At Home - Sat 4-30-11

We are home and the first thing we found was that Glenda's car battery
was not holding a charge, so Friday I took it in for a new battery and
after they did the courtesy check, they found bad cables as well and a
brake leak and worn front rotors as well as broken control arm bushings
in the steering. So, after fixing all that and paying $1776, it is in
great shape. I have gotten through all the mail and handled the
important stuff and next week I will get my tax information together for
filing.. I still haven't gotten my home routine down yet, but hope to
do so soon. Our shipped bags (all seven) came Thursday and we are working
on unpacking, but still have 4 to go. Glenda has been doing laundry as
she empties each bag.

Day 111 - Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Tue 4-26-11

Our wake up call was at 6:30 and it was 72 with 88 percent humidity with
rainy skies. We went up to breakfast at 7 and then out back to wait on
our debarkation number to be called. We we called at 8:15 and were
through immigration and customs by 8:50 and boarded the bus to the
airport. We arrived at the airport at 9:20 and check our 2 bags and got
boarding passes. Our flight had been changed to 1:10, so we had some
coffee and people watched. Wayne Newton and his family arrived at our
gate and said "Fancy meeting you here." He replied "You never know who
you might run into." We later had a Pepsi and a sandwich. The flight
was on the runway about 25 minutes waiting to take off, but it was a
smooth flight. We had to circle DFW for about 25 minutes before
landing, but our luggage came right our and our driver was there
waiting. We got home at 4:45 and real life began.

Day 110 - At Sea Mon 4-25-11

We woke up to Bruce making and announcement at 9:30. It was 73 with 88
percent humidity and cloudy skies. We had coffee in the cabin while I
downloaded the pictures from last nigh. We went to breakfast at 10:40
and then sat out back for a while to let the stewards clean the cabin.
We went back around 12 and packed most of the remaining stuff. We went
to the casino around 1:15 to use the rest of our casino account or get
rich. I managed to lose mine in 1 1/2 hours while Glenda took another
hour to lose less money. We went to bingo at 4 and did not win. Next
we finished strapping and tagging the FEDX luggage (7 pieces) and put
them out for pickup. Before dinner, we put out one of our take on the
plane bags. After dinner, I put out the last take on the plane bag and
then we went to the Crow's Nest for good-byes and Peter bought us a
round of drinks. We stayed until midnight.

Day 109 - At Sea Sun 4-24-11

We woke up at 8:35 and it was 70 with 96 percent humidity with cloudy
skies. We had coffee in the cabin. After breakfast at 10, we went back
to the cabin at 11 and packed 2 more bags. At one we went to the casino
for 45 minutes where Glenda won $80 and I lost $180. At 4, we went to
bingo and I won $89 and was within one number on the other 3 games.
Tonight was the last formal night and the Black and Gold Ball. During
dinner, they had the parade of the Baked Alaska by all the dining
stewards and cooks and chefs and servers. After dinner, we went to the
Crow's Nest and said some farewells to each other as tomorrow could be
hectic. Ankit from the shops was having his birthday party and bought
champagne for everyone and a round of drinks for us. We stayed until
1:25, but, luckily, we got to set the clocks back on last hour.

Day 108 - At Sea Sat 4-23-11

We woke up at 8:35 and it was 68 with 88 percent humidity. We had
coffee in the cabin and I tried to post yesterday's blog entry, but the
internet was acting up. We dressed and went to breakfast at 10.
Afterward, we went out on the back deck where Glenda sunned and I read.
As clouds moved in, I came back to the cabin at 12:45 and updated the
blog and checked email. Glenda came back at 1:15 and packed another
bag. We read until 3 when we went to the casino and played slots for 50
minutes. Glenda lost $100 but I won $220. We got a cup of coffee and
returned to the cabin at 4. We dressed for dinner and went to the
Mariner's Recognition Reception at 6:45. The names of each
passenger/couple who had reached a new medal level were announced and
they went up for a photo with the Captain and the Hotel Manager. Then
we went to dinner before going to the Crow's Nest. Tonight's show was
Wayne Newton and at 10, we went down to the Queen's Lounge to sample the
show. We did not stay very long as his voice is not so great anymore.
We returned to the Crow's Nest and visited until midnight.

Day 107 - At Sea Fri 4-22-11

We woke up at 9:50 and it was 63 with 68 percent humidity and apparent
winds of 19 knots. We had coffee in the cabin and I posted the blog
entry for Funchal. We went up to the back deck at 10:45 and I had a
roll and jam, but it was a bit chilly, so we went to the casino for
about 50 minutes where I won $80 and Glenda lost $100. Then we went to
the grill and had hot dogs before returning to the cabin at 12:30. I
updated the blog for the pending sea days and we packed 2 of our 9
bags. We went to bingo at 4 and Glenda won the last game for $158. We
were blocked from the Crow's Nest before dinner by a private party for
the deck 7 suites guests, so we went to the Casino Bar and visited with
the Crow's Nest regular crowd until dinner time. After dinner, we went
to the Crow's Nest where they were having a Disco Party. The
entertainment staff were dressed like a cross from Woodstock and
Saturday Night Fever. Brook, Emily, the two Matts, Katy and Sharee from
the photo shop were in costume. We visited with Barbie, Peter, Don,
Casey and Joey, one of the entertainers from last night. Joey and his
brother Frankie had their luggage lost when boarding in Spain and have
been having to scramble for clothes to wear. We stayed until 12:05, but
we got to set the clocks back another hour.

Day 106 - At Sea Thu 4-21-11

We woke up at 8:50 and it was 59 with 59 percent humidity with sunny
skies. We had coffee in the room and went to breakfast at 10. We sat
at a table across from Wayne Newton and his family. They were very
friendly and his daughter had had her birthday a couple of days ago with
the other little girls on board. We went to the front desk to pick up
our passports and then returned to the cabin at 11. At 12:30, we went
to the photo shop to look through our picture folder and went to the
casino for 12 minutes that it took us to lose. We then went up to the
back deck for coffee. I went back to the cabin at 1:30 to see if I
could access the Funchal photos, but had to take my memory card back to
the photo shop to see if they could copy them onto my thumb drive. Our
stored luggage was delivered to the cabin and we are very crowded now.
I guess that we are supposed to start packing. We went to bingo at 4
but did not win. We stopped by the photo shop and picked up my
recovered photos. Tonight was Dutch night and after dinner, we went to
the Crow's Nest and stayed until 11:50. We got to set the clocks back
another hour.

Day 105 - At Sea Wed 4-20-11

We woke up at 8:55 and it was 57 with 76 percent humidity, rain and high
winds. We had coffee in the cabin while dressing for our Mariners'
lunch at 11. At the lunch, we received Holland America tiles. Next, we
entered the slot tournament and then spent some dollars on the other
slots. I went by the photo shop to see if they can recover my pictures
from Funchal. We went back to the cabin at 1:30 and I updated the
blog. At 3:30, we went to see if we were still in the finals, but we
had been bumped so we entered again and Glenda made the finals at number
3 while I did not. In the finals, Glenda came in 2nd and got a T-shirt
while Maryann won $230 for 1st. We went to bingo where we did not win.
We went back to the cabin until 6:45 and then went to the Crow's Nest
before dinner for our last AMEX cocktail party. After dinner, we went
back to the Crow's Nest for Karaoke and shared our bottle of Madeira
wine with Peter, Don, Casey, and Barbie. We stayed until 11:50. We got
to set the clocks back another hour.

Day 104 - Funchal, Madeira, Portugal Tue 4-19-11

Bruce announced that the ship had been cleared at 7:25, but we didn't
get up until our wake up call at 8:30. It was 61 with 73 percent
humidity with sunny skies and a change of rain. We met up with Casey at
the gangway at 10 and caught the shuttle bus to town. We walked through
the church and then up to the Blandy's Wine Lodge and tasted 4 Madeira
wines. We then went down to their store and bought 2 bottles. We then
walked through the area and Casey bought a few things before we stopped
at a sidewalk cafe for beer and to wait to see if Peter got to town. He
didn't have a chance to leave the ship, so we caught the shuttle back to
the ship and boarded at 2:15. We went to the sail away at 3 and the
ship sailed at 3:30. We went to bingo at 4 but did not win. We
encountered rough seas as we left port and the ship was pitching and
rolling, making walking difficult. Due to the rough seas, the Mariners'
Recognition cocktail party was rescheduled for the 23rd. After dinner,
we went to the Crow's Nest and stayed until 11. We got to set the
clocks back one hour tonight.

Day 102 - Cadiz, Spain Sun 4-17-11

Our wake up call was at 7:30 and it was 61 with 73 percent humidity. We had
coffee in the cabin while the ship sailed toward the port. We dressed while watching
our approach to land and the ship docked around 9:30. After a bite to eat, we went
to the Queen's Lounge to check in for our tour of Seville. After a
one and a half hour drive we arrived in Seville. Since this was Palm
Sunday, all the stores were closed andthere were festivities going on at St. Mary's Cathedral which we were supposed to tour, we went instead to the site of the 1929 Exposition
and drove past several of the buildings of various countries to the Plaza of Spain. It was breathtaking in its size and beauty. After touring here, we went to a church and saw more
floats being decorated for parades
during Holy Week. Here there are four brotherhoods, but the parades are less dramatic. We did see some of the participants in costume on the street, including children. We then went to "Pontius Pilate's House" which is actually St. Andrew's but was believed by many to be a copy of Pilate's home in Jerusalem. It was built by moorish artisans and has
writings from the Koran in the decorations. Following this, we had lunch in the Macarena Hotel and then got to watch part of one of the parades by the whites. We also saw a member of the blues. Next we toured the royal palace Alcazar, another amazing building built by the Moors for the Christians, who did not have the skills. We then rode back to Cadiz and reboarded the
ship at 6:35. After dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest until 11:45.