Oct.23, 2019

After breakfast i went to a question and answer session with the cast of the shows and got there a little early while our cruise director Lee's morning show was still on the stage. From what i gathered somebody had found out that Lee doesn't like boiled eggs so you can imagine they all had fun with that, goading him to eat one, which someone had brought. He choked it down and was gagging while holding his nose and it was hilarious. Afterwards he admitted that it wasn't that bad but he will never eat another one.

Lee was then the host of the Q+A session with the Splendors musical show cast of 4 guys and 4 girls. They all introduced themselves saying where they were from and i was surprised as just about all were from the U.K. I had presumed they'd all be Americans. People in the audience asked all sorts of questions which they answered and it seems it's not an easy life they live. They have to practice every day and do 2 or 3 shows a few nights a week. Lots of costume changes and and how they manage to change into different costumes so quickly etc.  One of the girls dbls as the seamstress and only the singers get their own cabins; the dancers have to share a cabin. One girl put it all in to perspective by saying how tiring it is to be dancing and singing at the same time and she said just try it. I believe her!
Afterwards i checked out the library which had a few people sitting reading and it was so cold in there i don't know how they could stand it. Also don't know why they didn't just take a book to their quiet comfy cabin where distracting people couldn't just come walking in anytime. The supply of books was few and all were hard covers. I'm guessing people download the books they want to read on their phone or IPad now-a-days and maybe libraries will soon be a thing of the past. I got out of there quickly, no magazines to look at and that's all i really wanted to know.

By then it was lunchtime so i went to the Lido for salads, scallops and purple potatos and then returned to my room. On the door was a note from Annie reminding me to go to the boardroom for the Left, Right and Center game at 1:45p.m. to learn how to play it before the game starts at 2p.m. I got lost but made it on time and Annie explained the game to me and soon there were at least 20 people all seated around a very long table and the game began. It was fun because a game costs only $3. and if you won you'd get $60. because there was 20 people playing today. Annie asked me if i wanted to share the pot if either of us won and i said sure, good plan. I was up and down w/o any money left several times but you're still in the game because the people on either side of you might have to give you some, if they have any left to give. When that happens you can keep building on it and have lots to play with but then again you might roll the dice and have to give a bill to either your left or right side and/or the pot jar in the center. The game continues until the last one with money wins the game and all that's in the pot jar. We played 3 games and i think it took over an hour and i was second to last on the third game but got a bad roll on my last chance and and the lady beside me won it all. Fun game; i liked it and wish i'd been involved earlier on this cruise.
Annie had explained to me how to get to this room by an easier route and how to get back from it as well, two different ways were needed. Well, i messed up again and walked way too far and when i saw the elevator i jumped in it and hit the casino only to be a loser once again. Not my day today!

When i returned to my room i glanced out the window as i entered and saw a school of some kind of curious little fish leaping away. There must have been thousands of them and it looked like they had come up close to the ship to check it out and then got scared of the sound or the wake as they played and it looked like they were actually flying away. I'm not sure of exactly where we are right now but in between Guam and Malaysia and the water is polluted with a lot of seaweed. I keep hoping to see a whale or dolphins or other sea life but so far not much. There's lots of mountains in the distance and tons of small islands throughout the area that are all a part of the Phillipine archipelago.

I returned to the Lido for a dinner of mixed misc. including barley. I love barley in soup and have never come across it served just plain like that. It was a good idea and delicious with my fish and veggies, fruits and 2 pcs of cake. Going to have to make some barley at home now and serve it with green onions and Asian dressing. I by-passed the ice cream machine on my way out to watch the movie Yesterday which was about to begin. I found the movie to be a little strange and i wasn't sure what it was all about but something to do with the Beatles. I stuck with it to the end mainly because Ed Sheeran was in it and he was my singer for a long time until i replaced him with Passenger as my #1 fav. There's a lot of distractions watching a movie with a pool in the vicinity....people diving in and splashing around, people walking by, me looking at the stars in the sky instead of on the screen, lol.  I can't believe there's just one week left of my cruise. Time flies when you're having fun!

Oct. 22, 2019

I was up a little too early this morning because of moving our clocks back another hour but i got up, got ready and was eating my brekkie before 8a.m. I sat with a lady from Australia who was just finishing up a bowl of prunes and i asked her where she got them because i hadn't seen them today. When she was finished she left and was back in a minute or two with a bowl of prunes for me. It was very nice of her to do that and i enjoyed them and hope they do their job.
From there i headed down ship to the Survivor trivia game and saw a woman sitting alone so i asked if i could be on her team. She was a very nice lady named Francis from Florida and we had a lovely chat before the game started. Most of the 20 questions were really hard and even though i rarely miss an episode of Survivor i couldn't get many answers. I mean who on earth can remember the name of the person who won in 2006, or any year for that matter? What episode was it that so and so won? The name of the guy who said he just gotten the news that his grandma had died? Or the name of the nude guy? Lol, i do remember him but his name? Nope.  It made me wonder if the categories had been revealed maybe even before the cruise had begun. or with the Fun Times paper being delivered the evening before the game is it possible they've studied the info online all night. If so i'm calling "Not fair!" even though i guess it's fair enough,lol. I've noticed on many cruises that there's teams who win alot, all the time, no matter what the category is. I realise there's smart people out there but come on, not that smart or i would have seen them winning on Jeopardy by now. Or do they brush up on every single category there is or what! Lol! Whatever, Francis and i got 3 correct and that's about par for the course so i get no ship on a stick again. Oh well, i do enjoy the whole thing even w/o remembering any of it 10 minutes later and i really don't need or want a ship on a stick.  Ironically the day i visited Maui the trivia was all about Canada; go figure eh!

After trivia we remained seated for the next event which was all about social media.. After it began i knew i was sunk because it was all about very deep stuff that i don't have a clue about or even want to know. I had no idea you could use your computer to lock your doors for example. Sure i could have stuck around and learned something but it was just too seriously deep for me so i whispered to my new friend Francis that i was leaving. She said "just a minute" so i waited and she wrote me a note inviting me to join her and her husband for dinner tonight at 7:30 in the Gold Pearl dining room. I whispered yes, i'll see you later and i left.

I had to go through the casino from there because it's the only route i know i won't get lost on so i stopped and played a little; picked up $60. real quick and headed to my cabin. I was no sooner in the door when the phone rang and it was another lady i had befriended; Judy inviting me to join her for lunch at the....guess where....the Gold Pearl. Strangely enough i've been there 3 times in the last 2 days and i hadn't set foot in there at day 17 of this cruise.
Judy had boarded the ship with a cruisemate but she is a solo cruiser now because her friend had become sick and departed by ambulance to go to the hospital for gall bladder surgery.

So Judy knocked at my door and came in for a minute or two and then we proceeded to the Gold Pearl which is a longgg way from here.I had to stop and rest a couple times but we eventually made it and were seated at a big table with another couple from down under. They were very well travelled and had interesting stories to tell including being robbed twice. So i told my story about being robbed in Beijing when i went a few years ago. We also had been joined by a couple of guys who will be getting on a Celebrity ship in Singapore to sail back to the U.S. instead of flying home. I really liked that plan of theirs as the flight from Singapore is extremely long and boring and tiresome. Going to have to remember remember to check the idea out if or when i cruise again. These guys knew all kinds of ways that people are not aware of that they can get robbed. It's really a big business now a days with pro robbers, not just the common pick pocketers. If anyone wants to know how to keep your money while in China i can recommend that you should keep your money on you at all times and do not ever use the in-room safe. I know for sure that i was robbed of small amounts but it happened every day over a period of a week before i clued in.

The waiter who took my order must have gotten it all wrong because i'm pretty sure i wouldn't have ordered squid. No i never would! In fact i had ordered two dishes and this wasn't one of them and the other one never did arrive. You might get a mix up like this on a ship (or any restaurant)  So you complain and tell him and then you'll get the correct dish or dishes, whatever you want. I don't generally do that. I just accept it and try it out because i'm easy that way and sometimes interesting things happen because of it. Well, for me this time i couldn't eat the squid but the veggies that came with it were awesome; potatos that are al dente are something i love but when i cook them at home my hubby wants them well done and if i catch them in time i'll remove one early for myself. However most of the time i either forget or i'm too late and it's already well done so this was a real treat for me. I had arugula too so it was actually a really delicious meal for me. Do try a rare potato sometime; it's a special treat!
We saw another cruiseship in the distance and through this all i neglected to snap pics. Afterwards we returned to our deck and each went a different way directly to our cabins for a little nap.

I have run out of drinking water already! I'd had a doz. of the large size sent to my room on day one and i was sure that would be enough but nope, also a 6 pack each of tonic water, club soda and diet coke all gone.I drink the tonic water at night before i go to bed to help prevent muscle spasms especially on days where i've walked alot. These stupid dam charley horses get me in the ankles alot lately and are a PITA and ocassionally in the thighs as well. It seems weird or unusual to get them in those places but strangely enough the ones i used to get in the back of the lower legs and feet have stopped  Now, not even sure if the tonic water has helped or not but i've developed a taste for the stuff so maybe i'll order some more from room service. Just about everyone i know drinks the ships water but i can't do it, call me spoiled but yeah, i need good ol' Canadian drinking water and the thought of drinking what comes out of the faucet in the bthrm makes me gag and would probably give me an intestinal upset. So i did the math on the price of small bottles and the large bottles and it turns out exacly the same price per ounce. There's already 2 big bottles with the price of $3.75 each on my dresser which i've been trying to avoid drinking. My other plan is to buy a water bottle and fill it daily from the iced tea, mango juice or lemonade machines in the Lido which would be made with the ships water but is well disguised. I've seen lots of people fill theirs in the Lido and then drink from them all day when out and about. Not me, i don't want to be carrying anything onboard as it's the only time i can go around empty handed w/o a purse and i love the feeling. It's so freeing and men get to do it all the time.

I had just returned from lunch when Annie called about a game called Right, Left and Center and it sounded interesting and i'd love to learn and play it. Tomorrow is my chance to get involved. Annie said to bring one dollar bills as it costs $3. per game. I'll remember to get some bills broken down in the casino tonight. There's always the need for small money as well for tips so i'll be prepared.

I got ready for dinner with my new friend Francis and her hubby and made the long trek to get to the place on time with extra time for getting lost too. My feeling about the Gold Pearl is that it's a little higher class than the Black Pearl; better food, attentive waiters and live music. So i met Frances and i enjoyed hearing all about their many cruises and travels all over the world as well as their life in Florida.

After a very nice dinner i went back to the casino and picked up a few bucks from several different machines and i had a lot of fun doing it. As you probably know every casino has a time for winning and a time for losing; you just have to figure out what time it'll be or just hit it lucky when you get there.

                                                   

Oct. 21, 2019

I was up and about at 7a.m. but still feeling tired. There's lots of fluffy clouds out there that look like towel animals and you can hardly tell where the sky and sea meet because it's all the same colour. I still havent seen a whale or a dolphin on this trip, i wonder where they are.

Spent some time playing my game and didn't have much luck so after getting ready i started out for the buffet breakfast but then changed course and and decided to do the brunch in the Gold Pearl. It's been years since i've been to a brunch but a change of pace is nice once in awhile.
At the desk i asked if there was a solos table i could join and was lead to  a table of seven and they all knew each other; either married couples or as room mates. It was a little disturbing feeling like the odd one out but they were all very friendly and welcomed me so that was cool. Nobody had ordered yet so my timing was good. The menu seemed a little limited but maybe not unless you've been a regular at the buffet; the land of plenty.
I ordered OJ, the fruit and cottage cheese plate and french toast. The fruit plate i received consisted of 8 pieces of fruit. They were cut in tiny pieces about dice sized. I got one each of canteloupe, honey dew,pineapple, apple, orange and  grapefruit along with a grape cut in half all laying atop the thinnest slice of watermelon and there was a half a tsp. of cottage cheese artfully placed in a tiny strip the size of a matchstick. I had to hold back my laughter. This sort of delicacy is so not my style, hell, gimmee a half of a watermelon and a big 'ol spoon, lol! The humungous bowls of cut up watermelon pieces the size of at 4 dices they have in the Lido makes a person feel free to get a soup bowl full and then go back for seconds or thirds and they keep adding more all the time and they never run out.

One man at the table broke the ice by telling me that he used to visit Vancouver alot with a group of guys that went fishing together and he'd love to go again. Another said that she had driven across the border from Oregon into British Columbia. I had to correct her on that as B.C. only borders with the States of Washington, Idaho and Montana. The two ladies in the group were cruising from one to another cruise and doing a lot of back to back cruises and this time they'll spend some time in Singapore before hopping on another ship. What a life! A very charmed life! They also gave me alot of info on being a casino cruiser. One of them had received a call from Carnival inviting her to find a friend and they could both get on this cruise for free. They were even given cash to spend and it was a sizable amount too!

Now, i've never received such a call but i'm sure hoping it'll happen. But the key thing is to stick with one cruiseline to build up your status and one has to do several cruises per year to make the cut. I already know i likely wont get called; i cruise on misc. lines so it'll be me calling them and i'll pay whatever they say. Oh well, i was enjoying my pipe dream there for a minute.

Between the eight of us at that brunch table we all had different info....well, gossip if you please.....their story re the 52 yr. old man who died of shock after winning the $24,000. in the casino went like this - 48 yr. old man won $20,000. died of a heart attack in his cabin not in the casino. The first death that went from it being a woman to a man went back to it was a woman according to these people but according to the couple that sat at my lunch table today they said they saw the dead guys wife and she is very old and in a wheelchair. The latest one was apparently a Phillipino worker onboard and i just realized that i hadn't seen my room steward in a couple days. OMG i hope my Anthony is ok.
Well, somebody is tending to my cabin but i just thought of 2 clues that it might be somebody else....my towel animals are not made in Anthonys style and whoever it is isn't leaving me a fresh shower mat everyday and Anthony always does.....well, did.

As it stands now there's been 4 people who died on this cruise so far and several have been taken away in ambulances at every port we've docked at. My new friend Judys roomie had to leave by ambulance in Honolulu as she needed gall bladder surgery. Not clear on if she flew to her home city and hospital from there or if it was done in Honolulu. Somebody said the record number of deaths on a cruise was 30 and today i heard it was 35.  Either is hard to imagine but maybe it was on one of those world cruises that last 100 days or more. Or maybe it didn't happen at all.

Well, on a ship this size, which certainly isn't the largest by far there's up to 5000 people onboard counting the crew and all. The majority of cruisers are over 60 so thinking about it in terms of if it were a city with this population i sort of do believe it. I remember as a child living in a town with a pop. of 4000 there was at least one a day and my dad was a pallbearer for just about all of them.
There's alot of older people in the casino at any given time and they're in the elite status and getting free drinks.....well, there ya go!

Later i went to customer service to get a printout of my cruise expenses. I've spent $47.40 so far but one entry is questionable. It shows i bought 2 specialty coffees at the coffee shop but i only remember buying one. Maybe i'll find out if or when i read back in my blog if i bought one or two,lol. My call to my hubby back home cost $22. and that was much less that i would have thought it would be from Hawaii.
One of the reasons i write all this stuff is to be able to dbl. check things but mostly i enjoy reading it like 5 years later when i've forgotten everything. It jogs my memory which would be totally lost if i didn't. Heaven forbid that Blogger should ever shut down! And hell, i forget cruise things after a year, never mind five.

The ocean and the sky have now become two distinct things unlike earlier when it all looked the same and you couldn't tell where the ocean and the sky met. Theres clouds in the distance that look like they're sitting on the ocean making it look like a snow covered mountain range. I'd take a pic but my camera is charging and anyhow my window is very salty so pics would be blurry. As well, my porthole is old and i think all on the ship will be replaced when she goes into dry dock. I think the carpets are ok for the most part but new furniture is needed. A cruiseship takes a lot of wear and tear being it does one cruise after another after another non stop for years. I don't really mind these conditions as it makes for a cheaper cruise when a ship is on it's way to drydock.And actually this ship is in pretty good shape, just as my last years ship was.

This Splendor ship is not coming back to the U.S. because after her retrofit she'll be cruising in Australian waters so i might not see her again. But then you just never know as we were passengers on Carnivals Spirit "last" cruise in U.S. waters when we sailed from Vancouver to Hawaii several years ago and she carried on to Australia "never to return". I remember how we waved and cheered her on as we watched her leave from our condo the day after we had arrived there. Well, for whatever purpose or reason the Spirit is now back cruising in N.America again. So i'm sure Splendor will return again too.

After dinner in the Lido i went to the casino until it was time to get a seat in the showroom. It was a songstress and she was allright but not my style so i slipped out midway and returned to my slots. I picked up a little over $100.  so that'll keep me going for a few days trying to build on it. There's 2 machines that i want to play and they're the only ones of this type with rhinos being the main character. i'm a real sucker for rhinos; i love those things! But every time i've been there there's already someone playing them so i just sit back watching and waiting for them to leave and i'll jump up and grab it but they never leave. Today i figured it out; it must be a family or friends or some sort of a group deal thing who have taken over those two machines, taking turns playing and maybe they've made a pact that when it pays off big they'll all share in the pool. Now, i think that's a brilliant idea if that's what's happening because a machine that's played 24 hrs a day non stop has got to land on the jackpot soon. Or maybe not. Whatever, i think it's a good plan they've organized if that's whats going on and i hope it pays off for them.

Always a new jigsaw puzzle to work on the promenade. Unfortunately no chairs there so i havent found a piece yet because i can stand for just a short time.

Oct. 20, 2019 a visit to Guam

What a crazy night. I fell asleep with the lights on and woke up because the phone was ringing and my watch said it was 9 oclock.I thought it meant it was 9 A.M. and that i had missed my excursion or maybe someone calling to tell me to get out to the bus asap. It took me a minute to figure things out; it was 9 in the evening! I'm turning into a different person on this cruise, a strange unusual person who i don't know and who sleeps in half hour increments.
Once i figured that out i was ok i went back to sleep only to wake up every hour or half and this repeated all night. By 5a.m. i was exhausted but could sleep no more so played my game and wasted yet more of my points and i think i'm down to almost half of what i had built up over a very long time; i'm talking years! It's discouraging but i figure the only way to handle it is to continue playing and maybe it'll all come back. The stinker is that the more you bet the more chances you have to hit a million or two which you'd think would help but then you keep making those big bets and it gradually gets eaten away. The next thing i know is i've lost a lot and i'm poor again and have to bet small which doesn't give much payback and is a little boring.

When i opened my curtains i saw the pilot boat beside us guiding our way in to the dock. Off in the distance were many other watercrafts both large and small. I had hoped to be on the side facing land but no, i got the opposite view. It would be awhile before we'd dock but i decided to to go to the designated area and be first in line.
I got ready and headed for the Black Pearl restaurant where i have to see the immigration/customs officials before going on my day trip. I presume a boat had already brought them to the ship; probably on that same pilot boat. As usual i got lost again trying to find the Black Pearl. Just when i think i've got it i end up in the wrong place. I've never had this problem on any other ship but this ship is crazy and i don't know what to do with it! At one point i thought i'd found it but it turned out to be the Gold Pearl and they're not even close together.

Once i found the place i saw millions of people milling about everywhere already. Everyone wanted to get the formalities over with so that when the ship docks they can get off first.  The first thing i had to do was find out where the end of the lineup was and it was a long trek with switchbacks. Turns out the end was very close to near where the beginning was. Then the guy in the lineup ahead of me tried to convince me that i was in the wrong lineup and that i had to go somewhere else to get a sticker on my key and he showed me his sticker. I usually believe know-it-all people with instructions but decided not to trust this guy because i had been under the impression that this was the lineup to get the sticker so i stuck with my spot while he insisted i was doing wrong to stay. For some reason i never saw him again but i'm pretty sure that he had stood in the same lineup twice to get a sticker that he already had.
The cruise director was making announcements which were hard to hear or understand because of the din of so many people. At one point he said everyone in a family had to be present to be seen by the officials and people were instantly irate because they had stood in the lineup while their partner or kids had gone for breakfast. Then after all the families had panic attacks he announced that only one person per family had to appear. It was the most bizarre, crowded stressful confusing debarking routine that i've ever seen and equivalent to the embarking scenerio in LA to get onboard.

This sort of thing doesn't happen on most cruises and especially unheard of on cruises that stop at a port every day or two. Having said that i remember that all the other ships i've been on except a different Carnival one use the showroom as the meeting place and there's never a lineup. Passengers are all seated waiting to hear their excursion number and when it's called just those people get up and walk in single file to the gate. Such a huge difference and why didn't Carnival do this? Well, the showroom is very large but it's on 3 levels so maybe that's the problem.  Too bad but it seems that alot of ships are being designed this way now a days.
I met my friend Leeanne and her husband on a couch in the lobby and there was enough room for me to squeeze in. Eventually i was able to debark along with them as we were on the same bus on the same excursion. So a couple hours later the whole thing was done and and over with and the throngs of puzzled people found their way out and enjoyed their excursion but i'm sure nobody is ever going to forget the crazy way they went about it.

Our tour guide had all sorts of facts and legends to tell and she was very good and i liked her. She pointed out her elementary and high schools, where she lived and things about her family. She said there's still a lot of live bombs in the jungle areas that could go off if a person stepped on one or sat on a large one and that people are advised to never touch one. Her own grandpa had picked up a small one and it blew 3 fingers off his hand.

She told of how the reef that protects a lot of the beaches from sharks is formed and how the ocean water is warmer than the air sometimes. I didn't know much about Guam and thought it was small but it's larger than i had thought. There's all the high end hotels and resorts, stores like Michael Kors, Dior, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Chanel etc. and as well i spotted McD's, Burger King, IHop and then theres the malls too. It's like a smaller Hawaii.

We visited several points of interest and one was Lovers Peak, the place where a young couple in love had braided their long hair together and leapt off the highest peak to a watery death rather than to be married to others as their families had planned.
We stopped at a few interesting places and a Holiday Inn Hotel where we enjoyed a very nice buffet lunch and then took a vote on where to go next; either the mall or Kmart. We ended up at KMart. I thought they'd have a craft dept. or at least some yarn, string or thick thread but as it turned out nope, nothing of the sort there. I should have voted for the mall but who knew? The reason i didn't vote for it was because the Ala Moana mall didn't have any handicraft supplies and too late i found out that the Guam mall did!
This Kmart store is the last one standing in a U.S. territory and it's very popular. We were told that if a Walmart came there'd be no more Kmart here or anywhere. We were dropped off for an hour to shop and i did the entire store looking for the things i wanted. I had a couple things in my cart which as it turned out i didn't buy. The store was very busy with lots of cusomers and long lineups at the tills.At one point i asked an employee if there was a till that was for just a few items because alot of the locals were buying whole cartfuls of stuff and nobody wanted to get in a lineup behind them. She said to follow her which i did and she took me to a shorter lineup. Well, this lineup stood still without moving at all because the cashier was leisurely, slowly, carefully lining up and then counting the coins in her cash register and then she put all the coins in separate bags and walked away with them. I waited for a long time along with the few ahead of me but she didn't return and by then i had just a couple minutes left before my time was up and i had to get back to the bus before it left without me. It was a little disappointing but i had to walk away leaving the things i had wanted to buy in the cart. I had 2 pkgs of paper napkins, unusual colourful patterned tissue paper and a sack of candy to say bye to so it was a sort of weird experience but not really a big deal.
A lot of the passengers had purchased pop and i would have had some in my cart too but but i was worried about being able to carry it without knowing how far away the bus might be. Of course i can buy some onboard but it costs a lot more. I wonder where the locals buy their craft/hobby supplies. I hope it's local and that they do have hobbies and are doing crafty things but now i'll probably never know. If KMart is the most popular store there and they don't carry any art supplies then i really feel for them if they're not able to get things locally. Sadly noticed the same thing at the mall in Honolulu but then i'm sure Walmart has cornered that market.
The bus was parked waiting quite close to the entrance of the KMart which was nice. Anyone that comes back to the bus late usually gets an embarassing round of applause with sometimes a few jeers and if you're really late the bus will be gone and you'll have to return to the ship in a taxi. As it turned out for me there were a couple people not back yet so we waited patiently as everyone knew why it was taking them so long.
Back on the dock there was a local dance group doing their traditional dance and i watched for a few minutes and then climbed onboard the ship without further delay. It had been a lovely day overall but i tire very quickly and easily and have to be able to rest.
So i hung out in my room and watched from my porthole for awhile because i enjoy seeing the tugboat getting us going and then seeing the pilot jump off the ship and onto it. Then i freshened up  and went to the buffet for dinner.
My new friends Leeanne and Paul joined me and afterwards i thought of heading to the showroom to watch the hypnotist show but i found it difficult to walk, my legs and feet were sore and i was tired. I got some ice cream and and returned to my cabin and mixed some espresso into it in hopes it would give me some relief and energy but nope, it didn't work.
We are off now sailing for 3 or 4 days before getting to our next port which is Kota Kinabalu in Borneo. Thank goodness for time to recover and then i'll be doing the excursion routine all over again. It will be the ships excursion so it might be easier and maybe i'll get priority. I had purchased this one a long time ago, well before the private sellers popped up selling their excursions. The one i'm going on cost more, does less and doesn't include lunch. However, i decided to stick with it instead of cancelling and going on the cheaper one that does it all better because and i don't know why, fear of fate maybe. I hope i don't end up regretting my choice.