Life at Sea

We have spent over 8 months on this ship or her sister ship, the Rotterdam. They always have a banner up on the ship when we get back on port days that says "Welcome Home!"  After spending that much time onboard, it feels like home. We know where everything is. We have our routine of what we do on sea days and how we prepare for port days. I spend a lot of time reading. Mel participates in everything, the lectures, shows, etc. We always have lunch and dinner together. He usually brings breakfast to me after he has been sitting in the Lido gabbing for several hours. I walk every day after lunch. It is just a regular routine. 

Many on the HAL Grand Voyages are regular guests. We have seen friends we met on our full world cruise in 2009 as well as some we met in 2013 on the Asia Pacific cruise. Most of the management staff is the same. We know the hotel manager and his wife who is in charge of guest services. The dining room manager knows us. We climbed Jacob's Ladder with him on St Helena Island in 2009. Today we went to a complimentary wine tasting to which we had been invited. The head wine steward welcomed us back, and we have never bought a bottle of wine onboard! It is like a large, happy community of friends. How can you not be happy when you are on a world cruise? 

One sad thing happened before we got on the ship in Singapore. On 2 pervious cruises we had met a woman named Julia. She was barely 5 feet tall and a real pistol. She wore a 6 kt canary yellow diamond on each hand, one from each of her husbands. The current husband, Don, she had met on a cruise. She had not been feeling well so went to a doctor in Wellington where she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. They told her she should get off the ship and being Julia, she absolutely refused saying that was where she wanted to be. Her daughter had planned on boarding in Singapore as we did but instead flew to Melbourne to be with her mother. They had a week together before Julia passed away, exactly where she wanted to be. She was 94 and had had a good life. She was fortunate to have gone so quickly with that horrible disease. The ship held a tea in her honor. Her daughter, Fran, told me that she wanted to do something like throw a party but Julia did not drink so she thought a tea more fitting. The dining room was packed. The Capt said a few words as did a few other crew members. Then the mike was open to whomever wanted to say something. One man got up on behalf of those who knew of Julia but who had never met her. It was a very touching afternoon and a good way to say goodbye to a lovely lady. Don, her husband, and Fran will continue on to Ft Lauderdale. 

There is one lady onboard, Dolly, who lives on the ship. We have seen her many times over the years. She just enjoys it, better than a retirement home. Sea life is very good. We don't have to do laundry, cook, wash dishes, feed the cat (poor Koda, we miss him!). We just have to do whatever we feel like doing, not a bad way to live. 

We always request a table for 8 for dinner. We sat with the same people for 2 of our voyages, lovely people who we really liked. But they were in their 80's and 90's! Even Mel was younger than most of them. This time we are very pleased with our tablemates. They all appear to be in their 60's and of course are very well traveled. They are from Chicago, Las Vegas and North Dakota, so from all over the country. We have lively conversations every night, we feel very lucky to have been placed with them. They have been on from Ft Lauderdale or Wellington, longer than us. They didn't sit together all the time, they all just ended up together after bad experiences at other tables. We got a winner the first try. You really get to know people when you eat with them every day for 2 months! We have made many lifelong friends that way. 

So, that is life at sea. It is good.