onthegogirl

From the “you never know” department. As usual we arrived at JFK 3 hours early and stopped for a pre-vacation drink. There was a time when my rent was less than the two drinks. We headed to the gate for a 7:05 boarding and an 8:00pm departure. When we were sitting in the boarding area at 7:30 I knew we had a problem. The board listed departure at 8:30, then 9:00. The crowd was growing restless. The captain, Captain Dan, announced that there was a computer glitch, it needed to be addressed and then tested and since the cabin temperature was 107, they would have to cool it down. New departure 10:30. Then the board changed to departure at Midnight. There were now nine people behind the podium trying to answer questions. The crowd was beginning ... read more

Sail away from Fort Lauderdale was lovely.The ship’s horn sounded and we slowly pulled away from the berth. I picked out my dream house as we sailed by; small by beachfront standards but with a pool. Would love to able to watch the marine traffic from my deck. A Coast Guard cutter escorted us our, keeping other boats away. Folks waved from shore and blasted air horns to see us off. Decided to eat early. Happy Hour is no more. This was always a good time to meet people but so goes the industry. We were about 1/2 hour out when the Captain announced that we had a critically ill passenger and we would be turning back to Lauderdale to meet a high speed boat. Not even four hours into the cruise. Hope the person is ... read more

Dublin Grey skies again and when we stepped of the shuttle Irish mist filled the air. We hopped on a Ho-Ho a lucked out with a live presentation including wonderful Irish humor. We road the circuit and transferred to a second bus to complete the loop. That was an entirely different experience. The bus was crowded, standing room only and the riders paid no attention to the narration. The were yelling and laughing and sneezing and coughing and it was anything but a pleasant ride. By the time we got off we were disgruntled and in no mood to buck the crowds. There was a large Princess ship and a P&O ship in port and the crowds were everywhere. From the bus we could see long lines at the points of interest and neither of us ... read more

Life on a sick ship After leaving Greenland the Norovirus struck with a vengeance . The ship was placed in Code Red which means a lot of extra work for the crew. All items in the Lido buffet must be handed to the guest by the crew. Silver ware is also handed out by the crew as is salt, pepper and sugar. The guests are not able to touch anything. The library books are locked up as are the cards and the board games. As we sailed along into and out of Iceland the ship was subject to intensive cleaning and that means more long hours for the crew as each inch of the vessel was scrubbed and sprayed. Our cabins were stripped of linen and every surface washed. New linen appeared but our bathrobes still ... read more

Greenland Our crossing the Labrador Sea was interesting to say the least. We were heading into a force 8 gale and the ship was rocking side to side and up and down, often at the same time. We are on deck three and even this low on the ship it was really rocking. By morning the wind had died down a bit and the swells were smaller but still we knew we were at sea. The show tonight was a group named The Emperors of Soul and the were very good. They did Jackie Wilson, Aretha, Michael Jackson and other hits. They each had good voices and danced well. Later they were interviewed by the cruise director and we found out that there were from England and one from Australia. You would never know from their ... read more