THE CRUISE NEWS

We went on a short 5-day cruise the first part of May. We drove down to San Diego and boarded beautiful Holland America's Oosterdam, affectionately known as one of those "dam" ships. We joined up with Rob an hour or so later.. He had come in with a huge a huge group from Seattle. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch then set off north!




We had good days at sea and choppy. When it was choppy and cold and windy, they locked the doors and wouldn't let us out on deck. Good thing we had plenty to do.

We went to the art auction both days. I fell in love with a Charlene Mitchel water color. The next day it was offered again. Rob asked me if I still liked it. I responded with an enthusiastic yes. He bid and bought it. Isn't it gorgeous??? Quite the Mother's Day gift! Thanks, son!

The other days went by swiftly. We had a couple very choppy days at sea where I verified what I had long suspected: I do indeed have a cast iron stomach! Larry was very queasy a few times but his discomfort never involved either method of food removal from the body!

I was a bit annoyed because they shut us off from the outdoors...we couldn't even walk the decks! It was a sight to behold, the seas and the waves. I loved it. They even closed the curtains in the dining rooms so as not to alarm people, I guess.

Each night we went to the main show. There were a few Dutch officers on board; also dozens or more Indonesians as room stewards, etc. Larry spoke to one the night before we docked in beautiful Victoria and arranged for a room service meal of Bami Goreng and all the trimmings! We were so excited and hoped no one would forget.

We spent a partial-day only in Victoria, deciding to spent the time touring the lovely Butchert Gardens of which we had heard so much. It took a while getting there involving various forms of public and private transportation and money exchanged hands. IT WAS WORTH IT. Here are a few photos:

It was acres and acres of gorgeous, master-planned flower beds, lots of tulips, my favorite. I experimented with my camera and got literally hundreds of photos, close-ups, etc. Yay!
















The day was beautiful weather, too; people told us the day before had been blustery and cold. It was sunny and bright but cool.

When we returned to the ship before 8:00 PM, we only waited a few minutes in the stateroom before our Indo meal arrived. OMG!! YUM!

We went to another show that night then I watched Rob play Roulette for a while. He and I also attended the very late Indonesian Crew Show. Late bedtime that night!






Here is photo from the Formal Dinner night. We attended a cocktail party thrown by the company through Rob booked the cruise, Travel with Alan.

The next we disembarked in Vancouver and began the hours-long ordeal of getting on tour buses and making our way back to the U.S of A. Going through the border proved exasperating. we waited in the bus line for hours!

The wait proved fatal for several people's chances of catching return flights, including Rob's! He missed his but was able to go stand-by only an hour later and get to work on time.

Larry and I made ours with 20 minutes to spare, which was good as none of us had eaten anything since breakfast aboard the ship! We grabbed a burger in the airport. It was good to get back to Southern California. Our friends picked us and we made it home before midnight. It was a great short vacation. Thanks, Rob, for inviting us, for taking care of all arrangements, etc. I love a good cruise!