Time To Pack

With our recent move it is no surprise that we have not packed for this trip yet. Since we leave in two days - it IS time!!! From what I have read and what my SIL told me, we don't have to pack formal clothing, that's good. I don't really "dislike" formal nights (John does) but we won't miss it for sure. Looks like the weather will be mid to low 70's each day and cooler at night, that sounds perfect. So in two days we will be off for a new adventure with the American Queen Steamboat Company. We fly out Sunday and board the American Queen Monday afternoon. It is a short adventure, Memphis to Nashville on the Cumberland River. We'll see how much we like it - Wouldn't a trip from New Orleans on the Mississippi be a blast?

River Cruise

Just 7 weeks from today we will be boarding this River Cruise! We booked this cruise  in Septemeber 2016! We will be traveling with the American Queen Steamboat Company on the American Queen for a "Music of America" Cruise Memphis to  Nashville, with my stepbrother Rodney and wife, also named Sharon. This is actually their "dream trip" and they invited us to go along. Should be an interesting and different experience for us as we have not been on a river boat cruise before, except for a dinner cruise. The Itinerary is interesting and sounds relaxing along the river. We have heard the food is fantastic on this cruise line. We booked our flights on July 9, RT Fresno so no extra driving. We will fly into Memphis and back home from Nashville. 

More Information

Heading Home

I didn't sleep very well last night, always concerned I will not be on time or hear my alarm. Anyway, we were all at our appointed place by 8:40a to disembark. At 8:50a I asked the staff about our number, he said he already announced it. None of us heard it - but off we go. It is like a herd of cattle but it went smoothly. I called the Seattle Shuttle each time I was supposed to. However, we still had a long wait for their arrival. I suppose it really didn't matter since our flight is not until 3:30p but standing around "waiting" is never amusing. We got to the airport so early we could not check our luggage. There is a rule about no sooner than 4 hours before your flight. Even though we were just 20 minutes before that - no exceptions. So, we wait again. Eventually that was all taken care of and we breezed through security to search for a lunch spot. I was happy to eventually find Anthony's, where John and I have eaten in the past. We all ate our lunch there and lingered a bit so we have less time to wait for our flight back home. 

Salsa & Shrimp

Finally we are in the air. No views of the beautiful mountains today as there is still some smoke present. We did have a fantastic view of Lake Tahoe on the way home though. We approached a taxi at the airport to take us home but apparently our trip was not far enough to benefit them, so even without using Script they were not interested. As it turned out Deb and Sam have their vehicle at the airport so they took us home, along with Jeff and Kathleen. 

It's always good to be home again, safe and sound, thank you LORD for another safe journey. 

Explorer of the Seas - Day 7 - Victoria, BC

Our last day of the cruise, getting off tomorrow. It is a lovely day here in Victoria BC. Unfortunately, my back is tweaked today so I am moving slowly. The kids all went off the ship around 10a I think. We were in port at 9a. Deb, Sam, Jeff, and Kathleen took a pedicab into town, Steven and Saira walked. I know they ate and had some beers but I don't know what else they did. After my back was feeling better we went off the ship and walked around a little bit, then came back onboard. 

About 4:30-5p the Celebrity Solstice came into port and as we were watching her dock we saw the kids coming back to the ship as well.  

It was our last dinner tonight - the week went by really fast. However, I will say we are all pretty full of both food and drink and by today it is not as special as it was last Friday. We enjoyed our meal and then we all went to pack.

We joined Deb, Sam, Jeff, and Kathleen up at Dizzy's for a little bit but we were tired and headed back to bed. We have an 8:40a departure time from the 4th deck dining area. I hope that goes smoothly since we have the Seattle Shuttle scheduled to take us to the airport.  

Explorer of the Seas - Day 6 - Cruising

It was a somewhat quiet day for us cruising. We turned the clocks back ahead to our regular time today, that made it seem like we got up late. We all had an early lunch in the dining room and then we all went our separate ways. I didn't sleep so well so we came back to our cabin, after a brief stop looking at some of our photos. 

The kids all played cards up top somewhere and saw whales breech while they were up there. Nice! They also played miniature golf before the fog came all the way in. Steven played some dodge ball tournament or something. Whatever they were doing, they all had fun. 

Dinner was 6:30p tonight. It was Macarena night! They played it and we did our best. Our waiter Budi did a fantastic job! The feature was a lamb shank, delicious but Jeff is so full he could not eat, he sat with us for most of the time. Maybe skipping dinner will help out his digestion. Steven also left before dessert! I know Jeff and Steven ate pizza around 5p. It's catching up to them. Later in the evening we all ended up at Dizzy's - first for cards, then for the music. Tonight was Western, not sure of exactly what they called it but it was a nice mix. The DJ was nice and even taught a few line dance steps to those who wanted to learn. 

Macarena Time

Foggy Tonight

Cards

Our DJ this evening

Explorer of the Seas - Day 5 - Cruising Tracey Arm Fjords

We woke up about 7a, I believe we entered Tracey Arm Fjord around 5:30a. It is not as cold as I thought it would be, it is 41F and sunny. I don't think any of the kids are too disappointed at the views (maybe Steven is) but John and I are surprised it is nothing like the Hubbard Glacier we have seen in the past. That glacier if absolutely breathtaking, but this Dawes Glacier is similar to the Mendenhall Glacier that you can just see from the town in Juneau. We could not go to the Sawyer Glacier because the ice flow was heavy. Besides that slight disappointment, the views are, of course, spectacular! 

Good Morning Dawes Glacier 7:45a

Deb, Sam, John, and I had breakfast in the dining room - very nice Eggs Benedict. Steven, Saira, John, and I had lunch in the dining room! After lunch we headed to the casino to try our luck. I more than doubled my meager allotment to lose and quit with $71. John and I went back to our cabin then. At 2p we went to the Ice Show, which we really enjoyed. There are some really talented skaters! The guy who did back flips was amazing! For this ship you do not need tickets to go to the show but they schedule you to go by Muster Station numbers, which are listed in your Cruise Compass. However, that said, they open it to everyone 5 minutes before the show starts. I might go again. 

This Guy Did Back Flips!

After the show I played Bingo - No I didn't win the cruise, darn. Maybe next time! There was a special event for Platinum and above at 4:45p. I was surprised after all the rather boring introductions that our Captain sang for us! He sang "Margaritaville" and then a song for his crew first in English and then in the Filipino language (Tagalog I think). It was actually quite moving. 

Formal night - LOBSTER - Our table had 18 lobster tails, a few prime ribs, a couple of pasta dishes... are we stuffed? Yes indeed! I won't say who ate the most lobster tails...John and I had just one each! John and I retired to our cabin after this. All the kids went to change (stretchy pants?) and I think they were going to the 70's dance or something tonight. We are all having a great time. 

Explorer of the Seas - Day 4 - Skagway

Steven and Saira went to Grizzly Falls Zip-line. They had a great time and even walked on swing bridges and zip-lined upside down!!! They have a lot of Go Pro videos but I don't know quite how to post those! The other kids went into town and did some beer tasting, got some jewelry, and walked around. I'm not sure what else they saw. 

John and I had coffee in our room and went up for a very late breakfast. I just felt tired today so after walking around the ship we just came back to our cabin. We did plan to get off but it never happened. 

The Ship was Quiet

The Port was Busy

The kids all got back about 4p and came over. Then we all met for dinner at 6:15. Another delicious dinner. This time the service was slow as well. Our waiter is great but his assistant doesn't do much and he is pretty swamped. The head waiter (I think) came and apologized for them temporarily losing our partial bottle of wine from last night. They eventually found it and all was well. We set sail around 8p as scheduled. Everyone seems a little tired tonight so I suppose we will all be asleep soon and then looking forward to cruising the Tracey Arm Fjords tomorrow. 

Good Night