It was Friday, September and I had no trouble finding J.P. His office is right next to the Front Desk and he pops in and out of it all the time. A quick glance at the ship’s schedule told me when to haunt the area. He’s a very approachable guy and was very willing to facilitate my requests. Next thing I knew, I was writing Newsletter 3, which follows today. I had a great entertainer coming to dinner one night and the Cruise Director himself on another. I had Engine Control Room tours on offer, too. We had six days at sea. You do what you can do. The Cocktail party was a bit of a bust with only eight people attending but there were twelve for dinner with Douglas Ladnier and that was a great success. I was at the table he wasn’t at, but the guests got along so famously, it didn’t matter. Best of all, he agreed to come to our next dinner, so they could have time with him. It’s all good, as was our after-dinner entertainer, Antonio Salci.
Another day at sea on September and office hour has been sparsely attended, mostly just chit chat and not too much of that. Today, I had Serge Rand join me and we settled on what flights the Rands would want for their 37-day Panama Canal cruise, Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver. Then, since SilverSea were doing the air, I begged a free phone call to SilverSky and booked the flights from Silver Nova’s reception desk.
The ship did something curious today. They scheduled a production show before dinner and a Headline entertainer afterwards. I wouldn’t have done that, but I suppose it had its merits. It gave the people who go to bed early a chance to actually see a show. No one but Serge and Barbara came to our Happy Hour, so we all left at 6:30 to see the production show, which was very good, as usual. Then we had a nice dinner in the main dining room and went to see Nathan Samuelson at 9:30pm. I was glad we did. The attendance was embarrassing. We felt so sorry for Nathan, who actually put on a very good show. He’s Canadian, too, grew up in Edmonton.
It was Sunday, September 22, so time for something a bit special. SilverSea charges way too much for its specialty dining. It was $80pp at Kaiseki, their Japanese restaurant, for dinner. I still wanted to try it, and after what Andrea paid for her $10,000 cruise, which was nothing at all, she was willing to spring for it, for both of us. Then I offered to pay for the Rands, since they are clients, and the Canadian government would partner with me in paying for it. Off we went, for our special dinner. The service was way too slow, considering there were only two tables of four in the entire restaurant. I’m sure they would blame it on Barbara’s foie gras, but that isn’t fair, as the other restaurants have no trouble supplying it in a timely manner. We finally had to tell them we wanted to go to the 9:30pm show and would they please get us out by then. They did, but we had to skip dessert, which, luckily, is never the best part of a Japanese dinner. But the edamame and chawanmushi were delicious, as were the sashimi and tempura. Our main course was wagyu beef and lobster tail, and there was nothing to fault there either.
We had to get to the show, because it was Douglas Ladnier again and we wouldn’t miss him for the world.
Monday, September 23, we crossed the International Dateline and the day did not exist for us, but we sure have been enjoying the extra hour of sleep every night.
So the next day was Tuesday, September 24 and we were still at sea. We had two Engine Control Room Tours today, eight guests each, and we have another tomorrow. I sent the first eight off alone because we see a lot of them every day. I accompanied the afternoon group. It was interesting and informative, but, despite the fact that I have a degree in Chemistry, it was over my head. It’s a new ship and almost completely powered by electricity, which the ship makes from liquid natural gas. Google LNG to get your own lesson.
This was the second “Formal Optional” evening on board, and we had been invited to the Guest Relations Manager and Staff Engineer’s table at the Venetian Society dinner. We didn’t know how we rated. One of my couples had been invited to the Captain’s table and that was easy to explain. They are in a suite the size of my apartment, but us?
We cleaned up as best we could. I had brought along the April Cornell soutane that I bought in Montreal about 30 years ago. It’s the dress Ulla Brown wants, when I am done with it. She’ll have to outlive me to get it. It’s one of the most useful pieces of clothing I own. Thanks to the clergy, it never goes out of style. Add a nice bright scarf and I’m done. This one was fake Versace, silk with imitation gold thread.
There were only six people at the table and, lo and behold, the other two were the Rands. It was a delightful meal in La Terrazza, washed down with Sicilian wine, from the vintner, Colosi, a very good white and a delightful Nero d’Avola. I couldn’t resist asking how the four of us got invited and it had everything to do with the Rands’ number of days at sea with SilverSea. Andrea and I were only added to the table, because we eat with the Rands pretty much every night, and SilverSea knew their valued Venetian Society members would be comfortable with us. Wow.
There was no show that night, just a big party in the Panorama Lounge, with the singers and dancers. I am told it went on past one in the morning and we didn’t even go. We were well sated, as we were.
On Wednesday, September 25, still at sea, it was time for another Cocktail Pary, and another Newsletter. I wanted to drive traffic to the cocktail party. Sixteen people came to the party, which had been moved to Dolce Vita.
We all had to chase it a bit because I had misunderstood a conversation I had had with the Bar manager a few days ago. We had been chatting informally about moving our cocktail party for variety, but I didn’t realize it had been done. No one seemed to mind the extra little walk, Douglas Ladnier joined us, and it all went very smoothly. The eight people who had originally signed up for dinner in La Terrazza were treated to the affable presence of our favorite singer aboard, and it was a very nice evening.
To give the entertainers a rest, after last-night’s blowout, they had “Liars’ Club” on the main stage, and it was hysterical, due largely to the unlikely addition of one of the dance hosts. You had to be there to hear what he did with “hornito”. You can google that, too, and guess. Clue: he was right.
Sunday, September 15 was a bad weather day, so I decided to stay on the ship and get caught up with my work. Andrea went whale watching, a thing I had done in 2017 with Joan Westgate and JoAnn Dery. It was good but I prefer to remember it on the better weather day. Andrea returned underwhelmed. She did see some whales but she wasn’t sure they were worth all the effort on the nasty day.
I had some client work to do. I had two cabins waitlisted on my 43-day Singapore to Hong Kong cruise and the waitlist had cleared for the very nice price of about $12,000, all in, all done, with a single person in the cabin. To my chagrin, neither of my singles found a way to commit to 43 days, though, and I had to cancel them. Anybody else want to come on that with me, now that we know the price? Those were for one person, alone in the cabin, ocean view. A couple won’t be much more. It looks like a bargain to me, and you all know what I can show you in Hong Kong, by now. Chinese New Year will be over by the time we get there and everything will be open and vibrating. Enough with that commercial.
I churned through the paperwork on my computer, saw the ship’s personnel that I needed to see and had tea at 4:00pm in The Arts Café. I like that place, and so does almost everyone else. It’s always lively. They serve croissants and such for breakfast, add more substantial contents to the croissants and call it lunch, then finger sandwiches, scones, and desserts for afternoon tea. The Arts Café specializes in tea, so there is a lot of choice and it comes in a proper teapot. My 4PM breakfast is either 2 finger sandwiches or a cheese plate, 2 mini-scones, a dessert and a pot of tea. Very civilized.
We have drinks and dinner with Serge and Barbara Rand , pretty much every night. They have been buying SilverSea cruises from me for many years, but SilverSea just joined Distinctive Voyages recently and this is the first time our schedules have managed to mesh. It’s great. Serge is an accountant by trade and is convinced SilverSea is the best bargain at sea. It sure is very nice, indeed. We met in the Panorama lounge, to try it out because it had been suggested to me for my Happy Hours and I had published same in my first newsletter, so we had to try it out. It was great. The band was playing but we could sit far enough away to hear ourselves talk.
We also tried S.A.L.T. kitchen that night and it worked for us, too. Barbara is in the enviable position of needing to gain some weight, so she has a standing order for foie-gras poelé every night. That’s the diet I want to be on. I’ll be having it tomorrow night. Anyone can, but you have to order it the night before, if you don’t want it every night. I forgot to mention I had had caviar a couple of nights ago. You can order that any night. Life is very hard here. We weren’t sailing until 10:30pm, so we had a local show the “Alaskan String Band” a family operation, complete with terrific slides on the big screen behind them.
On Monday, September 16th, Andrea and I had booked the Skagway City Streetcar tour. It reminded me of when Kathy Stefano was doing “Mr. Toad’s Tours” in San Francisco. I could have pictured Kathy doing this one, too. Our guide, Anna, was a kick. She was dressed in period costume and had, or put on, a husky, saloon, tobacco ravaged drawl. It was plenty loud, even without a mike, and she sure knew her stuff. The Skagway “trams” are the oldest fleet of sightseeing buses in the USA. Skagway/Haines is the only place in Alaska with roads out. You can drive 24 kilometers to Canada, a very remote part of Canada, mind you. People do it. There are RV parks and people do drive up here for a pretty unique holiday. Of course, some people live in the RVs year-round, but I would imagine they are expensive to heat in the winter. If you don’t use a road, it’s four days to Washington on a ferry.
It’s warmer than you would think. Skagway is an ice-free, deep-water port. We get worse weather in winter in Montreal. During the gold rush, there were 120 men here for every woman. At this point there are 800 year-round residents, but 1.2 million tourists come through, most of them on cruise ships. A lot of the RV people come up to work in the service industries. It costs them $700 to park the RV.
We met the Rands for cocktails, in the Panorama Lounge, again, but this time the ship had “Name that Tune” in the middle of it and we fled to the piano lounge, “La Dolce Vita”, to hear ourselves think. I’ll be moving our Happy Hours. We had dinner in “Atlantide”, the main dining room. I had foie gras poelé and it was wonderful, oink.
The next day, September 17, we, and the Rands, took the Sitka walking tour, which was interesting and informative, and not very taxing. Mind you, I pay dearly, the next day, for all the standing. My left ankle is a mess, thanks to having stood on it for more than 50 years, favouring my right knee. And old habits die hard. Even now when my mind knows it will pay if I stand on it, my body seems not to, and I just go ahead and do myself in.
When the United States purchased Alaska from Russia; the actual transfer ceremony occurred on October 18, 1867, Canada having refused the Russians’ offer to sell to it first. Our government has been dumb since its inception. In its defense, it was a tad busy in 1867, setting itself up. We definitely should have bought Alaska, though. The place is still sparsely inhabited, rich as it is. People get paid to live there. I would love a check from the government every year, instead of giving it half of my net income, which is the case, where I am now.
This lovely old building is the Sitka Pioneer Home and you can still go live there if you have been a resident of Sitka for a few years prior to needing to, Hmmm.
Again, our guide was a permanent resident, who knew all these things and the walk was interesting. What the place lacked, were a few nice terrasses to enjoy fish ‘n chips and a beer in the sunlight. I think that is probably because we were getting a lot more sunlight than was normal, in these parts. After Juneau’s rainy day, we have had nothing but glorious sunshine.
We poked around the shops a bit and I want to take some credit for the glorious sunshine. I bought a can of waterproofing stuff and sprayed all of our outerwear. I had found out that my raincoat was anything but, one night when I got soaked to the skin on the way to Sakura, which is one block over and one block down from my apartment. Now that it is waterproof again, I haven’t needed it. Good investment.
We had another very nice dinner with the Rands at Atlantide and were well entertained by the SilverSea Singers and Dancers in “Dance on Fire”. This troupe gives more performances than any I have seen on any other ship, and that’s saying a lot, with my cruise history. I have over 1,000 days at sea.
Finally, Wednesday, September 18 was a sea day, after three days in port. It was time to write a newsletter. I had plenty to say. Happy Hours had to be moved, and it had dawned on me that I could have more official cocktail parties, as drinks are free on board here anyway. All I have to do is pay a few tips and, if Distinctive Voyages doesn’t pick those up, I can do it myself. I had also tee’d up a couple more dinners together. So, I put all that together and wrote Newsletter No 2. I distributed it myself since Andrea is now playing Duplicate Bridge in the afternoons. That’s the thing I’d like to do, if I ever stop working and blogging. One of these days, I will. Deliveries are short and easy on this ship, as there is only one aisle on each deck, which makes them half the work, and my ankle actively likes walking on a moving ship, even after a day like yesterday. It seems to fix it. Eight people came for cocktails and we met another six in the show after, where we have taken to sitting together. Tonight’s entertainer was Douglas Ladnier, a male vocalist, who had spent a long time on Broadway and knew well how to sing and entertain. We liked him a lot.
Thursday, September 19, we were in Kdiak. There was a “Self-Guided Wildlife Walking Tour” on offer, and Andrea and I decided to take it. I figured I would do better on that and Andrea could range farther if she wanted to. It was a beautiful day and the trail was easy. Like much of Alaska, it’s a rain forest. Just look at the moss on these trees.
They gave us a map, showing the main trails, which park vehicles drove on, and the side paths which went out to the cliffs. We only had an hour and twenty minutes to walk, though, and after we spent half an hour of that in a WWII bunker than contained interesting things, like a Willys Jeep, and an old telephone switchboard that still worked, there wasn’t much time for deviation. I stayed on the straight and wide and got back to the bus with 10 minutes to spare and Andrea went off-road and just made it. As far as wild life went, I saw a squirrel.
SilverSea hadn’t been having Sailway parties up to now, but they did have one for leaving Alaska, before 5 or 6 days at sea. The ship sailed at 4pm. Andrea got up there early, but I needed to line my stomach at the Arts Café, as I wasn’t sure there would be enough hors d’oeuvres to make breakfast for me. By the time I got there I could tell it had been a good party, but it was thinning out. That meant I got to dance with the crew and that wasn’t a bad thing. It meant I got to renew my nodding acquaintance with singer Ryann, from South Africa. He’s gorgeous. I was able to ask him if they ever came out to have dinner with the passengers, and would he like to join a group of us one night? He would. Be still my heart. All I had to do was work with J.P., the Cruise Director, and it would happen.
We had cocktails with the Rands in the Observation Lounge to check it out and it was just fine. Then we had dinner in La Terrazza, which continues to mystify us, as it’s largely empty, but oh, so protected, when you go to book. Anyway, it was pretty good, and certainly bountiful. The show that night showcased the talents of another of the cast singers, Lelo Ramasimong, also from South Africa, and a real powerhouse of a voice. It was my lucky night, too, as sitting right behind me was Douglas Ladnier, the heart throb from the night before. I asked him if he would join our gang for dinner one night, too, and got the same delightful answer. I’ll be stalking J.P. in the morning to set up the dinners. I went to bed happy, looking forward to an extra hour of sleep. Life is good.
It was a good thing I packed on Sunday, because I worked until 1:45am, with no stop for dinner. I just made another egg, peanut butter and milk shake and had it at my desk around 9pm. I am glad I can still work like that when I have to, but it’s not all that much fun. I turned out my light at 2:30am and was up again at six to catch my plane to Vancouver. They had a business class breakfast for sale for $17.95 and I was in a preferred seat in economy, so I hoped they would have one for me, but no such luck. I had a bowl of not very good oatmeal. I was starving by the time I got off the plane.
My good friend, Pat Harrold, picked me up, settled me in to their apartment in Yaletown and we went out searching for lunch. It was after 4pm EST by then. I had a super fried chicken and jalapeno sandwich, and a nap until 6pm PT, when we watched the debate.
Then we went out to dinner. We found a nearby Taiwanese restaurant. It was interesting and quite good, especially the beer:
You had to love the presentation. The food was pretty good too. Here’s Pat, enjoying.
By the time we had walked the kilometer or so back, I was ready for bed again and slept well and soundly, with the window open to the downtown traffic.
I got up when I woke up, which was none too early, and set about making my Welcome Packets for the cruise. It’s not a trivial operation. Distinctive Voyages sends me nice cardboard folders and letterhead and links to assorted files. I do a mail merge with my manifest and print up four pages to be stuffed into the folders. This time there were 22 of them for a total of 44 people. My apologies to all the Vancouver friends I never even called. It’s a good thing we saw each other last year, because this was just a work stop. Pat and I did get to Granville Island by ferry and enjoyed some very eclectic food at Tap & Barrel, like good tourists. It helped that the ferry to the island was a very short walk from the apartment.
September 12 was boarding day. Andrea Terni, my co-host this cruise, had arrived in Vancouver the night before and we elected not to bother trying to meet up, but just to board. Paul drove me to the dock, less than 10 minutes from the apartment, around one-thirty. SilverSea was ready for me in the person of Oleksandr, the Front Desk guy assigned to my case. We had soon matched our manifests, and I was able to report back to DV that all was as we had expected it to be and I had cabin numbers for everyone, including the guarantee status suites. Andrea and I had one of those, and our ship came in. It turned out to be a Medallion Suite, with a separate living room and my desk in the hall. We have both a tub and a shower, a separate bedroom, free premium WiFi and free laundry. It’s probably about 500 sq.ft. with its balcony, which I wish we could use, but it’s chilly.
Andrea delivered the packets, and I phoned all the cabins. We had had a change in our expected shore excursion date and the new one was in Ketchikan – the day after tomorrow. SilverSea’s shore excursion desk wanted to know tonight, who was coming to ours and who was taking a ship’s tour. A free shore excursion is no big deal on SilverSea, as they have plenty of those on offer to all passengers, as well as some pretty good tours with a smaller uptick. But everybody needed to know the numbers, our tour operator and SilverSea’s.
I couldn’t reach everyone, of course, but promised to have the info as soon as I could next morning. For maybe the first time ever, we made it to dinner in time to eat and see the show. It was a sampler production show and the sample told us that the singers and dancers are very good. We’ll be going to all their shows.
Having our shore excursion in the first port makes for a real scramble the first and only day at sea. That was September 13. I had to get a newsletter out as fast as I could and be on the phone even before my 11am official office hour. That was almost a disruption to my shore excursion verification activities, as there is no phone at the desk. Ten people came by though, so there were that many, whose shore excursion plans I knew. By the end of the afternoon, both the shore excursion department and I knew which end was up, after all, and I was able to email the count to Project Expedition. I hope I never again have our shore excursion in the first port, on the second day. It’s way too stressful.
All that communication worked to drive people to our Welcome Reception, though, and 33 out of 44 people were present in the Observation Lounge at 5:00PM. SilverSea had set it up well, in a nice big circle and it was easy to talk to all the guests and get a little info on everyone. It’s a very nice group. Our cocktail reception led right into the Captain’s Welcome Reception, and I invited anyone who wished to join us for dinner, afterwards, to please do.
Six people did. It was a lively dinner in Atlantide with the Rands, Pherwanis, and Mitchells. Atlantide is the Main dining room, where the food is delicious, the attention, solicitous, and the china, absolutely gorgeous.
We were late for the show, which was Marc Paul, a mentalist. It was just as well.
September 14, the day of our shore excursion in Ketchikan, Alaska, came around soon enough and we were up at six. It was a good, punctual group and we were dockside at 8:15am. We were met there and escorted our bus, and our Driver-Guide, Thomas. He looked like a typical Alaskan, a big teddy bear of a guy. Thomas is married to a Tlingit, so he understands the culture. Despite the competition from SilverSea’s free tours, we had a respectable 21 out of 44 on ours. It did not disappoint. First we went to the clan Eagle-Bear house for a traditional ceremonial dance:
Then Thomas took us out to the Saxman Totem Park and explained the difference between poles that honor and poles that shame.
And what happens to totem poles when they rot and fall over. There is much respect. It was a lovely setting
But the best was yet to come. Our crab feast was fabulous. We arrived to four flavours of Mimosas, or you could just drink champagne. Then came more wine to accompany a most delicious crab and brie casserole, with all kinds of salads and breads, and a nice spicy salmon dip, too. We all thought that was it, and then, they brought out the crab. It was Dungeness Crab, too, the best. It came with a short lecture on how to eat this west coast delicacy. I thought I knew, after 25 years in Northern California, but even I learned a lot. And was it good! Just when we thought we couldn’t manage another bite, out come the cheesecakes. Oh, my. I did not get one single ghost of a complaint about this tour.
We were back on board in the early afternoon as the ship sailed for Juneau at 2:30PM. After a nice little nap, Andrea and I had dinner in the Italian Restaurant “La Terrazza” without reservations, but were put on warning that we would only get that indulgence once and would have to book next time. It was very good food, so we will. The singers and dancers were on board again at 9:30pm, with a new production show. Wonderful. We enjoyed the show and slept very well.
I had one day to turn around at home and be ready for my own visitors. Dave and Val Lasker, from Napa, got off a SilverSea expedition ship in Iceland and were flown in a charter plane to Montreal today, Friday, August 23. The were arriving late and sleeping in the Chateau Champlain. I would see them tomorrow. It’s too bad it wasn’t earlier in the day or yesterday, because on Fridays, in the summer, the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club has a T.G.I.F. second to none, on what has to be the best terrace in town: its expansive lawn, complete with live entertainment and a harbour full of boats, one of which used to be mine.
Saturday morning, August 24, I was up early and over to Avis, less than a block away. My favorite guy there has been promoted to Manager, and I had booked the Manager’s special. I was wondering what I would get. Oh wow! It was a Tesla and it was RED. Jamais deux sans trois.
There’s a learning curve to driving a Tesla. I got the five-minute course from the Avis guy and that got me as far as the Chateau Champlain. I wasn’t all that sure of myself, but I was happy I was about to be joined by one of the finest techs I know.
I called Val and Dave to let them know I was there. They soon materialized, schlepping their own luggage. There was a hotel employees strike going on. We figured out how to get the boot open and loaded it up. Then we spent about ten minutes at the curb figuring out what to do next. Dave had the Tesla manual up on his phone and is one of the few humans who can actually read and understand the thing. So, we were good.
We dropped off their bags at my apartment, which Val had no small hand in furnishing. We had bought the office furniture, living room sofas and mattress in San Francisco for FGL and this place. Plus, Val had gone to vet an antique Chinese turquoise buffet, that fits perfectly along the back of one of the sofas. She was well pleased with her own efforts, and so am I.
We left Dena to finish up cleaning the place, changing the sheets, etc. and went off for a little tour in our red Tesla. I showed them around downtown and Westmount, with its gorgeous grey stone houses. Then we went back to freshen up quickly, and headed for Old Montreal.
We took the Pointe à Callière lesson on the history of Montreal and drove around a bit, arriving at Le Grand Chapiteau of the Cirque du Soleil about an hour before 4 o’clock show time. It was a good thing we got there early because we weren’t there yet, by a long shot. The parking lot was full. They didn’t care that we had the best seats in the house. I hadn’t bought the VIP package, which I didn’t think was worth it, so we would have to find parking elsewhere.
That wasn’t as much fun as you would think. We had to range pretty far afield, amid heavy traffic and the ubiquitous obstacles that give us the name “cone city”. Eventually we found a parking lot, down a lane. It had a big “P” pointing to it, but when we found it, the machine was out of order and there was a big sign warning they towed cars parked illegally. We were out of time. I wrote “La machine est brisée” on a piece of paper and put it on the dashboard. We were near St. Denis and Viger. If you know Montreal, you know that’s a hike into Old Montréal and down to the port, where the Cirque’s tent is set up.
We made with about four minutes to spare, just time enough for me to buy my popcorn. I am Pavlov’s dog. I smell it. I have to have it. Our seats were in the very first row, centre. Val wasn’t sure they were the best seats in the house, but I was. I always buy them when I can. It adds a lot to be able to see the faces of the performers up close and catch their expressions as they change. I think she was convinced by the time it was over. The show was Kurios, a reprise of one of their first shows. It didn’t disappoint. The Cirque doesn’t and the three of us are fans. We have seen a lot of performances and agree that one a year is a good tonic.
We had to hustle when the show was over, to make our 6:30pm reservation at Pincette. Translation: claw, as in lobster. We could have had a rooftop terrace, and I love those, but this one had a more interesting menu and it’s streetside terrace on St. Paul was interesting enough. We ate well. I had moules-frites, and they were delicious. We took another walk through Old Montreal back to the car, which was still there. We had scored 4 ½ hours of free parking in Old Montreal, but I’m not recommending it.
We had a little nightcap, caught up a bit and turned in early. We had decided on going for a little drive in the countryside on Sunday. The Laskers get up earlier than I do but are self-minding. What helps with that is that Au Pain Dore is just an elevator ride away. Dave made a run before I had even stirred. I don’t eat breakfast anyway, so it’s just as well I didn’t have to make it. What I did do, was call Ginger Petty to see if she and her daughter, Laura, were receptive to the idea of visitors who brought lunch.
They were and I knew just where to get the lunch. Two elevator rides down, on the Metro level, is a Bagel Factory outlet. They’ll put a lot of different things in typical Montreal bagels, but lox is the staple. We got three originals, with cream cheese, red onion and capers, and one with avocado and smoked salmon, to try. To those, we added smoothies, as ordered, three mango/peach and a green one (not mine).
We loaded all that into the red Tesla, and off we went to the West Island, which is the west end of the same island. There’s no accounting for how things get named. We passed Lachine, which the original Montrealers thought was so far out it might as well be China. We made a quick stop at the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club, so I could show them where I spent my last 10 or so Monteal summers. I even found a Mirage 25 to show them.
On to Ginger’s, the long way. We stayed on Lakeshore Blvd, through Dorval and into Pointe Claire. My plan was to pick up St. John’s Rd. and take it North to Ile Bizard, where I used to live, and Ginger still does. But the West Island is Coney Island this year, and we were detoured back to the highway. We stopped at the SAQ for a bottle of chilled Wente Pinot Grigio, crossed the bridge to Ile Bizard and drove, along the waterfront, to Ginger’s. I have described her place before, for the annual golf tournaments we had for a good ten years at Manresa, Pettys’ private golf course. The house and garden still look great, but the weather was threatening and the mosquitos were hungry, so we took our picnic indoors.
The dining room juts out from the house on the lake side, with windows on three sides. Its furnishings are unique, as they come from the Van Horne mansion on Sherbrooke street, which was torn down for the Sofitel Hotel, in 1979. Ginger bought them at the pre demolition house sale, back then. The chairs are haut relief and every one is different, There are six or eight more of them in her town house. Sofitel wants to buy them when she’s done with them. It’s worth googling Van Horne Mansion Montreal. I found this paragraph in it: “The building was controversially torn down by developer David Azrieli in 1973 under the mayoralty of Jean Drapeau, who declared that it was impossible to preserve it for cultural reasons because it was not part of Quebec‘s culture – Hamilton and Van Horne being Anglophone Quebecers (Hamilton was from Ontario and Van Horne was American)”. Makes my historic anglo blood boil.
The weather held through lunch, but just when we were about to go walkabout, and I was going to show the Laskers my old house, which you can see from the shore, it started to rain. Then came thunder and lightning. It was quite the show, and a great place to view it from. When it cleared up, we made for home, through the cones, down the sunken Decarie Expressway, on highway almost all the way, with just a few downtown blocks at the end.
I had booked Bonaparte, in Old Montreal for dinner. I have been going there for 40 years, since it opened. It served me well for excellent customer lunches when I was selling mainframes, for pre-theatre dinners (It’s next to Centaur – our English live theatre), and elegant evening meals for locals and tourists. But, we had had a late lunch and Val and Dave hadn’t had a Montreal smoked meat sandwich. So, we crossed Peel and Ste Catherine, and went to Reuben’s. The smoked meat sandwiches were great, but don’t think it was any bargain. The tab was pretty much the same as Pincette’s the night before.
The Laskers were flying out late afternoon, on the 26th, so brunch was the main event, today, and Montreal has the mother of all brunch places. It’s on Cote-des-Neiges, opposite the cemeteries. It started out as a little French pastry shop, the Duc de Lorraine. People drove there from all over the city for millefeuilles, éclairs, meringues, etc. It got bigger and bigger and eventually opened a little café. The little café got bigger and bigger, added a small terrace, tented the terrace, and added another tented terrace on the side.
They know they have a good thing and they know how to charge. Lunch, with no alcohol, was more expensive than either of the dinners, one of which had wine, the other beer. But, food fans, take a look at the food: Dave’s omlet:
Val’s side salad. She had a beautiful burger:
And my piece de resistance:
The crêpes came with orange or Nutella sauce. I asked for both and did the Nutella decoration myself. I did finish it but didn’t have dessert.
Enough! All good things come to an end. I took the Laskers to the airport and went back on my fasting diet. I have now lost the pounds I put on in August, just in time for another holiday. I am writing this from the plane to Vancouver. More soon.
This time the commercial isn’t mine. It’s Dave’s:
Thank you for your past support of Canine Companions DogFest. Your donations have been vital to the success of our organization. Last year, nation-wide Canine Companions DogFest events raised over $1.5M with donations like yours.
DogFest is Canine Companions’ major volunteer-led nationwide fundraising event. Leading up to DogFest, volunteers like me are raising money to support Canine Companions and their mission to provide expertly trained service dogs to adults, children, and veterans with disabilities, free or charge. Our local DogFest will be held on October 19, 11AM to 4PM at Jack London Square in Oakland, and everyone is welcome to attend. Your donation will be appreciated regardless of whether or not you attend the in-person event.
This time last year, I was raising my 10th Canine Companions puppy Caroline. She started her professional training at Canine Companions Santa Rosa headquarters last May. Unfortunately, she developed significant fear issues and was released from training. Canine Companions standards are very high, and only about 55% of puppies graduate as service dogs. Caroline was adopted as a pet by a loving family in Redwood City. I’m happy she lives close by, and I am able to visit her.
I am now raising my 11th puppy, Casey. He is 6 months old and will live with me until he beings his professional training in August 2025. Casey is smart, calm, and well behaved. He is also very cute. It’s too soon to tell, but I have high hopes for him.
Canine Companions puppy raisers like me are responsible for all expenses of raising a puppy, including food, supplies, and veterinarian bills. The costs of Canine Companions facilities, trainers, and other staff are funded by your donations. The total cost of training each service dog from birth through placement is over $60,000. Donations like yours allow us to provide our assistance dogs to adults, children, and veterans with disabilities, totally free of charge.
You can help support Canine Companions by going to my DogFest donation page at: https://secure.qgiv.com/event/dogfestnorthwest/account/1744151. Please click the “Donate Now” button on the right side of the page to donate with a credit card. You will receive a donation receipt for tax purposes via email. If you do not feel comfortable donating online, please write a check payable to “Canine Companions” and mail it to me at the address below. Please mail your check in time to arrive prior to October 19. All donations go directly to Canine Companions, none go to me.
Last year, when I was advertising my Alaska cruise, one of the things I sent out was a picture of our friends’ Prince Edward Island cottage, that had been flattened by hurricane Fiona, preventing them from cruising with us. Time passes, and flattened cottages get re-built, new and improved. Sheila Mason and Bob Martin invited Andrea Fairchild and my good self to join them, at their new, improved, bigger and better, as in hurricane-proof, cottage on Brackley Bay, Prince Edward Island.
That sounded like fun, and the best swimming weather in those parts coincided with the last weeks in August, after most of the festivals in Montreal were done, so I was on board. When we factored in our time constraints, and two full days of driving, and multiplied that by two, we realized there would be hardly any time for visiting. Plus, if I was going to go past Halifax, I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to see John Kyriaco and Peggy Scott, from my Hong Kong days. So, we decided to fly to Halifax and rent a car.
I secured our car back in January, from on board the Queen Mary 2. I rented two cars, one at the airport and one in downtown Halifax, because it was a couple of hundred dollars cheaper. We would deal with which one to keep, later.
About three days before we were scheduled to fly, Air Canada cancelled our flight, likely because it wasn’t profitable, and kindly booked us on the next one. Well, that didn’t work for us, as we had plans that would have come to fruition, while the plane was in the air. Andrea was coming into Montreal anyway, to sleep at my apartment before an early flight on Friday, August 16, so the sensible thing looked like flying out the afternoon before, arriving in Halifax around suppertime.
Now we needed the car a day earlier. Of course, we had long cancelled the city car and it didn’t matter. Neither the city, nor the airport had any car to give us on Thursday the 15th. We might have been able to bunk into an airport hotel, but I had my doubts that one would be available, and I knew John Kyriaco would never have let me live it down, if I hadn’t told them what was going on. So I called the Kyriaco house. Sure enough, John would not hear of us doing anything but staying with them, and Peggy agreed. She is the best of wives and a wonderful person all around, and she has to be to have lasted with John all these years. He is fabulous, in his own way, and generous to a fault, but his generosity runs his way or the highway.
And so it came to pass that we got off the plane in Halifax, to be met by John, Peggy and the first of the three red cars of August, their spiffy Audi. It took is to downtown Halifax and Salty’s Seafood Restaurant | Halifax Waterfront | Nova Scotia | Dine on the Halifax Waterfront overlooking Halifax Harbour (saltys.ca) . It was a must because they are tearing the building down soon. More’s the pity, as Salty’s is a great place. I couldn’t wait for a real Nova Scotia lobster and it didn’t disappoint. I was in hog heaven and we lost the bill fight to John. This was too much, two airport transfers, room for the night, a lobster dinner and a full English breakfast with John as our private chef.
After breakfast (which I don’t normally eat, you know), John and Peggy drove us to the airport to pick up the second red car. Our “Manager’s Special” rental turned out to be a brand new, red Hyundai compact SUV, just the thing for Thelma and Louise, here. Off we went to Home · Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Nova Scotia, Canada (UNESCO World Heritage Site) Andrea used to teach Art History and Curation at Concordia, so she has a lively interest in museums and had heard this one was good. She had also visited the cliffs, long, long ago, before there was a museum. It did not disappoint. The cliffs are 350 million years old, and come in many layers, which lean into the planet, thanks to a massive eruption at some point in the bygone past. Check out the web site or just believe this visual evidence:
Andrea is standing on the shore, with the cliff striations leaning in. Her trained eye approved of the museum, too. It was well done, interesting and educational.
After our cliff tour, we were on our way to Advocate Harbour, where we had booked a B & B, which had won best restaurant in Nova Scotia I 2023. We figured we’d stop for ice cream along the way and call it Four o’clock lunch. Google took us along the Fundy Shore Road, which could hardly even be called that. It was in terrible condition and went through the middle of, well, nothing. We drove for at least an hour without seeing so much as a gas station, and certainly not a food outlet of any kind, not even an ice cream stand.
Wild Caraway Restaurant & Accommodations, however did not disappoint, except for not serving anything before dinner. We dropped our bags, quickly, and made off to a nearby campground, which had decent, not great, ice cream and horribly soggy cones. They did know enough to give us the ice cream in bowls, with the desperate cones on the side.
Dinner, however, was absolutely excellent. It had yummy local amuse-bouches, soup, salad, scallops, trou normand, and an amazing chocolate berry crunchy cream nutty dessert. We washed all that down with a nice bottle of light red wine, chatted up the chef, who’s from Australia, and went to bed.
Sunday, August 17, we stuffed ourselves full on an amazing yoghurt and granola thing with a delicious eight inch scone, loaded up the red Venue, and set out for Brackley Bay, Prince Edward Island, and our friends Sheila Mason and Bob Martin. I met Sheila through Andrea, as the two of them had been to school together. Sheila ended up a professor at Concordia, too, teaching Philosophy. I didn’t meet Bob when I was teaching the PL/1 programming language, for IBM, at Iron Ore in Sept Iles, back in the seventies, but I might have. He was running the whole company. Our first stop was the NSLC, Nova Scotia Liquor Commission. The government sells all the booze in Canada. We knew to buy scotch for Bob, and added a couple of bottles each of Pinot Grigio and Frescobaldi Castiglioni Chianti. Our route took us over the famous Confederation Bridge, well to Canadians, anyway. Opened May 31, 1997, the 12.9-kilometre (8.0 mi) bridge is Canada’s longest bridge] and the world’s longest bridge over ice-covered water. We expected this to be a highlight, but it was boring as hell, all function, no pizazz, very Canadian.
On the other side of the bridge, we did find an excellent ice cream stop, as we didn’t want to arrive at Sheila and Bob’s, ravenous. The weather was lovely, Google knew the way and we were there before we knew it. Bob was there to meet us. Sheila was off swimming. It turned out the better swimming was a short drive away, much as it looked like it was at the end of the lawn. The cottage is great. It’s an A-Frame, a very big one, with a spacious living area and two large bedrooms on the ground floor and a masters’ suite upstairs. Andrea and I loved our bedrooms.
We had spaghetti and salad for dinner, with apple pie for dessert. The Frescobaldi did not disappoint. It was just what we needed. Bob and Sheila had a real feast planned for the morrow. August 18 might have been a Monday, but it was absolutely a holiday for us. Andrea and Sheila went or a long swim, while Bob and I went in to North Rustico, to pick up the live lobsters at Doiron Fisheries. It doesn’t get more local than that. Then we stopped at the local market that had provided last night’s apple pie and got a blueberry one. At our age you have to be crafty. Bob had invited his neighbors Jim and Fiona to the party. Jim had been a lobster fisherman at one point in his life and the two of them were only in their fifties. So, we had good company and a lobster chef:
He was good at hacking them up for easy consumption, too. There was potato salad and drawn butter , of course, and blueberry pie for dessert. Here are our hosts and their sumptuous view:
None of us drinks the way we used to, and Sheila hardly drinks at all. So, when I was picking the Pinot Grigio, I went for bottles which could be used as décor. See?
They were good, too. I’ll have to see if I can get them in Quebec.
Tuesday, August 19 was our last day in P.E.I. so Sheila wanted to show us the local spots and Andrea wanted to shop a bit. A place called “Dunes” PEI Galleries | The Dunes Studio Gallery and Café | Contact Us (dunesgallery.ca) had it all. Andrea didn’t buy anything to wear but Sheila and I each bought a dress. We enjoyed the art galleries and the gardens, too.
It was caribou steak on the BBQ for dinner, with the leftovers of both pies and the second bottle of chianti. I told you we didn’t drink much. It didn’t matter. We had a fine time with good friends.
Over dinner, we started talking about our plans for the morrow, which included a ferry ride from Woods Islands, P.E.I. to Caribou on the north-east coast of Nova Scotia. I had naively thought we could just drive up and take the next ferry. Well, it was considerably more complicated. There were only three or four ferries, per 24hour period, and you had to book them in advance. Should have done this days, or maybe weeks ago. The 11:45am ferry, the only one which suited our purposes, was sold out. We’d be doing the Confederation Bridge again, for sure.
So, on Wednesday, the 20th, we got up and Andrea had breakfast with our hosts while I exercised. Then we bade our fond farewells and headed for Halifax. On the Nova Scotia side of the bridge, we took another costal road by Cape Tormentine, Bayfield and Melrose, just to get a feel for the scenery. It was better than the Fundy Shore Road by a long patch, but we were happy to rejoin the highway. We took it to the Amherst exit, because we needed to load up again at the NSLC, for our Halifax hosts. We already owed them for the first night, so we bought more and better wine. On the road between the highway and Amherst, we came across:
It was the real McCoy, such as you rarely see today. The waitress told us they baked their own turkeys and basically cooked everything from scratch. This hot turkey sandwich was delicious and authentic down to the canned peas I used to get at Ben’s when I was at McGill.
We got into a nasty traffic jam near the Halifax airport where John Kyriaco and Peggy Scott were meeting us. Maybe it was just John… John was my boss at Hutchison AT&T Network Services in Hong Kong. His wife Peggy Scott worked for Hutchison Telecom, too, and we had all been good friends outside of work. Peggy and Andrea had bonded almost instantly, as good, like-minded people will. I was delighted.
We went back to the house, settled in, freshened up, relaxed a bit (this means email for me) and were treated to John’s seafood pasta with vodka sauce.. Peggy is so lucky to have her own chef. She’s no slouch in the kitchen either, mind you. She’s the pastry chef, so hors d’oeuvres and dessert was fabulous, too.
John and Peggy have a wonderful deck attached to their home, jutting out into their spectacular inner-city garden. It has a fire table, too, and we made use of it well into the night.
On Thursday the 21st, Peggy’s brother-in-law took us for a city tour in the red Audi. The architecture is interesting and varied, both the homes and Dalhousie University, which is huge. Who knew? We especially enjoyed the cemetery, where 46 of those who perished on the Titanic are buried. David, a retired school principal with a second career as a tour guide, knew a lot of interesting stories to tell us. Things continued to get interesting back at the house, where Peggy, who is the oldest of eight children, had invited three of her sisters to tea. They were all delightful and the easy banter among them was heartwarming to watch. Peggy is lucky to have them all and a friend who isn’t even going to tell her red car story.
Next thing you knew, it was time for dinner. It was another great restaurant in the Halifax harbour. This one had even more atmosphere and a very interesting, Asian -inspired menu. I think the food quality might have been better at Salty’s but Sea Smoke (seasmokehalifax.com) had fire tables by the boardwalk, with the world walking by, and was very satisfying, albeit eclectic. After we lost the bill fight again, we skipped Sea Smoke’s desserts in favour of our own walk along the boardwalk to the ice-cream store at the other end. There’s nothing like a walk for an ice cream cone on a beautiful night.
Thursday, August 22 was our last day. It had all gone by so fast. There was another wonderful John Kyriako cooked breakfast, we loaded up the red car, and we were off to tour the countryside. John and Peggy had selected Mahone Bay to show us. It’s a quaint little town, gone touristy but not too badly. We strolled its streets and browsed a couple of shops. Then we drove to nearby Chester and THE ROPE LOFT – Welcome to The Rope Loft for lobster rolls, right on the water.
The lobster rolls were great and again, the waterside deck was fabulous. I won the bill fight by the devious ruse of paying it inside before it was time for it to come. We found ice cream in town after this one, too. John bought it, of course. Then he drove us to the airport and we flew home.
It was an absolutely wonderful holiday. The more I travel, the more I realize that my people are more important than the places and touching bases with old and new good friends is just the best thing in the world to do. So thank you Andrea, and Sheila, and Bob, and Peggy and John. You all made the experience one for the books.
Footnotes: I try not to be political, as I know people can be sensitive, but I have to share my favorite campaign poster of all time. Robbie insists.:
Orange cats for Walz. Gotta love ‘em. And another thing:
Ever notice I have a Facebook account but never post anything there. The only time I used it was during the Wine Country Fires of 2017, when it was useful. I do get other people’s notices and do read what you write but very rarely comment. I keep my Facebook profile as low as I can. So when I saw this:
Apparently people are getting CLONED NOT HACKED on Fb. Changing your password does NOTHING. Heads Up. Almost every account is being cloned. One of your pictures and your name are used to create a “new” Facebook Account. (They don’t need your password in order to do this). They want your friends to add them to their accounts. Your friends may think that it’s you and accept your request. From that point on they can write what they want under your name. I have NO plans to open a new account!
PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT A NEW ‘FRIEND REQUEST’ FROM ME.
Better Safe than Sorry. – Thanks, Dee!
I decided to let you know this way, which, I hope, is safer. That’s why I blog here.
Next stop, Vancouver, September 10, followed by the Silver Nova to Tokyo, and on to California. I’ll be seeing a lot of you. Watch this space or email me.
Fall 2025 – Venice to Istanbul on Explora I My latest Distinctive Voyage
It’s Venice to Istanbul and on to Athens, if you want. Explora Journeys is brand new and its website is giving me fits. So now all the ports are in here. You can wait a long time for Explora’s website to respond. I’m cutting them some slack because they’re new.
Explora Journeys is the privately-owned luxury lifestyle brand of the MSC Group, headquartered in Geneva, at the heart of Swiss luxury hospitality. The brand stems from the long-held vision of the Aponte-Vago family to redefine the ocean experience for a new generation of discerning luxury travelers, drawing on the Aponte family’s 300 years of maritime heritage. Their aspiration is to create a unique ‘Ocean State of Mind’ by connecting guests with the sea, with themselves, and like-minded people.
The Itinerary is great. It starts in Venice, which isn’t downtown Venice anymore. We’ll go a few days early for that. The site has more detail, so I’ll leave the instructions in before show you the ports:
First click on (or copy and paste) (and if this doesn’t work go to explorajourneys.com, fill in the three search criteria with Mediterranean, Oct, 2025 and 2 people.) Then scroll down for the October 18 sailing – 11 nights.
When you get there and click on Details all you get at first is an ad exhorting you to buy by July 31 for the best price. (Always a good idea. You can cancel without penalty for a good ling time, but you might never see today’s price again.)
Give the web site some time. Click on Explora I, first,b efore you click on Itinerary. There you will see the vision for Explora Journeys, and all about the ship. Note the smallest cabin is 377 sq.ft., half-again as large as a regular balcony cabin on most other lines. Check out the 9 different restaurants, for your choices of cuisines. OMG There’s even a creperie and it came in under the bars.
After you have been at the site for a bit “Details” opens up properly and it’s quite grand. Click first on “Itinerary”. You’ll never be able to do everything it suggests for every port, but there are some truly stunning ports on the itinerary. We’re hoping for an end to the war in Gaza, mind you, else the overnight in Haifa will doubtless be replaced with something tamer. It will be a highlight for me if we can go.
Then check out “Suite Categories” to choose your level of comfort. Some of them are bigger than my apartment.
If the site never worked or you didn’t bother, here are the ports we will visit:
And we’ll end in Istanbul, which is worth more time, unless, you, like me, want to go on.
I think I will add the next ten days as a full paying passenger, kick back, relax, and enjoy more of Greece and Turkey, a lot more. If even one of you wants to join me, I will. I have two nibbles so far. This should be the link to the full 21 night adventure: https://booking.explorajourneys.com/touchb2c/ but it didn’t work for me. Best look it up at the first Explora link above. Call me if you’re having trouble, we can do it together. Maybe try this one Explora Journeys Or just feast your eyes on this full 21 day journey:
Ending in Athens. I’ll take you to the yacht club in Pireus. It’s brilliant.
Who’s interested? Who’s coming?
And if none of this floats your boat, come back to Asia with me in the middle of winter. I’m revisiting one of my hometowns. It starts on January 4, 2025, and sails, Singapore to Hong Kong!
As you know, I’m not doing a World Cruise January to May, 2025. I’m just revisiting one of my hometowns. That one starts on January 4, 2025, and sails, Singapore to Hong Kong!
I have no idea why none of you has jumped on to that one, but there’s still time and my Hong Kong add-on will be spectacular.
But – Onward. The first round of assignments for the second half of 2025 and 2026, has just delivered me something small, but spectacular, and I hope a few of you will join me. You may have remembered me raving about Explora Journeys, after I found about them at the Distinctive Voyages Host Retreat, last October. Well, that’s what I wanted and that’s what I got.
Explora Journeys is the privately-owned luxury lifestyle brand of the MSC Group, headquartered in Geneva, at the heart of Swiss luxury hospitality. The brand stems from the long-held vision of the Aponte-Vago family to redefine the ocean experience for a new generation of discerning luxury travelers, drawing on the Aponte family’s 300 years of maritime heritage. Their aspiration is to create a unique ‘Ocean State of Mind’ by connecting guests with the sea, with themselves, and like-minded people.
The Itinerary is great. It starts in Venice, which isn’t downtown Venice anymore. I wanted to see it one more time, before either it, or I, sink into the sea. (The race is on.) You can’t just visit it as a port anymore. I’ll give myself a good three days there. I am going to send you to Explora’s site to see more but, bear with them. They seem to be new at this.
First click on (copy and paste) (and if this doesn’t work go to explorajourneys.com, fill in the three search criteria with Mediterranean, Oct, 2025 and 2 people. Then scroll down for the October 18 sailing – 11 nights.
When you get there and click on Details all you get at first is an add exhorting you to buy by July 31 for the best price.
Give it some time. Click on Explora I, first, instead. There you will see the vision for Explora Journeys, and all about the ship. Note the smallest cabin is 377 sq.ft., half-again as large as a regular balcony cabin on most other lines. Check out the 9 different restaurants, for your choices of cuisines. OMG There’s even a creperie and it came in under the bars.
After you have been at the site for a bit “Details” opens up properly and it’s quite grand. Click first on “Itinerary”. You’ll never be able to do everything it suggests for every port, but there are some truly stunning ports on the itinerary. We’re hoping for an end to the war in Gaza, mind you, else the overnight in Haifa will doubtless be replaced with something tamer. It will be a highlight for me if we can go.
Then check out “Suite Categories” to choose your level of comfort. Some of them are bigger than my apartment.
Another thought: Eleven days isn’t long enough – I might just add the next ten days as a full paying passenger, kick back, relax, and enjoy more of Greece and Turkey, a lot more. If even one of you wants to join me, I will. This should be the link to the full 21 night adventure https://booking.explorajourneys.com/touchb2c/ but it didn’t work for me. Best look it up at the first Explora link I sent you to, the long one. Call me if you’re having trouble, we can do it together.
And, in any case, we spend a few nights in Istanbul at the end. How much fun will this be? Who’s interested? Who’s coming?
I’m getting out of a Montreal Winter again but not for four months this time. Just a 43 day cruise ending in Hong Kong where I’ll stay a week or two. There’s a part of me that still thinks it’s home. Like there’s a part of me in California wine country.
But I live in Montreal now and it looks like this in January
I almost bought this house back in the late ‘70s. But I digress.
I was slow on the uptake at Distinctive Voyages last round of bidding and just found out recently that the round coming up will be for June ’25 to Dec ’26 and I still need to get out of winter. I am happy with what was left there for me, though. I just wish I had done it sooner when there were better cabins to offer you.
43-DAY CORAL TRIANGLE, GREAT BARRIER REEF & FAR EAST (hollandamerica.com) There are only the cheapest cabins left (under $6000 or $8000 Cdn pp), which is ridiculously cheap for 43 days. Totally obstructed view, mind you. You could make a deposit and just not pay if an upgrade doesn’t come through by the time you would have to pay. My guess is, it will. Get out of winter next January and let me show you Hong Kong again! Fully refundable until September.
Just sayin’. Call or email me for a quote and my promise to watch it like a hawk for an upgrade.
I’m still doing Vancouver to Tolyo in the fall, with much of October in California Wine Country, with my friends. If you are one of them, it’s not too late to book me. I just bought my plane ticket home from SFO yesterday. Still not sure when I arrive. More news in another month or so.
It’s not over ‘til it’s over and we had an ocean to cross. On April 29, 2024 I woke up to six days at sea and a travel day home. I was happy to be this well caught up with my logging and blogging. It makes it very smooth sailing. Daniele came by the desk and we took in a lecture at 12:25pm on the secret world of the news anchor. Danièle and Jean had become friends with the speaker, Derek Tedder, a number of cruises ago, and have been hanging out with him on various Queens, ever since. It was my first lecture on board and I have been here since January 3. You can see I am finally relaxing now.
I actually found time to go to the solo get-together in the champagne bar at 5:30pm for the first time. There’s a new crop just boarded for the crossing. There weren’t any appetizing men but there were some interesting women there, and I ordered a glass of champagne for $23, just to get the glass. I had another use for it. Liz and I were meeting the Schéres.
On the way to dinner Liz and I met the the Indian American family. They had an idea for the Farewell Party. They had at least 2 bottles of untouched champagne they were willing to donate, plus maybe some gin and rum. Liz and I had a half-bottle each, too. Could we find a venue where we could serve it?
I figured we could likely use the Atlantic room, as long as we understood it could have other world voyagers in it.
We met the Schéres and their beautiful bottle of Chateau Voselle Lalande de Pomerol, 2014, for dinner in The Chef’s Table. They had brought me a camembert, too, and I was sharing it. You had to see the assortment of glasses we had the nerve to drink this very fine wine from. Despite mine not being the right shape for a fine Bordeaux, it was delicious. You’d think I’d have a picture but we were too busy talking and eating. The very resourceful Danièle had another great idea. She had checked out the King’s Court and they were serving duck. We ordered pastas with mostly white sauces, added the duck and it made an excellent meal, not forgetting the Camembert, which was a tasty change from the bland cheeses on board.
Another day and the cruise is winding down smoothly. I got another log, blog and Newsletter out. It included the DV feedback cards, which I trust they will fill out and news of how our Farewell Get-together will be free now.
I submitted my review to the Lisbon tour operator. It emphasized how well the tour had gone for the all-terrain power chair. They need to know such things. When the rest of the people were worrying about how she was keeping up, she was usually ahead of us, up and down hills and all. I so wish she had come on tour in Singapore.
One of my people, stopped by the desk to chat, and I told her about the Jivans’ Farewell Party offer, and that I didn’t think we could do it because I wasn’t going to do anything behind the ship’s back that might get me fired. She, a diamond Cunard cruiser, with a ton of sea days, assured me that The Atlantic Room was for all world cruisers’ use, and we definitely should be able to use it for our party. She had a bottle of bubbly to contribute, too. So…
I talked to my shipboard contact about it. She took the idea to the powers that be and came back with Q32, a bar that doesn’t open until 9:00pm. The ship could provide us with glasses, chips and nuts and we could order other bar items, like drinks and soft drinks, in advance, understanding that Q32 wasn’t open and staffed.
That sounded good to me and I modified the newsletter announcing the party with this paragraph:
DV Farewell Get-Together:
It’s interesting what happens when smart people start talking to each other. Our farewell party now has a HOST TEAM. It consists of people who never drank the bubbly we all found in our refrigerators when we boarded. That was a gift from Cunard and we want to share it. Our Events Manager found us a venue. It’s G32, a bar that’s closed until 9:00pm. Cunard will supply us with champagne glasses, ice, chips, and nuts. The host team will raid the King’s Court for cheese and crackers and bring their chilled bottles of champagne. We have the equivalent of 4 – 750 ml bottles. If you want to drink anything other than bubbly, BYOB and/or mixer in a glass. Talk to me about that, or if you want to join the host team, which, so far, is: The Jivan Family, Sally Foster, Liz Pratte and myself.
I printed and delivered the letters and had dinner in the dining room with the Schères and it was fun catching up, just us.
The next day, May 1, I called everyone about the party before Office Hour. Party planners, Liz Pratte and a couple of Jivans, came by the desk to, well, party plan. Twelve people came to the Farewell Get-Together, and we were awash with booze and snacks liberated from the King’s Court. There were three half couples so almost every cabin had sent a representative. A farewell party is important. At it people share coordinates, thank each other for favors rendered during the cruise and make plans to keep in touch. Dinner after the party was a non-starter, though, as we had already eaten and drank plenty and people had packing to finish, other friends to say “good-bye” to, etc. Liz and I ended up at the Chef’s table, our go-to.
Then it was May 2 and it was quiet at the desk except for one person coming by to chat and get an email full of pictures, from my slide show, which I have been providing to anyone who wanted them.. Her trader was a video Champ Jivan had given her for a simple thing to do every day to keep all the organs functioning correctly. We are a great group.
One of the single men in my group called, very confused as to whether or not he had a flight home. He told me he hadn’t been out of the room in weeks and had a long beard. I realized I was going to have to step in and manage him. He has all the symptoms of Alzheimer’s at a level where he should not be traveling alone. I explained to him that I was going to check on it and he would be fine, but he had better shave and start dressing and going out, at least to meals. I swung into action, starting by emailing his travel agent.
Then I went to what was only my second lecture on board. It was Daniele and Jean’s friend Derek Tepper on Princess Diana’s demise. I was interested because my Napa friend Moira Johnston had written a book on the subject “The Bodyguard’s Story”. This lecture was part 1 of 2. The Schéres and Iwere going to be meeting with Derek later for more French treats.
It was very foggy, a perfect white-out, with the foghorn sounding every 90 seconds. You couldn’t hear it everywhere, but it was eerie in the Atlantic room, which is just below the bridge, has lots of windows, and you sure could hear it in there.
When the travel agent had not replied by 5pm, I sent out another email. There was a Captain’s party for World Cruisers at 5:15pm, but needless to say, the Captain wasn’t there. You wouldn’t want him to be, when you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. He needed to be on the Bridge.
By the time I was back from the party, I had my man’s flight information, not from the TA, who had yet to answer, but from my ship’s contact. Luckily Cunard had done his flights. I was able to relax a little, but I knew what I would be doing the next couple of days.
Around 6:30pm, I went up to a very quiet neglected corner of the King’s Court, where Danièle was laying out a spread fit for un roi. Oo-la-la. We had a nice big foie gras en torchon, an excellent saucisson, which she had carved with my swiss army knife and a few accompaniments scrounged from the buffet. It was just the three of us and Derek Tedder, who, it turns out, never read Moira’s book, because he had interviewed Trevor Rees-Jones, and he didn’t remember much. Now I really want to read Moira’s book.
Dinner conversation was very lively, as it always is with these friends. We finished it off with sushi and bread pudding. It was a tad unorthodox, but all delicious stuff. The ship’s sushi has been much better on the second half of the cruise, for some unknown reason, likely a chef change. I went to see the Jack Pack and rather wished I hadn’t bothered.
The next morning, May 3 was still foggy but better. I could actually make out the horizon but the foghorn was still sounding at 9am. The travel agent had still nt answered me, so I emailed again, thanking her or having booked his flight and transfer through Cunard, and letting her know I would, at least do his boarding pass and manage him off the ship with the right group to catch his transfer. I asked her if he had Luggage Forward, which would further simplify things, as he wouldn’t have to manage his bag home with him, that way. I took the liberty of suggesting strongly that she not sell him a cruise again, unless he had a traveling companion and thanked her for letting me help.
After my office hour, which was uneventful but did have a couple of goodbyes in it, I went to my man’s room to see how his packing was going and to give him a debark schedule that he could follow, explaining what would happen today, tomorrow and on debark day. It read:
TODAY:
PACK
Expect delivery of envelope from SHIP containing Luggage Tags Red 4 8:20am Sunday May 5
Fill in and attach tags to luggage
Fill in Helen’s report card on Helen’s computer
Give her a 5 for doing this
Saturday, May 4 TOMORROW
FINISH PACKING Have luggage ready to go out by 5:00PM
Helen won’t want to have to come back to nag
5:00PM or thereabouts Be in your room, and expect Helen with your Boarding Pass
Together we will put the luggage out – properly tagged
Order room service for breakfast to come at 6:30AM
Sunday, May 5 DEBARK DAY
6:30AM or earlier Get up, dressed and ready
Wait in room or a public area, if shooed out of room
8:20AM or when called When Red 4 is called, proceed to Gangway with Boarding pass
Pick up luggage in terminal, if necessary –
Obey instructions in the letter that arrived on May 3 or 4.
Get on Bus with rest of Red 4 people
At LGA find gate and proceed close to it
There should be food for purchase near the gate
3:00PM or earlier Watch Boarding Time and Be at Gate well ahead.
4:05PM DL 5785 LGA 05 May at 16:05 – 18:35 05 May . HUQJW4
I trust someone is meeting you in Newark..
He was glad to seee me and had made some progress. He was dressed and there were a couple of things in the suitcase. He had identified a number of things he was willing to leave behind, as he had had a box as well as the suitcase on the way in. He was very happy that I had made him a schedule to follow. Luckily, he recognizes his memory limitations, and was happy to have me organize him.
He wanted to go through a foot high mound of paper and have me throw out that which could be safely pitched. He was happy to sit on the bed, with his feet up, and give me permission to ditch almost everything. The pile went down to about an inch and a half. In it I found some pretty official looking Luggage Forward stuff, so I determined to question this with the ship. They hadn’t volunteered anything but were usually happy to check whatever I asked for. After about two hours I accompanied my man to the King’s Court, where we both had snacks. I wanted him to be familiar with where he would be waiting before disembarking. Then I went off to pack for myself and exhorted him to do the same, saying I would be back to check tomorrow morning before office hour.
I had brought him a revised schedule because I had learned there would be no room service on debark day. I still had not heard from his travel agent and was worried about what would happen to him when he got off the plane at its destination. He would still have to get home. I asked the ship for his emergency contact and put in a Skype call to him, explaining that he couldn’t call me back but would he please email HelenMegan@aol.com. Around 5pm I finally got something from his TA, the email I had in my manifest. It was the agency owner, who had been sick in bed for three days and had finally forwarded my emails to the actual agent. I replied with a short update. She had not given me the agent’s email, so I was still waiting on info from that source.
The agency owner had asked why Cunard couldn’t have given him his flight info, etc. I would have preferred to be thanked for my services instead of being questioned. Cunard would probably have given him some info, if he had even known what to ask for. He wasn’t going to be asking them anytime soon, luckily, I was.
I called Bevs, the Event Manager, to ask her if he had Luggage Forward, which I highly suspected he did, based on a very official looking luggage tag I found in his pile of paperwork. Sure enough, he did, and should have gone to see the Luggage Forward rep on board, who had been doing his thing, until noon today. I had Bevs track him down and tell him that my man would have his luggage out by 5pm tomorrow night, all properly tagged and what else did I need to know? She did track all that stuff down for me. Good.
I had dinner in Britannia with Daniele, Jean and two nice French couples they had met at noon. It was Danièle’s birthday and we had a very nice bottle from their cellar to commemorate it:
Finally, on May 4, the day before we were to disembark, I had a response from the actual travel agent. She had no clue how bad things were with my man, nor how little the ship would do. The world has changed. Passengers are expected to use the Internet themselves for things like boarding passes now. She didn’t volunteer anything about what would happen at the home end, either, but, at least I had her email and phone number. I explained my concerns in my reply, attached my latest debark instruction sheet and asked if she had booked a transfer on the home end for him.
I also got email from my man’s emergency contact, which was very welcome, and replied with his flight information and asked if the contact knew how he would be getting home from the airport. I also suggested he WhatsApp me after five o’clock, when I would give the WiFi to the phone, and we could chat.
Because I had an early flight, I would be getting of the ship, bag and baggage in hand at seven am, tomorrow and my man was getting off at 8:15 am. I tried to get the ship to take some responsibility for seeing that he would get off on time. But they wouldn’t. They wouldn’t even be calling Red 4 and may or not call him by name if he didn’t show up. They don’t care like ships used to.
I modified his DEBARK instructions by hand, crossing out the part about waiting to be called. He had done pretty well with the packing, and I had learned about Luggage Forward, so we would be putting that tag on his luggage when we put it out at five. He was dressed, and looked lonesome, so I invited him to come have a drink with Liz and Amanda and me. We were meeting tonight in the Chart Room to say goodbye.
When I gave the WiFi to the Phone, there was his emergency contact on WhatsApp, so my man was with me when I got the delightful news that the contact, himself, would be picking him up at the Kansas City airport. My man was delighted, as were we all. The contact texted that my man is one of the greatest people he has ever known. It’s so sad. He reminded me so much of Elvon, another brilliant, capable, super nice person, a victim of the scariest disease, one of the greatest people I have ever known.
After I had had dinner, I got our boarding passes and delivered my man’s to him with final DEBARK instructions, which now included the gate at LaGuardia and his ride’s phone number. I emailed same to his ride, too. And so to sleep, fingers crossed.
On May 5, we docked in New York City, and I was up at 5:45am, reading my email from my man’s Travel agent, which was of no use, but maybe I taught her something. At 6:30am I made his personal wakeup call and he was up and alert. Good, because I was getting off the ship at 7:00am, bag and baggage. There was a very long line of us getting ourselves off. It was 7:50am by the time I was through that line, and customs, and into my taxi. There was a 5 boros bike event that day and many roads were closed, opened, re-closed, etc. It was a nightmare for the taxi drivers and mine sure let me know it. I stifled my inclination to educate him in customer relations. The customer doesn’t want to hear all these complaints. It was enough that he was charging me $175 for the ride because of it. That was about $100 more than my inbound taxi, so I wasn’t all that happy, especially when we sailed through everything and were at EWR at 8:30am. He was still bitching that he was going to have a terrible time getting back and it wouldn’t be worth it. So, I suggested he just go home. He might only get one fare today, but it was certainly a lucrative one. I said all that so sweetly.
I was home by 2:30pm and called my man’s ride around 3:30PM to touch base and tell him that he had Luggage Forward. He would have been in LGA boarding then. I petted and fed Robbie and went out for a Smoked Meat with poutine and a carrot cake at Reubens. That, with a Coke and tip, came to $92. OMG
And at 8pm, I was back home and so was my man, thanks to a text from his ride. I slept like a log. I am catching up slowly. I have been unpacking and servicing a few bookings. I’ll be doing taxes this week. Sometime in June, the list of 2025 Distinctive Voyages will come out and I’ll be bidding for my assignments. If any of you want to sail with me, give me a call and we’ll discuss what interests you. For now, I am happy that I will soon be sailing SiverSea, from Vancouver to Tokyo and I do have friends and clients aboard. For now, I am enjoying summer in Montreal, Festival City, as I promised myself.
I’m still writing newsletters but there’s not much left in them now, just the last shore excursion and the farewell get-together. The evening’s schedule was rearranged because of that iconic world cruise event, The Crew Show. I didn’t want to miss it and neither did Liz. So we went to see the comedian, John Evans, at 6:30pm and had dinner in Britannia afterwards. The Crew Show was at 10:15pm and it was packed, but we had timed it well and had excellent seats. It was good. There’s some real talent on the ship but it was all single acts. I missed the Indonesian Monkey Dance and the Tinikling Filipino Bamboo Dance that you always have on Holland America. There were some very good acts, though, and a bartender juggling bottles and cocktail shakers who endeared himself with the number of them that hit the floor. It was so bad, it was good.
Our tour in Lisbon, Portugal on April 25, had a couple of start-up glitches, but nothing that a cell phone couldn’t solve. I forget what we did without them. It was an hour and a quarter to Obidos, during which time Isabel filled us in on Portugal’s very long history and we decided on a date, for our farewell get-together.
Portugal was originally settled by the Phoenicians in the 12th century BC, so it really is old and has been through a lot of regimes. The current democracy dates back to April 25, 1974, fifty years ago, today. Before that was the dictatorship of Salazar, who died in 1970. I got this and more at: Portugal’s Dictatorship: Salazar’s Estado Novo – Portugal.com “Every year, the people of Portugal run to the streets to celebrate the 25 of April or Freedom Day! From older people who lived during the Estado Novo, to younger people, this day is a yearly reminder of the value of democracy, the fight against fascism, and the end of Portuguese colonialism. All over the country, people go out to sing, dance, eat, and march the streets with carnations in their hands. It’s common that florists will give out carnations for free.”
While the people of Lisbon were doing all that, we were in Obidos. A nice romantic medieval town, with narrow streets and cobblestones.
Joyce’s chair took the cobblestones like a champion. When the rest of the people were worrying about how she was keeping up, she was usually ahead of us, up and down hills and all. I so wish she had come on tour in Singapore.
Only about 50 people live here now. The old houses are filled with restaurants and shops, one street of each, it seemed. For me, it was a food fest. Once the guide had taken us along the shopping street, and through the church, I went looking for a bakery. I bought their last three Pasteis de Nata, which I know as Natas Tarts. While I was at it I bought a bag of donut holes and a bag of little meringues. The bakery needed to fire up more of those yummy custard tarts and I was sure they would, but it would take another 25 minutes. I ate my three right on the street, taking inquiries as to where I had found them, as the bakery on the other end of the street was out, too. I then bought a gelato cone and directed six of my people into the gelato shop. I still didn’t have any Natas tarts to take back to the ship, so I walked the restaurant street and bought six more from a restaurant, that was displaying them in its window. They were 20 cents each more expensive, but I really didn’t care. Even so, I asked if I got a better price if I bought six and was told “no, but you get a better box”. That part was true.
We had voted to cut the stop short by a half-hour, in favor of time to take a TukTuk tour of Lisbon itself, before we had to board at 4:30PM. For the six of us who did it, it was really magic.
Our driver was Tania and her company is “nicifeel Lisboa”. You can google that. She was fabulous. She read our needs and took us to just the right places, avoiding the Carnation Day festivities and getting us in where tour buses could not go. She took some pretty good pictures, too:
It was a really good day. Liz and I went to sailaway. Then she went back to her cabin to gorge on the Portuguese delicacies she had bought in Obidos, like the bread with the sausage baked into it, that she remembered from her youth. I had spaghetti at the Chef’s Table, two more Natas tarts, and a few meringues. I had thought the donut holes and meringues would go on the bus, but people just had one each, which still left a lot of them.
Liz and I met up again for the show, the New Amen Corner, who were okey but not spectacular.
The next day, April 26, I woke up full of remorse over the sugar excesses of the day before, took the tarts out of the fridge, added the donut holes and meringues, wrote a note, and left the lot for my cabin steward to share with his mates. That was far better than adding them to my waistline. I wrote a short newsletter to change the date of the Farewell get-together, and had it printed before I was due at the desk.
I spent the afternoon packing and filling a bag of presents, and things I couldn’t take home, for Wanda Arti, whom I would see in Bournemouth, when the ship stopped in Southampton. I was pretty sure I could get everything into my one piece of luggage to take home now.
Liz and I had dinner in Britannia and enjoyed Lee Mead, a West End soloist.
April 27, was the last day of the World cruise, Southampton to Southampton. Desk hour was mostly taken up with saying “Goodbye” to new cruise buddies. Debbie and Polly came to wave to Chew Jetty, and I had forgotten him on the balcony, where I had put him out to charge. I had to do the waving myself. Chris came for a hug and to exchange emails. If we could have a date in Colombo, Sri Lanka, we can surely have one in Sydney or Montreal. Andy came by too and we planned a get together for our little gang later in the day.
Following the advice in the Daily Programme about booking a taxi because there would be four ships in port, I tried to book one on the Internet. It was a fruitless task, as all I could find were rides for more than twice what they were worth. I decided to wrap my ankle well and leave early enough to walk to the train station. It was only about a mile. I took photographs of google maps and directions on my computer screen. I didn’t want to depend on cellular data, which has failed me a few times, and wasn’t going to have us miss our train.
Amanda and Liz and I met our Welsh friends, Ceri and Andy, for a drink at six, to bid our fond farewells. We’ll keep in touch and hope to meet again. Liz and I had dinner in Britannia again and skipped the production show because we’d seen it.
Docked in Southampton, England, on April 28, I got up at 7am to make a 10am train a mile away. I met Liz around 8:40am and we got off the ship as quickly as we could. The taxi rank was flowing freely and we soon had our butts in a cab heading for Southampton Central Train Station. We were there a couple of minutes after nine and there was a train to Bournemouth at 9:30am. I presented our tickets to the clerk and asked if we could change them for the earlier train. He was happy to tell me we could but at a cost of 28 pound. We only paid 11 pound for them in the first place. I couldn’t believe it and I wouldn’t pay it either. So we waited for the 10:03. As it turned out, we could have got on the 9:30 because no one came to check our tickets on board.
Wanda was waiting for us at the station and had a great plan for our short time. It started at her house where she has the most beautiful garden:
Too bad it was too cold to sit in it, but she had some nice Madeira and appies for us, so we were very happy. Then she took us out in the car. Like most of the world, retail shops are boarded up and look depressing, victims of Amazon et al. It’s worldwide. Bournemouth keeps going on tourism and the local university, which is good. Wanda took us to the Royal Park and Pier. It was lovely. They had some beautiful birds in a very quaint aviary. Nowadays, they are rescue parrots, pheasants and budgerigars. I hope they are happy there. They are certainly pretty to look at.
Most of the Victorian hotels, where the rich and famous took the waters, are faded Grand Dames now. The Miramar isn’t, though, and that’s where we went for lunch. It was Sunday, so it was very traditional: Roast Beef and Yorkshire pud, with bread and butter pudding for dessert. It was wonderful and so was its view:
Too soon, it was time to catch the 2:50pm train. Wanda delivered us on time and waited with us to be sure we got gone. There were taxis waiting at the station in Southampton. All was well. By 4pm we were back on to the ship and on to the next adventure.
Old friends, Danièle and Jean Schére had boarded, so, after a nap, I had dinner with them. What fun. I had compliments galore from people who had benefited by their restaurant recommendations in Saigon, Singapore, Las Palmas, etc., and questions from Brits about where to eat in Southampton, when they come to board. Sure enough, I got some of those, too.
Helen Megan 