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Well, i'm ready to go but no Judy and Florine yet and no sense in going down there like i did once before and they wern't there so i'm stuck waiting in my cabin for people who might have forgotten or maybe got tied up with something else or could be in one of the other elevators near my door and we could pass like ships in the night.
I don't think i'll fall for these kinds of get-togethers anymore. I'll just tell them i don't operate on a schedule and just go whenever i'm ready. Why didn't i think of this weeks ago?
So, i'm still waiting, looking out the window and theres a huge ship in the distance. It's pretty cool because it seems you can cruise for days and days on this bug ocean and not see land or another ship so it's a treat for the eyes.
Everyone got a paper that has to be filled in and turned in today. One of the decisions i have to make is whether or not to self-disembark in Singapore. The difference is that self disembark means that you are going to handle all your luggage by yourself but get off and out of here quickly and the alternative is to place your luggage outside your door the night before departure and the crew will take it out to the terminal and all you have to do is walk out there and find your stuff amongst a zillion other pieces of similar luggage. I've been there, done that and it took me a few hours last time so it's a no brainer for me; i'll handle it myself.
The only problem i have with this is i have a headache, i'm really tired and coughing alot, difficulty breathing, panting upon the slightest exertion, all typical symptoms of pneumonia which i've had during or just after my last few cruises. What a hellofa thing to have to face when you're a million miles away from home and knowing how brutal it is to get all the way home from way over here when you're feeling like crap.
I took a couple of the pills my Dr. had prescribed especially for this scenerio and i just hope they work to catch it in time before it gets worse.
Meanwhile wth is Judy and Florine? I'm tired of waiting for them and i'm hungry too.
Eventually i took off and had my breakfast in the buffet. I thought i heard Judys voice a few times and i think it was coming from the second level above the buffet. It's a seating area and there's no elevator to it so you have to climb the stairs and nope, i'm not gonna do that! So i finished eating and i really didn't feel well at all, i was still listless and weak, breathing hard and still had the headache so i returned to my cabin, put my pj's on and climbed into bed. No sooner done and my phone starts ringing but i was too lazy to get up and answer it. A few minutes later knocking on the door and i kinda knew it was Judy so i got up and let her in.
Well, she talked me out of staying in bed and i knew she was right. So i got dressed again and after sitting chatting for awhile we went for lunch at the Black Pearl and Florine met us there. I had an excellent lunch of salmon and then an amazing chocolate cake with my coffee..
Sometime during this Judy asked me what time it was and instantly i knew why she didn't get to my door at 9a.m. like we had planned.. She had forgotten to move her watch ahead an hour. During this cruise we've had to move an hour back many times (every second day) and then suddenly out of the blue we're told in teeny tiny print at the bottom of the Fun times to move it ahead an hour. So that explained that. My eye had caught it but neither Judy or Florine had seen it so we were an hour off of each other.
After lunch we decided to go to the casino and we found 3 penny slot machines in a row.They were all the same with paper money symbols. It was fun cheering each other on and and i won $50. and cashed out but eventually they got it back because it's hard to just watch others play and not play yourself.
Back in my cabin i had a very cute towel animal character hanging from the rafters. Everybody today got several papers delivered by our stewards directly to our rooms. They were instructions that had to be done before Singapore in 2 more days. I filled mine out and took it to customer service and returned to my cabin which is quite a long trek. Then i noticed the guy who handled it had made a mistake or what looked like a mistake to me so i had to go all the way back up there and get in the line-up once again.
But this time there was a helper guy who was helping by asking people in the line up what their problem was and i guess if he couldn't answer it you'd stay in the lineup and wait to see the guy who could. But if he could answer your question then you could leave and the lineup would get shorter. Many in the lineup had just a simple little problem which he could address and it made things so much better than standing there waiting your turn with the one clerk.
My issue was that i had arranged for a Carnival shuttle to take me to the airport and that would be fine except that i had also filled in the request to do the self-disembark routine. Well, it was clearly written on one of the papers that you cannot self-disembark if you're going to use their shuttle. What a conundrum and a stupid pointless one too.
Well, my guy in the lineup said it's ok, bring your luggage and you'll still be able to use the shuttle. Good thing as i had already paid for my transfer so that was a relief. I just hope he was correct in saying that! Another nice thing about it is that passengers are going to debark in alphabetical order so i'll be one of the first to go.
On my last cruise that also ended in Singapore i couldn't find my suitcase amongst all the zillions of suitcases in the terminal. There was literally thousands of suitcases all in nice neat rows that went on and on forever like the sea and they all looked sort of alike. My suitcase was new, on it's first trip and i thought it was blue but when it was eventually found it was black and grey with just a tiny touch of blue. Sooooo embarrassing. I don't want to ever face something like that again ever! Hence the decision to self-disembark and avoid another stupid scenerio of me not knowing something important and giving my companions the wrong info.Anyway, this time i won't have any companions with me.
As well, my flight to Hong Kong is at noon or thereabouts and if i had a problem finding my bags i could miss my flight. If it were a normal disembarkment i might not be as worried but just like last time this ship too is going to dry dock after dropping all the passengers off so i already know what a madhouse it's going to be in the terminal.
Just so you know; here's a little tip; ships on their way to drydock are cheaper cruises. Some of the implication is that the ship is in need of repair badly but honestly, they are not that bad, in fact they're in good shape.The Splendor is going to Australia afterwards and and she'll be all spiffed up and will be getting a new Guys Burger joint which for me is the best burger and fries ever made but sadly i won't be there to eat one.
I might also be a little scared that i can't handle a big suitcase and my carry on as well especially if i'm still feeling under the weather. I will also be wearing two purses; one with the money, passport and important papers and another bigger one for Ipad, candy, maybe a magazine or book so i'll be loaded down and just hope i can do this in that HUGE airport. In the past i've kept the carry-on with me but this time i'll put a tag on it and send it to the hold which will free me up a lot. Simplifying is good i think! But also a little scary because usually the carry-on holds your most precious things and i think it's the item that goes missing the most.
Judy called and asked "where are you?" i was invited to meet them for dinner but i'm pretty sure i had said no, i don't want to get all gussied up for elegant night. When i answered the phone i think i was asleep or half asleep and i said omg, i'm so sorry, i forgot and lost track of the time. She said well hurry up and we'll save a seat for you and without thinking i stupidly said ok.
After hanging up i remembered the conversation about it and me saying i didn't want to go but now that i had said ok i rushed around trying to pull myself together because there was no way i could call her back to say no, i wasn't coming. I set out sprinting down the hallway and then realized that i had on the same clothes since lunchtime and i had sneakers on my feet. You cant go to elegant night in that attire so i turned around and went back to my room and once there i decided ok, i'll go to the Lido for dinner. Judy might be upset but i don't want to make a fool of myself arriving late wearing the wrong attire with all eyes upon me. I hate elegant night anyhow; it's so not me; i am not a sophisticated pulled together elegant woman, i'm a Lido lady!
So i had some delicious veggie frittatas, chicken and rice and then brought a glass of ice cream back to my room, mixed in my espesso and had my own little party before climbing into bed. There's nothing on the evening agenda i wanted to attend as it all sounded old and boring to me tonight.
I think maybe this cruise has been a few days too long for me and that's something i never thought i'd ever say about any cruise. Especially a special Journeys cruise with the famous Lee Mason as the cruise director.
Ah, well, you can't win 'em all but this cruise started to drift right from day one. My own fault re all the card games i was going to learn and play everyday, the slot pulls i was signed up for to play in anticipation of a nice big win, the scavenger hunts i was so looking forward to attending, the ducks i was going to find, the excursion i missed out on and lots more that went off the tracks for me.
I did have a good time and enjoyed most of it but it could have been better. I enjoyed the postcard swap and i got my camera back, i played a game of LRC, did some handicrafts with a group, made lots of friends, saw some awesome sights, ate some wonderful foods and learned to do alot of things all by myself so i'm glad i went, i saw and i conquered.
I wonder if there's any good ads up yet for next year.........hmmmm.......
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