GALVESTON TO PITTSBURGH AND BACK TO ERIE-HOME SWEET HOME! Answers to What Is This Dish!

Erie, Pennsylvania
Friday, November 8, 2024
Sun,  57F

I am sorry it took so long to finish the blog for our glorious 5 week adventure! We arrived in Galveston as expected on Sunday, October 27, but for some reason it took a long time just to get off the ship. Galveston was not organized, but we did find our luggage and headed for the airport bus that TK has scheduled. The bus was running about an hour behind schedule, but we finally left the port about 11 a.m. I had no idea the bus ride from from Galveston was about 4 hours to Houston. We had to stop at another airport and then on to Bush in Houston.    

Galveston port

Last view from our Regal stateroom, after 33 days!

Thank goodness for TSA pre-check, a great investment! TK had arranged for our stay in the United Air lounge, but that was very crowded. They provide soups, salad, cheese and crackers, brownies, trail mix, and a couple other things so that we ended up eating there.  

United Club/Houston Airport

We did not get into Pittsburgh until midnight and of course, TK who thinks of everything, had arranged a Hampton Inn for us near where our car was parked.  Wise move!

After picking up the truck, we straggled to the Hampton Inn and basically fell into our bed. 

On  Monday morning we made a quick stop at the Grove City Outlet Mall and then onto Erie.  At this time I did not realize that my cold had morphed into pneumonia and a sinus infection, confirmed on Tuesday after a visit to the Urgent Care (which I heartily recommend over the Emergency Room!) I had never had either of these illnessses before but I am so grateful that TK's cold did the right thing and went away (verified by his pulmonologist).  And I am thankful that this pneumonia thing was not as bad as it could have been because I had the pneumonia vaccine. 

Today, eleven days later, I do feel much better. Guess what TK is doing! Planning our next two cruises!  In January 2025, God Willing, we will be heading to the Caribbean with Donna and Lawrence and Colin and Gwenda aboard the Enchanted Princess.

In October 2025 we will be headed to the Mediterranean again about the new Sun Princess, again God Willing.  By the way, this cruise is longer than the one we were just on! 37 days!

So for those of you who have shared our travels with us this time and are anxiously waiting to see what this dish is, TK has the answer!

We had guesses contributed by Ann, Julie, Heidi, Brian, and Chris. The correct answer is MEATLOAF! 

Julie guessed correctly! Brian and Ann were close. Brian said meat wrapped in bacon, and Ann guessed filet mignon wrapped in bacon. Chris was creative, guessing if she was in a sweet mood, some weird attempt at a cupcake atop of layer of French vanilla pecan ice cream with a maple or cinnamon or both syrup. 

Thank you for coming along with us on this wonderful journey!!  Until January!

GALVESTON, HERE WE COME, ENGINE OR NO ENGINE

Regal Princess/At Sea  /Gulf of Mexico
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Cloudy, Cooler than yesterday

Fanai (India-hostess), Janie, Giri /Jr Waiter, and Komang/ Waiter

Giri and Komang are from Indonesia

Even though we are still at sea, something came up and just in case someone is watching cruise news and because this item did get national attention in some areas, the blog is back today.

I did not mention these previously because I did not want anyone to be worried.  I truly think everything is going to be fine and we will arrive in Galveston tomorrow as scheduled.

On September 30 we spent the day in the Port of Greenock, Scotland. Later that day, after leaving the port,  we were in our stateroom about 8:30 p.m.  We heard a loud sort of boom. Shortly after hearing that noise, the captain made an announcement that there had been a small fire in the engine room, the fire was out, and no one was hurt.   TK knew and I sensed there was no such thing as a fire in an engine room without consequences, but no one seemed concerned, so we put that out of our mind.   I did think a little bit about sailing the Atlantic for six days and hoped that all was well.

The captain of the Regal Princess is in charge of almost 5000 souls and I certainly count on him to make the best decision.  I base this trust on Captain Walter Rybka, who guided the tall ship U.S. Brig Niagara many times while I was aboard, sometimes as crew, sometimes as a teacher with my students.  He took that role very seriously and I totally believed in him, especially when we sailed the Atlantic Ocean up the Eastern Seaboard to Boston from Philadelphia.  I know I mention that sail often, but if you knew the perils we faced (e.g. sailing through the NY shipping lanes with 24 hours of fog, hitting a port buoy in the Delaware River in the middle of the night with a rookie pilot on board (with some damage to the ship), the  hurricane chasing us, and the VERY stormy night when the sails had to be taken in), you would know why I completely trusted Captain Rybka’s judgment and why those 8 days on the Niagara as crew made such an impact on me. 

Back to the story which I seem to be making a little dramatic.  On the evening of October 24, we were in our stateroom again, about 5 p.m., when the electricity went out, the water stopped running, and the elevators halted.  We were just about ready to go to dinner. Again, the captain made an announcement that they were working on restoring power, and we could proceed to dinner as usual. He cautioned us not to use the elevators.  The ship had alternate power, so the hallways and common rooms were lit.   I did feel sorry for those people with interior staterooms.  By 6:30 p.m. power was restored, water was running, and the elevators were working. 

Last night about 8 p.m. the captain made another announcement that the ship was canceling the next scheduled cruise out of Galveston on Sunday.  The ship needed repairs and would be out of service.  This decision has huge repercussions—first the current passengers are grateful that we made it across the Atlantic with the problems. About 100 current guests were scheduled on the next Regal cruise, and think about the 3500 passengers arriving in Galveston for their cruise with only 2 days notice that it was cancelled. And, the crew!   Flights, hotels, I cannot even think about it.

 Rumors are quite prevalent and many people are upset. Some say the ship is going into drydock.  The Regal was launched in 2014, and supposedly goes into drydock every two years as is the custom with most ships I have been told. Several crew members said they will be doing deep cleaning on the ship while it is under repair.

We have been on the Regal since September 24, and this is definitely the most eventful cruise we have been on—hurricanes, engine fire, and generator problem.  Tonight at dinner TK and I reflected on each port and how much we have enjoyed the itinerary and the crew members who have been so accommodating. 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/10/princess-cancels-upcoming-cruise-onboard-regal-princess/

We did finish packing today and that went quite well. We stuffed everything into our luggage. When TK weighed mine, both were about 46 pounds. His were about that much too.

TK's Takes: He thinks he is becoming a germaphobe. Lots of coughing going on. 

TK has one more "Guess This Dish"

Guess what dish this is!

TK and Janie with Komang and Giri

Janie on formal night

Voice of the Ocean Competition

I like this event--we really get to vote!

Judges have swivel seats

TK's Luggage ready to go!

Janie's Luggage too!

Just as an aside, it probably wasn't a good idea to start reading Clive Cussler's Valhalla Rising,  a book about a luxury cruise liner that becomes a raging inferno and sinks mysteriously.  I finished reading all the books I brought with me, this book was dropped off at the ship's library, and Clive Cussler is a favorite author.   We will be safely in Galveston in about 9 hours.

Aside to Donna:  TK was happy that Mamma Mia was playing today!  Lawrence's favorite movie!

AT SEA AND A SHINY STAINLESS STEEL KITCHEN!

Regal Princess/At Sea 
Friday, October 25, 2024
Sun, Hot 80s

Princess photo of TK and Janie

 in Cork, Ireland

Right now I am hoping no one back home has mentioned they are arranging a visit to a mental hospital for someone who wrote half her blog yesterday about wandering around in a Caribbean town looking for a battery so she could safely bring 200 pounds of luggage back to Erie.  That is not something one should worry about when there is so much going on in the world.  

Sea days are notorious for reflection, sun, Gulf of Mexico stretching to the horizon, Zumba classes (yeah right), trivia games, bingo, more bingo, art auction, live music everywhere, afternoon tea, and so much more to do, to say nothing about eating.  Buffet (Horizon Court), dining room for lunch (Allegro), pizzeria, burger bar, gelato place, ice cream bar, International Café, so many choices. 

I did have a little bit of a melt down as we sauntered by the buffet. TK quickly abandoned me. WHO would put kale in a chicken pot pie??  Chicken pot pie is one of the very few things that I like at the buffet. But kale?  I cannot eat kale and for the life of me I cannot understand why anyone would put kale in such a perfect dish. Why?? The lady who witnessed this meltdown selected one pot pie right in front of me.

Enough of that—the highlight today was the Culinary Demonstration in the Princess Theater and then the Galley tour. The Executive Chef, from Bulgaria, and the Director of Restaurant Operations, from Romania, basically did a comedy routine as they demonstrated making a pesto (Trenette al Pesto Ligura), Shrimp fra Diavolo, and Black Forest cake.   Between the two men, they manage about 450 staff, almost half the crew on the Regal Princess

They both joked about each other’s country-both on the Black Sea.  The best joke was told by Enache Popescu, the Romanian. First Daniel Tanchev, the Bulgarian, mentioned that in his country they throw rice at the newlywed couple after the wedding ceremony for luck.  Enache said in Romania they send the children to gather stones before the wedding. After the ceremony everyone throws the stones at the mother-in-law.  He said he hasn’t seen his mother-in-law since his wedding.  I definitely have someone I can verify this with!!

After the dishes were made with much joking around, the audience was invited to the main kitchen.  This was an abbreviated tour compared to some we have had.  As always, the area is spotless, stainless steel as far as one can see.  The staff within view were very proud of their work, and rightly so.

Shiny, stainless steel kitchen!

Carved watermelon

Tonight is a formal night, so TK and I must prepare our fancy duds. Lobster and prime rib on the menu!

Note: A couple days ago we enjoyed lunch in the Allegro dining room with Barb and Bob (MI), Stacy and George (CA), the people who organized our Orkney Island tour.  We caught up with everything we all have been doing.  What pleasant people we meet!   Since they are veteran cruisers, we hope to see them again on another cruise!

I finally purchased the Princess photos I wanted—

TK and Janie in Belfast

TK and Janie in Liverpool

Tomorrow is packing day, and we will be cramming all that jewelry and woolen sweaters into 4 pieces of luggage, to say nothing about 5 Starbucks cups.  Sunday morning we will arrive in Galveston. Our flight back to Pittsburgh is late, so we are staying there for the night. Back in Erie Monday—we are ready to be home!

GRAND CAYMAN, GUY HARVEY, AND BATTERIES!

Regal Princess/Georgetown, Grand Cayman
Thursday, October 24, 2024
Sun, 86F

Welcome to the Cayman Islands!

Regal Princess looking regal in Grand Cayman

 Another beautiful day greeted us as we arrived in Grand Cayman. This is a tender port, so we hopped onto a boat to take us into Georgetown.  We needed a battery for TK’s luggage scale so we opted to walk about 1 ¼ miles to the nearest large grocery store, Kirk’s.  As we slogged along in the heat, along the shore, I wondered how soon one of us was going to cave and hail a taxi. 

The battery was a necessity because, well, because our luggage weight limit is 50# each and we are a little apprehensive about the outcome of our visiting so many ports and indulging ourselves with stuff, like jewelry.  Just kidding. Do you have any idea what a wool sweater weighs? And socks that say “feckin’ eedjit?”

After many steps in the heat and doubting that there really was a store with a battery, finally a large grocery/pharmacy store (comparable to our Wegman’s) appeared like a mirage.  With full on air conditioning!  TK said he didn’t care one way or the other how long it took to find a battery, he was staying right there.  I found a clerk who took me straight to batteries and Voila! there was the pot of gold so to speak. (I hesitated to say Holy Grail, I did not want to blaspheme).

Kirk Market and Pharmacy!
Not a Mirage

Kirk's

Charming old building on the main road to 

Georgetown

It has withstood many storms!

As we started trudging back to the main part of the town, TK perked me up with an offer to stop at Burger King for a soda. How many BKs overlook the Caribbean, I wonder?!  We probably spent an hour there and met two very social residents who wanted to know more about the ship and told us about their visits to the U.S. with their families.  That was a very nice respite from the heat and our hike.

Burger King!

Fully “re-charged,” battery in hand, hydrated, we hiked back to the shops. This is the tenth time that we have been to Grand Cayman. The most spectacular visit was when we swam with the stingrays / Stingray City, something Grand Cayman is famous for.  A boat took us to an area where the water was not over my head and very warm.  After we got out of the boat, the tour guide gave us each food for the sting rays and said to hold our hands like we were feeding a horse.   I was pretending to be a big girl and held my hand out with food when my brain realized, “These aren’t horses!”  But as soon as I spotted a photographer who was going to take my picture, I stepped right up! For the old Erie Fire Department Rescue Diver, this was “old hat.” He who has done scuba in Alaska, the Atlantic, and the Caribbean, and Lake Erie, of course.

Anyway, we sauntered along, walking in and out of souvenir shops. Our main goal was the Guy Harvey shop.    Born in Germany to a British officer and his wife, and raised in Jamaica, Harvey earned his Ph.D. in Fisheries Management and Fish Biology. A very talented artist who now lives in Grand Cayman, he depicted Ernest Hemingway's fishing story "The Old Man and the Sea" in a series of 44 original pen-and-ink drawings and displayed them at an exhibition in Jamaica. By 1988, Harvey was considered one of the world's top saltwater game fish artists, and his reputation has only grown since.   We purchased one of Guy Harvey’s acrylics a few years ago that depicts the yellow fin tuna that TK wrestled with in Mazatlán several years ago.  Harvey is dedicated to ocean conservation and marine science literacy.  https://guyharvey.com/

In front of the Guy Harvey shop

Looking down at Guy Harvey's shop

Anyway, we appreciate his art and his dedication to ocean conservation, and we always visit this shop. TK purchased a fab button-down shirt today.  For lunch we visited Guy Harvey’s Boathouse Grill, second floor overlooking the sea. Great breeze and great burger! 

Guy Harvey Boathouse Grill

Janie at Guy Harvey's Boathouse Grill

TK waiting for lunch

TK is paying the bill!

Sharkee's used to be Margaritaville

where we often had a cheeseburger

in paradise!

There was a little excitement today on the ship about an hour before dinner, while we were still in port preparing to leave—there was a power failure—no lights, no water (fortunately TK had just finished his shower), no elevators. This has never happened to us on a cruise ship, although TK said he experienced that on his Navy cruiser (I think that circumstance would be much worse on a warship, if anyone asked me).

We were informed that there would still be dinner, but not the elevators. That seemed unusual, but we walked down seven floors to the Symphony Dining Room and indeed, there was dinner, prime rib tonight. By the time dinner was over, the elevators were working.

This is the last port before Galveston, two more sea days.  I think we are ready to go home.

TK’s Takes: Another hot day. Found the batteries.

ST THOMAS NEVER DISAPPOINTS! CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION TODAY!

Regal Princess/Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI
Monday, October 21, 2024
Sun, 88F

 

Port of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

WARNING:   This post contains information about buying jewelry.

Since this was our 23^rd time in St. Thomas, we knew what we wanted to do. Let me rephrase that—I knew what I wanted to do! But first, because this was our first U.S. port after being in Europe, everyone on the ship had to go through Customs and Border Protection.  Passengers were given a specific time slot to go through this procedure in the ship’s dining room, beginning at 7 a.m.  Apparently all the CBP agents did not show up, so everything was backed up. It is a simple procedure: show your passport and have your photo taken, that is all.  It took us one hour.  We were in the 6^th group. I really felt sorry for those after us because we found out some did not get off the ship until after 11 a.m.  

 

L to R: Regal Princess, Sapphire Princess

Only two ships in port today

When we were finally able to leave the ship at the Havensight port area, we looked for an open air taxi for downtown.  This part was a mess too. Usually, the taxis are organized into those going to beaches and those going downtown.  Taxis were all over the place with virtually no plan for the two groups. Finding a taxi took another 45 minutes. Don’t they know we have jewelry shopping to do?   We did learn later in one of the shops that today/this week was the opening of the season.

 

Open Air Bus in St. Thomas
(photo from another passenger)

I think downtown Old St. Thomas is a treasure—the buildings are very old.  Charlotte Amalie has the largest collection of colonial buildings in the Caribbean. Most of them are classic Caribbean adaptions of English Georgian architecture built by the Danes, dating to the 1830s. What I call the main street is filled with stone buildings that have withstood multiple hurricanes through the years, with major hits about every eight years. Even the double hit in 2017, Hurricanes Irma (178 mph wind, Category 5) and Maria, did not destroy these stone buildings. Of course, other areas of the island near this port were devastated, including Friend H’s favorite hotel.

I wonder what stories these buildings have to tell. Many of the shops maintain the original bare stone walls and I do find them fascinating.  After visiting our favorite jewelry shop, Alpha Jewelers, for a check on my rings, reinforcing the prongs, a thorough cleaning, and replacing a small diamond on one ring (all at no charge), we continued our walk around the charming town.   https://alpha-jewelers.com/

 

Alpha Jewelers

We stopped at Gladys’ Cafe (https://gladyscafe.com/) for lunch where many locals eat, roast chicken, rice and beans, plaintains for TK and a burger for me and then headed back to Alpha to retrieve my rings. I may or may not have made another purchase.  By the way, I am grateful that my brother makes beautiful necklaces for me!

Gladys' Cafe

Inside Gladys' Cafe (photo from Internet)

TK’s Takes: Even though the temperature is 88F, it feels like 99F. This is the only cruise where he went from wearing gloves, layers of shirts, long pants, and a coat to wearing shorts and a tee.

Love this police car!

TK was very interested in this

A Hampton Inn is being constructed

right next to the port at Havensight!

Note:  Tonight at dinner I learned from Friend F that there is a Maitre d' on Sapphire Princess who has worked for Princess for 52  years!!   That is a wonder!

LAND AHOY! ANTIGUA!

Regal Princess/Antigua
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Sun, 86F

TK and Janie arrive safely on land!

Even though we were expecting rain, Antigua greeted us with full on sunshine! And heat! And finally, LAND!!  This is our fourth visit to Antigua, the last time was in 2019 with our Wisconsin friends Donna and Lawrence.

From the blog, February 4, 2019: “We started the day with Lawrence of Antigua which inspired our Lawrence to say he was Lawrence of Wisconsin. Antigua Lawrence was a good tour guide, and his Nissan bus easily held 18 passengers. The island is not volcanic so there are no high mountains as we drove along the English side of the road. It is not a large island and has a population of about 100,000. The main industry is tourism. In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, sugar cane factories were the economic advantage. We passed old sugar cane factories as we drove along. We stopped at several overlooks to see the beautiful harbor. In one area we could see both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.”

2019

Antigua is known for a regatta it holds in April

One of the many beautiful bays

 According to the Internet, the tropical islands of Antigua and Barbuda are located in the heart of the Caribbean about a thousand miles to the east of Jamaica and half that distance from Trinidad on the coast of South America.

The Flag of Antigua and Barbuda

Ironically, Wikipedia states that the island of Antigua was born out of the sea by a volcano about 30 million years ago (contradicting our 2019 tour guide). On the northern flank of this volcano, reefs were formed, hence the greater part of Antigua is low lying and is composed of limestone rock.

The population of Antigua is approaching 93,000. Days and nights are refreshingly cooled by the gentle trade winds. 

This morning when we arrived, it was already very warm.  We did not have a tour scheduled and walked the area built for tourists.  In truth, some islands have areas built for tourists and if one looks beyond that area the living conditions are exposed.  Many (maybe even most) of the islands we visit are economically dependent on the cruise ships that visit regularly.  It is a different atmosphere compared to the ports in Europe.

Regal Princess poses with Janie

Note to Jim B: TK and AI -- that's pretty funny!

CLASSIC FRENCH TOAST AND ANOTHER DAY AT SEA!

Regal Princess/At Sea on the Atlantic Ocean
Friday, October 18, 2024
Sun, 82F

Another day at sea, so not too much to say.  TK’s photos will tell some of the story.  It really was a beautiful day in the Sanctuary. Darn good thing I brought so many books--sitting still is not my passion and at least they keep me occupied.

We did decide that the birds we are seeing may be albatrosses, as Friend Chris mentioned. Such an interesting bird, but my quick research does not seem to show that they exist in the North Atlantic, which is where  we are. Tomorrow I will check with the crew.  Today we both saw one dive into the sea right off our balcony to catch a fish. Still no other sea creatures and no more ships.  

The Third Officer announced today that we are 2325 miles from Funchal, Madeira, and we only have 722 miles to go to Antigua. He also said, for my engineer sons, that this ship has 4 diesel generators/4 stroke engines. Two do 16,800 kw, and two do 14,000 kw, whatever that means. The maximum speed of this ship is 21.9 knots or 25.2 miles per hour.  A quick Google search reported that an aircraft carrier can go between 34 and 40 miles per hour--I don't think we could outrun an aircraft carrier.

Finally, we went to a movie under the stars tonight, Argylle.  The popcorn was very good.

TK thinking about his 

"Guess What This Dish Is" contest

in the Symphony Dining Room

Before the movie, music and 

dancing water (red and blue)

Pool area, Deck 16 earlier today

TK'S  CHALLENGE FOR OCTOBER 16: ANSWER FOLLOWS---

Guess what this dish is:

GOOD GUESSES ALL  -- THANK YOU!!

Four guesses were sent our way

1. 
   AnnThursday, October 17, 2024

   Boy, those seagulls must be tired, but they probably soar with the wind currents. I say the mystery dish is English muffins.

2. 
   TekkumeepThursday, October 17, 2024

   Maybe albatrosses instead of seagulls? Albatrosses are known for flying great distances without landing and without a lot of wing flapping needed, riding the air currents. If those are English muffins, they look burnt. Someone’s shot at cinnamon rolls? Lol

3. 
   Jim Friday, October 18, 2024

   Well the site would not let me publish my response for the food yesterday. So for today i tried the scratch and sniff and I got nothing.
   A Spanish biscuit infused with whipped honey butter and painted with a tomatoes puree.

4.   Julie -- A basket of English muffins

5. ACTUAL ANSWER:  "CLASSIC FRENCH TOAST"

6. Can you believe that???  That is about as different from French toast as I have ever seen