Days 106 and 107 - At Sea (Days 2 & 3 of 7)

 

Date:  April 24-25

 

Location:  Days 106 and 107 – At Sea (Days 2 and 3 of 7)

 

Next Port:  Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA, April 30

 

Report:  Our time on the Voyager is rapidly coming to close and thoughts are turning to homeand our re-entry into the real world. We are also enjoying 25-hour days, as we are setting our clocks back almost every night of the 7-day crossing.

 

Day 106, Tuesday:  Larry spent a good part of the day getting his journal entries and photos uploaded to the Web. We’ve had some connection issues, but mainly the delay in posting has been due to too much going on and, to be frank, a fatigue factor in getting the journal done.

 

We both exercised and attended our devotional group’s gathering before breakfast. Larry attended an excellent lecture in the morning by Bill Miller, a real ocean liner and cruise line aficionado who has written 70+ books on the subjects. Karen continued her lessons and social game with her Bridge group.

 

We enjoyed telephone conversations with our daughters and Karen’s sister, Phyllis, and husband Dan; a quiet dinner; and some time in the Observation Lounge (both before and after dinner).

 

Day 107, Wednesday:  Many people have gotten into the serious packing mode. We are in a state of denial and haven’t even asked yet for the portion of our luggage that was put in storage. The rest is under the bed. (Early readers of this journal will remember, that as Full World Cruisers, Regent provides complimentary shipping to and from Ft. Lauderdale of up to 135 lbs. per person.)

 

We did receive our luggage tags – ours are Red. The color determines the order in which you disembark. And the bags on the dock are sorted by color. Since we have an 11:30 flight from Ft. Lauderdale, we need to reconfirm that we are in one of the earliest groups to get off…the timing could be tight.

 

There is a lot of luggage on this ship. We’ve seen many passengers (and crew) buying new suitcases so as to accommodate their numerous purchases. I’m pretty confident that we’ll be OK. We just didn’t purchase much, and what we did was small. We downsized to a small condo six years ago and have a rule, “To come into the condo it needs to be either edible or wearable.”

 

Larry attended another lecture on the famous Atlantic Ocean liners by Bill Miller, as well as a fascinating one on the Amazon River by Jean-Michel Cousteau.

 

After lunch, the crew set up a Country Fair on the Pool Deck. Each department set up a game for which passengers participated to earn coupons. Then the coupons were placed in a hopper for raffle prizes. The departments were competing for most original booth/game…with the prize being $250 for a party. The Dining Department won for great booth and game built around the Adams Family. Though a bit windy, everyone had a fun time.

 

In the evening, half the World Cruisers descended into the Crew Quarters for dinner and fun at “Jimbo’s Truck Stop Diner.” What a hilarious time we had.

 

We were met by floozy Elsa, Jimbo (Jamie), Flo (Lisa) and Bimbo (Dana)…all were in costume…and the ladies seemed to have had some surgical chest enhancements! Many of the past guests had experienced this event before and came in proper (funny) “truck stop” costumes and wigs.

 

We entered through the Crew Bar where Capt. Dag was serving up powerful drinks. We enjoyed a delicious cafeteria meal that was somewhat above most diners – yes, there was meatloaf, but there was also lobster! Afterwards, the quintet played for dancing in the crew bar…and Capt. Dag was still pouring.

 

(The Truck Stop Diner is running for three nights. For the first two, one-half of the World Cruisers attend each. On the third night – tomorrow – the Segment folks attend and we full World Cruisers have a gala going-away dinner in Compass Rose. And for three nights, the crew gets to eat in La Veranda. So everyone has a treat!)

 

After dinner we enjoyed a variety show featuring the Huber Marionettes and vocalist Richard Beavis. Another not so lazy sea day!

 

Karen and Larry

 

Photos of our cruise are available at the following web site:

 

picasaweb.google.com/larryworldcruise

 

We have been having satellite issues and/or problems with the Picasa web site…I have been unable to load photos of the Country Fair and Jimbo’s Truck Stop Diner…stay tuned.