Tallies

Casino/Black Jack: Up $450!
BINGO: Nada
Shopping: Bermuda brewery t-shirts, coffee mug & magnet; Dramamine; can of Pringles
Buffet: Still open
Trivia: We always seem to be at the buffet.  But tonight we won 2nd place and found some folks to play with.
Hangovers: zero
New Friends: Working a couple of angles.
Specialty Restaurants: 2/4.  Don't plan to go to Jaques (Jacque Pepin's signature restaurant) (SO. MUCH. BUTTER.  Not that that's every stopped me before.)
Seasickness: Just that one day, which is amazing considering the 12-15' swells.
Crazy Waves:

Noises in Room: It's like we're inside a popcorn maker.  So many pops, creaks, cracks, etc.  Since our cabin is mid-ship, and on the 8th level of a 15-level ship, we don't feel the rocking so much.  BUT because the ship is bending and adjusting fore and aft, we HEAR the result.  

Beer selection: Awful.

Internet: Even worse.  Sigh.

Diversions

Apparently there's a Low forming in the Atlantic - right in our northeastern path to the Azores.  That means rough seas - 20'+ swells, winds, rain, etc.- Mayflower-like sailing.  So, our Captain has informed us that we will be heading in a more easterly direction and diverting to Funchal on Madeira Island.  Madeira is closer to North Africa than it is to Portugal, but it is still part of Portugal.

So for now, we're doing some research on Funchal and hopefully will have some excursions to choose from soon.  This diversion adds an extra day at sea before getting to Funchal, but takes away a day at sea before getting to Tangier.  As long as the buffet is open and the internet pokes along, we'll be fine.  You may recall that on our last Oceania cruise (Tahiti to Sydney) we were diverted from Samoa to Tonga...and that all worked out just fine.

One other diversion is the people watching.  It's extraordinary.  I mean, I don't have a lot of wiggle room here, but dayyam!  It's sometimes hard for me to believe what people will walk out of their cabins wearing.

First, you have to understand that Joe and I are just about the youngest people on this ship.  There are a few others in their 50s, but not that many.  So we're not talking daisy mae shorts, shower shoes, pants-on-the-ground attire...we're talking about adults who should know better.

At the pool two days ago, there was a man with hobbit feet.  Real.  Live.  Hobbit feet.  Surely he was Tolkien's inspiration (he certainly was old enough).  Those feet...AND THERE'S A SPA ONBOARD!  They may have refused him service.  I know I wouldn't want to touch that.  Man, get some Rockports or something.

There was a woman last night at dinner...I'm certain she was in her 90s.  She was wearing lovely flowing pants, a cashmere sweater, easily one-carat diamond earrings, and flip flops.  And not nice ones...more like thongs...rubber Wal-Mart thongs.  Really?

Today I saw an elderly man in the buffet line wearing red gym shorts.  Not LeBraun James gym shorts.  Little red and white 1970s gym shorts.  Not only were they waaaayyyy too short, but they were also a bit tight...as if he used to be an Ohio State basketball player and had kept the shorts all these years.  C'mon, Kohl's has sales all the time.

Later in our elevator, there was a woman wearing a pork pie hat - an incredibly horrible choice.  From behind her over-an-acre-square sunglasses, I could tell she couldn't care less what I thought about her little hat.  She also had two ADDITIONAL pair of glasses hanging from cords strung around the back of her neck.  She carried two bags: a giant purse and a giant sun deck tote.  Her jeweled Coach loafers twinkled in the mirrored car, as did her 5-carat diamond ring, her 10-carat sapphire ring, her enormous gold hoop earrings, and her Mr. T starter set of necklaces dangling beneath those extra specs.  I hope no one robs her...before I do.

Clearly we're in for a delightful fashion parade.  I'll keep you posted on our diversions.

Bermuda - Oh we're coming back here

We had to get up early this morning...well, not this early

We had a 9:15 excursion and wanted to get some breakfast beforehand.  

So Bermuda is a British Crown Colony.  The indigenous people are a Carib mix.  The Brits founded a colony in 1602.  Our driver today was 6th gen Bermudian...who migrated from St. Kitts and St. Nevis.  The current population of just over 63,000 is a true mixed bag of culture, ethnicity, and language.  

But mostly Bermuda is about the water...you're welcome:

Oh, and the pink sand

We had a lovely drive around the island, which, by the way, sports nine golf courses!  With vistas like this, you just might wanna work on your golf game.  Me?  Just let me drive the cart.

After our tour, we went back to the dockyard and found the brewery.  Dockyard puts out some pretty good beer.  It's more English style than anything else (which makes sense), so it's a bit milder, but darn tasty!

Then it was back to the ship at 4:30.  We have reservations at the Polo Grill - the onboard steakhouse.  Yum!!

Cheers!

Feeling much better today...but I lost at BlackJack

Thank goodness I'm feeling so much better today!  I woke up a bit tentative, so I had some tea and tried to invoke mind over matter.  The seas were a bit calmer, and Joe's coffee smelled pretty good.  I had high hopes.  By the time we got down to the buffet, I was starving.  Baby, I'm back!

Not much to do around here, we were at sea all day, so we walked a bit, stood in line at the IT desk (never got help - we'll try again on Thursday), had a nice lunch, sat out on our balcony and read, took a long nap, and had a yummy dinner.  The casino beckoned, and we responded.  We didn't have much cash on us, so we played with what we had.  Our first dealer had zero personality, but the next guy, Malek, was hilarious.   He had a schtick for every hand we played.  He was engaging and ever so funny.  We played for almost an hour before losing everything...not bad, and I was thoroughly entertained.  Thanks, Malek.

After giving up at the tables, we strolled over to Martini's - the piano bar - for a drink.  I just want to give a shout out to our cruising friends, Mary and Lou and Matt and Sheila - how we miss you guys!  The ship we're on (the Riviera) is a replica of Oceania's Marina (the ship on which we took our first Oceania cruise and met our pals).  All the same restaurants, bars, services, etc....it's exactly the same.  Every time I turn the corner, I expect to see our friends.  We ached for y'all tonight, and hope we'll all cruise together someday.

Tomorrow we get to set foot on dry land - Bermuda.  I hear the shopping is pretty good, and I can't wait to hit the Dockside Brewery to check out some Bermuda craft beer!  Also, while we're docked, I'll take the opportunity to upload some pictures...the internet is so crazy hinky.

See you in Bermuda!

Oof...please pass the Dramamine

Out at sea heading toward Bermuda, we've hit a rough patch, and I've been hit with motion sickness.  I spent the better part of the day in bed asleep, and I'm still not 100%, but I'm bound and determined that I won't miss our reservation at the Polo Grill this evening.

I suspect my nausea is compounded by the fact that my brackets are busted...thanks, North Carolina.

As usual the internet sucks at sea.  It's beyond me that a giant ship/cruise line - which I'm sure has satellite and internet on the bridge - let's its passengers spend hours watching a little white spinning circle on their devices...one at a time, one device at a time.  Suckage.

Sorry for the short post.  I'll catch up tomorrow - hopefully I'll be feeling better.

All Aboard!

So we grabbed a cab from the hotel to the port of Miami.  Our driver - Mr. I Know Everything/I've Been Driving 12 Years - says, "What ship?"  We say, "Oceania - Bay 59 West."  He tells Joe, "You can stop talking now."  How I wish I could say that.  I mean, I CAN say that, but it would meet with a death ray look.
Anyway, our driver takes us down to the port and immediately tries to drop us about two ships away from where we need to be.  We try to tell him he's at the wrong spot, but he isn't listening...he knows everything, right.  Finally, he figures out where we should be.  I mean, there's a big ship there.  It's pretty hard to miss.  It's the only one that has an Oceania logo.  REALLY?  You can't tell the difference between Oceania and Disney???  You haven't been driving 12 years, you've been driving 12 minutes.  Sigh.

We go through the procedural check in stuff, BUT OUR ROOM ISN'T READY YET!  Then why did you tell me to get here at 1 o'clock???  Mama needs a drink (apparently, don't I always?).

We settle into the bar on the pool deck and almost immediately meet up with a fellow Coloradoan.  I'm feeling better already!

Ah!  We're in the room, we have a lovely balcony, we have drinks.  Welcome aboard!  If I can survive muster, it's on to dinner!  AND, we have the unlimited drink package...life is awesome!!!

God, we had to get up early!

4 AM!!

4AM!!! - we didn't turn off Fallon until after 11...I blame Thank you notes, and his first guest, Morgan Freeman.  So, yeah, 4.5 hours later, after tossing, turning, and waking up about every 45 minutes or so, I stood in the shower and prayed to the Uber and airplane gods that we'd get off without a problem.

The Uber driver swore that American Airlines was on the east side of the Denver Airport...it's on the west - according to me AND THAT HUGE FUCKING SIGN THAT TELLS YOU SO AS YOU DRIVE TOWARD THE TERMINAL.

Our flight was about an hour late due to a microswitch malfunction.  Microswitch???  Something called microswitch shouldn't delay a plane full of people for an hour.  They should call it the YOU'RE GOING TO FUCKING DIE IF YOU TAKE OFF WHILE THIS SWITCH BLINKS RED IN THE COCKPIT.  Our Captain, Captain Jazz (I'm not kidding), didn't seem too worried.  I guess I'm easily calmed by a man in uniform who can tell me with a straight face that that's his name.

Anyway, because of the delay, the flight crew kindly asked everyone who did not have a connection to please stay seated so that the "runners" could get out quickly and hopefully make their flights.  Of course, everyone in the back of the plane came down with sudden onset I have a tight connection disease.  We were seated in the first row, and were very nearly the last ones off the plane.  Hey! middle seat, row 27, that fake look of desperation is not fooling me...

Finally in the taxi, our driver was unfamiliar with our hotel.  It's a Marriott.  On South Beach.  How can you not know where it is.  NO TIP FOR YOU MOSES, SINCE I HAD TO GOOGLE MAPS IT FOR YOU!!

Mama needs a beer.  Fortunately, just down the block from our hotel we found plenty of choices.

My plan is to hit the beach early tomorrow and head to the ship about 1 pm.

Again with the packing dilemma!

Another long trip.  Another shoulder season - not hot, not cold...unpredictable.  Another just-how-many-times-will-I-have-to-do-laundry conundrum.  Another battle with weight limits on suitcases - especially on domestic flights in Europe.  Ugh.

So here we are...hangars are swinging crazily from closet rods, beds are covered in clothes, I have out at least four pair of shoes too many, and we have too many travel books, local maps, and novels jockeying for position in our bags.

Why is this so hard this time?  Oh yeah...we moved since we traveled last, and a lot of our travel stuff is still in boxes or stuck on shelves waiting to be organized.  I've been a bit busy doing other things.  I found the travel clothesline and the luggage scale.  But where the hell is my multi-national adapter?  Sigh.

We'll get it done.  We've been planning this trip for such a long time, it's a little surprising that it's here!  We just got the last invoice today for our time in Seville.  We'll wire the money to the tour operator tomorrow, and the trip will be all paid for...except for coffee mugs and magnets to add to our collection.

I hope you follow along...we have a lot of new adventures planned.  Goodbye, tchau, wadaeaan, adios, au revoir, ciao, addiju, and antio sas!

It's Cruise Time!

Off we go on a transatlantic cruise to Greece!

We're traveling on Oceania - we really like the cruise line (sailed with them to the South Pacific in 2015).  The ship leaves Miami on March 26 and stops in Bermuda, the Azores, Tangier, Mallorca, Barcelona, Cannes, Corsica, Rome, Sicily, Malta, Zakynthos, Santorini, Rhodes, Mykonos, Athens.  Of course there are several days at sea in between the first few stops.  It sounds like a lot (which it is), but because it's a repositioning cruise with not much going on the first week, the price is much cheaper than expected.

Once we get to Athens and disembark, we'll stay three days to do some sightseeing.  After a couple of ancient ruins, museums, shopping, and enough lamb to choke a horse, we'll fly to Seville to visit friends for a couple of days before returning home...whew.

Be sure to come back and see what we're up to on the ship and on our excursions.