Our final trip of the year was one that almost didn’t happen. When Carnival cancelled our Bahamas cruise a couple months ago we thought our final planned adventure of the year was over. Then Joan went to work on the Internet and found a Norweigan Cruise Line Bahamas trip for the same week.
The Carnival cruise was scheduled to leave out of Baltimore and the Norweigan was leaving New York. Close enough for us. Joan, me, Elin and our niece, re-booked our cruise on the NCL liner “Jewel.” Elin and Jessica booked one inside stateroom on their budgets and Joan and I chose a balcony room.
Bringing a couple from Michigan together with a daughter from Boston and a niece from Baltimore required some serious logistics. First we stopped in Buffalo for a few days with Joan’s mom at the nursing home.
On Saturday, November 13 we headed across New York to Lyndhurst, New Jersey for a night at the Quality Inn. But first we needed to pick up our niece from a bus at 7th Avenue and 31st Street in downtown Manhattan. For a boy from Lapeer, Michigan venturing into the big city on a Friday night at rush hour was no small feat.
We gave ourselves nearly an hour to make what was a 10-mile drive and as it turned out we needed every single minute to make the connection. While I figured that most of the traffic would be leaving the city on a Friday night it turned out way more were trying to get in the city via the same Lincoln Tunnel that we needed to use.
Thanks to our OnStar system we fought our way through construction zone, massive pedestrian and vehicle traffic and arrived just minutes after Jessica at the bus stop. Double parking (flashers on) we threw Jessica’s luggage into the Tahoe, postponed hugs and kisses until later and headed back through the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey.
Part One of the logistical nightmare was successfully over. We dined at Harold’s Deli at the hotel a place we had eaten years earlier. They sport the World’s Largest “Pickle Bar,” although I don’t know how they would prove that.
Next morning we enjoyed a continental breakfast and started to make our way to the Port of New York about 9:45 a.m. Again, OnStar was flawless in getting us to the cruise port at 12th Avenue and 55th Street in plenty of time to begin the check in process for the cruise.
Elin’s bus from Boston arrived about the same time and we all met at the entrance of the check in lines at the Port.
Part Two of the logistical nightmare was now behind us.
Check in was quick and we sat in the terminal waiting for the final passengers from the previous week’s cruise to depart the ship. About 11:45 we got the word we could board the ship and we officially began our fifth cruise, the first on Norweigan.
Lunch was being served in the Tsar’s Palace Dining Room and we headed there to kill some time until we could get into our staterooms. After lunch we did a little exploring on the ship and then found our rooms about 2 p.m.
Before we get into the nuts and bolts of the trip, let’s just say that a ship leaving from the Port of New York understandably seemed to attract a number of people from the surrounding area, which included New Jersey.
Normally I avoid stereotypes, but the entire cruise and some of the drama aboard seemed to imitate segments of “Jersey Shore.” We started called this the “rude cruise” because of many of the incidents we witnessed for experienced for ourselves. The girls with us even filmed a few of the more egregious ones for a video they call "Poor Parenting."
Don’t even let me get started on a large contingent of French folks who lived up to the stereotype often connected to them. Hard to imagine that just 70 years ago we and the British did our best to keep them from having to learn German as a second language.
We had our drinks knocked over, our chairs pushed around (with us in them) heard about a fight on deck and I witnessed a Jersey guy repeatedly yelling the “f-word” in the Crystal Atrium in front of dozens of passengers because he was angry with his teenage son.
I have many friends who live in and around the New York Metropolitan area who are not like the stereotypes, but unfortunately they were not on this ship.
The Jewel pulled out of port exactly at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, and we began a beautiful cruise down the Hudson River under beautiful skies. The New York skyline was beautiful and made even more so as the sun was setting. Lady Liberty was stunning with the sun setting behind her.
Just to save time later in this story let’s just say that the weather for the entire week was outstanding. The seas were basically calm, the skies clear and blue and we could not have asked for nicer weather all week. (OK, it rained for about an hour in Nassau, but that happened after we finished our shore excursions and were back aboard the ship.) No more weather reports for this entry.
The air cooled quickly as the sun set and after taking pictures of the ship as it passed under the Verizano Bridge we went inside for dinner. Later we went to the “Welcome Aboard Variety Show: Featuring the Comedy & Magic of Jean Pierre Parent.”
Jean Pierre was a very funny comedian who had to contend with the first of many children on the ship who were not under the control of their parents. (Note: Nickelodean brought Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star aboard for non-stop photo ops that must have cost parents a small fortune).
Anyway, the child was running around the front of the stage unsupervised which was a major distraction to Jean Parent’s act. “Does this child have a mother?,” Parent asked at one exasperated point. The parents never took the hint.
Tired from the logistics, Joan and I went to bed early and the 20-somethings with us did what 20-somethings do well into the night. They partied.
Monday was a Day at Se
a, which I love, and we hung out all day. In the morning I went to the gym and with a view of the ocean as pretty as I’ll ever have walked four miles on the treadmill. Joan and I went to a Latin dance class, which simply reinforced the fact that I have two left feet and a flawed memory. Later Joan tried her luck in the casino while I sat on the balcony and read Volume Four of the Master and Commander Series.
We dressed up for dinner, had nice pictures taken and enjoyed the “Band On the Run” production in the Stardust Theater. Joan and I headed for the stateroom and the girls headed up to the “Dancing with the Jewel Stars” Comedy Dance Competition.
Tuesday was our first port day. We arrived in Port Canaveral at noon and headed ashore for our trip to Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle Discovery flight scheduled the week before had been delayed and we were excited that we were going to see it on the launch pad.
Last spring we visited my high school friend Drew and his wife at a beach front condo in Port Canaveral and took pictures of their place as we entered the port. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to connect with Drew or his wife on this trip.
I’ve been looking forward to this tour for a long time. As a young man I was fascinated with the space program. My childhood heroes were Alan Shepherd (who also coincidentally was an officer aboard the USS Cogswell years before I served on her), John Glenn and Neil Armstrong. Riding on the bus to the Mercury/Gemini launch pad I was in awe.
Cape Canaveral had always had a magic place in my heart and there I was on the grounds. Even as an older man it was hard to hide my excitement. We then went to the Apollo/Saturn V Center, where we toured the original Apollo launch center and then stood under the 363-foot Saturn V moon rocket. Seeing the size of the rocket nearly took my breath away.
We touched a moon rock, stood next to space capsules burned from re-entry and enjoyed reliving the memories of our youth.
The final tour stop brought us back to the visitor complex where we rode on the Shuttle Simulation Ride, toured a shuttle, visited the Astronaut Memorial dedicated to those men and women who lost their lives in the pursuit of science and attended an IMAX movie on the Hubble rescue missions.
When the center announced that you could get a year’s pass to the center for $12 (entry fee is $62) we jumped at the chance to buy one so we can return in January when we are in Florida again. There was simply too much to see in just the five hours we had. Back at the ship we met up with the girls, who spent their day at Cocoa Beach for dinner.
We skipped the show that night and chilled at a lounge that had a lady who played the piano and sang popular songs. The girls joined us for awhile and then went off on their own.
The port call for Wednesday was Great Stirrup Cay, a Bahamian island owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines since 1966. We arrived just before 11 a.m. and because Joan and I purchased an Eco boat tour we had tickets for the first tender boat to take us to the small island. Once on the island we shopped a little at the local “Straw Market” and watched as wave after wave of passengers arrived on the island.
It was also interesting to watch members of the crew coming ashore with cases of food and drinks to serve the 2,000-plus passengers who made their way to the island.
About 11:15 a.m. Joan and I climbed aboard a small pontoon boat and headed out to another island where we were shown sharks, starfish, a land crab and learned about the history of the chain of islands that make up the Bahamas.
After our one hour tour Joan and I took a walk along the rocky shore of the island until the heat got us and we returned to the main gathering place on the beach. About 2:30 p.m. we decided to head back to the ship. As we were heading to the boat we found the girls also ready to go back.
The girls posed w
ith Joan’s bonnet and had a good laugh at her expense. Joan has a good sense of humor about the bonnet.
After dinner Joan and I went to the main theater show – INCANTO with Massimo and Alesia. It was an incredible show that highlighted the athletic talents of these two performers. Working without nets or harness high above the stage, the moves of this couple left us breathless.
The girls went to the Island Nights Deck Party. We were fast asleep by the time that party started.
We woke up Thursday with the harbor in Nassau on our horizon. A Royal Caribbean ship was just ahead of us, but as always I love to watch the docking procedures of the ship. By 8 a.m. they were letting people leave the ship and Joan and I were among the first to leave so we could catch our 9 a.m. island tour.
The first stop on the tour was the Junkanoo Museum. When we booked the tour we had no idea what a Junkanoo was, but it turned out to be one of the best stops we have had. Junkanoo is a festival celebrated annually in the Bahamas to commemorate a slave holiday.
Slaves made elaborate costumes from scraps of paper and then marched in the streets during a brief annual holiday from their labors. Now island people compete to make new costumes for the festival. We shared a variety of Junkanoo soft drinks and got a chance to pound on drums and shake the cowbells used in the annual parade.
The next two stops involved British forts carved out of limestone to protect the harbor. Fortunately for Nassau, the forts were never needed. Our bus driver took us down some “middle class” side streets so we could see how the folks live in Nassau.
At the second fort we were led to a 90-foot staircase that led down a 50-foot wide limestone canyon that in the 1800s was built to provide an escape route for soldiers in the event their fort was overrun. The canyon was hand carved by slaves in a period of two years.
Following the tour, Joan and I walked up and down the main street of Nassau, picked up a couple souvenirs and then returned to the ship, but not before I talked my way aboard a small Bahamian Navy patrol boat. The First Officer of P-60 invited me aboard after I asked if this old U.S. Navy sailor could see the bridge.
He was very accommodating and took my picture at the wheel on the bridge. When I offered him a few dollars to buy a beer, he politely declined and just asked that I return someday to visit the islands again. I promised him that we would. We’ve already been here twice.
Dinner on the ship at the Azura Dining Room was followed with a Sketch Show put on by the cast of The Second City. Joan and I went back to the piano bar while the girls made their way to the “White Hot Party” at the Spinnaker Lounge.
Friday was my big day. Within minutes of arriving on the ship, I signed up for the “Behind the Scenes Tour” so I could visit the bridge of the Jewel. I have tried on all our previous cruises to visit the bridge, but security concerns always prevented it. This time I was determined to get on the bridge of the ship.
Only 20 people, pre-screened, were allowed on the tour which also included tours of the ship’s galley, food storage, laundry, theater backstage, trash handling room and, of course, the bridge.
The Executive Chef, a German national, kept us laughing and entertained as he described the work of the 200-plus cooks on the ship. Chris, a Wisconsin native, gave us an informative tour of the food preparation and storage area.
But what really lit my fuse was the bridge tour. The First Officer gave us an entertaining explanation of the navigation and operation of the ship’s bridge. It would be an understatement to say that I was completely engrossed in that. Milan, the First Officer, graciously posed for a photo with me at the end of the bridge tour. I could bore you with a lot of facts, but I won’t do that. Well, maybe just one, the ship burns 48 gallons of oil a minute. Stuff like that really fascinates me.
Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star were everywhere again on the ship in a last ditch effort to part parents from more of their hard earned cash for pictures.
We dressed up again and enjoyed a fine meal in Tsar’s Palace, one of two main dining rooms on the ship. Jean Pierre Parent was at his best with another comedy show in The Stardust Theater. Later we attended the “Liar’s Club” a production that included Second City cast members and ship cast members in the Sp
innaker Lounge.
A full day at sea, a tour of the bridge and great evening entertainment made this an almost perfect day for me anyway.
Unbelievably Saturday arrived, another day at sea (our last) and it was time to start packing for our arrival back in New York. I finished my book and started Volume 5 and we ate in the Tsar’s Palace Main Dining Room for our last dinner.
After dinner we headed to The Stardust Theater to see “Le Cirque Bijou” a wonderful performance that again included Massimo and Alesia. At the conclusion of the show a large contingent of crew members took the stage to the appreciation of the ship’s guests.
Joan and I headed back to the piano bar in “Bar City” for a last night of music only to find ourselves roughed up by some rude French passengers who were intent on turning the lounge into their private gab session. The continually pushed our chairs and twice almost knocked our drinks over moving around furniture. Don’t get me started on the French.
Sadly, as it always must, Sunday arrived and it was time to getaway. We waited patiently for our turn to leave the ship and the call came just before 10 a.m. We filed through the cattle lanes for Customs and then made our way to the roof to claim the Tahoe.
The first order of business was to drop Elin off at Penn Station so she could catch a bus to Boston and then make our way out of the city. Getting Elin to Penn Station was easy and it looked as if we would escape the city in a hurry.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Lincoln Tunnel was clogged with Jets fans heading to the game. This was not going to be easy. Combine that with New York aggressive drivers and it was all I could do to keep from getting into a fight. If Joan and Jessica hadn’t been with me I likely would have gotten into a fight or been thrown in jail.
We were funneling into a single lane on Dyer Street headed for the entrance to the tunnel when a guy driving a Chevrolet Avalanche decided he could drive through a hole between me and a garbage truck at high speed. Unfortunately our vehicles are the same height and his mirror crashed into mine, cracking it.
Of course, he didn’t stop but was a couple car lengths ahead, but my wife implored me not to do what I really wanted to do which was to walk up and smash his mirror while he was stuck in traffic.
I have his license number, etc. and I’m trying to decide what I’m going to do with it. Joan has already talked me out of some of the more diabolical ideas I had for getting even.
After we escaped the city (about an hour later) the trip went smoothly and we dropped Jessica off at her home in Reisterstown, Maryland about 3 p.m. Then it was off to my father and stepmother’s home in Herndon, Virginia for a two-night stay.
On Monday, we had lunch with my sister Pam in Leesburg at Red, Hot and Blue. Tuesday, it was back to Buffalo for Thanksgiving with Joan’s mother.
We spent Thanksgiving with Joan’s mother at Father Baker Manor and then returned home to Michigan where there are very few rude people.
The Carnival cruise was scheduled to leave out of Baltimore and the Norweigan was leaving New York. Close enough for us. Joan, me, Elin and our niece, re-booked our cruise on the NCL liner “Jewel.” Elin and Jessica booked one inside stateroom on their budgets and Joan and I chose a balcony room.
Bringing a couple from Michigan together with a daughter from Boston and a niece from Baltimore required some serious logistics. First we stopped in Buffalo for a few days with Joan’s mom at the nursing home.
On Saturday, November 13 we headed across New York to Lyndhurst, New Jersey for a night at the Quality Inn. But first we needed to pick up our niece from a bus at 7th Avenue and 31st Street in downtown Manhattan. For a boy from Lapeer, Michigan venturing into the big city on a Friday night at rush hour was no small feat.
We gave ourselves nearly an hour to make what was a 10-mile drive and as it turned out we needed every single minute to make the connection. While I figured that most of the traffic would be leaving the city on a Friday night it turned out way more were trying to get in the city via the same Lincoln Tunnel that we needed to use.
Thanks to our OnStar system we fought our way through construction zone, massive pedestrian and vehicle traffic and arrived just minutes after Jessica at the bus stop. Double parking (flashers on) we threw Jessica’s luggage into the Tahoe, postponed hugs and kisses until later and headed back through the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey.
Part One of the logistical nightmare was successfully over. We dined at Harold’s Deli at the hotel a place we had eaten years earlier. They sport the World’s Largest “Pickle Bar,” although I don’t know how they would prove that.
Next morning we enjoyed a continental breakfast and started to make our way to the Port of New York about 9:45 a.m. Again, OnStar was flawless in getting us to the cruise port at 12th Avenue and 55th Street in plenty of time to begin the check in process for the cruise.
Elin’s bus from Boston arrived about the same time and we all met at the entrance of the check in lines at the Port.
Part Two of the logistical nightmare was now behind us.
Check in was quick and we sat in the terminal waiting for the final passengers from the previous week’s cruise to depart the ship. About 11:45 we got the word we could board the ship and we officially began our fifth cruise, the first on Norweigan.
Lunch was being served in the Tsar’s Palace Dining Room and we headed there to kill some time until we could get into our staterooms. After lunch we did a little exploring on the ship and then found our rooms about 2 p.m.
Before we get into the nuts and bolts of the trip, let’s just say that a ship leaving from the Port of New York understandably seemed to attract a number of people from the surrounding area, which included New Jersey.
Normally I avoid stereotypes, but the entire cruise and some of the drama aboard seemed to imitate segments of “Jersey Shore.” We started called this the “rude cruise” because of many of the incidents we witnessed for experienced for ourselves. The girls with us even filmed a few of the more egregious ones for a video they call "Poor Parenting."
Don’t even let me get started on a large contingent of French folks who lived up to the stereotype often connected to them. Hard to imagine that just 70 years ago we and the British did our best to keep them from having to learn German as a second language.
We had our drinks knocked over, our chairs pushed around (with us in them) heard about a fight on deck and I witnessed a Jersey guy repeatedly yelling the “f-word” in the Crystal Atrium in front of dozens of passengers because he was angry with his teenage son.
I have many friends who live in and around the New York Metropolitan area who are not like the stereotypes, but unfortunately they were not on this ship.
The Jewel pulled out of port exactly at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, and we began a beautiful cruise down the Hudson River under beautiful skies. The New York skyline was beautiful and made even more so as the sun was setting. Lady Liberty was stunning with the sun setting behind her.
Just to save time later in this story let’s just say that the weather for the entire week was outstanding. The seas were basically calm, the skies clear and blue and we could not have asked for nicer weather all week. (OK, it rained for about an hour in Nassau, but that happened after we finished our shore excursions and were back aboard the ship.) No more weather reports for this entry.
The air cooled quickly as the sun set and after taking pictures of the ship as it passed under the Verizano Bridge we went inside for dinner. Later we went to the “Welcome Aboard Variety Show: Featuring the Comedy & Magic of Jean Pierre Parent.”
Jean Pierre was a very funny comedian who had to contend with the first of many children on the ship who were not under the control of their parents. (Note: Nickelodean brought Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star aboard for non-stop photo ops that must have cost parents a small fortune).
Anyway, the child was running around the front of the stage unsupervised which was a major distraction to Jean Parent’s act. “Does this child have a mother?,” Parent asked at one exasperated point. The parents never took the hint.
Tired from the logistics, Joan and I went to bed early and the 20-somethings with us did what 20-somethings do well into the night. They partied.
Monday was a Day at Se
a, which I love, and we hung out all day. In the morning I went to the gym and with a view of the ocean as pretty as I’ll ever have walked four miles on the treadmill. Joan and I went to a Latin dance class, which simply reinforced the fact that I have two left feet and a flawed memory. Later Joan tried her luck in the casino while I sat on the balcony and read Volume Four of the Master and Commander Series.We dressed up for dinner, had nice pictures taken and enjoyed the “Band On the Run” production in the Stardust Theater. Joan and I headed for the stateroom and the girls headed up to the “Dancing with the Jewel Stars” Comedy Dance Competition.
Tuesday was our first port day. We arrived in Port Canaveral at noon and headed ashore for our trip to Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle Discovery flight scheduled the week before had been delayed and we were excited that we were going to see it on the launch pad.
Last spring we visited my high school friend Drew and his wife at a beach front condo in Port Canaveral and took pictures of their place as we entered the port. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to connect with Drew or his wife on this trip.
I’ve been looking forward to this tour for a long time. As a young man I was fascinated with the space program. My childhood heroes were Alan Shepherd (who also coincidentally was an officer aboard the USS Cogswell years before I served on her), John Glenn and Neil Armstrong. Riding on the bus to the Mercury/Gemini launch pad I was in awe.
Cape Canaveral had always had a magic place in my heart and there I was on the grounds. Even as an older man it was hard to hide my excitement. We then went to the Apollo/Saturn V Center, where we toured the original Apollo launch center and then stood under the 363-foot Saturn V moon rocket. Seeing the size of the rocket nearly took my breath away.
We touched a moon rock, stood next to space capsules burned from re-entry and enjoyed reliving the memories of our youth.
The final tour stop brought us back to the visitor complex where we rode on the Shuttle Simulation Ride, toured a shuttle, visited the Astronaut Memorial dedicated to those men and women who lost their lives in the pursuit of science and attended an IMAX movie on the Hubble rescue missions.
When the center announced that you could get a year’s pass to the center for $12 (entry fee is $62) we jumped at the chance to buy one so we can return in January when we are in Florida again. There was simply too much to see in just the five hours we had. Back at the ship we met up with the girls, who spent their day at Cocoa Beach for dinner.
We skipped the show that night and chilled at a lounge that had a lady who played the piano and sang popular songs. The girls joined us for awhile and then went off on their own.
The port call for Wednesday was Great Stirrup Cay, a Bahamian island owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines since 1966. We arrived just before 11 a.m. and because Joan and I purchased an Eco boat tour we had tickets for the first tender boat to take us to the small island. Once on the island we shopped a little at the local “Straw Market” and watched as wave after wave of passengers arrived on the island.
It was also interesting to watch members of the crew coming ashore with cases of food and drinks to serve the 2,000-plus passengers who made their way to the island.
About 11:15 a.m. Joan and I climbed aboard a small pontoon boat and headed out to another island where we were shown sharks, starfish, a land crab and learned about the history of the chain of islands that make up the Bahamas.
After our one hour tour Joan and I took a walk along the rocky shore of the island until the heat got us and we returned to the main gathering place on the beach. About 2:30 p.m. we decided to head back to the ship. As we were heading to the boat we found the girls also ready to go back.
The girls posed w
ith Joan’s bonnet and had a good laugh at her expense. Joan has a good sense of humor about the bonnet.After dinner Joan and I went to the main theater show – INCANTO with Massimo and Alesia. It was an incredible show that highlighted the athletic talents of these two performers. Working without nets or harness high above the stage, the moves of this couple left us breathless.
The girls went to the Island Nights Deck Party. We were fast asleep by the time that party started.
We woke up Thursday with the harbor in Nassau on our horizon. A Royal Caribbean ship was just ahead of us, but as always I love to watch the docking procedures of the ship. By 8 a.m. they were letting people leave the ship and Joan and I were among the first to leave so we could catch our 9 a.m. island tour.
The first stop on the tour was the Junkanoo Museum. When we booked the tour we had no idea what a Junkanoo was, but it turned out to be one of the best stops we have had. Junkanoo is a festival celebrated annually in the Bahamas to commemorate a slave holiday.
Slaves made elaborate costumes from scraps of paper and then marched in the streets during a brief annual holiday from their labors. Now island people compete to make new costumes for the festival. We shared a variety of Junkanoo soft drinks and got a chance to pound on drums and shake the cowbells used in the annual parade.
The next two stops involved British forts carved out of limestone to protect the harbor. Fortunately for Nassau, the forts were never needed. Our bus driver took us down some “middle class” side streets so we could see how the folks live in Nassau.
At the second fort we were led to a 90-foot staircase that led down a 50-foot wide limestone canyon that in the 1800s was built to provide an escape route for soldiers in the event their fort was overrun. The canyon was hand carved by slaves in a period of two years.
Following the tour, Joan and I walked up and down the main street of Nassau, picked up a couple souvenirs and then returned to the ship, but not before I talked my way aboard a small Bahamian Navy patrol boat. The First Officer of P-60 invited me aboard after I asked if this old U.S. Navy sailor could see the bridge.
He was very accommodating and took my picture at the wheel on the bridge. When I offered him a few dollars to buy a beer, he politely declined and just asked that I return someday to visit the islands again. I promised him that we would. We’ve already been here twice.
Dinner on the ship at the Azura Dining Room was followed with a Sketch Show put on by the cast of The Second City. Joan and I went back to the piano bar while the girls made their way to the “White Hot Party” at the Spinnaker Lounge.
Friday was my big day. Within minutes of arriving on the ship, I signed up for the “Behind the Scenes Tour” so I could visit the bridge of the Jewel. I have tried on all our previous cruises to visit the bridge, but security concerns always prevented it. This time I was determined to get on the bridge of the ship.
Only 20 people, pre-screened, were allowed on the tour which also included tours of the ship’s galley, food storage, laundry, theater backstage, trash handling room and, of course, the bridge.
The Executive Chef, a German national, kept us laughing and entertained as he described the work of the 200-plus cooks on the ship. Chris, a Wisconsin native, gave us an informative tour of the food preparation and storage area.
But what really lit my fuse was the bridge tour. The First Officer gave us an entertaining explanation of the navigation and operation of the ship’s bridge. It would be an understatement to say that I was completely engrossed in that. Milan, the First Officer, graciously posed for a photo with me at the end of the bridge tour. I could bore you with a lot of facts, but I won’t do that. Well, maybe just one, the ship burns 48 gallons of oil a minute. Stuff like that really fascinates me.
Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star were everywhere again on the ship in a last ditch effort to part parents from more of their hard earned cash for pictures.
We dressed up again and enjoyed a fine meal in Tsar’s Palace, one of two main dining rooms on the ship. Jean Pierre Parent was at his best with another comedy show in The Stardust Theater. Later we attended the “Liar’s Club” a production that included Second City cast members and ship cast members in the Sp
innaker Lounge.A full day at sea, a tour of the bridge and great evening entertainment made this an almost perfect day for me anyway.
Unbelievably Saturday arrived, another day at sea (our last) and it was time to start packing for our arrival back in New York. I finished my book and started Volume 5 and we ate in the Tsar’s Palace Main Dining Room for our last dinner.
After dinner we headed to The Stardust Theater to see “Le Cirque Bijou” a wonderful performance that again included Massimo and Alesia. At the conclusion of the show a large contingent of crew members took the stage to the appreciation of the ship’s guests.
Joan and I headed back to the piano bar in “Bar City” for a last night of music only to find ourselves roughed up by some rude French passengers who were intent on turning the lounge into their private gab session. The continually pushed our chairs and twice almost knocked our drinks over moving around furniture. Don’t get me started on the French.
Sadly, as it always must, Sunday arrived and it was time to getaway. We waited patiently for our turn to leave the ship and the call came just before 10 a.m. We filed through the cattle lanes for Customs and then made our way to the roof to claim the Tahoe.
The first order of business was to drop Elin off at Penn Station so she could catch a bus to Boston and then make our way out of the city. Getting Elin to Penn Station was easy and it looked as if we would escape the city in a hurry.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Lincoln Tunnel was clogged with Jets fans heading to the game. This was not going to be easy. Combine that with New York aggressive drivers and it was all I could do to keep from getting into a fight. If Joan and Jessica hadn’t been with me I likely would have gotten into a fight or been thrown in jail.
We were funneling into a single lane on Dyer Street headed for the entrance to the tunnel when a guy driving a Chevrolet Avalanche decided he could drive through a hole between me and a garbage truck at high speed. Unfortunately our vehicles are the same height and his mirror crashed into mine, cracking it.
Of course, he didn’t stop but was a couple car lengths ahead, but my wife implored me not to do what I really wanted to do which was to walk up and smash his mirror while he was stuck in traffic.
I have his license number, etc. and I’m trying to decide what I’m going to do with it. Joan has already talked me out of some of the more diabolical ideas I had for getting even.
After we escaped the city (about an hour later) the trip went smoothly and we dropped Jessica off at her home in Reisterstown, Maryland about 3 p.m. Then it was off to my father and stepmother’s home in Herndon, Virginia for a two-night stay.
On Monday, we had lunch with my sister Pam in Leesburg at Red, Hot and Blue. Tuesday, it was back to Buffalo for Thanksgiving with Joan’s mother.
We spent Thanksgiving with Joan’s mother at Father Baker Manor and then returned home to Michigan where there are very few rude people.
What a fun story of the great trip!
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