Sunday, 2 July 2017
At Sea — Sargasso Sea
Stats @ Ship’s Time 11:40p (EDT) … UTC 3:40a (3 July)
Temp: 81F (27.2C)
Position: 32.38.10N / 74.50.71W
Travel brings power and love back to your life.
~ Rumi ~
Let me just start by saying that today’s crossing back to the US is nothing like the one we experienced in 2001. Back then, what was left of Hurricane Karen interacted with a cold front, passing Bermuda and battering it with hurricane-force winds before heading off to make landfall in Nova Scotia. We felt some of those winds while we were still on the island. And later when we were crossing the Atlantic as well. We also battled 40-foot (12m) waves at least part of the way to Baltimore. Not today. Calm seas and sunshine were the order of the day for this crossing.
When I woke up and looked at the clock this morning it was 5:30a. I rolled over to sleep another hour, but that didn’t work. Since we gained an hour overnight to put us in Eastern Daylight Time, my body said it was 6:30a … time to get up. So, I checked my emails and FB, and then sat on the veranda to start this journal entry and polish up a few blog posts. We’ll be getting the morning sun on the veranda until we turn south after Charleston. With the umbrella up, though, I was comfortable. It helped that a light breeze was wafting over the deck … even though with that breeze came occasional whiffs of fumes. I won’t be missing those dreadful fumes once we disembark in Miami, I can tell you that.
Today was finish-packing day. We got started on that chore right after breakfast. The first goal was to sort through all the clothes so Mui could pack the flat stuff. During that process, we also made sure to set aside outfits to wear on disembarkation day. As well, to pick out light weight comfortable clothes for getting the Phaeton out of storage when we arrive in Houston. After six months that might be a dirty job!
We were mostly done by lunchtime … a good excuse to celebrate by joining the Gelmans for a meal at the Terrace Café. Afterwards, we returned to the cabin to finish up the bits and pieces of packing that were left. We’re going home at least 100 pounds lighter since two duffels are not being used. The actual weight loss is probably more than that estimate as most of the consumables are also gone.
Last year the disembarkation was a bit messy from what I’ve read. Some people missed their flights. Something to do with immigration/customs getting upset when passengers left the ship before their luggage tag color was called. Hopefully, things will go more smoothly this year. In any event, we purposefully booked an afternoon flight so no worries on our part.
We were hosted for dinner tonight by Chief Purser Emmanuel “call me Manosh or Manolis” Fiffis. To accommodate his work schedule, we met in the Grand Dining Room at 7:30p. Even though it was just the three of us dining, we took a good 2½ hours to finish our meal. In fact, we were the absolute last ones to leave the dining room. We had a good time. He’s a good conversationalist … and has a nice sense of humor, so the camaraderie was great.
Since it was 10:00p when we left the dining room, we figured we’d check out what was left of the encore performance by the boys of December 63.
The quartet of singers is very popular — they sing songs from the likes of Michael Jackson, Michael Bublé, the Eagles, and more. It was standing room only when we walked in. We stood at the back with GM Victor, keeping time to the last three songs.
After the show, we joined our fellow passengers and went up to Horizons for a special RTW guest and crew mingle. Very nice event, but we were tired and the music was loud, so we didn’t stay long. Still, it was lovely to see some of the behind-the-scenes crew who serve the RTW guests enjoying themselves.
It is way too fumey to sit on the veranda to read as I had planned. It’s past midnight anyway. Time to get some shuteye. We are having breakfast with the Gelmans and the Sweets at 8:00a … in the dining room for the first … and last time. Somehow, we never made it to the GDR for a morning meal on this voyage … it will be a nice change of pace.
© 2004-2018 All rights reserved by Erin Erkun.
The end is so close. Glad you had smooth sailing on this day. So lovely to have made good,real friends as well.
ReplyDeleteI would have really enjoyed the boys of December 63.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I have ever spent three hours on a meal. Glad y'all had a great last day.
And pretty soon NO MORE FUMES!
ReplyDeleteAs I said previously, welcome back to the USofA!