s a nice way to build camaraderie. A lot of us went to the early show, which was Mariana Mazu and Sebastian Fucci.  I do like him a lot.

Sunday, February 8, 2026  Puerto Montt, Chile

Puerto Montt is a tender Port and I didn’t even bother going out.  I don’t think I missed much.  There are 3 cabins disembarking on February 10, so I wrote and distributed Farewell letters.  It was Super Bowl night on board.

Monday, February 9, 2026

My computer looked like it might have a virus, so I shut it down, uninstalled Chrome and Adobe which were referenced in the virus.  Reinstalling Adobe was a large pain because I had to take the free trial, which I will cancel before they start charging me in 7 days.  Chrome, I am living without for a while.  It makes you mad but I can’t be too careful out here at sea. The Grand World Voyage Band did a Santana tribute and it was excellent.

Tuesday, February 10, 2026        Santiago or San Antonio, Chile  

It’s wine country so our intrepid Napa Valley girls went wine tasting, with our wine-loving friends from a cruise about ten years ago.  We had a lovely time, bought some wine and thoroughly enjoyed the lunch and folk dancing:   

It was also a turn-around day and we acquired 2 new cabins.  Our mother and daughter were Medically Debarked and we hoped to see them back at night.  That didn’t happen, but their cabin was not released.  We have a hope of getting them back.

To top it all off, it was Dee’s 45^th wedding anniversary, so we invited Toya and Bob to come join us at the table to celebrate.  There were some nice table pictures taken but none of them landed on my camera so you’ll have to be content with the centerpiece I got for Dee.  The ship does do a good job  with flowers.  This pretty centerpiece, in the care of our stewards, Alice and Amin, lasted a good 10 days.