Did We Bring Too Little/Too Much?

We’re on our 98^th day of the World Cruise and Michael has been wanting to go home for about three weeks now – he’s missing his recliner.  For me, I said on Day One that on May 11^th I will be very unhappy to leave the ship.  I’m still holding that opinion and cannot imagine grocery shopping, doing laundry, making the bed, fixing meals, etc., etc. and I will surely miss that knock on the door from room service bringing me prune juice and muesli every morning.  

Except for a short time in Europe, the weather has been hot and usually humid.  We’re now approaching Curacao and again experiencing tropical weather.  I’ve already told Michael, who has been in his glory for the past three months in this hot weather (you all know how obsessed he is with weather and, particularly, Pacific Northwest rain), that he is not permitted to talk/complain about Seattle weather for at least a year.  You probably all know, as well, that I don’t tolerate temperatures above 65 degrees so the one thing I will not miss about living on a cruise ship is the hot and humid climes. 

One of the very first articles I wrote on this travel blog was about my preparations for this cruise.  We brought on three boxes of consumables which are pretty much gone.  I accurately projected just about everything, except for my toothpaste and had to buy two extra tubes as well as one additional bottle of hand shop.  Of course, the ship has soaps, shampoos and shower gels but I’m accustomed to my favorites.   I brought too many q-tips and deodorant but I will leave everything we don’t use with the gals at the spa when we leave.

We’ve also been asked that if we have any clothing that doesn’t fit/we don’t want/we’re sorry we bought we can turn it in for distribution to various charities in ports we’ll be visiting during this segment.

As usual, I don’t really know why I bother bringing a bathing suit or a cover-up because I seldom, if ever, use it.  On this cruise, I pulled my bathing suit out once in Europe to use the hot tub.  Although, in the past, I have absolutely loved the saunas aboard and, of course, need the bathing suit, I just couldn’t bear going into a hot and humid steam room when all I have to do is go out on the deck.  Saunas are great in cooler climates. 

I only realized a couple of months ago that blueberries are, in fact, available.  However, they do run out quickly and new deliveries are made only at certain ports.  I did bring three very large cans of freeze dried blueberries and, thanks to my wonderful waiter who not only gives me berries in the evening for dessert but also gives me a bowl for my breakfast the following day, I still have about a third of a can left.  I also alternate between rice milk available on the ship and the 24 cans of coconut milk I brought with me – so I actually have three cans remaining which will be used up by the time we leave. 

I had prepared my wardrobe, bringing around 35 evening outfits and 12 formal outfits, each marked meticulously on a calendar.  I really didn’t need to bring those extra Chicos tops in different styles “just in case.”  I hadn’t realized that there would be so many great places to shop and, thus, some of my original evening clothes have only been worn two times because it’s just too much fun to wear unique clothing bought in exotic locales. 

We are planning to book the World Cruise for 2018 but whether we actually do it will be decided sometime next year.  (Quite a few people do this cruise every year and we actually know one gal who’s done it 7 times.)   We do, however, want to take advantage of the amenities offered by booking early and can always cancel before the final payment is due. 

If we do come again in 2018, I would probably take less “daytime” clothes because I tend to wear my favorites and I don’t really need five pairs of white and black pants because we have laundry service onboard. 

We actually thought there was dry cleaning aboard and when Michael sent in one of his suits for cleaning, our cabin steward returned it and said it cannot be dry cleaned and the laundry master, of course, would not wash it.  We have since learned there is no “dry cleaning” onboard because of the chemicals and the environment, but, probably more so because of the expense.  Of course, the maître d, head waiters and waiters all have tuxes, etc. and I asked the people “in the know” how are these uniforms cleaned?  Obviously, they can’t be washed.  What we were told is that they are “refreshed” – meaning that they’re sprayed with something to freshen them up. (I’m not convinced that dry cleaning isn’t available to the crew and bridge staff, but, hey, that’s what we were told.)  As a result, Michael is now in search of washable suits, sports coats, etc. 

Michael’s Observations:  I brought way too many clothes.  I brought four suits, two sport coats, three tuxedoes and forty-two shirts, six pairs of shorts, four pairs of dance shoes and six pairs of tennis and other shoes.  I now realize that I only need a couple of sport coats to wear a combination of white shirts and ties and my fancy silk and rayon shirts.  I’m looking at TravelSmith for sport coats – they actually have a line of washable wool sport coats.  So, in the future, I would only bring white and black washable sport coats, one tuxedo, two tuxedo shirts, two white shirts and my fancy Jams World rayon shirts. 

I’ve been very pleased with the laundry service.  They’ve done a superb job on my shirts – some of which are custom-made and quite costly.  Underwear and socks have all come back in excellent condition and, in three months, only one of a pair of Leona’s socks has gone missing. 

In terms of consumables, Leona did an excellent job of predicting our needs and, as she said, we will leave any unopened products with the spa staff. 

Because this is an older ship, the closet is incredibly small – probably no more than 3’ wide, so I’ve made good use of 3Ms removable hooks which have been strategically placed around the cabin.  Additionally, I can take these with me and buy new backings for future cruises.   Under these living conditions, you have to find every nook and cranny available to tuck things away and out of sight. 

The walls of the cabins are all metal so they have also been used for the many new magnets that will be added to our collection. 

Leona’s Observations:   I hear what Michael is saying about his clothing but I will be VERY surprised if he doesn’t bring at least one of his suits.  No way can this guy go anywhere without a suit – he’s worn suits for over 40 years and is extremely comfortable in them.  Also, I doubt whether the number of shirts/ties will decrease substantially because he has (at least secretly) enjoyed all the wonderful comments he has gotten from numerous passengers about his colorful collection of shirts and ties.   People who don’t even know his name will say, “you’re the guy with the great shirts!” 

So, when he’s packed for the next cruise, seeing will be believing as far as I’m concerned. 

Looking Into the Eye of God

Yesterday, April 25^th, we experienced something so incredible and I’m thrilled that Michael was able to capture this phenomenon with his camera. 

When we arrived for lunch, we saw a couple of people taking pictures of the sky and I wondered to Michael what that was all about.  When we sat down, there were beautiful cloud formations so I figured that’s what they were looking at. 

While we ate, Michael happened to look directly up and saw what looked like a circular rainbow.  We were under the awning so he walked to the railing, looked up, and saw what we came to learn from our good friend, Ronnie, was a “22 Degree Halo.”  Except for one passenger, who couldn’t tell us what it was, no one had ever seen anything like this.  We heard words like “corona,” “halo,” “crown” but no one could say for sure what it was.  Later that evening, we showed our photos to others who hadn’t been outside, and they had never seen anything like it either. 

When I sent the photo to Ronnie and he sent back the name, I immediately looked on our world map in our room and, sure enough, we were located at 22 degrees latitude just traveling on the north side of Cuba on the Tropic of Cancer.  According to wikipedia, the 22 degree reference refers to the circle around the sun -- the circle has a radius of approximately 22° but I find it amazing that we saw it at this exact location - 22 degrees latitude. 

He also told us that it is caused by light through ice crystals and is seen, based solely on the weather and atmospheric conditions.   It is only seen about 100 days of the year which means we had less than a one in three chance of actually seeing it.  How blessed we were to be out at the right time and our ship being in precisely the right place.

I have to say that this was truly one of the most wondrous things I’ve seen on the World Cruise.  The only words I used yesterday to describe it were “spectacular,” “phenomenal,” “spiritual,” “awesome,” “God-like” and “incredible.” 

This morning, I woke up thinking about it and can now say that I’ve looked into the eye of God.  That’s how I feel.

Hamilton, Bermuda - April 21st

We left Madeira, Portugal on Thursday, April 14^th and arrived in Hamilton, Bermuda on the 21^st.  I love sea days but I must say the evening of the 19^th was pretty rough.  Our waiter said that there was such a huge swell in the middle of the night that he woke up when his head hit the head board.  We were definitely rocking and rolling all night long.  Fortunately, neither of us was sick. 

Not very much to say about Bermuda.  It’s a lovely island but VERY, VERY expensive. 

Although I love taking pictures of fruits and vegetables in different countries, there wasn’t anything unusual in the market we visited – other than the prices.   For example, I can buy my toothpaste in Walmart for $1.67.  Here, it cost $4.99.  

But, as I said, it is quite lovely and almost all of the buildings in the port area were painted in pastel colors.  There were, of course, churches and several just in this area.  The huge Anglican Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity was quite beautiful but people were gathering for a funeral and we didn’t want to intrude and took a quick look around and left.  (No candles to be lit here.)  Another much smaller church had a very interesting title, “St. Paul African Methodist Episcopalian Church.”  We thought that was very interesting – Methodist and Episcopalian combined. 

Our destination lecturer told us that Bermuda is a very “proper” island and that it would not be unusual to see businessmen in Bermuda shorts.  We kept our peepers open and, yes, indeed, we saw two gentlemen with jackets, white shirts and ties wearing Bermuda shorts and coming out of office buildings.  Although the temperature was a lovely 78 degrees, we saw locals wearing heavy jackets, hats and scarves.  Yikes! 

We did buy a magnet which says “I Survived the Bermuda Triangle.” 

Since January 20^th, this was the first port when we had a little sprinkle of rain.  Up until that day, the only evidence of rain I’ve experienced was when I’ve walked out onto pool area to find the deck wet.   Not bad for over three months. 

We stopped in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, the 24^th when about 400 or so passengers left and another 400 or so have embarked for our last leg of the World Cruise.  As I’ve said before, Michael has been wanting to go home for about three weeks now; as for me, I’m still not ready. 

Two more days at sea, and we’ll be arriving in Curacao on the 27^th.

Michael’s Observations:  I’ve done a lot of cruising over these years and I’m fortunate that I’ve never suffered from seasickness even when we traveled through the Straits of Magellan, the area between Antarctica and the tip of South America.   But this 6-day Atlantic Ocean crossing was the roughest ocean I’ve ever experienced.  I woke at 2 o’clock in the morning to the sound of my neighbor throwing up and a few moments later hearing a loud thump from the 8^th deck above us.  I’m not sure if someone or something fell.  It was definitely an experience. 

Bermuda was lovely and there are many, many large homes nestled in the hillside.  I’m sure that the folks who own these homes are very well off.  The famous Bermuda shorts generally cost in the area of $80 and a simple golf shirt well over $100.  Needless to say, I saved my pennies.  Enjoyed my time there but have no desire to go back.  

Madeira, Portugal - April 14th

Our port of call was Funchal, Madeira which is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately 560 miles from continental Portugal and about 370 miles from the coast of Morocco, with a population of about 275,000. 

This is a lovely island which is part of Portugal which boasts its famous Madeira wine, botanical gardens, embroidery and a beautiful landscape.  As we sailed into port, the entire mountainside was covered with white buildings with terracotta colored roofs.  The panoramic views captured in Michael’s photos are just exquisite.

A note about photos:  Our internet connection is very, very slow and to download one photo would take at least five minutes.  I tried it a couple of months back and it’s just not possible to post any photos on the blog while we’re on the cruise.  I’m hoping, when I get home, to post several photos from each port and will send an email if anyone wants to go back and take a look at any or all of the ports.  I have been taking quick photos with my cell phone and posting them on FB but not everyone is on FB. 

Apparently, Madeira has quite a spectacular fireworks show on New Year’s Eve because it actually is listed in the Guinness World Records in 2006 as having the largest in the world. 

It also has a “snowless sled ride,” a tradition dating back to the 19^th century.  The sled is actually a wicker basket chair set on runners and two local guides dressed in traditional white flannels and straw boaters run alongside and guide it down the slope with ropes.  It looked like fun on the “Reflections DVD” on the ship but our friend, Bambi, said “it didn’t go fast enough.”  Needless to say, Michael wasn’t interested in taking this ride and I have adopted the policy that if I have to sign a “waiver of liability,” I’m no longer interested.  Of course, there was no waiver of liability required here in Portugal, but, I’m sure, if this ride were available in the U.S., you can bet you’d have to sign a waiver.  So, in my opinion, that counts as something I’m not interested in doing. 

At this point on the cruise, neither of us is interested in an organized tour and prefer to leisurely check things out on our own.  Excursions are fine if there’s something we really want to see that isn’t easily accessible on our own.  According to our destination lecturer, there was enough for us to do on our own so we took the available shuttle bus from the port to the town.

What is unique about the city is that the sidewalks are black and white designed, the black being of volcanic materials and the white being limestone.  Unlike so many places we’ve visited with cobbled streets that require sturdy shoes and a steady footing, the sidewalks were not only beautiful but comfortable for long-distance walking.   

The week before we arrived, the city celebrated a flower festival but there was still evidence of the festivities throughout the city.  There was a park with lots of tents housing vendors selling their wares of souvenirs, embroidered items and jewelry.  One of them was actually selling baked goods which probably would never be allowed in many parts of the states for health reasons.

Some of the sidewalks were canopied with flowers (perhaps wisteria) hanging and more vendors selling other items such as embroidered baby clothes and necklaces made from crocheted silver.  We bought our unique little magnet here.  As part of the local costume, people wear a multi-colored woolen cap with a long stiff piece of yarn at the top.  We bought a tiny one that was made into a magnet.  Michael and I also imagined dozens of grandmas buying these caps for their grandchildren which will quickly place them in their family’s Goodwill bin.  They’re awfully cute, but I can’t imagine any American child excited about this kind of souvenir unless, of course, they collect hats. 

Regarding the costumes, we also enjoyed a street performance by a group of young people – the teenage boys wore white shirts with white knee length pants and beige or brown calf-high boots with a different type of cap while the girls wore red capes or vests with white piping and yellow/red/blue/white long skirts with a different type of cap.  They danced to music played by members of their group with different instruments. 

Part of the sidewalk was recessed with a blanket of dozens of different types of flowers arranged in a beautiful intricate design.  There was also a red carpet lined with topiaries – three huge balls, the largest at the bottom, the medium-sized in the middle and the smaller at the top.  All three were densely decorated with different flowers. 

We entered another beautiful Cathedral (the name escapes me now until I can google it) where Michael took some of his most wonderful photographs, in my opinion.  Again, there were some “real” candles available but no empty holders and I had to resign myself to inserting a 20 cent coin to light up one of the electronic candles. 

We enjoyed lunch at an open air café and were disappointed to have to deal with panhandlers who were moving around freely among the tables of customers.  I guess the restaurant owners don’t bother or are not allowed to remove people asking for money.  In all fairness, the woman who approached us claimed to be part of some sort of charity and was offering felt roses in exchange for “donations” but Michael and I are far too cynical to believe any of it and requested her to move on. 

We came across a small shopping mall – a really small mall that was mostly below ground where Michael found a great deal on a suitcase.  Only $25 for a really big, much-needed, addition to our already nine pieces (which includes my oversized purse and Michael’s backpack). 

A trip to the Dolce Vita Shopping Mall proved unsatisfactory; the prices were very high (4.99€ for a small packet of rubber bands for Michael’s hair which we, of course, declined) and nothing particularly unique. 

With our new addition to our magnet collection and hopefully the last new piece of luggage we will need, we boarded the shuttle bus back to the ship which will be at sea for the next six days before we reach our next port, Hamilton, Bermuda. 

Michael’s Observations:    If you’ve ever traveled to Europe, you’ll find ancient buildings 2-300 years old.  It’s fascinating to realize the history that these buildings hold.  I truly enjoyed walking around the city and looking at the architectural wonders.  Of course, the weather was wonderful and I have a lovely time and a great lunch – a roast beef sandwich!