2017 Grand Asia Pacific Tuesday, October 31 –At Sea (Halloween)

We woke up at 8:05 and it was 63 degrees under mostly cloudy skies.  We ordered coffee and dressed for cool weather.  The ship was traveling at 21.1 knots to make up for our late departure yesterday.  We went to breakfast at 9:15.  After breakfast, Glenda went to the lost and found to retrieve her earring that she lost 2 days ago.  She was successful and I then went to change my Chinese Yuan into Hong Kong Dollars.  Thea went for a 5 mile walk around the Lower Promenade deck.  I returned to the aft deck and read.  Thea came by and we talked about her Hong Kong stay.  I went to the cabin at 11:30 to update the blog.  Thea came to the cabin to read at 11:55.  At 1, we went to the final slot tournament round.  Glenda stayed in first place, but I got bumped so I entered again and got 1st, bumping her to 2nd.  By the finals at 3, I was in 2nd and she was in 6th.  We all got Club 21 t-shirts but we did not win the $480 1st prize.  At 4, we went to the at the jewelry store, but we did not win anything.  Tonight was the Monster Bash and we wore costumes.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and visited with Vicki, John and Kathryn.  Sonny sang "The Prayer"  for Thea to hear.  At dinner, there was no chocolate on the dessert menu and the dining room manager, Phillip, came by and Glenda mentioned it and he went to the kitchen and brought out 3 chunks of pure fudge like desserts.  After dinner, we went to the Monster Bash at 9:30 but it was so crowded that we left at 10 and went to bed so we could get up early for Hong Kong.

2017 Grand Asia Pacific Monday, October 30 –Shanghai/At Sea

We woke up at 7:45 and we were still docked.  It was 57 degrees under sunny skies but no one could leave the ship as our immigration papers had expired at midnight.  We dressed and ordered coffee.  The Captain made an announcement that the delay was due to gale force winds at the pilot station on the Yangtze River and normally only one cruise ship at a time is allowed on the river.  We were scheduled to sail at 10:30 followed by the Volendam at 11:00.  We went to breakfast at 9.  I went to the aft deck with Glenda and worked on the crosswords.  Thea went for a walk around the lower promenade deck and then to a lecture.  I went to the cabin at 10:30 as we departed and worked on the blog.  I went out on the front deck for some pictures, but it was too cold with the wind so I went to the aft deck with Glenda and worked on another crossword and read until 12:30 when I got too cold there as well and I went to the cabin where Thea and I watched the last of game 5 of the World Series.  After the Astros finally won at 1:40 pm, I went to the aft deck and red until 3 when I returned to the cabin to warm up.  Since the casino had to be closed until late, the slot tournament board remained unchanged.  We went to bingo at 4 where we met back up with Thea after her craft class.  We did not win again.  Tonight was the Chinese Marketplace in the Lido, so I took some pictures of the decorations.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and visited with Vicki and John & Kathryn.  I introduced Thea to Sonny and ask him to sing The Prayer before she gets off.  He said he would try to practice it with his new band mates.   After dinner, Thea went to the cabin while Glenda and I went to the casino for 45 minutes and both lost.  We returned to the cabin at 10:30.

2017 Grand Asia Pacific Saturday, October 28 –Shanghai, China Day 1 Part 2

Pictures of the lights along the Huangpu River.

2017 Grand Asia Pacific Sunday, October 29 –Shanghai, China Day 2

Setting up for some type of group photo on the Bund

Yu Park

Yuyuan Bazaar

Views from the bridge

Yuyuan Garden designed in the classical Ming Dynasty style

We woke up at 8 and it was 61 degrees under hazy skies.  I ordered coffee and we dressed for another eventful day.  I downloaded the pictures from last night and we went to breakfast at 9.  Glenda opted to stay on the ship today as we were going to do a lot of walking again and she was not up to it.  Thea and I boarded the shuttle bus at 9:40 and it dropped us off at the Bund at 10.  Yesterday, we had to walk a good distance to get the this point.  We walked all along the Bund and on the the Yuyuan Garden, arriving at 10:40.  We crossed the bridge and then bought tickets at 10:50 for 60 Yuan to the Garden.  I got half off for a senior discount.  Old age has its benefits.   We wandered through the various passageways until 11:30 and then we stopped at the 10 Yuan store for Thea to pick up some souvenirs.  We walked all the way back to the Bund where the shuttle bus had let us off and got there at 12:05.  The bus showed up at 12:15 and left at 12:30.  We re-boarded the ship at 12:40.  We talked with Glenda on the aft deck and Thea and I went to the cabin to rest up.  I uploaded today's pictures and posted 3 blog entries for yesterday, finishing at 2:45.  We had a notification in the  cabin that the all aboard time had been changed for a second time.  Yesterday, it was changed from 5:30 to 7:30 due to favorable tides, but today it was changed to 11:30 due to heavy traffic on the river.  We had reservations in the Canaletto, the Italian Restaurant, courtesy of Cruise Specialists (Tom Mullins) at 7 so we dressed up a bit.  Before dinner we went to the Crow's Nest for a while.  Dinner was very good and it was over at 8:30.  We went to the aft deck to get some last minute pictures of the lights, but is was very cold and we went to the cabin at 8:40 and watched the end of the World Series Game 4.  Glenda came back at 10 and we went to bed.