Friday, August 9, 2019

We should have been in port at Ilfracombe, which I hear is a lovely little town, but it doesn’t have much of a protected harbor and there’s a storm coming.  Captain Bant announced it last night.  His plan is to evade the storm as best he can and pull into Liverpool around 8:00 pm tonight, so we can go out on the town, if we want to.

Since it was now a Sea Day, I went to my desk at 10:00 am and was kept busy this time.  Apart from my people who stopped by, it just pays to spend time at the desk.  A very nice couple stopped by, attracted by the DV catalog, and asked about the program.  I was happy to let them look and asked them if they knew if their TA was attached to Travel Leaders, as so many are.  They told me they didn’t have a Travel Agent, they just booked with Holland America, directly.  That gave me a chance to explain to them what they were missing out on, and I’ll just bet they’ll be googling “Travel Leaders Travel Agent” soon.

I did more DV work, and spent a couple of hours in my room, logging and blogging.  Around 5:30 pm, I noticed a gigantic windfarm at sea, just outside my cabin, and on the way in to Liverpool.  We may run out of food, but we won’t be running out of power anytime, soon.  I went out to dinner around 7:30 and a lot of people were leaving the ship, which had docked early.  The sun was still shining, and if I had had a partner, and NOT had a cold, I’d have been out there with them.

Dinner in the dining room was good, though.  I had a very nice table again.  These people were all Dutch, but all spoke good English and most of them had traveled the world extensively.  Tonkia, who was traveling with her mother Ted, short for Dorothy, was interesting because she spends her vacations nearer to home, but on a Dutch 30-metre training sailboat, as an instructor.  Dick and Marlene were a couple with relatives in the States, so they had gone back and forth, a lot, visiting a different part of North America, each time.  We went on until 9:30 pm, half way through the show, but I managed to miss the magician and see most of pianist Tim Abel’s performance, which was brilliant.

The next morning, I realized, I should have gone out last night.  It was a gentle day, but my smart phone informed me it wasn’t going to stay that way.  We could expect 50 mph winds and rain by 5:00 pm.  Well it’s 4:30pm, as I write this and the winds haven’t started but it’s been raining since a little after three.  Since I had slept in, because I am still fighting a cold, gone to the gym, and prepared my lists, nametags and tips for tomorrow’s excursion, I had decided to give Liverpool a miss, again.  I always expect to be coming back, and I usually do.  I’ll be hoping third time’s the charm.

I did step out of my Lanai Cabin and circle the deck four times, which is over a mile, and that was my walk.  Here’s what I saw of Liverpool, old and new.

There were seven of us, four from Hawaii,two from Michigan, and me.  We were eating in The Pinnacle Grill at seven and we sailed at six, which gave me a last-minute idea that we should be in the Crows nest as we sailed down the Mersey.  Bless these people.  I called them at 6:10 pm and we were all up there by 6:20 to enjoy it.  At the appointed hour, we proceeded to The Pinnacle to be spoiled.  This is a DV add on that I usually do on Holland America, taking advantage of my five-star status.

They had an appetizer that even I could not face.  Gary Loo said he had had it and it was excellent.  Susan Slaymaker was game.  I had a little piece of one of them, but there was still one left when she was done.  It’s not just bacon, it’s candied bacon.

The steaks were beautiful, the salmon left a bit to be desired, and the company was terrific.   It was a lovely evening.  I caught the end of the BBC Earth planet show.  It’s rare animal videos, set to classical music, with our Lincoln Centre Stage chamber orchestra performing.  I’d go to another of those shows.