SEA DAYS

                                                             SEA DAYS

Although there are many "sea days" on this cruise we are not bored so-far.  One of the things that I enjoy is attending the lectures.  There are a half dozen lecturers on board.  These are people who have expertise in things related to the part of the world we are visiting.  I think they get free cruises for giving several lectures.  All the speakers are very good, speak without notes, and have interesting accompanying slides and videos.  Some of the talks I have attended include:  Explorers of the South Pacific; The Effects of Geography on the outcome of WWII; Coral Reefs; The Evolution of Whales; Pelagic Birds of the Pacific.  Betty attended an excellent talk on "How to take pictures with your cellphone."

I have joined a "Guests Choir".  There are about 25 of us and we rehearse most sea days.  In addition to a Director we have Section Leaders who are professional singers from the ship's theatre cast.

On Saturday we docked at the town of Hilo on the "Big Island".  In the morning I took a taxi into town where I was less than impressed with the seedy downtown area where there were too many people sleeping on the street.

However, our afternoon bus tour was very pleasant with stops at an outdoor zoo, a fine candy factory, a waterfall and a Japanese garden.

The vegetation is quire beautiful with lots of monkey pod and banyan trees.

The food on board continues to be very good.  Most mornings I breakfast by myself at the buffet, and then bring things back for Betty to enjoy on our deck.  The picture shows only a bit of her arm as she no longer wishes to pose in her undies.

Most nights we eat in the main dining room, but there are also two specialty restaurants for which you need reservations well in advance.  We enjoyed our meal in the Italian restaurant, particularly noticing my clergy person dinner companion glare at me as I got to my fifth and sixth glass of wine.

Saturday night we had a late reservation at the Chef's Table.  This is an unusual restaurant with a fixed menu that changes every three days.  Each menu is from one country and is accompanied by matching wines.  We had the British menu, which seemed unusual but was in fact very, very good.  We started with scotch eggs (quail eggs in sausage), then had traditional and chips.  To cleanse our palates we had shaved ice liberally soaked in gin and tonic, and then the main was Yorkshire pudding with roast braised brisket.  We could either have the included wines or the premium wines for an additional fee.  As the premium wines were mostly French we chose to stay with the regular stuff and had six glasses of very good South American and Spanish wines.  I think I fell asleep before I got completely undressed.

                                                             CRUISING 2024

When Betty and I were planning our 2024 cruise(s) our bucket lists were quite different.   I really wanted to see the sub-continent (bottom of Betty's list) and she wanted to see Hawaii (bottom of my list).  Therefore we decided to do two cruises.  

As most of you know "my" cruise to India didn't quite go as planned.  On New Year's Eve Betty fell and smashed her elbow.  Thus, the only part of India I got to see was from her hospital window in Mumbai (Bombay).  The hospital was nevertheless superb and the surgery went very well; and, after 10 months our insurance even covered all the costs.  Here I have a bit of advice for travelers.  Most out-of-country hospitals will not deal directly with Canadian insurance companies.  So, you pay up front and get reimbursed later (in our case a lot later).  The advice is to get as much credit limit as you can on your plastic.  You might need it.

It looked like the Hawaii cruise might be a repeat of India.  Betty broke two bones in her right forearm, and after not realizing that they were broken her arm took on an odd angle that required lengthy surgery.  The surgeon wanted her to be in a cast for several weeks, but when we explained we were going on a cruise he agreed to remove the cast just before we left for the cruise, provided she could find a rigid brace (he noted the ones at the hospital were useless).  Forearm braces that de-mobilize neither the elbow or the wrist are rare.  Nonetheless Amazon located one in her size somewhere in China and it was airmailed to her for $ 13.

We boarded our ship in Los Angeles on Sunday and are now on a five-day sail to Hawaii, after which we will head to the South Pacific.  Although we have been on a couple of dozen cruises (in recent years mostly on Oceania) this is our first cruise with Viking Ocean.  Viking and Oceania are direct competitors in the same price range, so we were most curious to do our own comparison.  

It is still early in the cruise so time will tell, but some early impressions of Viking are mostly positive, although not exclusively.  The decor on the ship is definitely Scandinavian with lots of blonde wood and everything is very angular.  Perhaps the whole ship was designed by Ikea.  Here are a few shots from around the ship.

Although the included wines are not very good, one can upgrade for a price, or simply bring your own wine on board (no cover charge).  On the other hand, the food so far has been excellent.  I was most impressed the first morning when my smoked salmon eggs benedict was topped with caviar.

A general rule of thumb is that the longer the cruise the older the passengers.  Obviously, us old guys have time on our hands.  This cruise seemed to have attracted lots of the aged, perhaps not only because of its 34 days length, but because it has lots of non-stressful sea days.  There are so many people using either walkers or wheelchairs that the name of the ship should be changed from Viking Navigator to The Floating Nursing Home.

We have met very pleasant guests on board and last night's dinner was no exception.  We chatted endlessly over our bottles of upgraded wine with a couple perhaps not quite as old as us.  At the end of the evening they decided to tell us "their story".  At the age of 14 they were childhood sweethearts.  They married very young and immediately had kids.  After a few years, he got the urge to "sow some oats" and dumped her.  She eventually married someone else and he also got married.  After many years they were both widowed.  After 37 years apart they met up, he was forgiven, and 7 years ago they got married again.

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  LAST BLOG 

 

HOME: Sixty hours in transit (hour to airport in Mumbai, 3-hour flight to Dubai; 9-hour layover in Dubai airport; 14-hour flight to Toronto; hour drive to son Peter’s; overnight; 2-hour flight to Halifax; 2-hour drive to Antigonish.  

LAST HOSPITAL STORY: When we left the hospital on Saturday, I left two read paperbacks by the garbage bin in the room. Two days later a hospital employee showed up at our hotel with the books. 

SOUTH INDIAN FOOD: Neither Betty nor I know much about Indian food, but one of the hotel restaurants specialized in items from the south of India. I felt we should try this place even though it was a very, very long walk from the hotel lobby (including crossing a courtyard, and including two short flights of stairs. Betty just managed to get up the stairs while I carried her wheelchair. 

Once seated we were presented with a bowl of papadum and then five sauces for dipping. There were no plates, instead the food was served on large leaves. 

Following the Sommelier’s suggestion I ordered a Super Tuscan. The wine was superb, but unfortunately it was decanted before I got a chance to examine the label. 

We next got three small appetizers, and I even recognized one as having been made from bananas. 

At this point the waiter came for our order. The menu had a section of non-vegetarian, and a section of vegetarian. I asked for one of the 12 items from the non-vegetarian page and was told that it was a fixed menu, and if I ordered non-vegetarian I would get all the items on the page. 

We next got two of the items at the same time (a fish item and a chicken item). This was followed by the remaining items presented in several small silver bowls. 

There were three desserts on the menu and, of course, we were given all three. 

The last picture shows Betty being served South Indian coffee. 

When we left the restaurant the waiter insisted that he push Betty’s wheelchair. When we got to the stairs, he asked us to wait while he summoned another man. They then carried Betty’s chair (with Betty in it) down the stairs. 

The conventional wisdom is that passengers gain a pound per day on a cruise. Despite the meal described above I actually lost 8 pounds on this adventure. 

 

 

 HOSPITAL STAY  

Medical Report:   Betty was admitted to the hospital on Sunday and told that she needed surgery.  However, because of her age and chronic conditions they needed lots of assessments, etc.   The surgery was scheduled for Wednesday.  Betty has a long-time thickening of her heart wall (not terribly serious), but the cardiologist did numerous tests.  The surgeon was concerned about her cough and nasal blockage.  Betty has a condition called rhinitis and was told by a Canadian specialist that it was untreatable.  However, the lung specialist in Mumbai started treatment immediately, and by the time of surgery her condition was at least 80% improved. 

The surgery was scheduled for Wednesday and was expected to last 2-2.5 hours.  However, there were more bone fragments than predicted and the surgery lasted 4 hours.  She now has 2 metal plates in her elbow, no pain, and only a little soreness on the 6-inch incision. 

On Friday the surgeon removed the cast/splint and the drainage tube.  As everything looked o.k. she was told she could be released.  The advice was not to try and catch the ship, but to go back to Canada asap in case any problems developed. 

Getting flights home:  After the medical report Friday we started the process of getting flights home.  We had a lot of frustration, but that turned out to be two pieces of good luck.  Firstly, the money I had transferred from CIBC to my VISA card was slow in going through.  When I tried to book a flight my payment was declined (at that point my card was loaded with hospital charges).  Then when Charlotte, our daughter-in-law, tried to book flights for us there was a problem with a one-day discrepancy in Betty’s age.  In the meantime, our wonderful travel agent in Fort Lauderdale independently contacted the cruise company, and after some negotiations Oceania agreed to fly us for free (Business Class) from Mumbai to Toronto.  That flight is scheduled for tomorrow (Monday).  Once I had paid the final bill on Saturday the hospital provided a suitcase full of x-rays and other records for our insurance people.  They then provided a car to take us to our hotel.  The picture is street food outside the hospital.

Hotel:   On the advice of hospital staff we booked two nights at the ITC Grand Central Parel.  As the prices seemed a tad steep we booked “a run of the house room”.  When we arrived and saw the hotel the prices seemed cheap.  The elegant doorman and his two assistants immediately produced a wheelchair. 

Our room on the 21st floor has every amenity including four telephones.  Which one do you answer when they all ring at once? 

Once in our room we celebrated with some wine and potato chips.  The hospital diet seemed free of salt, thus the chips were wonderful. 

While Betty rested I took a walk around the hotel and stumbled upon a wedding occurring in the courtyard.   There are some pictures below. 

In the evening we ate at the most casual (still elegant) of the hotel’s restaurants.  The food was good, although the names of things were not recognizable to me.   Although there was an extensive wine list I was convinced by the Maitre d’ to try a bottle of Indian wine.  It was drinkable, but I shall not be ordering any for my cellar.  After sleeping in my clothes for a week on a leather couch in Betty’s hospital room, the hotel bed felt pretty wonderful. 

Sunday in Mumbai: We started the day with a fine breakfast accompanied by a flutist.

After breakfast I asked the concierge if there was a way that we could see some of the city. His response was: "Would you like to leave now, or would you prefer later." I chose a time and he told me a car would be waiting.

Our driver seemed to prefer Betty to me so all the sites ended up on her side of the car and she is not good at taking pictures one-handed. Nonetheless I have included a few below, starting with the famous Gate of India on the waterfront.

What we saw of Mumbai was much nicer than we expected, although we could never have imagined how crowded were the streets or how bad was the traffic. Of course, because of betty, we didn't ever leave the car so were only seeing things from that perspective.

Upon return to the hotel we caught our breath by attending afternoon tea on the 30th floor.