800 Miles to Maderia!

Time again for the noon report. Before going any further I must admit that we almost missed the dance class today - and it was at 10:30. The problem actually was yesterday. We spent the afternoon at the art auction. Judy saw a nice painting - original of course - the day before in the gallery when we were having some wine - and it came up for bid. During the break she was down looking at it and really liked it for an opening bid of about $1500. The auction started after the break and the auctioneer turns to our side of the room and says I have your bid. At the time I was doing a puzzle so not really paying attention. Next it is going twice and I realized that he was looking our way. Judy says yes I bid on it and I figure well it is a big ocean they will never find the body! SOLD! DAMM! It turned out the a lady in a tier below us had actually bid. Close call but I can see what is going to happen sometime in the future.
Anyway all that pressure made me a little tired! So we decided to spend some time in the sun and then back to the cabin to get ready. There was a comedian (very good) that was doing another routine. We heard him the first night and we have seen him on other cruises. So that was a 7 pm show. After that it was the art gallery "looking at art" and enjoying the free drinks - any scam you can find. We actually met a very nice couple and so chatted with them for a few minutes while having another wine.
Dinner followed and with the "Ma" having had 3 glasses of wine she was quite talkative at dinner. She had to tell her "American climber story". Then it was off to the Salsa and Latin American party so we spent some time dancing. That Latin stuff is quite tiring! But it was fun! That was followed by the "Canada Day Party" at 11:30 where they played music from across Canada -Adams, BTO, Twain, Hip, etc. So by the time we got back to the cabin it was after midnight!
That is why we hardly made breakfast this morning. We also turned the clocks ahead last night. We will be doing the same today. So today being Saturday, we "decided" to sleep in. Tomorrow we have line dancing (and another time change) at 9:30 so we better put in a wake up call! This morning the dance lesson was the Waltz and they are having an afternoon tea party with dancing so we need to get to that. And these are the relaxing days at sea! Hope everyone is enjoying your weather as it continues to be warm here. Cheers!

Friday 18 April 2008

Time for the noon report. If the date of the message is earlier than about 3 pm it is because we lost another hour last night and will do the same tonight. By the time we finish the late show and then visit the venues, we seem to never get to bed. Then we loose an hour. No wonder we don't get up early in the morning.
Yesterday afternoon was spent just laying in the sun as it was a great day. Ma managed to fall asleep and get a very nice tan/burn while doing so. I was busy here in the computer room and then could not find her as she had moved so I went off to hear a singer.
Last night we went to a painting demonstration and they insisted on serving wine to us again. They must figure that we will buy on of those $20,000 pieces. Ma of course has found one that she likes but it is out of our price range! We also had the special order gnocchi las tnight and then discovered that it was on the menu at the Caribe Cafe for lunch. It was Italian lunch with about 10 different types of pasta. Very good.
Yesterday we answered the question of the day and the ma's card was pulled so she gets a free cocktail! They have changed how they distribute winner's prizes from previous cruises. So tonight we may try the cocktail or go to the Art Gallery party - again! Tonight is also salso night in the Fusion Club and since we have been to the lessons (again today) we feel that we might be able to actually do the dance. Besides who will see! Line dancing class was a bit of a bust as the instrucor was a new one (again). SOmeone from the class actually ended up teaching a new dance and that was better than what the cruise staff did!
Oh the noon position puts us just over half way to Maderia. We get there on Monday afternoon. So the weekend has started. I guess we will take it easy! Time to go back to the auction to see if we can win something!

Noon report is a little later today as we had a bit of trouble with the computer reading my card. All ok now. Our noon position today was about a third of the way across the Atlantic after doing another 500 sea miles and I was thinking what Christopher Columbus would say if he say this thing with 2500 passengers doing nothing but eating and drinking and sleeping all day.
Yesterday was interesting as we went to the art auction. This cruise has about 5 current painters on it so they are selling original works. Yesterday at the champagne auction (Now you see why we go!) they sold about $125,000 of art in 30 minutes - all originals by the same person. The highest bid was $30,000 and with that you got a hug from "Judith" the artists wife. Another $25,000 went in lesser pieces. Having gotten into the Princess art buyers data base (Judy won a free lithograph last year) we got a special invite to view the art in the gallery which of course is open to everybody. So we did go down there before dinner and viewed the art and of course in true fashion (Buck pay attention) we had our free wine and before dinner nibblies! Why buy wine when you get these perks! Anyway we may go view the art again tonight.
Things are a bit calmer overall today and I don't mean the sea. The highest waves have been moderate so it has been a smooth crossing to date. Sun is out and Judy is up near the pool. Yesterday (past 2 days ) I have been a bit off. Not enough to skip the Mexican lunch or dinner but still a bit off. Today the Caribe buffet featured "American BBQ" so we had ribs and shrimp for lunch. I may head for a dog and fries for the afternoon break! Tonight we asked if we could have a side of gnocchi as we missed it yesterday. Of course we can!
Show last night was Motown Review. It was good but not great. However we also saw a magician/comic and he was very good. So they have lots of entertainment on this ship; more than the last one we were on in the fall.
I guess for Mike and Doreen I need to comment on the dance class. No line dancing today but after our 2 mile walk we went to the class and learned the swing. Now that is the dance that is fast and has kicks in it! I will let you fill in the rest of the picture. No one needed medical attention! As far as photos are concerned I need some help with that. You can email them but I am not sure if I can post them here. Thanks to the people who have posted comments. Nice to hear from folks back home!

Wednesday At Sea!

Noon position report time. We are about 2400 miles from Maderia having made just over 500 miles in the last 24 hours. Yesterday was formal night so we had our photos taken again. Then when they are posted we stand and talk about what lovely pictures they are to total strangers! Some Fun!
We discovered that on this ship there is a speciality buffet which is themed. Yesterday is had sushi, fried rice,sweet and sour pork, etc. Today is Mexican Day so we may try lunch there if the dining room is too full or the menu doesn't appeal to us.
Last night at dinner there were 2 couples celebrating 40 years. The other couple had their 40th in January and of course ours will be in June. We did know that the special dessert was coming because we had arranged it through Penny our travel agent at CAA. Thanks to Penny!
After our walk yesterday we tried to do the same a few minutes ago but the sea spray has covered the deck so after 1 turn we decided to head inside where Judy is now reading. We did manage to get to breakfast today and actually sat with a couple that leve about 5 miles away from us in Florida. There are a lot of Florida and California people on this trip.
I wanted to add some photos today. They do have a card reader but I need help to upload as the message says can't do it for security reasons.This morning we went to line dancing. It was basic as we had a different instructor. The one slated for the session has been sick and it is a bit confusing as she did things slightly different than yesterday. We then stayed on for ballroom. Today was the salsa lesson so now I can "move those hips" with the best of the dancers with new knees and hip pins! Last night after a very good singer performed we did stop in the Club Fusion and caught the last to the New Year's Party and did a few dances. By the timewe returned to the cabin we had had it. This might explain the tired feeling for the last few days! Oh I hope that shuttering was a wave and not a torpedo!
Noon report finished. Weather remains in the 70's althought it is humid and overcast!

Tuesday At Sea

This is the noon report from sea. We are currently about 300 miles from Florida, about 3000 miles from our first port of call.
The day started very early yesterday with a 4 am wake up call for the 6:20 flight. We were sitting at the Smith terminal where there is nothing open and nothing to see. While we were in Washington doing one of those new puzzles and we almost missed the connection to Florida. Arrival was good except standing at the luggage claim and no blue strapped luggage pieces to be found! Finally a Princess rep came over and told us he had our luggage. It had arrived on an earlier flight. The cab ride was an adventure as we waited about 15 minutes to get into the port. They were checking id's and it was worse than trying to cross at the tunnel!
Ship arrival and boarding went well. Buffet was first on the agenda. The rest of the time was spent trying to get to know this ship. We have never been on this class before and all the bars and venues are in different places. Needless to say we were very tired from the day.
All the table mates showed up which is always good. We have 2 couples travelling together from California and a mother and son from England. Dinner was the prime rib which was excellent.
We had a time change last night and with the travel and all we were still in bed at 9. Hated to miss dining room breakfast but sometimes you need to sacrifice. Buffet for breakfast! Line dancing (beginnes class) and then an artist demo with one of the featured art auction painters and finally a 2 mile walk around the deck finished the morning. We do have the normal range of afternoon activities with formal night tonight. We will be able to post pictures to this account so that will be better than I could hope for.

Packed And Ready

We finally finished packing! With this crazy cool weather in Windsor it is hard to believe that we are only taking light clothes but we think that the southern route across the Atlantic (to the Canaries) will be a lot warmer than what we feel right now!
Our taxi pick up time (Chris) is 8:00 pm, a bit later than we had originally scheduled but plans are made to be changed.
So another adventure (and trip video) begins!