Holly Doyne

As per usual – this was organizing and packing day, typical for the last day of a cruise. Well, at least on the larger ships which require you to place bags out for pick up NLT 2200 the night before docking.

Other than that – I made a bit more progress on “Old Stitchers”

which is now at about 70%

OH! I almost forgot – upstairs in the Garden Cafe (read buffet) and on Deck 6 in one of the main open areas – there were setups with trains…

what can I say? Not my holiday, but fun to watch. And yes, there were clear signs asking people not to touch and also one stating not food…

I can’t imagine, or maybe I can, what this ship would feel like at capacity. I think I mentioned that it is at about 70%. Mornings are fine, there is enough room in most of the lounges for people to spread out and relax. It starts getting more difficult about mid-day and by sometime in the afternoon there isn’t a place in any of the lounges that counts as a quiet area.

Why do I mention this? Because there just seems to be too many people spending their life on line. It is one thing if they are reading or streaming something while wearing headphones. It is something completely else when you share your family phone call with all in a 10 meter radius.

Sorry – I really don’t care how cute your grandchildren are. My grandsons are  wonderful. But I don’t need to have a FaceTime session with them when sitting somewhere that I am sharing it with people around me. Especially if they are attempting to  – oh let us say – read a real hardcopy book, or carry on a quiet conversation, or work out their next three moves in a chess game.  Public areas are not private, and most of the time, those around you really aren’t interested in your personal business and really don’t want to hear it…

Off soap box!

And, in case you are wondering – I am staying off Zoom this trip pretty much. And Miriam comes back to the cabin to make her calls.

Oh! Yes –  there is this – a new start!

This is the second day of all the remaining sea days. There will be six as a matter of fact. On the seventh day we …. dock. So no rest for those who chose Sunday as that day.

So anyway. I am still not on any kind of regular sleep schedule By 0400 most mornings I am giving up on sleep and head up to the lounge. It is quiet. The coffee machine (hot water, coffee, decaf) is available 24 hours although the lounge is officially listed as not being open between 0200-0700. Or is it 0800? In any case, I am certainly not the only one up and about at this hour of the morning and in the lounge. I am not including the cleaning staff in those numbers. They are hard at work at all times.

Early on, it mostly seems to be middle-aged and older guys several of whom seem to be completely occupied with tablet/laptop and headphones. By 0700 the numbers have expanded and there is more than a scattering of people.

Did I mention that there are almost NO children on this cruise? There is the occasional crying baby heard, but that it is about it. Apparently it is too early for most school holidays combined with parents/grandparents too smart to pull kids out of school when faced with this many sea days.

This lounge is on Deck 15 all the way forward. The large windows you see behind me are facing out. My small corner is comfortable. From here I can people watch while completely out of the traffic pattern. On the starboard side of the ship, I am out of the direct sunlight as we sail west.  And the coffee access? Close, oh, so close.

We are at the start of our series of sea days which will continue until we reach port in Miami on the 15th. [The beatings will continue until morale improves?] Obviously there are a serious number of people on ship who really didn’t get the idea of a lot of sea days in a row,

I have met a dozen or so who sailed over on this ship mid-Nov, spent two weeks in the UK and are now headed home. They understand sea days as they had them on the way over. One of the couples remarked that the change to relax on the way home after extensive touring and changing hotels every night was more than welcome. Others? Don’t really think that a trans-Atlantic cruise is particularly wise for one’s first adventure on a cruise ship. At least not for people who need to be entertained; self sufficiency is a requirement. The passenger make up is heavily weighted toward my age – i.e. those who don’t have a problem with being gone for several weeks at a time. It is also heavily weighted toward solo travelers. I am guessing that it is about 10% of the total.

Meanwhile, most of my day was spent up in the Observation Lounge – as always – stitching and listening to audio books..

In case some of the information isn’t just hanging out there at the top of your mind – this is the Azores and part of Portugal. And, it is Sunday so most everything isn’t open. A few stores along with the cafes and the souvenir shops but that is it. No DMC for me. Ah, well I have plenty of other projects.

On to more intersting things. As I mentined, this is Portugal – so there are wonderful tiles and street signs on the walls

 
There are mosaic patterns as part of the sidewalks and pavered roads –

 
there is iron work on balconies

I have discussed in the past the “ships of the wall” in Maderia where all the major ships coming through have painted their emblem/logo/information on the sea wall where they dock. Then I looked up the post (2012) and realized it is one of those where the photos didn’t transfer when I moved this blog from the Germany server to one in the US. Anyway -those were the big ships, cruise, military etc. Here? These are the small ships, the family ships, the sailing vessels. There are a few painted from 2014-2017, a few more in 2018-2019, but most are from this year.

So now I am back on the ship with my phone on for just today (Thank you Vodaphone) and downloading audibooks, reading email and of course answering same.

I won’t bother to get in a long discussion about all the time zone changes. (Started on UK, changed to Spain, changed to Portugal,, changed to the Azores tonight).

I am still waking up incredibly early which means I can find a comfortable location in the Observation Lounge, have coffee, tea, or hot chocolate and listen to an audiobook whilc stitching. There aren’t all that many people out and about early.

I managed a fair amount on the Secret Garden SAL today. From what I can tell, I might have to turn off the hotspot, airdrop pictures, then turn the hotspot back on to upload the pics. Go figure.

There are a moderate number of knitters here and there… I haven’t seen anyother stitchers but Miriam says they are around.

For those of you who purchased NCL or RCCL stock back a decade or so ago, both lines still providee OBC on proof of ownership. Unfortunately, I have forgotten about the benefit off and on. Even so, over the last 10+ years, I have received more OBC than I spent on the stock in the first place. Royal lets you use it for anything. NCL restricts the usuage, so you can’t used it for daily service charges.

The reason I am mentioning this? I just checked my account and it isn’t there. Nada. Went to the front deck. I don’t imagine there is going to be any action before Monday – Miami time…

and the Secret Garden SAL? I think part 1 is just about done

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