Did you see our new booking in yesterday’s post?…Few more new cruise photos…

It was interesting to see the glaciers in Greenland.

If you didn’t have a chance to view our upcoming booking beginning on October 24, 2023, through January 8, 2024, please click the link here: https://www.vrbo.com/3502330?adultsCount=2&unitId=4075476

We’re excited about this booking. Once we arrive, we’ll take photos and share the cost and the details of what we’re anticipating is a lovely oceanfront property. We aren’t sure yet about where we’re going after our time in Ecuador and may not decide until we arrive in the country.

Bartenders on the ships worked hard to keep up with the passenger’s drink requests.

At this point, we are basing our plans on how I am feeling. I had only one short episode of Afib in the past two weeks, hoping to figure out what causes it. So far, it appears to be caused by a lack of sleep and stressful situations. The Afib started the day I got Covid-19 in April 2022. From what I am reading, it can be a symptom of long-haul Covid.

Drugs used to prevent Afib, which I’ve tried, cause extreme tiredness and other awful side effects. With our lifestyle and our striving for joy and fulfillment in our world travels, there is no way I’m willing to feel sedated day and night. Quality of life is a choice I had to make about taking drugs and feeling disabled from side effects to which I am susceptible.

Fortunately, the long-haul COVID-19 headache and facial pain have been nonexistent since we arrived in Minnesota. No words can express how thankful I am for this. If I can eliminate the Afib, I will feel confident about traveling to more remote locations. This, by no means, is going to prevent us from continuing with our travels. I refuse to let this slow me down.

On both cruises, there was live entertainment, day and night.

Also, I have peace of mind when we’re in South Africa with Doc Theo to look after me and the excellent heart health care available there. We’ll be back in South Africa in nine months, which we’re looking forward to for this and many other reasons our regular readers know.

Of course, doctors feel they must prescribe drugs, but I am more committed to figuring out more natural means of caring for my health. These kinds of choices may not be appropriate for everyone. Please check with your medical professionals for your own situation and subsequent care.

Thank goodness, Tom is so healthy, and yet he is still coughing from his recent bout of the flu, contracted on the second cruise. Whenever he gets a cough, it seems to linger for a while.

In Greenland, an unusual iceberg was floating by the ship.

As we age, we realize, more than ever, how important good health is to make the best of our retirement years. I recall my mother, a heart and diabetes patient, spending most of her later years going to doctors and constantly taking new drugs and new treatments. The highlight of her week was her upcoming doctor’s appointment. I never could see this fate in my later years.

Today, we’re out and about on a few errands. For dinner tonight, I am having a “girls only” dinner with my granddaughter Maisie before she goes off to school in Wisconsin. Most likely, I won’t see her again while we’re here. We’re busy trying to book get-togethers with family members and friends, trying to coordinate it working out for everyone’s schedule.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, September 13, 2013:

Hesborn, at the holiday home in Diani Beach, Kenya, offered to open a coconut that had just fallen from a tree. They seem to fall throughout the day. We have to be careful when we walk under the coconut trees; they cover the entire yard, leaving only a few safe spots for sunning without the risk of being clobbered on the head. For more photos, please click here.

Part 6…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Trondheim, Norway…

View of Trondheim from the ship. Lovely scenery. The city has a population of over 182,000.

Note; Under the weather that day, we didn’t get off the ship, and thus, there are few photos, none of which are ours.

Not our photo. Pretty street on a quiet morning.
Not our photo. The waterway in Trondheim is lined with colorful buildings.

Here’s the post we wrote on the day we arrived in Trondheim, Norway:

Day 14…Norway Cruise…Trondheim, Norway..Final port of call…Another great evening of conversation and entertainment…

Part 5…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Tromso, Norway…

Yes, reindeer are real animals found in Norway.
Statue in Tromso.
It was a Sunday, and the streets were quiet.
This little train-like vehicle is a tourist attraction…
This was a government building.
A pretty church at the end of the road, Tromso Cathedral.
A view of the street from the top of the hill.
A pharmacy in the town of Tromso with a population of 72,000.
The Tromso Bridge.

Here’s the post we wrote on the day we arrived in Tromso, Norway:

Day 9…Norway Cruise…Tromso, Norway…Why is Norway called, “The Land of the Midnight Sun?”…The Troll Fjords…

Part 5…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Svolvear, Norway…

The scenery couldn’t have been more beautiful.

Here’s the post we wrote on the day we arrived in Svolvaer, Norway: https://worldwidewaftage.com/day-8-norway-cruise-svolaer-norway/

Another fishing village in Norway.
We couldn’t believe how close we came to the sides of the narrow waterways.
It was delightful to see many waterfalls along the way.
Me in the evening before heading to dinner. With so few clothes, I keep wearing the same things repeatedly.
Bless his heart! Tom held my little bag and glass of wine while I took his photo.

Here’s the link for the post we wrote on the day we spent in Svolvaer, Norway.

Day 8…Norway Cruise…Svolaer, Norway…

Part 4…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Stavanger, Norway…

Down a quiet street in Stavanger…
A histoirc museum in Stavanger.
The port of Stavanger.
Boardwalk in Stavanger.
The historic Stavanger Church.
Reindeer pelts and boots for sale on the street.
The outdoor marketplace.
A live goose checking out the wares for sale in the shops.
The local Burger King.
The colorful buildings lined up along the boardwalk.
A tower in Stavanger.
Our ship, Azamara Journey, was docked at the end of the road.

Here’s the link for the post we wrote on the day we spent in Stavanger.

Day 3…Norway Cruise…Stavanger, Norway…

Part 3…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Olden, Norway…

As you can see, there isn’t much of a population in Ollden, Norway, with only 479 residents.

Following are the photos of our visit to Olden, Norway. Captions are added when possible.

To visit Olden, Norway, we had to go on a tender (lifeboat) since the port didn’t have suitable docking space for large ships. We took this photo of our ship and the tender once we arrived on land.
There wasn’t a lot to see in Olden, a sleepy fishing village.
Boat houses along the water in Olden.
Our ship, the Azamara Journey, while waiting in the bay for passengers to see the village.

Here’s the post we published after visiting Olden, Norway, without photos due to the poor WiFi signal on the ship.

Day 5…Norway Cruise…Olden, Norway…Cruise demographics…Dancing while “rocking and rolling”…

Part 2…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Haugesund, Norway…

A British-looking old-fashioned phone booth filled with books.

Here is the text from our day in Haugesund, Norway.

Stuffed animals in a shop window.
The interior of the church.
The beautiful pipe organ in the church.
More views of the interior of the church.
Colorful house along the boulevard.
A ram statue on the street.
Various pubs and restaurants lined the boulevard.
It’s an adorable shop with frilly Norwegian clothing.
There was our ship, soon to be back out to sea once again.

Part 1…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Alesund, Norway…

A blurry photo of a statue with a seagull on its head.

For expediency and ease, we’ve decided to post some of the photos from our Norway cruise each day rather than go back and add them, one by one, to each post. At the end of each day’s regular post, we’ll include the link to the newest posting of the photos, or you will find them, one by one, after each new day’s post of our experiences in Nevada during this nine-day stay. Captions will be added when possible.

Here is the post with the text from our day in Alesund:

Waterway in the town…
When we spotted this St. Bernard, we knew it was a segue to a conversation with a local.
St. Barnar,d we met as we chatted with a local.
Historic building.
Many towns we visited in Norway were known as fishing villages.
With low tide, more of these old steps were revealed.
Another historic building.
Colorful buildings along waterways are always a delight to see in Norway.
The old and the new in this modernized town.
Not unlike many cities throughout the world, graffiti is popular.

More will follow tomorrow.

Cruises have ended….We’re in Boston to see my cousin tonight…

Moonlight on our last night on the Greenland cruise. Thanks, Tom, for the good photo!

At the moment, we are sitting on the sofa in our Embassy Suites Logan Airport hotel. I just made a cup of decaf coffee to enjoy while listening to the Garage Logic podcast on Tom’s laptop with TV news in the background, showing the ravages of  Hurricane Idalia. We’re sad for the people of Florida but glad we got out of there when we did over one month ago, on July 28.

So much has transpired since we left Florida, having had the opportunity to visit Norway and Greenland, two locations we never imagined we’d see when our journey began almost 11 years ago. It is 11:30 am, and we managed to get into our room early due to our Hilton Honors membership and Expedia VIP status.

We each received a certificate like this at the end of the Greenland cruise.

Thank goodness we didn’t have to wait to get the room until the official check-in time of 2:00 pm and had no choice but to wait in the lobby. This is much easier. We’re a little raggedy after a tiring morning disembarking the ship. Our luggage numbers were 22, meaning we couldn’t exit until around 9:30.

We had our last meal on the ship, breakfast at 7:30, grabbed our carry-on luggage from our cabin, and headed to the Sky Lounge on Deck 11 to wait until our number was called. At that point, we had no idea what time we’d be outside to grab a taxi or Uber to Alamo Car Rental at the Logan Airport to pick up the car we rented in order to make our way to Cousin Phyllis today for our 5:00 pm dinner reservation in Stoughton, a 55-minute drive from here.

As we were sailing away from Halifax, Nova Scotia., we spotted this Holland America ship.

Thus, we’ll leave here in about four hours to begin the long trek in rush-hour traffic to meet Phyllis at the restaurant in time for our much-anticipated get-together after almost nine years since we last saw her at the end of another cruise to Boston. It will be wonderful to see her again.

Once outside the cruise terminal, we had a little trouble getting an Uber, but finally, one appeared, and we were on our way to Alamo. I waited with the bags in the rental car parking garage until Tom returned with the papers, and we were assigned a car. Within about 45 minutes, we were on our way to the nearby hotel. Again, check-in went smoothly when I pressed for a room now rather than at 2:00 pm check-in.

Immigrant statue at the port in Halifax.

After getting settled, I decided it was time to prepare a post when we could not do so yesterday. I had blamed it on the ship’s WiFi, but this morning, I got an email from our hosting company, Hostinger, taking full responsibility for the problem. Now that we’re back up and running, we should be able to post going forward until we leave the US in October, about six weeks from now.

Feeling exhausted after the last few days, I don’t feel motivated to write a newsy, informative post about where we sailed in the past few days since our previous post. Mainly, we sailed in the North Sea toward the US with little incidents other than massive fog and the necessity of the captain sounding the fog horn a few times each hour.

A dessert at the last dinner aboard the ship.

The seas were otherwise smooth and uneventful, which made the final few days pleasant. We had lots of fun with countless passengers we met.

I stopped doing the post when I desperately needed a nap. After laying on the bed under the covers, I fell asleep for about 20 minutes and felt refreshed. In less than two hours, we’ll drive to Stoughton. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be at the airport at 5:00 am for our Delta flight to Las Vegas, pick up the rental car, and head to our hotel in Henderson.

Tom’s pork loin dinner last night on Celebrity Summit to Greenland. The food was ok but not great.

From there, we’ll prepare our next post. and in a few days, start adding the photos we couldn’t add while on the first ship to Norway.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, August 30, 2013:

Everything I own, except six pairs of shoes in a smaller bag, is to be sucked into the Space bags. For more photos. please click here.

Day 11…Greenland Cruise…Halifax, Nova Scotia…Two days and counting…

We are docked at the Port of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The seas were quiet last night, and we both slept well after heading off to our stateroom after the “silent disco” in the Martini Bar. Last night was lobster night, but the three-ounce tails were rubbery, hard to cut, and hardly enough for a meal with a dollop of white rice and a few pieces of broccoli.

It was a good thing that Tom ordered three starters, as he had each night: French onion soup, shrimp cocktail with three small shrimp, and escargot with six tiny bits of snails in butter sauce. I never ordered starters and ate my entree, usually with too-buttery vegetables and a protein source, either seafood, beef, or chicken. The flavor was either bland or over-seasoned.

In many ways, Halifax is a modern city.

No doubt, under new management, Celebrity has gone downhill since Covid. We were sorely disappointed by many aspects of this cruise. But, if we want to cruise again and avoid outrageous prices and oversized ships, we may not have many options. We’ve ruled out Royal Caribbean due to the massive size of their ships and the abundance of amusement park venues and events.

From what we’ve seen, there are no more than six kids on this cruise, yet every time there’s a movie in the theatre in the afternoon, something we like to do, it’s a movie for kids, not adults. The majority of the passengers on this ship are over 60, and few enjoy superhero movies. Go figure.

In the future, we’ll be looking to do less cruising or spend more time on cruise lines such as Azamara, where we particularly liked the small ship size and number of passengers, under 600. But even that wasn’t as ideal as we’d expected. Everything has changed since COVID, with many service, amenities, and atmosphere cutbacks. We can’t perceive that these factors will improve over time.

More views of Halifax.

Cruise lines are attempting to recover losses after the pandemic, and the only way to do this is to reduce the services and amenities that most appeal to customers. Last night’s lobster night was a perfect example…tiny tails with an extra charge of $16.95 to add a second tail to one’s plate. Sure, in years past, passengers abused the “all you can eat” aspect of cruising and would order three, four, or five tails. But few did, so it balanced out when many didn’t even eat lobster tails.

Tom’s been disappointed to be unable to order a cocktail in the dining room, which should be included with our drink package. But, there’s been no one in the dining room to get him a cocktail, although wine service was abundant. He’s had to leave the table to go to a bar to get a drink when often we’d sit at a table chatting with other passengers for a few hours.

He’s also mentioned that many of the desserts are dry and tasteless, although he seemed to enjoy the Baked Alaska last night. Usually, I’ve just eaten my special order entree and nothing else, no salad, starter, or dessert. Once or twice, I ordered the cheese plate, but generally, I don’t feel like eating cheese after dinner.

A slight rainbow Tom picked up last night.

Today, we are in Halifax, Nova Scotia, our last port of call on this Greenland cruise, which ends in two days on August 30. Included today are photos we took of the seaside town, and no, we didn’t arrange any tours which were overpriced and retired hours sitting on a bus, something we’d rather not do.

There have been a lot of cases of COVID-19 on this cruise, and we didn’t want to sit on a crowded bus. After finally being rid of the pain in my head and face, there was no way we would expose ourselves to the risk. Plus, we wanted to be healthy to see family for the upcoming six weeks in the US and not be lying in a hotel room with COVID-19 as we had in 2022. Seeing family is much more important to us than visiting a few sites on a bus.

Halifax Waterfront Aerial View A low altitude aerial view of the Halifax skyline and waterfront in late evening. Taken from an altitude of 800'. halifax nova scotia stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images
Aerial view of Halifax. Not our photo.

Here’s the information from the ship’s brochure on our current port of call:

“Nova Scotia is one of eastern Canada’s Maritime provinces on the Atlantic. Consisting of a peninsula and off-shore islands, it’s home to puffins and seals and popular water sports like kayaking. The Bay of Fundy, with its famously extreme tides, is a whale-watching destination. Halifax, the capital, dominated by the star-shaped Citadel, is known for its lively waterfront and Victorian-era Public heritage, including Glooscap Heritage Centre, Grand=Pre National Historic Site, Hector Heritage Quay, and the Black Cultural Centre for Nove Scotia.”

Here are 15 Fun Facts About Halifax, Nova Scotia, from this site:

1. People from Halifax are known as Haligonians.

2. Halifax is the capital of Canada’s Nova Scotia province

3. The Honorable Edward Cornwallis of Britain arrived to establish a permanent British settlement in 1749. The settlement was named Halifax, after Lord Halifax, head of England’s Board of Trade.

4. The star-shaped Citadel Fort overlooks the Halifax harbor from its hilltop location. James Arnold, the fifth son of American traitor Benedict Arnold, designed the initial plans for the fort.

5. Today, the Halifax Citadel is Canada’s most-visited National Historic Site.

6. Alexander Keith, born in Scotland, immigrated to Halifax and founded Alexander Keith’s brewing company in 1820. Not only a brewmaster, Mr. Keith was a three-time mayor of Halifax.

7. The Cunard Steamship Line was founded in Halifax in 1840.

8. Halifax is closer to Dublin, Ireland, than it is to Victoria, British Columbia.

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada Peggy's Cove is one of the landmarks and tourist attraction on the East coast of Canada. halifax nova scotia stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images
The lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove is a long drive and challenging walk. Not our photo.

9. There are six universities and colleges in Halifax. Mr. Jones is a proud alum of the largest — Dalhousie University.

10. There are 81 college students out of every 1000 Halifax residents.

11. Halifax has more bars per capita than anywhere else in Canada.

12. In 1809, the Royal Navy hung pirate Edward Jordan at Black Rock Beach. They coated his body in tar and left the remains up for almost 20 years. The Royal Navy continued the practice of hanging pirates at Point Pleasant Park’s Black Rock Beach until 1844.

13. When the Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14th, 1912, she was 700 nautical miles east of Halifax. While the Cunard liner Carpathia took survivors to New York, the dead were brought to Halifax. There is a permanent Titanic Museum at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, and a hundred and fifty Titanic victims were buried in three Halifax cemeteries.

14. In December 1917, the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship carrying munitions, collided with the Belgian Relief vessel SS Imo. The resulting “Halifax Explosion” killed approximately 2,000 people and injured 9,000 in the largest artificial explosion before the development of nuclear weapons.

The fishing village Peggys Cove View of boats and houses, in the fishing village Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada halifax nova scotia stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images
View of Peggy’s Cove, a small fishing village. Not our photo.

15. The Bedford Basin is a large enclosed bay forming the northwestern end of Halifax Harbor. There are said to be 32 Volvo cars on the floor of the Basin, where they sunk in 1969 after the container ship that was transporting them sustained water damage.”

We didn’t intend for this post to sound negative. Of course, regardless of the changes we’ve seen on this ship, we still have had a fantastic time visiting with passengers and sharing our stories and theirs over countless hours aboard the ship. Let’s face it, one of the major reasons we enjoy cruising is the socialization, which never disappoints.

We’ve met many interesting and delightful people aboard this cruise and the last, many of whom we’ll stay in touch with in the future. That is such a joy for us, especially when we’ll spend many months with less socializing in South America.

That’s it for today, folks. We’ll be back with more tomorrow.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today,  August 28, 2013:

With no photos posted on this date, we posted a list of the nutrition information for various nuts, which I can eat in moderation on my way of eating. Here’s the list instead. Please click here for the post:

Carbohydrates and Fats in Nuts and Seeds (1 Ounce Unshelled)

Cal Tot. Carb Fiber Net Carb Sat. Fat Mono Fat ω-3 Fat ω-6 Fat
Almonds 161 6.1 3.4 2.7 1 8.6 0.2 3.4
Brazil Nuts 184 3.4 2.1 1.3 4.2 6.9 0.05 5.8
Cashews 155 9.2 0.9 8.1 2.2 6.7 0.2 2.2
Chestnuts 60 12.8 2.3 10.5 0.1 0.2 0.03 0.22
Chia Seeds 137 12.3 10.6 1.7 0.9 0.6 4.9 1.6
Coconut* 185 6.6 4.6 2 16 0.8 0 0.2
Flax Seeds 150 8.1 7.6 .5 1 2.1 6.3 1.7
Hazelnuts 176 4.7 2.7 2 1.3 12.8 0.24 2.2
Macadamia Nuts 201 4 2.4 1.6 3.4 16.5 0.06 .36
Peanuts 159 4.5 2.4 2.1 1.9 6.8 0 4.4
Pecans 193 3.9 2.7 1.2 1.7 11.4 0.28 5.8
Pine Nuts 188 3.7 1 2.7 1.4 5.3 0.31 9.4
Pistachios 156 7.8 2.9 5.8 1.5 6.5 0.71 3.7
Pumpkin Seeds 151 5 1.1 3.9 2.4 4 0.51 5.8
Sesame Seeds 160 6.6 3.3 3.3 1.9 5.3 0.11 6
Sunflower Seeds 164 5.6 2.4 3.2 1.2 5.2 0.21 6.5
Walnuts 183 3.8 1.9 1.9 1.7 2.5 2.5 10.7