Crossing the Atlantic

Saturday March 16, 2013
We left Fort Lauderdale under partly cloudy skies and headed through the Bahamas as the Atlantic swells caused some concern. We have a passenger who turned 111 years old on our day of embarkation. Then about 12 hours out we had an emergency and a coast guard helicopter circled above the ship evacuating a sick passenger.... maybe it was the 111 year old. We have a couple of teenagers and a couple of younger children and since the teens sat in a lecture on globalization this morning I suspect they are home schooled. They were taking notes. Cruises can change as passengers change. I do not mean that the ship changes coarse but the personality of the ship is quite different now than our South American cruise. Many people know one another as they have cruised before together. There are many Mariner passengers that have sailed many years and the more they sail the more stars they receive. Currently I have 3 stars but there are people who have 5 stars and have sailed 2100 plus days. The more stars the more benefits one gets. I find that people are more reserved on this cruise, but I will give it a week or so to see if there is more interaction among the passengers. I try to break ice in the elevators but I think a lot of people think me a bit strange. Even saying "good morning" caused a raised eyebrow on occasion. On the other hand they may not speak English or maybe they are deaf. I will use sign language if it happens again.
I found that signing into a Cruise Critic sight can help you meet people before leaving home. Today was a Cruise Critic lunch and there were probably 80 people present for the lunch so I met many people from all over the world. You find the cruise you want to take and read other people's comments and also post questions or information about the cruise. By taking advantage of many on-line sights cruising can be fun, informative, and a great place to meet and make new friends.
Today I went over all my shore excursions with the manager and changed two as they might have been more difficult to do. Most of my original choices I have kept. If I find that I am starting to tire quickly I can turn them in for a credit. I never know how I might feel if the weather gets hot.
World voyages and Grand voyages given through Holland America have special benefits different from their shorter cruises. We get to use the laundry free but if you have 4 stars you can send your laundry out for free and it comes back the next day. Tonight is formal night and though I did not dress I came back to my cabin and had a present on the bed. We had each received a journal for our trip. We seem to keep getting bottles of sparkling wine and plates of strawberries and hors-oeuvres. We get guest lecturers, and we collect grand dollars to buy neat HAL items from hats to computer flash drives, and clocks to international electric plug adapters. Now how do You get the grand dollars? Well, you go play games, show up early for the GOOD MORNING PRINSENDAM show with the cruise director and the hostess. And I walk around and ask the Explorations Team for them during the day.
In about 3 days we should be landing at the Portuguese island of Madiera where I have a tour around the island in a bus. Like South America I have never seen the Mediterranean so I am excited. As we cross the Atlantic in our relatively small but lovely ship I think about the many people who crossed over in past years to settle in North and South America. The ship is rocking and rolling and the acupuncturist put some seeds in my ear to help with sea sickness. I believe that it is helping.
Tomorrow I plan to take a course on Windows Cloud and how to use it. May everyone have a very happy St. Patrick's Day.