Category Archives: Travel

Lanzarote

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

We docked today at a reasonable time. Even more important, we docked at the pier closest to the city which put the ship on the walkable side of the port.  It was the other side last November when we port called here necessitating a bus ride as the sidewalks ended at the freeway entrance. Not so this time. We could walk out if not interested in the shuttle bus, striding past the closed information center before arriving at a set of well tended cafes and clothing shops.

You can see our pier clearly on the map along with the second pier toward the edge.

I strolled along following the City Center signs, past several roundabouts –

all of which seemed to have something or other to do with boats and/or fishing.

Considering that this port call was arranged on only a few days’ notice, the ship managed to come up with access to some of the standard tours (ride a camel & see a volcano; wine; bus around the island; hike across a lava field). I am thinking that these are essentially the same type of tours that were offered when I was first here in 2012.

I stopped at La Playa – source of cheap, schlocky tourist goods –

because: Hello? Flamingo!

Found the toy store I remembered from the last time and picked up a couple of jigsaw puzzles, then wandered back to the ship.

The passenger decks are 4/5/6. The eight or so cabins that are on Deck 3 are technically not in use. Since I am not the only one who originally booked one of those cabins, we are assuming that they are being held for isolation, quarantine, or treatment in the case of an outbreak on ship. Failing that – some of the senior crew might just have better digs for the crossing.  As the ship is sailing no where near full, I suspect also that it is just easier not to have to assign crew to clean 1 or 2 cabins separate from the rest.

I didn’t spend all that much time off ship. None of the Canary Islands are COVID free and I saw way too many ship’s passengers not wearing masks off ship. So I will be back to masked for the duration of the trip when out of my cabin and will probably choose dinner out at the grill or use room service a lot. I have no intention of getting stuck in Portugal for a length of time rather than be on my flight on the 1st….

and I am so not discussing the almost 200 stitches I had to pick back out of the LongDog sampler..

Shower Laundry

Holly Doyne Posted on by

There are always choices to be made when packing for a cruise (or any vacation for that matter). You can bring enough clothes along for the entire time. This is not an unreasonable choice if, perhaps, you are going to be gone for a short period of time or have no limit on your amount of luggage. You can bring along enough choices for a limited portion of your trip, then use outside sources to provide you laundry service. (And here I will discount the choice of buying and tossing clothing as the trip progresses as a lazy and fiscally less than sound option). All of which leaves me the final choice of doing one’s own laundry.

Today was that day. Now, I didn’t pack for tropical climes. Mostly the weather has been the same temperature that I would have experienced at home. So – long sleeves, long pants and everything that is wash/drip dry.  Well, everything but my jeans which I consider airplane wear. I may/maynot bother with them. The alternative is paying the tariff to send them through the ships laundry. Past experience has informed this choice – I am not interested in wearing damp jeans when getting off the ship and I do not want to spend 15-30 minutes with a hair dryer to get all the seams and pockets dry. If I had any sense, I have would washed them right away and it would have been an issue.

Back to shower laundry. Drop on the shower floor, step on it a bit. Use a bit of soap, body wash or shampoo to get clean. Rise, hang up. Move it around several times a day, removing the items as they dry. An alternative for extended trips is the Scrubba, a really neat device I was introduced to years ago. I have taken mine on extended trips (India and Africa).

Otherwise, this was another quiet day of stitching, audiobooks, some reading. Ended the evening with a nice dinner at Candles (but no, did not eat outside, the wind was blowing more than I wanted to deal with.)

Otherwise?


lovely lemon possets

 

seriously decorated lattes.

and 300 meters used of Sulky 4067 so far on the Long Dog

Dark and Stormy night

Holly Doyne Posted on by 1

and our brief flirtation with lovely weather has disappeared. Yesterday, during most of the day the weather was bright, breezy and cork-in-a-shaken bottle. There was a short time when it was reasonably fine to be out on deck. The rest of the time? The crew battened down most moveable objects and people were navigating the corridors via the drunken sailor walk.

Me? As you might expect, I spent the day chatting with various people in the lounge hearing more tales about family members stranded at the start of the pandemic.  The stories are interesting. More than one has a family member they haven’t seen in several years due to resistance of that member to get immunized.

Ah, well The only thing I can keep chanting is “You can’t regulate common sense and you can’t cure stupid.”

So I am continuing to work on one or more of the cross-stitch projects I brought along, take a few naps and listen here and there to interesting conversations.

I continue to make progress on the LongDog (You Belong to Me aka the Egyptian one). I will say that negative space objects are less my joy than positive ones (see goats vs birds). I just went past 70% so I think I am safe in thinking I will have this finished this year. Finishing out the bottom of both pyramids will mean that I have completed 8 full pages + part of the 9th.

And then there is the Galactic Dragon Puzzle

which is only 500 pieces but took various contributors a couple of days. It is all whimsy pieces of stars, inserts and sharp angles.  After looking through the remaining puzzles, I may well hit a toy store in Accerife. None of the ones left appeal to me.

I think we may have one time zone change left, but it should be after we leave the Canaries. Hoping for better weather tomorrow, but one never knows!

 

 

Taking the opportunity

Holly Doyne Posted on by

Since it seems to be working today – to upload a couple of photos!

First – the Yacht Club Lounge

sort of as overall –

and the usual location where I hang out.

Early in the morning (obviously) for both of the above pictures as well as the Star Grill set up which isn’t opening till lunch.

with areas to eat that are both sheltered from the sun and out of the wind while still enjoying the outdoors.

(In case you are wondering, yes these are similar to the photos that I posted last December). But thought it might be fun to put them up again.

I am not on-line today (leaving myself the opportunity to be logged on early in the morning on departure day to avoid paying a whole day free for just an hour. I miss my free Wifi on Royal.).

If I could

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

I might well consider the cruise line’s offer. If I didn’t have other things that I would rather be doing. And if the ship was going somewhere I hadn’t been before. And this would comply with a number of additional reminders from Ron: – don’t fly in on the day of the cruise; don’t let the ship leave if your luggage isn’t in your cabin; cross pack if you have a partner. And I would add – check around you so that you don’t leave a bag behind in your transportation to the ship. )

Anyway – Windstar apparently has more than half of the current passengers heading off in Lisbon and less than a dozen boarding. They have offered an incredibly reasonable price for anyone who wants to extend their cruise through the next Lisbon-Lisbon leg. Unfortunately, that extension no longer includes Morocco. So it would be Gibraltar and several of the Canary Islands. They haven’t figured out that waiving the single supplement would probably get several of the other solo travelers to stay. This crossing had a significantly reduced single supplement. (what is better? charging a solo passenger double? Or having an empty cabin which translates into no passenger, no daily service charge and lack of work for the staff….)

But I have (I think) a number of things scheduled for the first 10 days of April….don’t I????

And, in any case there are plenty of things that I need to do around the house before I take off again. Staying would be just delaying the return flight home….

What else? Oh, I have found that if I have my phone on the network I can’t airdrop photos to the computer. If I have the computer on the network, the phone can still manage to airdrop photos. Go figure!

And, on the stitching front – I actually managed to get a couple of photos to upload. Even clicking on them, they won’t embiggen much as serious reduction was the only way to convince the server that I didn’t want to spend hours on uploading.

So I am making steady progress on the LongDog Sampler (>62%)

Started as my airport/airplane and cruise stitching – The words are done, now all I have to do is finish the ring of coffee beans. (Forbidden Fiber Co)

And finally – this is my start on the March Quaker by Heart in Hand. It isn’t hard, not very complex, and only three colors. So I am counting this one as my “new Cruise, new start.” Given that I want to finish up the Coffee, and the Long Dog keeps calling me – I probably won’t get it finished before the end of the cruise.

 

 

 

A more southern route

Holly Doyne Posted on by 1

I usually ignore most “information” meetings on ship. If anything is said that is important – it will show up in my cabin in writing. Otherwise, it is just rumors. I had figured out, from looking at the map charting our progress that we were significantly south of the original planned route. If this meant smoother seas – I think it is absolutely great. While it would have been wonderful to stop at Horta (a new to me port), safety and smooth sailing are much more important considerations.

The seas have grown smoother day by day and I am no longer seeing bursts of spray up as high as my rather large porthole. Is it still called a porthole when 2 meters wide and 1.4 meters high? Inquiring minds and all of that. Anyway – looking out from my cabin on Deck 4, I am not used to seeing significant spray this high.

In fact there is enough improvement that the Star Grill on Deck 8 was open for dinner night before last and again for lunch today. Last night was the “official evening BBQ” which I most graciously skipped in favor of room service.

Anyway, because of the route change, we will be stopping in the Canaries – at Lanzarote as a matter of fact. On Tuesday. (the original Azores stop would have been Monday.)  George & I wandered around Arricife last fall. Specifically, we didn’t go up to volcanos. take camel rides, or tour the country side with fellow passengers. I did a bit of that last decade (grin) when I first had a port call here. Sitting with some fellow passengers at lunch, my contribution to the discussion revolved about gracefully bowing out of a shared taxi or van in favor of heading into one of the large markets and buying chocolate bars…

I have been having a lovely time chatting with other fellow passengers – including a couple from Mainz, Beth from Tennessee (yes, I guessed her location even before she gave me the information), and a few more stitchers and knitters.

Not much else to report – the internet remains glacial and uploading photos is potentially  possible only at night (and since I am facing another time zone change, perhaps I shall try early in the morning.)

 

Time Zones

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

It is now Wednesday – and what should be 0600. From an intellectual point of view, no problems. From a physical point of view? Let’s see – three hours change from California to Miami involving the red-eye and an extremely short night. Then the fleeing of an hour two days ago – getting up was not so bad. This morning? I am claiming that I am not really interested in a time zone change and going back to sleep. Loss of five hours on the physical clock right now feels like a lot more than that on the biological one. Up to this point, I have always preferred the gradual change but now I am starting to wonder about just having the change and getting it over with. But then, traveling by ship is so much nicer than airplane, and certainly, in this case MUCH cheaper than a business class ticket.

Yesterday was another lovely quiet day and I have the same planned for today. I haven’t figured out a good time to hit the gym when there isn’t anyone else in there as it is a rather small space.  Pictures still aren’t willing to upload. Ugh.

Puzzles & Passengers

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Practically speaking – I am going to have to upload photos to the server at

  1. dinner time
  2. middle of the night

 

as other options just aren’t going to be possible. As I mentioned, this is the same ship with the minimal connectivity that I sailed on last fall. I can understand it from the ship’s point of view. With 103 paying passengers, even if everyone on board bought the full package, the income wouldn’t cover the amount of bandwidth needed. And, given the particular brand of passenger, many of them don’t understand about getting off-line when not actively using wifi – much less shutting off their dozens of irrelevant apps while on limited services.

So, starting tomorrow, I will provide direct links the day after to any photos that I actually manage to get uploaded.

There are a variety of passengers. Perhaps about a dozen of us traveling solo. Several couples using the ship for their twice annual migration (England, Belgium & Portugal being the destinations I have heard so far). A reasonable mix of passengers who have been on Windstar before and new-to-the-line passengers.

Unlike last fall, there are a number of serious puzzle junkies on the ship. I brought along a couple of puzzles to contribute (one a duplicate and one that just doesn’t appeal to me).  The 1000 piece Whimsy puzzle of Mt Rainer was immediately picked up by a Brit ex-pat who is now in the Denver area. He was familiar with Liberty Puzzles and was delighted to be introduced to a new manufacture of wooden puzzles. There are several puzzles that are new to me from last fall, but the rest I remember seeing completed.  No matter what time I hit the lounge, someone seems to be working on a puzzle.

The large table we used has been taken over by the “cruise consultant” who is attempting to sell both future cruises and port tours. Considering that we may not even get our stop in Horta… it is going to be interesting to watch him. I mind only because it is the table with both 110 & 220 power points on top for easy access.

What else? Looks like specialty dining is going to be limited due to the low number of passengers. Can’t say that I blame the ship, since having more venues open when no extra revenue is generated makes no sense.

There is at least one knitter on the ship; says she is on the sock-a-day plan. Two stitchers are working on mixed media additions to large, square pillow coverings (the kind that are 2/20$ on Amazon). unzip, turn inside out, take out the three side seams and you now effectively have a blank canvas on which to stitch….

Me? I have been working on my Long Dog (now 62% complete) and “Life Happens, Coffee Helps” from Forbidden Fiber Co.

We have detoured ~170 nautical miles south of the original plan in an effort to avoid  predicted high seas and storms.

We will see!

(currently GMT-4)

Lost Luggage

Holly Doyne Posted on by 1

No, not me. Again, not me. I have everything I started out with. So far I have met three people whose luggage didn’t make the ship.  

The first is a retired engineering type from Vancouver who was caught in the  1 March additional requirement by St Maarten for obtaining a pre-authorization certification for entry.  Apparently, I have one of the few travel agents who made the extra effort to ensure that I knew about the requirement.  In fact, my agent both phoned me and sent me an email complete with the link so that I could comply.  Even so, at this point I always double check entry requirements before leaving home. He, and several others on his first flight were lucky enough to manage getting through the St Maarten website  and getting an email back while waiting to check in. But he said it was a run for the gate;  his luggage didn’t make the flight. Not all airlines fly in everyday. As a result, he spent all of Friday dealing with the mess and repeating dozens of times that luggage arrival on Sunday would do him no good.  His luggage will be shipped back to family in Vancouver. And he was smart enough to do some minimal shopping before getting on the ship. The ship is providing him free laundry.

The second passenger’s luggage didn’t arrive on ship. By the time she realized that it wasn’t on, we had sailed. Her luggage, for whatever reason, was loaded onto the Seaborne ship that was also departing on Saturday. She picked up some clothes from the Ship’s boutique. Since she and her husband are staying in Portugal, her luggage will be sent to her there.

The last person, so far, is probably the one who is going to have the most challenge. First caught in the “you don’t have pre-authorization trap” the airline personnel in Portland Maine helped her through the process. She managed to lave a couple of bags in the taxi that brought her to the pier. More importantly – her son, who was suppose to meet her at the connecting airport was unable to get his authorization in time and didn’t make St Maarten’s at all – much less the ship. My best guess is that she is in here late 80s and hasn’t traveled by herself for a long time. 

I have learned a couple of lessons through observation if you are going to a foreign [to you] port to board a ship :

  1.  you need to check country requirements personally to make sure that there isn’t a problem
  2. use a good agent or book your flights through the cruise line. Flight failure, etc puts the burden on the cruise line to get you to the port
  3. It might cost more, but cruise line transfers are more likely to get all of your luggage to your ship than random hotels or taxis.
  4. carrying at least one change of clothes along with documents and meds in your carryon is a really good idea.
  5. and last but not least – fly with a regularly scheduled airline so that there is a chance that your bags, should they be separated from you, might actually make it to port. The airline with daily flights is a good idea. That budget one which offers flight only 2-3 days a week? Not so much.

 

 

O.W.L.S.

Holly Doyne Posted on by 1

today’s post is brought to you with a bit of a sense of humor and a recognition that life doesn’t always match the ideal of equality.

This is Sea Day 1 on my (what is this now? About my 25th shipboard transatlantic excursion?) latest transatlantic cruise. The ship is the Star Legend, part of the Windstar line. In a previous existence, the ship apparently was in the Regency fleet. Or something like that. Anyway, as we were hanging out in the port waiting for our turn to board, one of my fellow passengers looked around and said “Well, this looks like another OWLS cruise.”

Owls?

Yes, Old White Leisure Sailors.

And it is true. Similar to last December’s crossing – almost all of the passengers fall into the over 60 crowd and there is an amazing lack of diversity among the passenger. Yes, there are those who are not US; there are a Canadian or three, at least two Belgium couples, and a smattering of other EU countries of origin. But as a whole – vanilla.

The crew is primarily Indonesian and Philippine. I have the same cabin crew as last fall, the same lovely woman is serving lattes in the Deck 8 Yacht Club.

We departed on time; the passenger count is around 105 which puts it slightly under last December’s crossing. There are a few  other  passengers I recognize.  After watching a lovely sunset I headed for the dining room.

Today, I mostly caught up on sleep…Not unexpectedly – the internet is glacial and if I want to add in photos – I am going to have to do it at night..

 

 

 

Sailing Away

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Looking out my window last night

It doesn’t exactly look like California, now doesn’t it. This particular location is a good drive from the airport, but only about 10 minutes from the cruise port. We saw a couple of moderate sized ships docked. The shuttle driver said that the last couple of years have been pretty rough – the island’s total population is about 100,000 for 37 sq miles (yes, they are on metric but most don’t yet think in sq km) which leaves this a pretty densely populated island. Besides tourism, there is money that comes in from the Dutch Government for the one side and the French still own and run the other side. In all the times I have come here, I have been over to the French side of the island only once.

Anyway, I am here, not as rested as I would have liked and ready to head to the ship (FYI – it is the usual, checkout is 1000, shuttle picks us up at 1145. Go figure…

The ship is the  Star Legend, part of the Windstar line. This blogwill show up at 1400 where-ever time. I have that set so that I neither forget nor have internet issues. I have a cruise line prepaid transfer. I have a cabin number. I have my computer, tablet, stitching and plenty of books to read on my phone.

So – we leave tonight. I doubt that the internet will be any faster than it was on the way over. I will be signing in at some point every day…. and here is the itinerary:

Saturday, March 19, St. Maarten  departing 1900

Sunday, March 20, At Sea

Monday, March 21,At Sea

Tuesday, March 22, At Sea

Wednesday, March 23, At Sea

Thursday,March 24, At Sea

Friday, March 25, At Sea

Saturday, March 26,At Sea

Sunday, March 27, At Sea

Monday, March 28 Horta, Azores – 0800 – 1800

Tuesday, March 29, At Sea

Wednesday, March 30, At Sea

Thursday, March 31, At Sea

Friday, April 1- Lisbon, Portugal 0700

Coral, seaweed, and shells

Holly Doyne Posted on by

Anyone been to SEATAC? If you have in the last X many years you immediately recognize the “fish” swimming along the floor in the terminals. Well, I discovered while wandering around Miami International Airport (MIA…) that it too has 

a pattern built into its flooring in the terminals. Obviously, there are a lot of sections that are much more interesting than this quick photo grab, but you get the general idea. Gold rather than the silver of SEATAC, and dozens of different patterns imbedded along the extremely long  terminal. The D terminal is long enough that it has its own dedicated sky train….

Anyway – I survived the red-eye from SFO on a packed American Airlines flight after a scramble for the correct documents for checkin. Found coffee and empanadas at a lovely small Cuban café which had ½ a dozen cheerful, prompt, and competent employees. There was a Starbucks, but the line was extremely long and a second employee finally showed up. Admittedly, it was before 0600 but still… I stayed awake till I was secure in my seat on the flight to St Maarten. Once there, I discovered that being in the middle of the plane meant you were last off, regardless of heading to the front or the rear stairs. Which meant that I was literally in the back of the second bus and the last person from the flight in the immigration line. That was ok, I had a lovely chat with two pilots out of Cleveland who were here to pick up their corporate jet along with the load of passengers they had dropped off last week. Both had elected to be flown home commercial and return rather than hang out for a week.

But, even being just about the last one on my flight to clear medical clearance, immigration, and collect my luggage, I found my hotel transfer without problems. The other two passengers for the trip were on the Delta flight that landed after me. No problem. Hang out.

I made it safely to the resort. I am wiped and some food would be a really good idea, then I think that sleep will surely be in order.  

And ready to go

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

First – thank you all so much for the well wishes on the upcoming trip. I have my checked bag ready to go complete with all the last minute things that get stuffed from the sides or the top. You know the things – anything that might have to be taken out or needs to be in a zip lock bag for TSA.

I also have embroidery scissors which might just explain why I am checking a bag – it is just not worth potentially losing very pretty, some what expensive pointy things because someone might think I could use them to stab someone. Hello? I cross stitch. That lets me more than vent enough stabbing motions. Besides, as a good friend said – why on earth would I want blood on my needles or scissors? It could ruin the finish or blunt the points. 

I think I have now found everything but hair bands and scrunchies. I even found both my British Airways frequent flyer number which I haven’t used in a few years – but hey – American Airlines. And my Lufthansa one for the United flight on the way back.  I am taking BART to the airport, there is no way I would sentence anyone to drive in rush hour traffic around here – and with a 2100 flight, there is no way to avoid it.

Tonight, flights – tomorrow Miami and on to St Maarten!

 

Packing again

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

It is Wednesday here on the West Coast of the US. I leave tomorrow night. No, I don’t love red-eyes, but that seems to be the only economical way to get from here to St Maarten.  And, to answer the next question – I am going to St Maarten because that is where my ship is leaving from. Same lovely ship as last fall and sailing back to Lisbon.

From what I can see, it looks like they have added a port call in the Azores. I like the Azores, but won’t be getting off the ship if I have to do something official and organized rather than wander on my own. There is a really nice notions store on the main square, and a needlework/knitting store up one of the main pedestrian ways if I remember correctly.

Meanwhile. I found my suitcase and swapped it out from George’s which I had half-packed before I figured out it was the wrong one. I have twice as many stitching projects than I could possibly complete, The only reason I have a suitcase is that I really prefer scissors to attempting to use a seam ripper to cut threads. That and I really don’t want all the weight on my back…

Oh, and two jigsaw puzzles that I am donating to the ship. They need better puzzles.

Tomorrow I head to Richmond to get the mandatory COVID test early in the morning, then spend the rest of the day trying to figure out what I have forgotten….

and further challenges

Holly Doyne Posted on by

I think I am just about done rescheduling the trip Dani and I had planned.

We were all set to just move it to “same time next year” but the fine print on the airline tickets turned out to be the long pole. Yes they are flexible – meaning that they can be rebooked – once. And the rebooking has to be at least 24 hours prior to our original departure. Ok – that is next week, I can handle that. Next tho – the window for reuse t is not 12 months from planned flight – it is 12 months from purchase.

And no one in their right minds pays a premium for cruising in December without a very good reason. Not to mention the challenge of getting time off work. Or sacrificing the extra pay that goes along with pulling shifts on 25 Dec.

In stead, I dropped a note to my lovely travel agent, which I hope she finds first thing in the morning and looks at the new requested dates prior to dealign with NCL.  Since she is on Central time, this may work.

Meanwhile, I am spending about an hour each day working on organizing the craft room which leaves me stitching as a reward. 

Today was. a day for bright colors –

This is the first room in this year’s Folk Art House by Ship’s Manor. I will have to get a daylight picture as it is bright. The fabric is 16 ct and the floss is a combination of Ship’s Manor and DMC. I am going to be doing the frame as I go since the room segment is a reasonable number (~1200) but the frame is not (almost 8k)

And then there is the Spangler full coverage.

which is starting to look more like something and less like random stitches on gridded fabric.

And, if I get sunshine tomorrow, I will update the Flamingo gallery.

Gecancelled

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One of those German/English smash togethers than drive my husband absolutely up the wall. Another one is “downgeloaded” which I find easier than the proper term for “downloading.”

But anyway – NCL has cancelled the cruise that Dani and I were going to take starting 22 January. This, by the way, is a rebook from April 2020 that we had planned on the NCL Jewel from Hawaii to Vancouver. Since we can’t manage something like that this time, it was going to be around 4 of the Hawaiian Islands. So now I have to deal with 1) rebooking 2) airfares & 3) hotel. At least this time I didn’t prepay the hotel and have flexible airfares.

I just really don’t want to deal right now…

Otherwise, it was another day in the needle trenches. The way my vaccine support person & I figure it – our station took care of about 1/3 of the total. Not too shabby for five total stations. Not being completely foolish – except for one, we avoided kids today. Adults are much quicker… They mostly don’t fight, cry, hit, or scream. 

And yes, Bill – there are lawn flamingos..

Those improvements

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When I went to start this note – I found “another improvement” in my software. Well, actually in the software on my iPad. The great idea? A Split keyboard. Now, perhaps this innovation was greeted with cries of enthusiasm by some mobile device users. I did mention I was on my iPad, didn’t I. Hello? I don’t type with my thumbs, I actually type the way I was taught way back in typing class. Back in the 1960s on a typewriter which would put it long before any of the bright bulbs who came up with this idea were born.

In fact, for a long time there was a syndrome called “Blackberry Thumb” which was caused by gripping a Blackberry (the original smart communication device, preceding the touch screen smart phone by years and years) and using thumbs to press those tiny keys. I skipped the Blackberries, the cost and inconvenience was too great and most of the people with whom I worked didn’t have them anyway.  The  US Army certainly wasn’t going to shell out the money needed for them. (If you want the history which started in the late 1990s and more information about the Canadian parent company – go here on Wikipedia)

Meanwhile, it is late, I am irritated and finally figure out that it would be wise just to check the settings in my iPad. Sure enough, I can kill off the split keyboard. Done.

*If the above software improvement didn’t happen to you, then you aren’t using iOS.

 

But then I started thinking about winter of 1972 and driving with some friends while on school break out to Washington DC. It was cold and getting really snowy by the time we hit the Pennsylvania Turnpike. There were signs which said “Another Pennsylvania Turnpike improvement for your safety and convenience.

The punchline? The next set of signs said “No guard rails for the next 32 miles…..”

 

Toronto – home

Holly Doyne Posted on by 2

and… picking up the tale, there I was in the area just outside baggage claim and customs. There are still several groups around as well as a large number of people who are crashed on various chairs and couches. Did I mention that it was rather chilly? Now, I am used to California weather and the mild breezes we had on the ship for the last 10 days. Not prepared for outside temperatures of -6*C. Trust me on that. And every time someone entered or exited we could feel a breeze.

I pulled out stitching, then gave up and tried to nap. When that didn’t work I listened to an audiobook and back to stitching. At 0400 I gave up completely and headed up to the area in front of Gate Fs security. Funny thing – they actually open between 0400-0430. Not a problem, slid right through there and passed the best organized carryon check point I have seen yet. Rather than a long confusing counter where everyone is pushing and shoving – each area has a number of separated stations with bins coming from underneath as you fill them and push them back onto the belt.

US customs opens between 0430-0500. And then I had more fun. I got all the way through, then failed the luggage check. My bag had not been cleared by customs. As my flight last night was late, US customs had closed (see yesterday’s rant about getting booted out to the rest of the airport). Shunted off to the Air Canada Baggage service desk I got to wait for another length of time. An hour? It was hard to estimate. The lovely woman who arrived first checked and confirmed that my bag had not been cleared.

When the rest of the staff arrived, the section supervisor was pulled into the discussion. Turns out I was the ONLY US bound passenger on the flight. Which means they were looking for one bag. Not a batch or anything large, just a 19″ hardshell dark blue roller bag.  It took three people searching more than 30 minutes and several looks at his computer screen, but they located my bag and, as it was right side up, easy to identify (hard shell, outside soft front pocket). Once found, I was able to clear Immigration with little fuss.

I went through to the gate area in search of live and alertness giving coffee. Unlike the ship and other airports, the wifi at Pearson is amazing. Easy to log in and super fast. I managed to download several software programs I had agreed to Beta test, moved a number of files around and cleared out more SPAM than I want to acknowledge out of email boxes….

Our flight was delayed. It was probably 75% full and I was so glad to arrive at SFO. Having cleared customs and Immigration in Toronto, our baggage wound up at delivery area 3 which is outside regular International Terminal Area baggage claim. While waiting for my suitcase which, of course, was the last off, I charged my phone, directed a number of people to meeting areas and tried to stay awake.

I am how many hours now without sleep? Inquiring minds really don’t want to know.

From there it was a matter of boarding BART, finding a section clear of sleepers and shopping carts and letting Dani know my approximate arrival time. We had only a slight delay at the MacArthur stop when BART police came on and escorted a number of rather aggressive beggars off the train.

I haven’t unpacked, sleep sounded oh, so much better. I woke up long enough to have Thai food for dinner and sleeeppp.

I would show you what I stitched on the plane, but the server isn’t cooperating at the moment.

 

 

Barbados to Toronto

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Up front – I refuse to spend more on airfare than I spent on the cruise. So, by the time I had booked this second leg of the cruise, all the reasonable airfares back to the Bay Area had been sold out. This meant that my choices were to go through one of the other islands (not a good choice), go through Dublin or Heathrow (also not great choices) or pay American Airlines obscene amounts of money to go through Miami.

Now that I have experienced the particular joys associated with this journey  – I would have been better off just booking the Miami leg and throwing myself on the mercy of friends for a night or two.

Apparently – what a surprise – there was “weather” in Canada. Amazing – bad weather in December – who would have thought….

Back to the beginning of today’s journey…

We sailed into Bridgetown on time and were docked by 0730. and were followed in by the Celebrity Silhouette.

 

Rather than getting off the ship for the airport transfer at 0800, we waited a bit till Barbados Customs opened. Tiny shuttle bus 50 meters to the Customs location. Back on the shuttle, another 50 meters to luggage. At least outside was a full service bus.

From there we drove across the island to Grantley International Airport. I am glad the day was relatively cool and not raining.

As has my experience been, checkin is outside under roof. And, of course doesn’t open till four hours before the flight is due to depart.

Checkin was a challenge involving a number of phone calls since my COVID test was for the US and the US regs state previous Calendar day but allow that it can be a bit longer if the test was valid when you checked in and you have been in transit in the meantime…. Ok – checked in.

My flight was essentially empty – estimate no more than 15% of the seats filled. Where was I? Oh yes weather. Due to the fun of Canadian winter the flight was a good hour late arriving which meant we were more than an hour late in departing. Not an issue for me, I thought, but for the four people on my flight whom I had gotten to know from Montreal it might prove a challenge. They originally had over 2 hours between flights…

The flight was lovely, quiet, and everyone let the French-Canadians off first. Not likely to happen on a US flight – just saying.

And then the fun began. Since we were late, US Customs and Immigration had closed for the night. So I had to exit the secure area and clear Canadian Immigration. Thank goodness the officer was kind and was willing to work with me. After processing there, it was getting extremely late and all food options other than vending machines were closed. I hung out in the baggage area till they were ready to close, then after checking to make sure that my bag did NOT come up on the carousel but had made the flight – I braved the main part of the airport to find a place to wait.

(to be continued on the 9th….

Sea Day 9/9

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

And, as it is common on the day before docking at the end of the cruiser – I managed to pack up everything.

Well, actually it wasn’t all that hard. I have a 19″ rolling suitcase and my backpack. Clothes go in the suitcase along with anything that I won’t need to see till I get home. The electronics and stitching go in the backpack. All that remained for the rest of the day was to relax. Never did get in the pool or hot tub. Didn’t bother with the treadmills this trip – found that stairs were a much better alternative for me. Not stair stepper, but just walking halls and going up and down stairs.

The cruise line, as promised, delivered the late afternoon testing results. So I have all my documents in hand (passport, immunization record, printed flight reservations, negative test documentation).

So it was a quiet day.

I think I might just have managed to get down to the first pyramid and that might just have been the desert fox (Rommel)