Last days in NC and first 8 on cruise

Sunday after worship and Communion, we went to the Moonshine Grill for brunch. Our fiends, Brent and Susan Ramsey, had decided to take us out for a meal. We are not sure exactly why except they like us. We spent a couple of hours visiting and enjoying the meal. We came home and did some light packing but then we took a walk around the loop. We also invited Gary and Linda to come for popcorn and cards. We started at 6 and finished at 8:30 because Linda goes to bed at 9. She gets up at 4:30 AM every day. Linda loves popcorn, so I gave her our popcorn popper to use during the winter. She loves the popcorn I make. Our popper would just sit on our shelf all winter. We went to bed at the normal time.

Monday was our last day for packing. I put many of the final items into the trailer. I always put our medicine box in last in case we need some medicine for some reason. My new driver arrived Saturday, and I put that in with the plant Evelyn wants to take to Texas. I also took our aloe and 2 geraniums to Wanda’s because she said she would water them periodically. I like having an aloe plant in case of burns. It surely did help me when I burned myself in July. Toward the end of the packing, I just begin tossing things to the front of the trailer. Most of them are single items. I employed a new strategy this year. I drilled holes into the sides of the trailer, put some eye bolts in and looped several strands of nylon rope through them to aid in holding larger tubs and boxes back, preventing things from bunching at the end of the trailer. I have to wait until we unpack to learn whether it worked. We also packed a cooler to take with us. We had several Pepsis and Pineapple drinks that we can drink on our way west. We had several things that we couldn’t take with us and gave them away, but took some that we can store at Stacy’s. We went to bed a bit tense about tomorrow’s departure.

As I anticipated, we wakened around 6, an hour ahead of the alarm. We showered and had some breakfast because we will not shower again until we get on the ship. We finished loading our car’s hatch with suitcases we will take on the cruise and prepared to leave. Doris’s sister has visited for the past 2 days and came to meet us. We wished Doris a good winter and drove south. We stopped in Franklin at Hardee’s and continued to Jamar farms where we bought 2 Vadalia mustard for the winter. Tom took us out to lunch at a Taco place and returned to their house. We shared some of the apples we had bought for them along with things we found that they had left at our house. I took a nap because I thought we would be up late and then early next morning. I was right. Tom took me to the place that sells specialty beers in Growlers. We sampled a few and bought 1 each before returning home. We took Tom out for dinner at an Italian restaurant for his birthday around 8. Olivia went along but Peter stayed home. He was tired from band practice. We enjoyed the dinner, but Evelyn had ordered the wrong thing and it was too late for us to eat and sleep comfortably. We slept on their air mattress as usual. We appreciate the room but find It hard to get out of.

We were up at 5 and on our way with Stacy to MARTA. One of our suitcases doesn’t have a strap receptacle to connect it to another, so we had to just lay it on top of one. The other works fine. We rolled them into the train car and rode to the airport. Once there we rolled them to through the airport while the suitcase fell off a couple of times. Even worse, we misinterpreted one of the directions we were given to the American Airlines counter and went directly to the security check-in area. After spending at least 10 minutes in line, a security guard told us we would lose all our lotions if we put our suitcases through the X-ray machines. We had to go back out and go to the AA counter. There is a 40 minute cut off to check bags and we had missed it for our 7:40 flight. He was very accommodating in that he put us on a 9:55 flight and waived our $25 bag charge to check our bags. We went back through security and settled in to wait until our flight left. We started to board and had our “carry on” luggage taken from us because the small airplane wouldn’t accommodate them in the overhead bins. Therefore we were without the items we had intended to use on the flight. This was a blessing because we were both quite sleepy and couldn’t sleep in the chairs in the airport. We were on time in Miami, picked up our carry-on luggage, went to the carousel, got our checked bags and began looking for transportation. Again the bag continued to fall onto the sidewalk. We found a cab who took us to the dock for $29 including TIP. The Cruise Critic had suggested we not check our bags with the cruise services, so we pulled our bags through the lines. This took quite a time and exhausted our arms. We took our bags to our room and decided to not follow Cruise Critic advice in the future. We took a shower and a short nap before going to the buffet for some food. We hadn’t eaten since Tom’s birthday but were not famished. I have decided to try eating mostly protein in order to lose some weight. I did that while we started to listen to the welcome party on the pool deck. It had just started when a heavy rain shower began. It was short but dampened the spirits of the crowd. We walked around deck 6 a few times and got in line to go to the evening show in the large lounge. While waiting, Evelyn looked at the menu and saw a lobster/red snapper item. After the show, we went to the restaurant to enjoy the entrée she loves so much. I enjoyed the red snapper. We also found a very friendly waitress from the Philippines and will try to have her serve us in the future. We stopped to dance 3 songs before going to seek a good night’s sleep. I also called Karen Nieter and made arrangements for picking us up at the MARTA when we return to Atlanta.

We slept very well and arose around 9. I made Evelyn a cup of tea and me a cup of coffee, and we enjoyed drinking it on our balcony, looking at the sea. We saw a relative calm sea because our captain changed our route to avoid hurricane Sandy which would have made the sea quite rough. We went up to the Garden Café for breakfast. I also tried to weigh myself to see how my plan worked, but the scales showed I weighed at least 10 pounds lighter than I believe I weigh. I will try to follow my plan regardless. We walked around the ship and then returned to the room to rest. We both dropped off to sleep. Then Evelyn went to a talk about shopping opportunities at the next 3 ports. We don’t have any shore excursions scheduled but will go ashore on our own. I went out and walked around deck 6 once and then read 3 days of my Bible reading. Evelyn came and we went to the pool side deck and listened to music. Evelyn especially likes to sit in the lounge chairs and enjoy the sunny warmth. We planned to go to dinner and a show this evening. We also planned to go to Cartagena tomorrow morning. There was not much celebrated during the talk on shopping. We went to the performance by a pianist after dinner. He was very good as are all of the performers. We met a couple at dinner that has offered us a camera to use since we had left ours at home. I don’t know how we can transfer the pictures into our camera since they didn’t bring a USB cable, but perhaps we can find someone who has one. We went to the observation lounge to dance a bit. We danced only 1 number because we were afraid of falling since the ship was rolling a bit. The band was a family from Philippines. They were very good and friendly when we were able to talk with them as they took a break. We were in our room at 10. We are beginning to feel somewhat better but are still trying to catch up on our sleep.

Friday we slept until 8:15. Actually it was 9:15 diurnally because we crossed into a time zone west of us and set the watches back. We slept long and fairly well, but my bursas still cause me pain that wakes me. Evelyn is doing better than she was at home but is taking an arthritis pill as am I. It is pleasant on our balcony and not as hot as I had expected. It is, however, humid and sticky outside. We are beginning our second day at sea. We also have a reception for frequent cruisers on NCL this afternoon. We will go for my daily omelet and breakfast any minute Evelyn gets ready. We enjoyed our breakfast before Evelyn went to a talk on how to develop a flat stomach. I went to several areas and read a few days readings from my Bible. I went to get her and learned that she can have some evaluations for just $41! Both of us can go for just $66! This may sound expensive but includes a bowel detox medicine. I think my bowels detox almost every day. Although this diet is taxing in some ways. We went to the Latitudes reception. Latitudes members are people who have sailed with NCL at least once. I had a complimentary beer and glass of wine. I have been sleepy since we boarded, so we returned to the cabin for a nap. After that we dressed for dinner. We found a waitress we like and tried to get a table she was serving. We did and had dinner with a couple from Alabama. They were great world travelers. But previously she had developed a great camp for diabetic children. We proceeded to the evening show that was a juggler/comedian. I was not impressed. We then went to several venues to listen to music before retiring.

We were off to Cartagena, Columbia shortly before 9. It was quite hot and humid so we were glad that NCL had provided a bus to take us to the first gift shop. We looked for a taxi to transport us to town and got into the middle of a fight between 2 tour guides. We finally chose the one who had approached us first. He was a somewhat strange man who had been born in Jamaica, raised in NYC now living in Cartagena. He was knowledgeable and gave us a good tour. He did, however, lead me to believe they would take both of us to and from town for $20. At the end he asked for $20 each way. We had only 32. We visited several good sights—old fort where slaves were kept—and a few churches. The most types of sites were emerald shops. He claimed this earned him some sort of food coupons each time he brought potential customers around. We went to all of them but bought nothing. Many were priced around $3000+. He did say he would take me to an Internet Café that was cheaper than others. It was not. This part of the Caribbean was indeed a haven for pirates and a center for slave traders. There was a large church that was controlled by a priest who helped them. What the biggest surprise he shared was that the slave owners were black too. We saw some of the fort where the slaves were quartered and where they were incarcerated and punished. The city reminded us of those we have seen on Mexico, but a bit cleaner. Our guide kept trying to explain things to us. We used the internet café just off the ship’s dock and dumped many emails while reading some of the more personal ones. We returned for a snack since Evelyn was hungry. I was not but did eat some cheese. We used the borrowed camera and even substituted another piece of tape to hold the batteries in it. Unfortunately I can’t find any port that will allow me to transfer the pictures into the computer. We came to the cabin for a nap. I watched for some of the football scored to be shown and Purdue was behind. What a big disappointment this team has been. It is really depressing. We went to dinner and ate with 2 sisters who cruise once each year together. Meantime one lives in PA and the other in Seattle. The surprise was that they were also on the real Atkins diet, not just the improvised one I am on. They had some good tips that I will follow tomorrow. For example, they said to avoid cheese because it was high in calories. I have always eaten that before on these cruises but will hold back on it the rest of the way. They told of their adventures in Cartagena and had us laughing but not as hard as they were. They had gone to some sort of mud bath similar to that of the one on the Dead Sea. It sounded quite unappealing but funny as they told the story. We then played cards until the 9:30 show starring the Company Men, a group of middle aged men who blend 70s pop hits with contemporary ones. They had a Motown style featuring synchronized movements base after those by the Temptations and others. We then tried to dance but were wearing shoes that inhibited our dance moves. We returned to the cabin and learned we had to set our watches ahead 1 hour since we were sailing back into the eastern time zone.

Up at 8 and off to the chapel for worship. We have been on cruises that provided worship services, but this one offered only a “self directed prayer time”. We spent about half an hour in prayer. During that time, I talked with a nice LDS couple from Utah about 200 miles south of Emily. I prayed for them as well as the others on my list. We went to breakfast and I tried to avoid the high calorie items. As we were leaving we encountered the ladies from last night and the couple from the night before. We talked with each of them and learned they will go ashore although they had both been to Aruba before. Evelyn signed up for a tour of the city while I walked near the pier. There was plenty of shopping to satisfy me. This island is very colorful as was Cartagena. The pictures that will follow give a great representation of the colors of the businesses. I spent some time getting some freebees from some jewelers. I don’t understand why they do this when they can be virtually positive that the people from the ships will not buy much if anything. We will gather more freebees at future ports. I also spent some time looking for a place to buy 6 diet Pepsis to bring on board. I could find only Coke products. We reason is that many businesses are closed Sunday. The others close at 6 PM. I did find a bag with Aruba on it. I also wanted to buy a local beer. I thought it might be cheaper than onboard. I was wrong. I returned to the ship within 2 hours due to the oppressive heat. I showered and watched some football. Evelyn rode a bus most of the day and saw some things from there. She went to a plant that made many products out of aloe including creams, lotions, etc. They toured the plant and gift shop that she learned was family owned. There is also a natural bridge formed by the relentless pounding of the surf. Some of it had falling into the sea and was not safe to walk on. Some did however, causing Evelyn to shudder. She can imagine the worst without any help. She was comforted by the air conditioned bus to ride in because it was just as hot for her as it was for me. She struggled on a path or two that were challenging to travel, causing her to reach for the rocks on either side. She was happy to be back to the cabin to shower. Showers are big in the Caribbean. We rested a bit and then dressed for dinner. We went to the Four Seasons and sat with a couple from IN and another from Netherlands. We had a nice visit before rushing to see the Company Men show. We learned it was 45 minutes later, so we rushed off to the variety show, Encore, featuring snipits from several Broadway shows. When it finished we returned to the show we wanted to see. Afterward, I went to talk with one of the 4 performers. I asked for a business card to give to the director of the concert series in McAllen for next season if our Lord doesn’t return before. We went to the sports bar to watch Drew Brees play against Peyton Manning. Peyton won big time.

The morning in Curacao (pronounced Cruso). It was hot again—hotter than blitzen. We walked into the colorful city around 9. It was already over 80 but much hotter than we remember since it is in the Caribbean. This city was much more leisurely than Cartagena: no pressure was applied by taxi and tour drivers. No one rushed at us with trinkets, etc. It was founded by Dutch explorers and is in what is called the Netherland Antilles. Everything was colorful: the shops, the clothes, the buildings, just everything. There were open air plazas and tables as one would imagine Paris only not dirty at all. The sidewalks were a bit rough but under repair in many places. Again I looked for diet Pepsi but found that Coke owns the entire area. Perhaps it is just the Dutch settlements. This is an area where there are many wealthy people and some poor people. The shops are all air conditioned, but many of the homes are not. We make that assumption because the shutters are open during our afternoon naps. Even the air conditioning in our cabin leaves something to be desired. I talked with the couple we had dinner with the couple we dined with a few evenings ago. He was Joe, the engineer, and his wife who had enlarged a camp for diabetic children. They have traveled extensively throughout the world and were engaging. Now about aging. If anyone reading this under 70 may not identify with my life. It is becoming difficult to get out of a chair or off the stool. I often have to rock back and forth to get the momentum necessary to get up. Stairs present another struggle but ramps are even becoming difficult to walk up. Standing is not a walk in the park either. Leaning has become a necessity. Of course it is also uncomfortable to sit for very long, especially in an airplane. I am not looking forward to the drive to Texas. We had dinner with 2 new couples and had more great conversation. I have been able to suggest returning thanks and had a warm reception. We were curious as to whether the couple from Netherlands is Jewish but will ask them the next chance we get. After dinner we went to the early show featuring an Italian comic. Many of his jokes were realistically funny, but a few were vulgar. We are always concerned that some parents might have innocently brought children. Young ones wouldn’t be affected but teenagers would.

Tuesday was a relaxing day at sea. We had a late breakfast and looked for the sisters that are on the high protein diet. They are looking for sugar free Jello, and I have taken on the job of finding it. I was told by one of the midlevel chefs that there was no such thing on board, but he would make some for this evening. We went to learn our Latitudes points that would tell us our level. We are gold level and learned we are only 5 points from platinum. That means another cruise of at least 5 days. We will see what benefits come with this level of membership. Evelyn went to a talk on shopping in St. Maarten (our next stop) and St. Thomas (our final stop) before we had a light lunch. We went back to the cabin for reading and a short nap. Since we are in the gold level, we were invited to a party including wine, champagne, cheese and a concert by the Filipino band that plays good dancing music. A few couples danced in the front of the lounge. Yes, we did too. We went directly to dinner and shared a table with a couple we were with last night and a couple from Alberta, Canada. We had a good time talking about various subjects. We went to the evening entertainment and saw a magician and heard a young man with an operatic voice. He was especially dynamic. Both will be headliners on future shows. I remembered the promised jello and went to call the sisters. I had left a message earlier but had not heard from them. The message had cut off before I had given our cabin number. I did finally reach them through the guest services because I didn’t know their cabin number nor their last names. They came to the sports bar to enjoy the original product with us and will meet us for dinner tomorrow evening and share the orange jello we were promised. We went to the observation lounge and danced 4 numbers with the Filipino band before retiring. On a sad note, several of the people we have met are from the east coast, and, while most don’t know for sure, they have likely lost much of everything they own during the disastrous hurricane Sandy. The weather radar shows that Waynesville may have received a goodly amount of snow from the colliding blizzard that caused much damage even in Columbus, Ohio.

For some reason I awoke at 7:30 this morning. Evelyn followed shortly after. We went to breakfast and ate with a couple we had sought since early in the cruise: Jack and Debbie from Sacramento. We had a delightful conversation before going to shore. St. Maarten is a beautiful Caribbean place, clean and friendly. No one was aggressive even though many were selling tours of the city. When I think of a different Norwegian cruise being buffeted by 40 foot waves off the coast of Long Island, it makes us thank God for the smooth seas we have experienced. We took a water taxi to the shore. We had the same feeling of peace and beauty that one has when viewing the scene on a post card, except we were looking at the subject of the post card. The water is a brilliant blue contrasted with the beige beaches. They really aren’t white, but they contrast with the blue of the ocean. The bay contained only a few boats and a small cargo ship. One boat had a thatched roof and looked livable. Another was a well used fishing ship that might have been still operational. We walked in the heat along the beach front. Evelyn found a couple of colorful dresses and I found a tank top noting St. Maarten. We finally found some shaded areas and some stores that were air conditioned. I even found an area with 3 usable computers and free Internet connection. I was able to send off messages to the girls concerning our well being. I found a woman selling hats and got 3 for $9. We will distribute them. We also found a place that sold liquor and Cuban cigars. We bought some for Stacy’s neighbor and Pieder. We found a Belgian chocolate shop and bought just a small amount. We had spent almost all of our cash and didn’t want to charge things because most credit card companies charge a fee for off shore purchases. The part of the island we were on was a Dutch colony; the other was claimed by France. It is the smallest jointly owned piece of land on earth, I guess. We didn’t go to the French side. The people speak very good English and also Dutch. Again, our friends we met from Netherlands were not with us. I had a local beer, Carib, on the way back to the ship. We immediately went to have lunch around 2. We took a shower and rested until we met our sister friends for dinner at 6. I am trying to take photographs of the people we met and had dinner with before we dock again in Miami. St. Maarten was so impressive that we might look for a Groupon and return someday. We rested when we came back and got ready to meet the sisters for dinner. Tonight was the chocolate night but was just a dessert bar instead of a midnight buffet. It was also Halloween, bringing out all sorts of costumes. We had no costumes and don’t understand how some of the cruisers had room to bring what they had in their luggage. The sisters had witches hats. We all broke our diets at the chocolate bar. We went to a variety show featuring the singers from the cast of the onboard dancers. I thought the show featured some salacious songs that could have been replaced by some more generally acceptable. We went to get our sugar free jello afterward and talked with the chef from Australia, John Thurgood. He is a very likeable man so we put his name in for a special award.