Adventures of Beth and Dan: Four Star Accomplishment!!

As I write to you from my stateroom it is another night that we turn the clocks ahead one more hour. We are now 6 hours ahead of our time in Buckeye, AZ. The seas are still pleasant even though we had dark threatening clouds to our north. Last night our clocks remained constant so I slept in till 9 this morning. It is still dark at 7:30 am. Dan was up at 7 and made the trek up to the Lido for our coffee. He keeps mine hot in a thermos until I get up :). A real keeper he is!! Our entertainment last night was a cellist who played an electric cello. He had some of the Zaandam band members accompanying him. He is originally from Poland and still speaks with a heavy accent. He told us he trained with the wooden cello but now prefers his electric “partner” as it travels much easier. Although he really was very talented his choice of musical selections wasn’t for me. Many songs were loud and dissonant. My favorite was the Flight of the Bumble Bee which he coined the Flight of the Boogie Bunble Bee. He will entertain us one more night.

Betsy and I have kept busy with the craft class. Neither of us are much into “ crafts” but our instructor, Nancy and her helper Mary, are fantastic. Before we attended the classes we both thought it might not be our thing but someone posted a link on Cruise Critic with photos of all the items we would be making. The classes are at no cost to those on Grand Voyages. After perusing the photos I was pretty certain I wanted to at least make the jewelry and we have not been disappointed. The classes are full to over flowing. At first the instructors had two sessions. Folks were almost fighting over getting a seat. She hosts the classes in the Lido around 2:30 to 3. Betsy is taking a Creative Writing class that meets for an hour at 1:00 so I go about 1:15 and hold a seat for her. Sometimes Dan and Chuck come and join me. We play cards or a tile game until Betsy comes. Then they leave and go walk or read or nap!!

Betsy has been wearing her patches for motion sickness and it’s working. A few days ago we all had to self test for COVID. They left small paper sacks with our testing materials along with explicit directions for the administration. We were to perform the tests in the morning, take a photo of the test results with our names, date and room number and then share the results with our steward. Thankfully we both tested negative. Folks who are positive have a pink dot on their cabin door. We overheard someone say there are about 24 with COVID. We don’t know if that’s rooms or people but masking is still in force. E ergo e masks except in the dining areas. We know we will periodically get tested through the trip so we are still very cautious.

The sea days have been lovely. A little rain now and then but mostly sunny and warm. Tomorrow is our first port day in Funchal. We have a private tour I arranged with Viator. It was about $80 per couple for a 4 x 4 jeep tour up into the mountains, seeing the Nuns Valley and a few other places. We plan to ride the gondola and then take the sleds down. We also plan to drink Poncha the local drink and taste the banana/pineapple fruit that is grow here.

So far my subscription list is up to 67 readers!!! Many are from Cruise Critic members who may be taking this voyage in 2023 or those who at the last minute were unable to come along due to health or personal reasons.

We see much fewer scooters or wheel chairs this voyage. The average age still seems to be 80. We have seen no children or young couples which is what we expected. Service is wonderful and the waiters love to visit with us and share about their home, families and plans.

I will attach a photo of the rose we got upon embarkation. It’s lovely and is still looking beautiful in our cabin. We have now become four star cruisers which means to us free laundry!! Ha ha. So far they have not contacted us to give us new cards but they did leave a HUGE umbrella in our cabin. We assume it is for reaching this new level but what a weird gift. There is no way we can pack it home as it doesn’t collapse so…. It may go to our steward. There was no note just an umbrella .