Blogs from Oceans and Seas - page 19

First of all, we got an extra hour of sleep and that was night. It's our last day on the ship and there are things to do but first things first. Breakfast. Karen keeps grabbing suitcases and throwing stuff in them. That's what she likes to do. I have to ask, "Where's my socks? What happened to my sandals? Oh. I see. They're packed already. I just took them off." At least someone is packing. Up to breakfast. It's pretty crowded today. We just get coffee and let things die down a little. Out by the pool we see there's a towel animal exhibit. It seems a bunch of guys came up by the pool around 6 this morning and started making towel animals. There are some pretty cool ones. Karen likes one of the monkeys. ... read more

This morning we arrived in Cochin (Ko-chin) or Kochi, India. I could tell Craig wasn’t really thrilled to be here. We left the ship and went through a very bureaucratic procedure of Indian customs. They love paperwork and rubber stamping – thanks to the teachings of the Dutch and English centuries ago. It was hot but thankfully a dry heat. We waded through the offers of Tuk Tuks to get outside the pier gates. We had no plan and were going to start walking the 7 kms into town. Upon leaving the pier gates we were faced with a swarm of taxi and Tuk Tuk drivers. We hadn’t got very far and we were approached by a driver who offered 3 hours for $5, so we got in his Tuk Tuk. The driver’s name was Anas. ... read more

Craig and I went for our walk around the ship again with the hordes and it was only 6:45am. Again the sea is a little choppy, this morning we saw some dolphins jumping in and out of the water…finally some sea-life! There are plenty of cargo ships in the distance, so we are not alone in this vast ocean. We finally went swimming and had a spa and the rest of the day consisted of lots of R&R. There was a light shower and plenty of thunder. After dinner we retired to our room and watched a movie. Tonight we didn’t go to the restaurant, we had freshly made pizza, which was quite nice. Because of the coffee situation I was advised to have Iced Coffee and go and get free ice-cream and put them together. ... read more

Yesterday was busy for me. Although we've been through the Panama Canal before, I still wanted to capture some moments particular to this cruise, the locks, the "mules", the new bridge and Lake Gutan. I managed it all but it took the entire day. Today is another sea day where we can choose to sleep in, take in a lecture or presentation, munch out from different venues throughout the day, swim, visit the spa, dress up for a fancy dinner and maybe take in a show or two. We've decided to do all that. At least that's my intention, with Karen a bit less enthusiastic. I need to somehow write about today's adventure and load more pictures up from past days so I can send out the blogs already written. They're just sitting on the loading ... read more

Our schedule for today is open. No meetings. No luncheons or receptions. No nothing. We have a few things we may be interested in checking out but no obligations of any kind. We wander up to breakfast for some cereal and fruit, Karen has toast and some vegetables along with an egg. Other than coffee, that's it. Returning to our room, I grab my laptop and IPad and head for the theater while Karen takes her swimsuit and bag. I plan on listening to a presentation by the on board cruise consultants for those interested in future cruises aboard Holland America and Karen is going up to the spa. We make the split. The cruise consultants, a husband and wife team, are knowledgeable and dispense some valuable information. I'm already aware of most of their "secrets ... read more