Second First Day

February 2^nd and day one of cruise number 31

We are always amazed at how smoothly and quietly the ship captains slide into their berth here in San Pedro. They don’t make a sound and there isn’t a bump at all.

We are wondering how many times we have come into this port. I think this is the third or perhaps the fourth. I will have to look up our records.

Our wake- up call came at 7:30 and breakfast arrived at eight. The internet was already cut off so I couldn’t check e-mail or post the blog for February 1^st. But I could get things written and ready to go when the connection returns.

We get a new mini bar set up for this cruise so I was sure to empty the fridge. Amazingly enough we have several items left over. We have 5 and ½ of the brandy left. We only emptied 2, Ken has one beer left he drank only one, and we have 5 cans of pop left. Because of the wine tasting and the lemon chello we have 5 shooter glasses. Because of the sail away party we have 2 plastic glasses and because of the special anniversary gift at the Captain’s circle party we have 2 hurricane glasses. All of these need to be transported home. It should be interesting packing to say the least.

We are surprised today by the amount of smog in the air. We can usually see mountains and hills when here but not today.

We decided to go topside to allow Eurique to do the room. There were a few people up there but it was wonderful and peaceful.

At eleven we went back to our room to gather up our papers and get ready to be checked in again. There was an officer who led us through the various steps. We waited in the Wheelhouse and when told to we headed off of the ship. It was a fairly smooth process and we were rechecked and back in our room about an hour later.

We decided to go to Horizon court for lunch. We really did not want much and that seemed a better choice. Besides Ken remembered that they usually have breaded scallops on embarkation day. He was right and the scallops were very good.

After lunch we returned to our stateroom and tried to make a few phone calls. We called Janet and Bob but they did not have their phone turned on. Ken did reach Jenny and had a chat with her.

It appears as if we are not very appreciated by our neighbours. The parents are on one side of us and the children are on the other side. That is too bad because if they had asked us to take a different room we would have so they could be next to each other and open the door so they had one big balcony. But then again perhaps the daughter in law likes it better this way.

I got some beautiful sunset pictures just before we made our way to dinner. We were having a glass of wine on the balcony, enjoying sale away when a plate of chocolate covered strawberries arrived. Kim has struck again, strawberries and coffee again. The berries were so good and so welcomed that I neglected to take a photo until after we had eaten them all and only the leaves were left.

We were holding our breath wondering what table mates we would have. There was no need to worry. Last evening only one person came but she is a delight. Her name is Kathleen, she is an older widower lady who has travelled extensively and this is her first time of travelling entirely alone. But she is wonderful. She currently lives in an extended care facility in Calgary but she lived in Vancouver for 45 years. It is hard to guess at her age because she is such a vibrant person. From the experiences she has had we guess that she must be eighty but she does not seem to be that old.  But then again just how old is eighty!! It is not as old as I once thought it was.:-)

After dinner we went back to our room for our pills and around 8:00 we headed for the theatre to take in the welcome show.

The show was very good , the music before the show was at a good sound level, much better than last evening. But the show itself was too loud again. I actually had an earache but I really don’t know if the show caused it.

After the show we called it a night. Cruise number two has begun very well.