Another unexpected Sea Day

Unexpected Sea Day

Well, we were supposed to visit Curacao yesterday.  We were supposed to get in at noon.  Things changed.  We had forty knot winds and heavy seas as we came out of the Panama Canal.  This slowed our ship down to the point that the captain came on and said they had decided not to visit as we would get in too late.  Alas, another change to the itinerary.  We would  have liked to see the island as we have never been there.  The ship was rolling pretty good for two solid days.  According to the captain the swell was 15-20 feet, by far the largest of the trip.  They cancelled some on board activities, closed several outside decks, and generally suggested we should be very careful moving around on board.  Please check out the pictures of our sea challenged animals.


This change comes on the heels of the war in Ukraine which has eliminated our expected visit to St. Petersburg and may also create issues to some other ports near the conflict.  The ATW(around the world) trip has been rebranded by the passengers as the ATW(all the way) group.  Not sure exactly how many are on the trip but of the 78 that started with us in Miami, 63 are still with us and about 240 passengers are still on the ATW trip.

The other moniker for the trip, the Magical Mystery Cruise works for everyone, especially the entertainment wing.  We were supposed to pick up and drop off entertainers in Curacao.  One performer was supposed to get on there and perform last night.  Well, that didn't happen so the show last night was a variety show using the ship's full time entertainment personnel as well as the entertainers who were supposed to get off.  There was no way for the entertainment to get from Curacao to Bonaire, our landing place for today, so they flew the entertainer who was supposed to join yesterday back to Miami, and then to Bonaire.  Nightmares must be had by our cruise director almost daily as he tries to cobble things together to keep people entertained.   Several members of the band and the string quartet are from Ukraine as are other members of the crew.  We understand that Oceania has offered to get Ukranian crew members passage back home if they wish to return.  

Nothing has been easy for the crew on this trip, yet they seem to maintain a positive attitude and continue to work hard under challenging circumstances.  For the most part the passengers seem to be pleased to be in a place trying hard to be safe and trying hard to take care of the people in their care.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

 Hello Friends,   We are busily preparing for our departure.  Four bags are shipped to our stateroom on board our ship Insignia and they leave on Thursday the 9th.  Jen has been working at this for months and as you can see from the picture we still have a ways to go.  Today I spent over an hour with the 7 page long Indian electronic visa application with little success.  I'll try again tomorrow.  We leave Le Claire for Miami on the 15th of this month.  We are excited to share our journey with you.  Thanks to our niece Nicole who has set this up to be shared in a way that is totally unique to the internet and computer age.  This first post is mostly about doing a trial run to make sure things are working and that we have some idea of what we are doing.   Wish us luck.
Read more

Melbourne, Australia

Image
 It’s MELbuhn to all who pronounce it correctly, and this second-largest city on the continent is modern, exciting, popular and in total competition with Sydney in every imaginable sport and topic and population. We were here on Sunday and Monday, it’s already summer break for schools AND the holidays, so the streets, trams, and popular spots to view Christmas window decorations were bustling or had long lines of excited young families. Oh, and it is repeatedly voted one of the top 10 Most Live- able Cities in the World. We can now see why. Sunday, we had a tour, so our bus took us into the fray. After driving through the restored financial district, the sporting complexes, and art communities, after gawking at the wide streets that are manicured and tree-lined, after enjoying a snarky guide, we visited their main historical museum. I told a nearby docent that it’s the BEST museum I’ve seen in any around the world. She had tears. We had time only to visit the First People exhibit and t
Read more

Broome, Australia

Image
 Day 61 Broome, Australia On Google Earth, you’ll see that it is a straight shot across the Indian Ocean from Bali to the NW coast of  Australia to the small-ish town of Broome, population of almost 15,000. Believe it or not, Broome shares a history with Muscatine, IA: making buttons from shells. Beginning in the 1880s, the town gained fame by sending helmeted people into ocean depths, tethered only by a hose for oxygen and a rope for signaling when oxygen is needed. Nobody knew about “the bends” back then nor how to decompress, so there are existing cemeteries in Broome for the many Japanese and Chinese who gave their lives for the industry. Pearls were a side-effect until it was discovered that they, too, could be lucrative. Now there is a thriving cultured pearl industry here. Yes, there is a tourist emphasis here but not just pearls. Cable Beach is well known by serious beach enthusiasts. Named for an undersea telegraph cable laid between Australia and Indonesia in 1889, the beach
Read more