Trip Index
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Sorry it's taken a while to update my blog! Even in "retirement", life can get busy...
Day 3 Freestyle Daily and inserts:
Day at sea! Breakfast today was at the buffet. They offered fresh squeezed juices for a nominal fee; I enjoyed a glass of delicious orange juice with my meal.
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| love mini chocolate croissants! |
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Next, Lynda and I attended a bingo session at the Spinnaker Lounge. What a "cruise-y" thing to do! In one of the games, Lynda stood up with one number left but no luck.
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| the bingo hosts were great at engaging the crowd |
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| perforated tab bingo sheets |
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| just one more number! |
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We roamed around the ship, then took a turn at climbing the rock wall. It was pretty challenging! We also got an extra workout in the gym.
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| large chess set |
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| gearing up |
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| expert at work |
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| Lynda carried her phone up for this shot! |
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| keeping active |
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We took a walk around the Promenade deck. The weather was perfect and the ocean calm. The waves rippled slowly like molten metal. It was fun to walk through the enclosed hallway at the front of the ship as our voices reverberated inside...perfect place to hum a tune. There were announcements from the bridge letting guests know that there were whales way out in the distance, but Lynda and I were never able to spot them.
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| like fine silk in a breeze |
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| aft of the ship |
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When we returned to the cabin, another edible surprise was delivered!
Tonight, we were having our last dinner at the French specialty restaurant,
Le Bistro.
Main dining room dinner menu for reference:
We were invited to a pre-dinner cocktail party hosted by the captain in the Bliss Lounge. It was very well attended. There were numerous servers carrying beer, wine and mixed cocktails on trays. I'm sure you could have ordered something else if nothing was to your liking. Plentiful hors d'oeuvres were passed around. Lynda and I mingled with three guys from Germany who were continuing on after San Francisco on the Panama Canal portion of the cruise.
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| line to get into the party |
We had to leave the party early to make our dinner reservation.
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| Le Bistro dinner menu |
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| Le Bistro dessert menu |
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Seated next to us was a visually-impaired guest who had a yellow Labrador seeing-eye dog. It was the first time I had seen a service animal on a cruise ship. And my favorite breed too!
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| who's a good dog??? |
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| eventually he got bored and went to sleep |
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Oh yeah, right, ahem, back to the meal...it was my favorite of the specialty restaurants so far. I'm a sucker for tasty escargots and cream of mushroom soup.
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| bread and pate amuse-bouche |
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| buttery, garlicky escargots |
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| four-mushroom soup |
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| duck breast and confit |
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As it was Lynda's birthday in a few days, I had made a notation on our booking for it. A birthday card was in the cabin on the first day, to be given to the waiter on the night you wanted to celebrate. We used the card tonight, as did several other guests, so the "Happy Birthday" tune was heard over and over. The complimentary cake was bigger than I thought it would be. I'm sure a party of 6 or 8 could have shared a generous bite.
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| huge birthday cake! |
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| chocolate fondue and creme brulee |
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23-second clip of the restaurant staff singing "Happy Birthday" to Lynda: (click
here if you cannot see the preview below)
After dinner, we headed to the theater to watch a comedic acrobatic magic show called "Man from Mars". It was sooooo funny! Lynda and I were dying of laughter. I recommend seeing that show. While we were waiting, a lady sitting behind us offered a free token for champagne at the casino bar, as she had won so many, she couldn't drink them all before the end of the cruise...thanks!!!
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| theater curtain up close |
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| thanks for the drink! |
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Tonight's towel animal...a seal:
The next morning was the end of the cruise...boo hoo! It was a beautiful day in San Francisco. You could clearly see the Golden Gate Bridge.
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| the Golden Gate and Alcatraz Island |
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| Bay Bridge |
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Norwegian Pearl was docked at the new cruise terminal at
Pier 27, a vast improvement from Pier 35 (aka large warehouse!). There was ample space for passenger pick-up and drop-off in order not to clog up the Embarcadero.
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| mural in front of the escalator |
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| outside the new terminal |
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| lots of space for pick-up and drop-off |
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| view of Transamerica and Coit Tower |
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| prominent sign on the street |
Disembarkation went smoothly and we walked about 20 minutes to grab a
Hertz rental car for our journey home.
So ends our girls' trip on two cruise lines, with a visit to Vancouver and Astoria...what a great time! There are many ways to stay active on a cruise and you don't have to eat everything in sight. Short cruises also make for a quick, easy getaway.
What's next in the travel pipeline? Kaleb and I will be heading out to Pennsylvania for Christmas, stay tuned!
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Day 2 on Norwegian Pearl repositioning cruise: Astoria, OR
