ProseKnitic – of Words und Wolle

Today is a sea day with more to do that I had thought about.

A German couple on their second loop organized the Cruise Critic meeting which turned out to be a real hoot and total chaos. While we were at it, they volunteered to lead a cabin crawl that afternoon. Starting just three short hours later (with a detour to a quick Lattitudes Cocktail welcome back and drawing of questionably useful merchandise we started out at their inside cabin on 11 and hiked up and down the ship. One of the frequent cruisers in an outside cabin managed to have us in for a look while his 13 year old son slept through the whole thing. We also visited a balcony or two, wandered through my “penthouse” (which is neither on the top floor nor two levels) and ended up on 10 in the aft corner. Turns out one of the group members is in a Owner’s Suite.

So there we were, living room, lounging area, walking dressing area, separate sleeping area, and 1/2 powder room and huge screen TV. Besides the butler service, the suite comes with three bottles of alcohol (chose off the list), unlimited soft drinks and snacks on demand!

Instead of the group breaking up, we all decided to hang out for a while chatting. The group is fairly diverse with representation from Canada, Australia, US, Germany, UK (with more than one region represented). Hanging around, the chat went to jobs, travel experience and active volcanos. I had forgotten about Strombli this morning. We will come back past it on the 21st, not at 0500 in the morning but more like 2230 at night. So we will have a Stromboli party and see if it is possible to get photos of the volcano from my balcony.

Then there was the experience of the two with the suite (the fancy one). After retirement last year, they decided to hike the Appalachian trail. The whole things which is more than 2000 miles. Starting in Maine, they finished five and a half months and significant weight loss later pretty much camping the whole way. On their agenda for next spring is likely going to be the Western States Trail which goes from the Mexican border to the Canadian border through the Rockies. Unlike the herds of thousands on the Appalachian, only about 400 get permits for the Western every year.

Meanwhile – just a few photos for you!