Day 8 -- College Fjord

Woke up this morning and quickly got dressed and out of the room. We were rocking enough that you have to hold on to something while brushing your teeth. It was not a good day for a shower in something that is smaller than a telephone booth. Up to the outside decks to get some air.

I met my knitting student, Shirley, for more instruction and after about 15 minutes, she was sick with mal de mer. She went topside to get air and came back and tried again, but we had to quit as she looked like she was going to get sick and pass out. I went in search of a place to sit that would minimize the rolling and wound up in the library again. By noon, things started to calm down a bit and Shirley came back to continue our lessons. Again, she got sick and she had to go lay down.

The bridge club championship was today and prized were awarded. I have to say this Princess ship gave out some good prizes – tote bags, hats, and passport holders. Unfortunately, not too many people showed up and I was not needed. By this time, Shirley was feeling much better and we continued the lessons. I taught her two week’s worth of information in one day. I got her started on a simple scarf and hope she enjoys knitting as much as I do.

We went back to our cabin and found a notice that we were to use our old room (the one with all the bass noise) to store our bags during the transition day tomorrow. Michael and I decided to move as much of our stuff as possible by ourselves. You do not realize how long a ship is until you have had to haul suitcases from the bow to the stern, not once but three times. I am sure we walked at least 2 miles doing this. Now all we have left to move is the stuff we need for the night.

We had a pleasant farewell dinner with Ralph and Shirley. We really enjoyed their company. Ralph played bridge and Shirley now knits, so we had a lot in common! While dining, we did scenic cruising through College Fjord. According to the naturalist on board, there are over 100,000 glaciers in the area, but only 600 are named. The sights are awesome, with glaciers spilling down the valleys and the snow covered mountains shrouded in fog. There are thousands of small icebergs floating by the ship. It is grey and gloomy.

Michael started feeling sick with a sore throat and since we saw the show last night, we went back to our cabin and found another room assignment. This one is on deck 4, which is where the regular crew (not the guest crew on deck 5) lives. They gave us official Princess name badges so we can enter deck 4. We need to check it out before we commit, so if this room is unacceptable, then we will go back to the noisy bass room or else they might give us a passenger room if the ship is not full. So, we still don’t know where we are going to stay. Did I mention, no more Princess cruises!?

As I write this (I am in the noisy bass room because that’s where all our stuff is), Michael is in bed trying not to get too sick. Please let his illness be brief and pass soon.