Phuket, Thailand

Promthep Cape

Wat Chalong Temple

Sunday, 12 Mar 2017 – We awoke to our alarm at 6:00 AM.  Due to a shallow harbor, passengers took tenders to the shore; we met up with our tour guide, “Oodie”; then walked quite a distance to board our tour bus by 9:20 AM.  Our excursion (“Phuket Highlights & Cultural Show”) was supposed to last 5.5 hours, but it really took 7.5 hours before we were back in our cabin.  This island was pretty much totally destroyed in the big tsunami several years ago (2004?) and thousands died, but it has been mostly rebuilt.  Before World War II, this was Siam.  At one point, we went inside Wat Chalong, a highly ornamented Buddhist temple, with its Buddha and golden elephants.  A little later, the high point of this trip was watching a production of young Thai classical dancers dressed in opulent costumes & intricate head pieces of sparkling stones, to the music of Thai drums and flutes.  We were reminded a lot of the old movie “The King of Siam,” with Yul Brenner as the King.

We were back on the ship by 4:30 PM and went to the buffet for a late lunch, then swam for 15 or 20 minutes.  Since our lunch had been so late, we danced before going to dinner.

Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang) & Penang, Malaysia

Putra Mosque

            Friday, 10 March 2017 – Already the next morning, the ship stopped at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Much of our 4-hour excursion was spent on a bus, but the high point was between noon and 1:00 PM when we were walking through a botanical garden.  This was the “Taman Botani Putrajaya,” the “Mother of All Gardens” with rainforest trees and unusual vegetation (such as heliconia, red pointed flowers) and various types of bananas (some bananas are actually poisonous).  In spite of tall trees, much of our walk was in the sun.  When Sally commented to the tour guide, Kapin, about how quiet it was, he replied that the birds and insects don’t come out during that time of day when it is so hot.  (No, only humans do that!)
            By 2:00 PM we were back on the ship.  After a light lunch, Sally napped for four hours until dinner.  We were later than usual for dinner, the dining room was already filled to capacity; therefore, we were given a buzzer and a coupon for free champagne in the Spinnaker Lounge.  Since the Exotique Band was playing there, we danced to a few songs until our buzzer went off.  After dinner, we danced to another four songs or so before retiring for the night.

Penang, Malaysia

            Saturday, 11 March 2017 – Today, the ship stopped at Penang, Malaysia.  Since the big attraction there seemed to be the beach and not a lot else, we didn’t sign up for an excursion.  But we did get off the ship to walk.  However, within a few blocks of the ship, there wasn’t much to see – not even any shops except for a few tiny tourist places with postcards, etc.  One hour of hot sun and heavy traffic was enough for us!
            In the afternoon we went for a swim in the ship’s pool, which turned out to be heavily chlorinated salt water, and between 5.2 and 5.7 feet deep.  Afterwards, Sally lay down for a nap while Jesse visited the buffet for a light lunch.
            We shared our dinner table with a friendly Canadian couple and talked so long that the band was playing their last dance by the time we got to the Spinnaker Lounge.  Although the band would be returning later, it would be too late for us.  Before bed, we set our clocks and watches back one hour.

En Route to Singapore & Embarkation

Sunday, 5 Mar 2017 – Yes, we have departed for another long 38-day cruise. This Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship, the Norwegian Star, starts in Singapore and ends in Venice.  Including flights and hotel stays before and after the cruise, we will be traveling for a total of 45 days!  We will be visiting Kuala Lumpar and Penang, Malaysia; Phuket, Thailand; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Cochin, Delhi, Agra (for the Taj Mahal), Goa, and Mumbai, India; Fujairah, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai United Arab Emirates; Muscat, Shasab, and Salalah, Oman; Aqaba, Jordan; Safaga, Sharm el Sheikh, and Suez Canal, Egypt; Haifa, Israel; Iraklion, Greece; and Dubrovnik, Croatia.  We mainly wanted to visit India, after hearing the adventures of one son & daughter-in-law, and of longer stays there by two granddaughters.  Although we found several cruises that stopped in India, we liked the itinerary and price of this one. 

We left Bettendorf for Peoria Airport at about 11:15 AM and actually arrived at the airport early for a change.  No running to our gate this time!  Our first flight, to Dallas/Fort Worth on American Airlines, was a little over two hours, with a two-hour layover in Dallas.  Next was a 15-hour flight to Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airlines (based in Abu Dhabi).  Since the flight had a 7-pound weight limit for carry-on bags, we had to check our two small suitcases, containing our medications, one laptop computer, and other items.  Luckily, this was an international flight and we were allowed two checked bags each, so there were no additional charges. While waiting for that flight, we watched as at least 15 to 20 wheelchairs lined up in preparation for boarding, almost like a parade.  (Several of the wheelchair occupants seemed to have little or no difficulty walking, which puzzled us!)   

On the 15-hour flight, we (especially Jesse) might have dozed a few times; however, we never became comfortable.  After another 2-hour layover in Abu Dhabi, we boarded our final 7.5 hour flight to Singapore.   Between watching movies (Jesse) and conversing with a young German woman sitting next to Sally, we dozed for a few hours, but arrived in Singapore totally exhausted.  Sally’s legs and ankles were quite swollen because she had remained seated too long on that last flight.  We were happy to see that our luggage arrived safe and sound with all of its contents.

Before leaving the Singapore airport, we found an ATM where we withdrew S$100.00 (that is, Singapore dollars), which had been recommended for taxis, etc., in Singapore, and then stopped for a light breakfast at McDonalds.  The menu was the same as in the USA – nothing exotic like the lamb burgers that we once enjoyed in Australia.

The taxi to our hotel cost us S$34.00 (about $24.00 US).  Although check-in time was 2:00 PM, luckily we were allowed to check in when we arrived at 12:30 PM.  The Hotel Bencoolen on Hong Kong Street was very nice (4-star according to Trip Advisor).  After reaching our room, we showered and immediately lay down for naps.  At about 6:00 PM, we left the hotel to find a restaurant for dinner.  Although we had planned to charge our dinner (thus avoiding spending our limited cash), none of the inexpensive local restaurants accepted credit cards; therefore, we ended up paying S$45.00 for our enchilada dinner at Chile’s.

Wednesday, 8 Mar 2017 – During our flight to Singapore, we seemed to have lost both Monday and Tuesday.  On our first night in the hotel, Jesse had been so tired that he managed to fall asleep without his CPAP machine – making his sleep less restful.  At 9:00 AM we went down to the complimentary hotel breakfast, which included fried eggs, sausages, cold cuts, cereal, fruit, cereal, rolls/toast, coffee, and juices.  We especially enjoyed the coffee machine that dispensed coffee, cappuccino, and mocha.  After stuffing ourselves, we returned to our room and watched CNN on TV before lying down for a three-hour nap.

Near the hotel was a large shopping mall, which we explored.  We had discovered that Sally had forgotten to pack her external mouse and we had also failed to bring a large bag to be used as an airline personal item.  Although the mall was very large and spread out on four floors, we didn’t find anything that we liked.

After finding out from the hotel clerk that our taxi to the cruise terminal would cost us only about S$10.00, we decided to try one of the inexpensive restaurants for dinner.  Therefore, we enjoyed salad chicken rice and chicken porridge, for only S$8.70 (much less than Chile’s!).  Back in our cabin by 5:35 PM and in bed by 9:15 PM, Jesse used his CPAP machine this time!

Tiong Bahru Restaurant

Thursday, 9 March 2017 – Jesse was up by 8:00 AM.   Sally hadn’t slept very well, waking up several times during the night.  At the hotel breakfast, we sat at a table with two other couples, both who would be cruising with us – one couple from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and the other from Hong Kong. 

At 11:50 AM, we took a taxi to the ship.  After going through the ship’s security, we spent another two hours standing in line to check in.  Sally was not a happy camper!  (We didn’t have her fold-out stool, part of Jesse’s backpack, because our larger carry-on luggage had to be checked at Abu Dhabi.)  After that, her legs were almost as swollen as after our long flights to Singapore.  As soon as we received our “freestyle cards” (cabin keys), we boarded the ship, made our way to our cabin, dropped off our carry-on bags, and headed to the buffet for lunch.  There, we met Joy from Australia.  Joy is traveling alone (her husband is at home); her cabin is only two doors down from ours.

Embarkation at Singapore

We managed to do a little unpacking before we were called to the mandatory lifeboat drill, which turned out to be the most comfortable drill that we’ve ever attended because there were plenty of seats and instructions were kept to a minimum.  Afterwards, we returned to our cabin, finished unpacking, and took naps.  We also met our cabin steward, Adil, from Indonesia.  At dinner we both ordered French onion soup (our favorite soup) and prime rib, and then called it an early night.

7-Day Western Caribbean Cruise

En Route to New Orleans, LA, & Embarkation

Friday, 16 Sep 2016 – Yes, we have departed for another CARIBBEAN cruise.  We left Bettendorf at about 11:15 AM.  Jesse drove while Sally read aloud, first finishing Green Darkness, by Anya Seaton, then starting on Somewhere in Time, by Richard Matheson.  We stopped by West Memphis Walmart to buy wine for the cruise.  (Carnival allows passengers to bring aboard 750 ml of wine per person.)   We arrived at our motel in West Memphis, AR, at about 10:15 PM.

Pat O'Brien's, New Orleans, LA

Saturday, 17 Sep 2016 – We checked out of our West Memphis motel at about 10:30 AM and started our drive to New Orleans, LA.  During our drive, Sally continued reading aloud.  At about 5:30 PM, we arrived at our hotel in New Orleans, LA.  There, we met up with our cruise party, and soon walked to the nearby French Quarter and down Bourbon Street – it seemed very much like Mardi Gras!  We all enjoyed dinner at Pat O'Brien's, where Jesse and Sally shared one of their famous “Hurricane” drinks.  Our cruise party included Jesse’s sister, Verna, and her husband, Earl; his brother, Jon, and his wife, Carol; his sister-in-law, Julia; his niece, Dolores, and her husband, Wilbur; his nieces Catherine (Humpty) and Nubian (Missy); and friends Helen (Kitty), Larry, and Doris.  Verna delivered matching tee shirts to our hotel rooms late Saturday night.

Sunday, 18 Sep 2016 – At about 11:00 AM, we checked out of our New Orleans hotel and drove to the Erato Street New Orleans Cruise Terminal.  Jon and Carol rode with us, while the other members of our cruise party rode in a charter bus.  Although there were less expensive alternatives to parking, we elected to park our vehicle in the terminal parking garage to avoid the anticipated long shuttle waits upon our return.

Upon entering the cruise terminal, we realized that we had been issued “priority” boarding passes, which enabled us to avoid the majority of the long check-in lines.  Except for the security inspection, Jon and Carol were allowed to accompany us through the check-in lines.

We boarded the ship on deck 3.  Upon encountering long lines at the elevators, we opted to take the stairs down to our cabin on deck 2, while Jon and Carol waited to take an elevator to their cabin on deck 6.  We were in our cabin by 1:30 PM. 

Although we had planned to meet Jon and Carol for lunch in The Gathering on deck 10, the restaurant was so expansive that we were unable to locate them.  Eventually we gave up and started our lunch.  Several menu venues were available, but we chose Italian.  We were almost finished with dinner when we finally connected with Jon and Carol, who joined us for dessert.

At 3:30 PM, we endured the dreaded mandatory life-boat drill, then returned to our cabin and unpacked, relaxed, and made a couple of last minute phone calls while we were still in range of the New Orleans cell phone towers.  Our cabin steward welcomed us back.  Her name, Patcharin, was difficult to pronounce, so she suggested that we just call her Pat.  She also gave us two complimentary liter-size bottles of water, given to “priority” Carnival members.  We believe our upgrade to “priority” was a mistake, but Jon and Verna believe otherwise.

At 8:15 PM we met our cruise party for dinner, where we had assigned tables in the Scarlet Restaurant for the late dining.  For dinner each night, we  sat at a table for seven along with Verna, Earl, Jon, Carol, and Julia.  At an adjacent table, Dolores, Wilbur, Humpty, Missy, Kitty, Larry, and Doris sat.  Our waiter was Omar, from Columbia, and his assistant, Viktor, from Ukraine.  Sometimes another waiter, Rushad, from India, also helped out at our table.  Waiters on cruise ships are almost always from countries other than the US.

Our other table had a different waiter and assistant.  We had started the day wearing our matching tee-shirts, but changed into more dressy outfits for dinner, while most of our cruise party were still wearing their matching shirts.  Whoops!

Sally had not slept well on Saturday night, so immediately after dinner, we retired for the night.

2 Days At Seas

Monday, 19 Sep 2016 – We barely made it to breakfast before the buffet closed at 10:30 AM.  Although we had planned to swim later, the two swimming pools were so crowded that we returned to our cabin with our swimsuits still dry.  We lounged in our cabin until 2:15 PM, when we went to The Gathering for a light lunch.  However, we had not realized that all of the buffet lines closed at 2:30 PM.  We did manage to order two Caesar salads from the pizza grill, which we enjoyed along with lemonade and frozen yogurt.

Internet access was excellent on this ship.  For just one payment of $60.00, we purchased unlimited internet access for the duration of the 7-day cruise!  Needless to say, we spent a lot of time online!

This was an “elegant” dining night, so after enjoying the “Chocolate Delight” strawberry plate in our cabin that we received as “priority” passengers, we dressed in our tuxedo and evening gown and attempted to meet up with the rest of our cruise party for a group photo at 7:00 PM.  However, due to a comedy of errors, we never managed to get the complete cruise party in one location; therefore, at 8:15 PM we abandoned our photo plans and went on to the Scarlet Restaurant for dinner, where we enjoyed lobster and prime rib.  After dinner, most of our party attended a comedy show, but we opted to dance to a few songs with the Impromtwo band in the Dream Atrium.  We did a couple of slow Rumbas and one Cha Cha.

Tuesday, 20 Sep 2016 – At 10:30 AM, we met our cruise party for the Sea Day Brunch in the Scarlet Restaurant, where we enjoyed breakfast and conversation until about 12:30 PM.  Then we went for a swim.  Both swimming pools were crowded, but we managed to crowd our way into the aft pool, where Jesse did water aerobics and Sally treaded water.  It was “should-to-shoulder,” with maybe two or three feet from other people.  Before leaving the pool, Jesse managed to tread water for five minutes or so.  He’s been practicing “treading” in the YMCA pool for the last few weeks without much success.  After our swim, we returned to our cabin and played on our computers while watching Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 on the TV.

After dressing for dinner, we stopped at the Ocean Plaza and danced to a few songs with The Blackjack band.  At 8:15 PM, we joined the rest of our party for dinner.  Sally ordered salmon and Jesse tilapia, and we enjoyed chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert.  After dinner, we went with the others to the Lido deck, where Motown music was playing.  Jesse joined a couple of line dances; then we retired to our cabin.

Island of Roatan, Honduras

            Wednesday, 21 Sep 2016 – This morning we went to breakfast in The Gathering.  Soon after breakfast, we went for a swim.  The pool was almost empty this time, since most passengers had gone ashore.  The pool on this ship was filled with salt water, which made floating very easy for Jesse; however, the salt stung his eyes.

Mahogany Bay, Honduras

            After donning our hats and sunglasses, we proceeded ashore to find the other members of our party who had left the ship at 9:00 AM.  When we arrived at the beach, we were unable to find any of our party among the rows and rows of covered lounges, so we returned to the ship and watched Taken 2 on TV.

            Missy, with assistance from others, had organized a surprise anniversary for Jon and Carol, so we all met in Missy and Humpty’s cabin at 6:15 PM.  When the very surprised Jon and Carol arrived, we drank champagne and wine, and snacked on hors d’oerves until our 8:15 PM dinner reservations.

            After dinner, Sally started to feel a little congested, so we skipped dancing and returned to our cabin, where Sally started on cold medication. 

Belize City, Belize

Thursday, 22 Sep 2016 – We awoke to our alarm at 6:00 AM.  Sally didn’t really feel like going anywhere, but since this was our only excursion for this cruise, she decided to endure it.  After breakfast we met up with Jon, Carol, and Missy at 7:30 AM at the entrance of the Encore auditorium for our excursion.  Soon, we all boarded a tender to Belize because the port harbor wasn't deep enough for the ship to dock there.  Then we boarded a bus, which we rode for nearly 2 hours to the Xunantunich Mayan ruins.   Our tour guides were Therese and Carla.  One guide said if we couldn't remember how to pronounce the name, to simply tell people we had been to the "Tuna sandwich" ruins. 

After the bus ride, we walked a short distance to a large flat ferry (almost like a big wooden raft), where a man was turning a hand crank at the cables to move the raft across to the other side of the small river.  Then we boarded minibuses that took us up a hill to the area of the ruins, where we walked and listened to presentations by our site guide.  Our site guide’s name was Edgar, but his nicknames were “Bean” and “Little Man.”  He was very small in stature, so we assumed “Bean” was taken from one of the characters in the book Ender’s Game.

Xunantunich Myan Ruins

We had visited the Xunantunich site last March, when Sally climbed almost up to the top.  This time she did go all of the way up, as Jon did also.  (From high up, the guide pointed out that Guatemala could be seen off to the right, which is adjacent to Belize.)  Jesse and Missy went part way up but then their fear of heights was too great when they encountered a long flight of steep, narrow steps, with no railings.  Carol had opted to wait for us below and cheered Jesse as he very carefully negotiated his descent by sitting on the steps and scooting down, one step at a time.  Counting this one, we've been to six sets of Mayan ruins – one other was more spectacular in appearance but climbing it was not allowed.  Later, Sally wondered how many other people her age had climbed this pyramid – and she also wondered how she felt well enough to do so because she had felt so lousy that morning.  (It might have been a great commercial for the cold medication she had taken!)  On our return trip, she would have liked to have slept.  The excitement had worn off.

After our tour of the ruins, we returned to our bus via minibus and ferry.  Shortly after starting our trip back to the pier and the awaiting tenders, we stopped at a restaurant, where we enjoyed fried chicken, rice, beans, yams, potato salad, water, and the local Belikin beer, which has been brewed in Belize since 1969.  This lunch stop was included in the day’s excursion.

 

When we finally reached our cabin, Sally was exhausted.  Dinner in the

Scarlet Restaurant is a two-hour affair, and she would have preferred not going to dinner at all and just grabbing something fast and going to bed.  However, she really enjoyed the escargot appetizer, soup, salad, and barbecued ribs. 

            After dinner, Jon and Carol came to our cabin for a little while to access the internet.  Then we retired for the night and were asleep by 11:30 PM.

Cozumel, Mexico 

          Friday, 23 Sep 2016 – Sally slept until 11:00 AM; Jesse had been up for quite a while.  Soon, we enjoyed a big breakfast at The Gathering.  By the time we were finishing, they were closing the breakfast buffet line.  Jon and Carol joined us at the end – they had already returned from their early morning excursion and were there for lunch.  They planned to join the rest of our party ashore at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Restaurant later that afternoon.

 

Cozumel

After breakfast, we went ashore to Cozumel for maybe a total of 30 minutes or a little more.  It took a while just to walk across a bridge area (there was another Carnival ship parked beside ours) and into a shopping/restaurant area.  We took a couple of photos and then walked back to the ship.  We were here last March and walked a little further, but didn't see the point of doing that again this time,

          Then Jesse wanted to go to the swimming pool.  Sally wasn't enthusiastic to say the least because she knew it would be very crowded, which it was.  That didn't seem to matter because we often find ourselves next to someone who wants to talk, which happened again this time.  The woman next to us was very friendly and told much about her health problems.  She lives outside of Seattle and has been married for 45 years.  She does things to help her memory because she had a stroke several years ago and was numb on her left side; she had physical therapy to learn to walk again.  After a while, her husband joined us.  He's had a lot of bad sciatica problems, for which he goes to an office where there is both a chiropractor and a sports deep-tissue massage therapist.  We talked about a lot of stuff and how society has changed, but stayed away from politics!

Then we got into the hot tub, which was next to the pool.  Again, the woman next to Sally struck up a conversation.  She was from Anaheim, CA.  We talked about places to live and cruising ... we never got into as deep a conversation as previously because our skin was becoming shriveled from being in water so long.  She prefers Carnival to other cruise lines because it really is the "fun ship" cruise line.  We had thought that the "fun" was because younger people cruise Carnival and they drink a lot more alcohol.  However, we’re beginning to believe that the passengers are also often more friendly.  We have thought that, many times, people of other nationalities are friendlier to us than Americans.  Being a mixed couple, we do tend to test people's reaction.  We don't know the answer to all of this.

Family Dinner

Tonight was another formal night, so we wanted to try again for a group photo.  When one of the ship’s photographers came by our table, he graciously agreed to take a group photo.  For dinner, Sally had a salmon fillet and Jesse had a sirloin steak.  It was amazing to think that we would be on the ship only two more nights before getting off.  Soon it would be time to pack up!

One thing they did on the Carnival ship was to have a sort of a show some nights in the dining room, where they played loud music and the servers danced, some on top of the serving platforms.  Tonight, they wore ruffled shirts and held flashing lights in their hands.  One of the better dancers got up on a small round platform about 45 inches from Sally’s chair.  She loved watching him!  The whole thing lasted about 10 minutes. 

Because Sally was tired, we didn’t dance tonight as Jesse would have liked to do.  We were back in our cabin by 10:00 PM.

At Sea

            Saturday, 24 Sep 2016 – We slept again until 9:30 AM.  This extra sleep and taking NyQuil, plus using Zicam spray, had been keeping Sally going with no apparent symptoms other than a lack of energy.  We were on the last day of our cruise – another beautiful sunny day.  Our balcony was very wet, but when Sally went out there, lots of water drops flew at her.  The ship seems to be going pretty fast and throwing up lots of spray.  We love being on the ocean.

Awaiting Sea Day Brunch

            Our group met in the Scarlet Restaurant for the Seaday Brunch at 10:30 AM.  We couldn’t all fit at two tables, so the last ones to join us (Jon, Carol, Dolores, and Wilbur), sat at an adjacent table.   We had all received coupons for free drinks with the Seaday Brunch, so we both ordered Irish cream for our coffee; the others ordered various mixed drinks or beer.

            After brunch, we went to the small pool and hot tub at the rear of the ship.  The pool was crowded, but we “elbowed” our way in.  Then we returned to our cabin and started our packing routine.

            As priority passengers, we were invited to the 5:00 PM Captain’s Cocktail Party, along with about half of our group.  Since each priority passenger was allowed to bring one guest, we had enough invitations for the entire group (though there was no check for invitations at the door)!  All but Carol attended.  Since she doesn’t drink, she preferred to work on her packing.  Very soon, the wait staff started serving free drinks and hors d’oeuvres.  Sally didn’t like the hors d’oeuvres, but we both liked the rum punch cocktails.  The Carnival drinks seemed to contain more alcohol than those on Princess.  Anyway, after three drinks each, we had to help each other stagger back to our cabin!

By 8:30 PM, we had recovered enough for dinner.  We were the last to arrive and received applause from the rest of group.  Sally stopped to give Kitty a big hug, since she had obviously had too much to drink also.  After dinner, we returned to our cabin to finish our packing.  We exchanged our “priority” debarkation tags with Dolores for a later debarkation time to match Jon and Carol’s.  We managed to get our two large suitcases in the corridor by the 11:00 PM deadline.

Debarkation & Return Home

            Sunday, 25 Sep 2016 – After our alarm awoke us at 6:00 AM, we hurriedly dressed and went to The Gathering for breakfast, where Jon joined us.  We stuffed ourselves as usual and managed to vacate our cabin about five minutes before the 8:00 AM deadline.

            Since the “priority” waiting area was already closed, we found a place to sit near the ship’s debarkation point.  We were trying to contact Jon and Carol, just as they walked up behind us.  After waiting until our debarkation group number was called, we then disembarked and joined another very long line to pick up our luggage.  Finally, we joined the last long line to go through immigration.  Jon and Carol took longer to get through immigration, so we waited for them at the exit doors; then we all took the elevator up to the top level of the parking lot and loaded up the van.

It was a short drive back to the hotel.  We hadn’t thought about the fact that we would be arriving at the hotel at 10:45 AM, well before the 3:00 PM check in time.   As a result, we all sat in the lobby until our rooms were ready.  Since we had internet access, Sally kept occupied with her genealogy research.  Several of our group had skipped breakfast and went to find a restaurant for an early lunch.

About mid afternoon, we left with the group to visit the French Quarter again.  Jon and Carol had left earlier to see a few sights, including the St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in the United States, so we arranged to meet them at the Café Du Monde.  After investigating our transportation options, we decided to purchase 24-hour trolley passes at $1.50 each.  The trolley would take us very close to the café; however, almost immediately after we boarded the trolley, it came to a complete stop.  One of the trolleys, two ahead of us, had jumped the track.  After a few minutes, we gave up on the trolley and started walking towards the Café Du Monde.

Apparently, the group was planning to call for taxis from one of the hotels along the way; however, after talking with one of the drivers, the other members of the group opted to take pedicabs (bike taxis) to the café at $1.00 per block per person.  The two of us decided to walk instead.  The instructions were very simple:  continue on Canal Street and take a left at Decatur Street.  The café would be a couple of blocks down Decatur.  We ended up walking a lot further than we had intended.  First, we missed the Decatur turn because the street had a different name on our side of Canal.  Once we realized we had missed the street, we turned around and walked back to Decatur.  Then, we found out that the café was a lot farther than “a couple of blocks.”  [Note:  It was about 95 degrees and very humid!]  However, we finally made it there and joined the rest of the group.  At $1.00 per person per block, we think the others had paid about $30.00 per couple for the pedicabs.  We had saved the money, but were hot and tired!

Anyway, at the Café Du Monde, we ordered the traditional Beignets and orange juice.  The café was open air, so it was very hot there.  Beignets taste a little like cake donuts, but not as sweet. (Sally was less than impressed with them.)  However, of course Jesse also helped others at the table finish their Beignets!  While we were there a man who looked homeless started performing on the sidewalk next to the café.  Most of us tried to ignore him, but he was slightly entertaining.  Larry was the only one who gave him a tip.  The man also pointed out a TV star near him taking “selfies” with fans, but we weren’t familiar with the TV show.  After a few minutes, we left the café and headed to another restaurant for dinner.

We walked a couple of blocks down Decatur to the Gazebo Café, where a band was playing.  Unfortunately, this was another open air café; Sally had hoped for an air-conditioned place for dinner.  We danced to one song; then, a young women at another table asked Jesse to dance.  She was a really wild dancer and Jesse had trouble keeping up with her.  (She was definitely not allowing him to lead!)  Sally ordered a grilled chicken wrap and Jesse ordered Jambalya.  (Jesse still prefers the Jambalya at the Thunderbay Grill in Davenport, IA.)

After dinner, everyone except Jon and Carol returned to the hotel via trolley, which was much more comfortable than walking.  Jon and Carol opted to walk back so they could do more sightseeing.  We were back in our hotel room by 7:00 PM.  Sally retired very early, but since our suite had a separate room with a TV, Jesse stayed up much later, watching TV and playing on his computer.

Monday, 26 Sep 2016 – We awoke late and packed up for our trip home, checking out of the hotel right at the 12:00 PM deadline.  After loading up the van, we drove to the airport, where we dropped off Jon and Carol; then we headed for West Memphis.  Sally resumed reading aloud to Jesse while he drove, finishing Somewhere in Time.  We arrived at our West Memphis motel at about 8:15 PM, just in time to watch the first Presidential Debate.

 Tuesday, 27 Sep 2016 – Sally slept until very late, so Jesse picked up complimentary motel breakfast items before the 9:30 AM closing time, and brought them back to the room.  After getting a late start, we spent the remainder of the afternoon visiting relatives in Memphis; then we stopped by Verna’s house for dinner and conversation until about 9:00 PM.

Wednesday, 28 Sep 2016 – After the complimentary breakfast, we started our drive back to Bettendorf.  Sally read aloud The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, by R. A. Dick, finishing the entire book.  We arrived home at about 6:15 PM.

Signing off from another GREAT cruise!

Debarkation & Return Home

            Wednesday, 30 Mar 2016 – We awoke to our alarm at 6:00 AM.  After breakfast, we returned to our cabin at 7:00 AM to finish our packing.  Still, we barely finished by 8:00 AM, the latest time that we were allowed to vacate our cabin.  We said goodbye to our cabin steward, Michael.  By the time we made it to the Club Fusion for Preferred Passenger debarkation, our debarkation group had already been called.  We disembarked the ship at 8:30 PM.

Since parking was very close to the ship, we picked up our luggage and walked to our vehicle.  By 9:30 AM we were already in our vehicle and ready to leave the dock.  However, we won’t be sailing out of the Houston port on Princess Cruise Lines again because Princess is moving its ships from this port because of the frequent problems with fog and bad weather.  (We’re going to miss the great parking!)

During our trip back to Memphis, it started raining very hard and we received flash flood warnings on our I-phone.  Only the phrase “torrential downpour” is appropriate for the conditions that Jesse drove through for about 6 hours.  Usually in a rainstorm, the intensity of the rain will let up from time to time, but this storm was almost incessant, like driving under a waterfall.  Sally was frightened and wanted to stop early in order to get off the road.  But we managed to make it safely through Texas and Arkansas; we arrived at our Memphis motel by 9:00 PM.

We spent Thursday visiting relatives, and resumed our trip back to Bettendorf on Friday morning, 2 Apr 2016, arriving home at 8:30 PM.

Signing off from another GREAT cruise!

At Sea

            Tuesday, 29 Mar 2016 – We were both awake fairly early (for us), but still lounged around the cabin until 11:00 AM before going to breakfast; then, again a late lunch.  We were so busy packing that we skipped our swim and the complimentary 3:00 PM Wine Tasting.

A little before 6:00 PM, the ship’s captain announced that the ship could be very late docking because of heavy fog in Houston, and promised an update a little later.  Therefore, we decided to wait until after dinner to set our luggage outside our door for pickup.  (If the ship was going to be delayed in docking, we did not want to be without luggage!)

We met Merrill and Grace for dinner, where we were joined by Patrick and Kathleen, another couple that Grace had befriended.  The conversations were very interesting, mostly about marriages and children.  Afterwards, we went to the Wheelhouse Bar with Merrill and Grace, and danced to The Great Escape until about 10:00 PM.  Before retiring, we said our goodbyes to Merrill and Grace.  It had been a great evening! 

Since we hadn’t heard any more bad news from the captain, we set our luggage out for pickup.

Cozumel, Mexico

At the Entrance Gate

Outside One of the Many Bars

            On Monday, 28 Mar 2016, we slept very late, but still managed to make it to breakfast before the 11:30 AM closing time.  (When we cruise, our challenge is always to fit in three meals!)  At 12:25 PM we went ashore and walked around for a little while, took a few photos, and returned to the ship at 1:05 PM.  Although we looked for a post office to mail postcards, we found out that it was located downtown, which was not within walking distance.  Since there were five ships docked at this port – one Princess, two Carnival, one Holland America, and one Celebrity – we had to be careful to re-board the right ship!  Then we swam for 1-1/2 hours and then ate our late lunch.  While we were finishing lunch, the ship started out to sea; then we could see two more ships docked at another Cozumel port!

            Since this was a formal dinner night, we dressed for dinner and met Grace and Merrill at 5:00 PM.  We started dinner early tonight in order to make it to the Captain’s Circle Party at 7:30 PM.  At dinner, we were joined a couple from New South Wales, Australia, Shirley and Stephen.  Stephen is a retired police officer and was very, very talkative.  They have traveled extensively, including 21 Princess cruises.   They also joined us at the Captain’s Circle Party, where we danced a few songs before the awards program began.  Grace had another acupuncture appointment and was unable to attend the party with the rest of us.   After the party, we talked for a little while longer and then retired to our cabin for the night.