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Published: January 26th 2014
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I'm heading for the Southern Caribbean and Panama Canal to escape the Arctic vortex. Boarding at Ft. Lauderdale was a piece of cake and it was great to see the crew's smiling faces and be able to head to my cabin before the Mariner's Luncheon.
The location of the Vista Dining Room as at the stern, not to be confused with the Vista Show room at the bow. My cabin is far forward so I get to burn a few calories before each meal? It's my first cruise on the Ziederdm and I am impressed with the decor and the condition of the public rooms. Unfortunately, the furniture in my cabin has been loved to death and the hide-a-bed sofa's spring has sprung and looks awful.
My dinner mates are "happy people", I'm too old to tolerate whiners, well so this is a great start.
Both lunch and dinner were fine. I still haven't caught up on my rest after the marathon travel so I take advantage of the gentle rocking to get a good night's rest.
I'm on the port side so I wake up to sunrise. Coffee
and juice arrives and I'm ready to great the day. The Lido was jammed so I headed to the dining room and chatted with first time cruisers. They are so excited to be aboard and enthusiastic about the ship and the crew and the food, etc. It's a wake up call of sorts to us old time cruisers who often focus on the cut backs and changes rather than the positive.
Off to Half Moon Cay. It has been developed more since I was last here but it still has that island feel. The water was cold and the skies mostly cloudy so I stayed for a couple of hours then headed back to ship for lunch. Talked to the front desk about the couch and after sending a carpenter to fixit offered to change my cabin and I accepted the offer. It is just depressing to look at the mattress sticking out.
Visited at dinner and it was spooky how much I have in common with Nancy. She is traveling with her husband Graham and daughter Beth who looks remarkably like Helen Hunt. Graham and I were both born in July '41. They were also married in 1962 in September. We have similar tastes in food. Their day mirrored mine, same time on the island, same lunch (including the pizza), trivia then a visit to the casino. This will be a fun table as long as we don't talk politics. Nancy is reading Bill O'Reilly's Killing Jesus.
Played a little poker and broke even headed to bed and slept soundly.
Day three...sea day!
Enjoyed another glorious sunrise, had my salmon and cream of wheat in the dining room and made arrangements to move. My cabin is as far forward as it can be and my new cabin is on the same deck, port side, far aft. The stewards helped me move and I was settled in by 10.
Headed to the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet and all of the senior staff except the chief engineer were there. It is apparent that this is a happy ship and the officers seem to enjoy each other's company. Now it is time for lunch and decision whether to do the wine tasting, the poker tournament, or head for the pool. Oh, the stress.
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