Embarkation, first morning at sea!

Sweet Mary Rose brought me knitting needles and a crochet hook but was able to spend only a few minutes talking with us. Embarkation was swift and simple which was a darn good thing because neither of us got much sleep the night before. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Bayside, right across from the cruise ship dock, about two blocks from the train station. Uncomfortable bed, frequent trains, and about four AM the attack and defeat of the ahhhoooo bay monster. Heaven alone knows what made that haunting noise, but it woke both of us from the closest we had gotten to a sound sleep. Needless to say, we will find someplace else to stay next time.




The Oosterdam, our cruise ship, is glorious. We are trying an inside cabin for this cruise because it’s too cold to enjoy a balcony, and inside cabins are soooo cheap that it covers our 4 day pass to the thermal spa. The thermal spa is a room with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the ocean with six ceramic lounges that have hot water pumped inside them. The effect is that of lying on warm rocks, while the ocean unrolls before you. Soft music plays in the background. Every so often, someone opens the door to the eucalyptus steam room or the citrus steam room, and a gentle scent wafts through the air. I could live there for days I think, but there is also the mineral pool with jets, high intensity showers, and an underwater lounge with air jets. It’s profoundly luxurious.



Our room is compact, but we manage quite nicely. We discovered that we have assigned seating. I have one (1) dinner dress with a variety of toppers. I figured that no one would ever see me twice. Oh well. Our table companions are a charming couple from Vancouver, originally from South Africa, and will be much too gracious to comment on the fact that I’m wearing the same damn dress every night with different accessories. After all, both DH and I have packed for the whole trip in one suitcase, with a knapsack for the laptop and electronic chargers. There’s a limit to how much you can pack and how much you want to wrangle a herd of luggage. Less is more.



I’m not going to be posting pictures while we’re on ship because it’s a dial-up connection, and they charge fifty cents a minute. Any photo requests for posting when we get home? Roxie standing with her back to the prow and her hair blown into an imitation of an enraged, attacking duodecapus? (twenty legged octopus)

DH lying by the pool on a lounge chair under the glass roof, warming his belly in the sun? A nice shot of our cozy room with towel animals on the bed awaiting our return from dinner?



Two more things I have to share before I close. I had a massage last night with Thai and Chinese herbs in a heated poultice that I get to keep and it was the best massage I have ever had in my life!



And for breakfast this morning, I had the Japanese breakfast with grilled salmon, white rice, and hot miso soup. YUM!!