APPROACHING THE CARIBBEAN, REFLECTIONS AND MUSINGS

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

At Sea/Atlantic Ocean

Aboard the Enchanted Princess

Room Aloha 212

Sunny, cloudy, some rain, some choppiness, 80F

 

 

A most beautiful sunrise, 12.05.2023

This certainly has been a lively adventure, from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale and all points in between. 

 

La Sagrada Familia, stolen purse, sfogliatella, markets, churches, vineyards, fresh pizza, medieval villages, a mini suite with 2 TVs, fabulous weather, hometown Aix en Provence, Baroque-Romanesque-Gothic architecture, cobblestone streets, extra virgin olive oil, buffalo mozzarella, gelato, Thanksgiving, St. Peter’s Square, Tuscan farm, truffle smelling dog, Napoleon, fish n chips, The Sanctuary, a litany of just some of the highlights of this cruise! We are so blessed to have the resources and health to take such a grand trip!

 

For the past few days, the transatlantic crossing has been fairly uneventful We have only seen two other ships, headed east. For three days the captain, providing his daily report over the PA system, said we were in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, whatever that means! I doubt we dropped anchor anywhere. I wish he would tell us how deep the ocean is at the point we are when he speaks, as others have done.  Let me guess. It’s deep!

 

We have seen a bird or two, and I learned that some birds can fly for thousands of miles without landing—the albatross (which we have not seen) is one example.  It has been much warmer every day, and today we were told air temperature was in the 80s Fahrenheit.  We may have passed Bermuda this morning, but TK and I missed that.  Some days have been quite windy, and there have been rain showers that we pass through.

 

The Enchanted Princess is huge, with a length of 1083 feet and a breadth of 126 feet, and we feel very very small standing next to it in port. But, on the ocean where the sea is endless, we realize how small we are and how small the ship is in comparison. I always think of my Mayflower ancestors and how it must have felt to be surrounded by the vast ocean with no clear picture of what lay ahead.  The Atlantic Ocean makes up about 20% of the earth’s surface.  Explorers and pioneers, moving civilization along!

 

Today we had lunch with our Vancouver now Nova Scotia friends, Vickie and Bernie. We met them in 2009 on the Grand Princess, the same time we met Donna and Lawrence (WI), Brian and Nancy (CA), and Colin and Gwenda (GB).  That was such a fun cruise and we have cruised multiple times with these friends.  Vickie and Bernie are now retired and enjoying their new home in Nova Scotia, and they cruise A LOT. To my recollection they have over 800 days on Princess cruise ships. In addition, after retirement Vickie also was the “Destination Expert” on various cruises.  They are devoted cruisers and we enjoyed catching up with them today—and I wish I had taken a photo!  Her blog is at https://vickieandbernietravel.blogspot.com/

 

I only have 3 books left from the original 13 that I brought. I need one to read in the airport and the plane and will probably finish the other two tomorrow.  I take the books to the cruise ship book exchange when I am done.  I’m grateful for the gift certificate to Barnes and Noble for my birthday from our Jamestown family!

Three books read on the crossing, plus 2 more to date.

 Another gift from last Christmas was a travel laundry bag that I first saw in Genoa and our Erie family bought it for me—I love this bag, and TK has one too.  This is a great gift for a traveler!  https://kikkerland.com/ 

Great gift for a traveler!!

For years I have intended to describe my “purse” in the blog too.  I admit I won’t win any fashion contest with it, but the bag is very serviceable.  In 2008 I was looking for a bag that would safely carry everything I needed on a trip to France and Italy with my two friends Judy and Cindy (friends from our year in Aix). It had to be lightweight and strong. My first one was black, and I had it for at least 10 years. Five years ago, I decided I wanted a different color and purchased the green one.  It has multiple zippered compartments, but not too many that I can’t find things.  https://toughtraveler.com/

Tough Traveler purse

Contents! Obviously I do not carry my DSLR camera in it all the time

But I could if I wanted to!  Book, phone, wallet, notebook, pencils and pen, sunglasses

Princess daily activities "Princess Patter," password book, business cards, mirror,

lipstick, Tide to Go, hairbrush, emery board, Ziploc bags (for croissants)

OTC meds, insurance cards

By the way, this is THE PURSE I left on the sidewalk in Barcelona

 

Tomorrow I hope that we can enjoy the Sanctuary one last day, but part of the day has to be reserved for PACKING.  This is a very dreaded chore and remember the olive oil, soaps, creams, olives, “immortal oil,” and argan oil I bought. Oh boy.

Entrance to The Sanctuary

TK wanted everyone to see the teacart and choices. 

Dinner Menu for 12.06.2023 

Starters

Dinner Menu Entrees

Always a vegetarian,  2 fish, chicken, pork, and beef entree

and pastas

Carrot Cake tonight--the best dessert ever!

Carrot cake that tasted like carrot cake!!

One more thing:  Two women, "The Mysterious Strings," play violin and cello--they are excellent. The instruments are very unusual.

Cello

Close up of the violin

TK's Takes:  This ship takes the waves very well.  

TIME ZONES:  He laments the 14 time changes we have experienced. We flew to Barcelona with five time zones--but really changed our clocks once. There were more gradual time changes as we traveled east on the Mediterranean. As we headed west again, we have had to change our clocks many times--he counts 14 times going over and returning.  To Janie that just means more sleep. 

I purchased this photo from the Photo Gallery tonight

I like it!