Cruising continued.....

So yesterday Blogger decided it was done giving me the option of switching over to its "newer and better Blogger." I usually like the old ways of doing things because after a year or so, I become somewhat proficient....unless, of course, it involves anything technical. I will work on the pictures and the spacing, and I'm sure it will all be clear eventually.

Anyway.....on to the cruise list.

THREE OUT OF FIVE. We were scheduled to visit 5 ports, but only made it to 3. Kauai was to be our first, and the wind was an issue. Apparently, the opening to the harbor there is small and the captain probably didn't want to bang the side of the boat up against the rocks. So we headed for Maui, our second scheduled stop. Seems the wind was whipping up there too. Since it is a port where tendering is required (taking a little boat from the big boat), he wasn't sure he could get us all back onboard in the late afternoon. So on we went to Hilo (scheduled for day #3) with a short stop in the harbor at Honolulu to offload a sick passenger. Word spread that it was the first officer's wife. The crew was mum....and they were well-trained in this skill. More on this further down the list. The picture above is the sunrise over the ship container loading area in San Pedro harbor at the end of our cruise.

THE COFFEE PLANTATION. We visited a coffee plantation in Kona, our last stop, where we met these cute little guys. They're called Toulouse geese. I'm sure they do their part contributing to the rich soil the coffee plants thrive in. We were told, and actually saw the video while drinking some complimentary coffee, that this was the site of an episode of Dirty Jobs, a rather popular (but I can't for the life of me figure out why) current TV show.

It is also the site of these. You know how I always like a good potty story. I understand their coffee business is growing (probably due to their TV exposure....and those cute geese) so that soon they will have some indoor restrooms.

NORO VIRUS. Yes, I'm afraid our cruise was afflicted and has already been documented by the CDC. We had quite an outbreak onboard. Word has it that about 8% of the passengers were affected, although the crew was most intent on keeping the whole thing under wraps. We knew things had gotten serious when we could no longer serve ourselves at the buffet, and all condiments were removed from the tables in the dining room. They even salted our food for us, but stopped short of actually doing the feeding. Bottles of anti-bacterial hand gel were everywhere, and became the price of admission to all eating venues. Mr. Gadget and I were lucky and somehow avoided getting sick. We chalk it up to staying out of the casino......and pressing the elevator buttons with our elbows.....

CRAPULENCE. Cruises can sometimes be opportunities for vocabulary-building. Mr. G. and I are big fans of trivia games, and they are always popular and well-attended on cruises. During one game, we were asked to define this word--with a hint given that it was something we'd all know about first-hand at the end of the cruise. Bloating, as a result of eating and drinking too much......heh....heh.....

SNIPPED LOVAGE. This was an ingredient in cream of cauliflower soup. It's similar to parsley. The chefs obviously thought enough of it to list it on the menu. Another vocabulary-building op.

So that's it for the cruise report. Tomorrow I'll be back to real life and the ongoing knitting projects. I have made progress. Meanwhile, I'll leave you with this final picture, taken by Mr. G. I think it's best that he stick with purchasing the cameras, and leave the photography to me.