We awoke without worries for our first sea day, sailing the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal to Quebec City. Our departure from Quebec City had been delayed due to river traffic. Sharon and Erin went to mass, and I got up more slowly. Well maybe I had some worries, falling a bit behind on the blog. The four of us dined in La Fontaine Dining Room for breakfast. The first thing we noticed was the menu had changed. And they’d spiced up the Frittata to my liking, adding asparagus and red pepper flakes. I also had a bowl of muesli. Sharon went with her old standby, “The American Breakfast”. Erin enjoyed her waffles. Dennis started with the creamed wheat, and he confirmed it had no lumps to the two ladies seated at our table. I’m starting ... read more

We walked to the Underground Mall near where we’d eaten the day before. It was Saturday morning and early and only a few vendors were open in the massive underground labyrinth. Dennis said that there were three such mall around Montreal, and the convenience of such shopping protected from the weather certainly made sense to us. We snaked through a couple twisting aisles and made it to the Dunkin Donuts which appeared ominously closed, or “Ferme” as one might see in Montreal. We’d spotted a deli near our entrance that had been open and found our way back to it. Sharon, Erin and Dennis each had a chocolate croissant, which appeared to have much more chocolate that they would likely get up on the Lido for breakfast. I tried a “Mokka Cookie” and I think it ... read more

We spent the last few minutes trying to remember all of those last minute things to do when leaving the house: Turning off lights, leaving some on, shutting off water to the water purifier, then shutting off water to the inside house plumbing, unplugging the pump that recirculates the hot water, disposing of perishables, and as luck would have it, today is also “trash day”. Our neighbors graciously offered to shuttle us to the airport. She needed to take her car in for servicing near the airport anyway, and her son picked us up, and then picked up his mother who had just finished dropping off her car. We were thankful that we’d padded our commute time when we hit stop-and-stop traffic on the loop, winding down to one lane before everyone was forced to exit. ... read more

After nearly two weeks on the go it’s an adjustment to catch your breath and realize that you’re back in the U.S.A. We awoke to the port sounds of Fort Lauderdale and made our way up to the Lido for a quick breakfast. The porters had taken our luggage left in the hall the night before, nicely marked with our port-to-destination-airport transfers which meant that we wouldn’t need to handle them or check them in or even see them before we searched for them in the baggage claim at LAX. Sharon and I have used this option on our last couple of cruises, and it is definitely the way to go. The mood in the Lido was somewhat solemn, and not the cheery energized buzzing that you normally are confronted with. Somewhat annoying were the people ... read more

I’d gotten up early and was working on the blog. The previous two days hadn’t given us much of a chance to blog, and the internet has been flaky. And I must add, that we’ve been tardy at posting these final days, but hope to finish them off; albeit, a couple of weeks late. Sharon went to mass, noting that until sailing without a priest, she hadn’t realized how much she missed having this daily service. We went to the dining room for breakfast, where I opted for the eggs Benedict. My mom and Sharon are completely unimaginative, choosing again the American Breakfast with scrambled eggs. We then made our way to the Exploration Café and Lounge for our daily Sudoku challenge. My mother is getting much better and actually finished the Easy Puzzle before Sharon ... read more