Wrapup

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I just wanted to summarize the trip a bit and have accessed the photos from my CD at Cabo. A few statistics appear here:

I circled the globe on the surface in 2003-4 using trains, ferries, a freighter, and the Crystal Harmony transpacific. I have now been almost all the way by sea at various times and directions with just a gap between Nagasaki or Shanghai and Hong Kong:

Between Hong Kong and Singapore on the Zaandam (2012)
Between Singapore and Dubai on Queen Victoris (2010)
Between Dubai and Athens on Silver Whisper (2007)
Between Athens and Rome on Crystal Serenity (2010)
Between Rome and Barcelona on Wind Surf (2010)
Between Barcelona and Southampton on Crystal Symphony (1996)
Between Southampton and New York on QE2 (2008)
Between New York and Charleston on Blount’s Grande Mariner (2006)
Between Charleston and Los Angeles on Crystal Symphony (2012)
Between Los Angeles and San Francisco on Crystal Symphony (2011)
Between San Francisco and Nagasaki/Shanghai on Crystal Harmony (2004)

I am not really anxious about filling in the gap but it would be nice.

A few pictures from Cabo:

Day BA+5, Friday, November 23, Arrive home

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I lied a bit in my previous post. I had said I would be posting from the Metropolitan Lounge, but the wifi wasn’t working and I took another walk, stopping at a McDonalds. The day had been pretty warm (15C-60F) and started sunny, but most of the day the windy city (I know that’s not the origin of the name) was an accurate description. When I returned to Union Station about 4:30 it was getting dark and a few sprinkles were falling.

When the 5:15 call to board came, unlike the mad Wednesday rush, I was the only one going from the Lounge to he sleeper. The coaches were fairly well filled, but there were perhaps 6 parties in the sleeping car out of a capacity around 20. The remainder were eventually occupied by day trippers returning from Greenbrier Resort. The Cardinal (like all trains serving New York) uses single lever equipment. My roomette is similar to the one on the Texas Eagle, but there are a few differences. With no lower level luggage rack available, it is really necessary to limit luggage to what can fit under the seats, and the lavatory (down the hall on the Texas Eagle) is in the room and TINY.

The freight trains were parked for Thanksgiving, and we had zero delays on the train, usually standing for several minutes at stops to wait for the schedule. During the evening a heavy rain started. We moved to Eastern time in Lafayette, IN, and I retired about 10 on the new time.

I slept long, rising about 6:45 near the KY-WV border. People love to brag about having the best and biggest. In Texas, the conductor told us the capitol in Austin was 14 feet taller than the US Capitol. In Charleston, the commentator bragged that the WV capitol was 21 feet taller.

Out of Charleston we followed the Kanawah River. It is near the upper limits of navigation on the Mississippi river system and I saw a few barges. My GPS indicated an elevation of 644 feet, quite astounding compared to the Panama Canal’s 84-foot summit. We soon branched off and followed the New River, a favorite stream for whitewater rafting. We passed under a very high bridge which I believe is also a popular bungee jumping spot. We then followed the Greenbrier River (passing the stables of Greenbrier resort) and a lovely steam locomotive. We eventually climbed to about 1600 feet.

We stayed on schedule until Charlottesville, where we left 15 minutes late, and then passed half an hour late but still arrived in Baltimore a bit early. My checked bag soon arrived, the Airport Shuttle was waiting, and I walked in my door about 7:50.

As a parting shot, I’ll give a preliminary summary. In the course of the 4 voyages I’ve logged 15,120 Nautical miles. as well as 3886 miles on Amtrak. I have visited 17 ports of which 2 were Crystal maiden calls, 1 a Symphony maiden call, and 6 that were new to me, as well as missed 4 of which 2 would have been Crystal Maiden calls. It’s been an interesting and mostly wonderful fall. I’ll have to see how long the old saying “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?” resonates.

Roy

Day BA+4, Thursday, November 22, Board Amtrak Cardinal, Chicago

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I will post early today since there won’t be internet once I board the train. I am in Amtrak’s Chicago Metropolitan Lounge and will board the Cardinal about 5:15.

I rose about 5:30 and had planned to watch the sun come up over Lake Michigan from Navy Pier. The bus I normally use to get here was diverted due to Chicago’s Thanksgiving Parade and I wasn’t sure where to get it so I walked to the lake through Millennium Park. Passing the parade route at 6:15, people were already staking out locations on State Street. I was early enough that I continued along the lake to Navy Pier past a deserted Columbia Yacht Club and it’s flagship the Abegweit, a retired Prince Edward Ferry. A sign there told the story of the Abegweit’s heroic rescue of a teenager trapped on the ice. I was just approaching Navy Pier when the sun appeared, and left a bright image on the tops of the city’s skyscrapers. Returning on my bus I found I could have caught it right in front of my hotel.

I took my luggage over to Union Station mid-morning, checking my big bag and leaving the smaller one in storage. On my return I walked South along a part of State Street as the parade passed Northbound. The parade was a mixture of a lot of ethnic groups, floats, and balloons. One group was forming a long snake.

My lunch reservation was at The Firehouse Restaurant, a mile south of the hotel. I had mentioned it to Crystal Symphony Avenue Saloon pianist and Chicago resident Mark Farris, and he reacted positively to the reservation. I walked to the restaurant, where a lovely buffet awaited, and returned to Union Station of the CTA Orange line.

Today’s parting shot will be a belated salute to the crew of the Abegweit. Finding a person on unstable ice in the middle of a large body of water and approaching with a 7600 ton vessel is a wonderful act of skill and bravery. Well done.

Roy

Day BA+3, Wednesday, November 21, Arrive Chicago

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We ran about 80 minutes late overnight but made up some time in the early morning, and appeared to be close to schedule in St. Louis until the conductor announced we were stopping to pick up an additional coach (presumably for the Thanksgiving rush). We were 40 minutes late to St. Louis, but cut our 40-minute stop there in half.

It’s been a very foggy day in the Mississippi valley. The brochure said we would see the Gateway Arch as we crossed the river out of St. Louis, but we barely even saw the river. I could pick out the shore by the tops of a group of barges docked along shore, but our view was immediately blocked by a freight train we were passing on the bridge, and I never saw any water. The first sign of the sun came with a hole in the fog about 10:30, but it was only temporary.

Amtrak has a tendency to schedule a lot of time at the end of the journey and that was the case here. While running behind schedule most of the trip we pulled into Union Station precisely on time. Unfortunately, my checked bag didn’t show up and getting things sorted out on one of the busiest travel days of the year took a bit of time. It was late afternoon before I was fully settled into the Wyndham Blake hotel, about 8 blocks from Union Station.

One of my favorite places in Chicago is Navy Pier. It has been the start and/or end point of 5 of my Blount Cruises and is a lively place in a beautiful setting on the water. I took one full lap around the pier, and stopped in my local favorite fudge shop to replace the salt water taffy I gave away on Halloween after the chocolinis were gone. I got back to the hotel about 7.

As today’s parting shot, a wish for a wonderful Thanksgiving for all our American friends. Thanksgiving actually isn’t one of the bigger holidays for me as I never had Friday off when working and it just never became a big priority. I did have a special family Thanksgiving outside Montreal in October. Best wishes.

Roy

Day BA+2. Tuesday, November 20, Texas Eagle

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The day started a bit awkwardly. We had been running late Monday, but we were within a mile of San Antonio a half hour before our published 4:50 arrival. Actually getting to the station was another 75 minutes or so. Dropping the last 2 cars was a relatively quick process for the Sunset Limited, but we had to add diner and lounge cars between our 2 thorough cars and make additions to each end of the train. It was 5:30 when we arrived at the station and I discovered Amtrak did not plan on allowing us to get off (I assume San Antonio bound passengers were moved to the cars going to New Orleans for disembarkation). My attendant warned me it would be a while before I could reboard and escorted me through the Sunset Limited diner’s galley to reach the station. I had planned on finding wifi and also taking a walk, both of which were reasonably successful. I walked about a half hour and found wifi coming from a closed McDonalds. Once they opened I got a coffee and enjoyed working from an actual table.

On the way back to the station I paused at San Antonio’s lovely Riverwalk, but decided it was better to get back to the station than to follow it. The original San Antonio (Sunset) station looks very nice and is used for something, but the actual station is next door. A lovely restored steam locomotive sits in front of Sunset Station. I reboarded about 6:40.

We have moved from the end of the train to nearly the front. Locomotives and a crew/passenger sleeper sit in front of us. Behind us are diner, lounge, and several coaches, and a compartment on the lower level of one of the coaches serves as a baggage car. The lounge is identical to the one on the Sunset Limited. The other car is labeled “Lounge/Diner” but is used exclusively as a dining car. The end by the coaches is similar to the other diner although the finish on the tables is nicer and they are not using table cloths. The lounge end is smaller tables and is used only in peak times.

Getting out of San Antonio is a bit of a process leaving first forward to the end of our siding, then backing 1 1/2 miles on the
main line, and finally leaving about 7:30 on a different track. I went to breakfast about 9 and had the french toast (not apricot but still very nice), Our departure was around sunrise, but there was a race between the sun rising above a nearby hotel or us moving to a less obstructed view. The sun won.

Our conductor out of San Antonio is very talkative. Often he’s annoying, but he also pointed out our crossing of the Colorado River in Austin, and a very nice collection of vintage equipment near the Temple station, including a military sleeping car and steam locomotive, where some children were involved in what I expect was unauthorized climbing activity.

We spent most of the day running nearly an hour late. A locomotive was swapped out in Fort Worth, which extended our stop there but may have produced some long term benefits.

Today’s parting shot is stolen from the San Antonio to Fort Worth Conductor’s final words: “Friends don’t let friends fly.” While I obviously do fly when necessary these are words I try to live by.

Roy

Day BA+1, Monday, November 19, Texas Eagle

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I did not get wifi with dinner Sunday evening but did do a bit of writing and stopped at a very crowded Starbucks for coffee. With only a stand-up bench and no power I didn’t linger long.

I am officially on the Texas Eagle but that’s a bit of a misnomer. The train runs 3 times a week to San Antonio and daily from San Antonio to Chicago. For the western part of the journey we are combined with the Sunset Limited which goes to New Orleans (to Florida before Katrina). I was previously on the Sunset Limited to New Orleans after my 2004 Harmony (Beijing-San Francisco crossing. At this time we are just a coach and sleeper car tacked onto the back of the Sunset Limited using their lounge and dining cars. I am in the very last car of the train. After San Antonio we will have our own dining car, which appears to be more casual than the one first one.

Boarding of the train began about 9:15. When I got to my roomette the bed was already made. There is space under the seats which will handle my larger bag, but when the bed is down it is not accessible, and I left that in the rack downstairs after retrieving my overnight essentials. Our first time change was at the Arizona boarder early morning our 10PM departure was effectively 11. I went to bed 5 minutes later after the conductor scanned my ticket.

I awoke around 5 to a very quiet train. I went to the lounge car, got coffee, and watched the sun come up over the Arizona desert. We were early in Tucson, and our 45-minute stop became something over an hour. I walked around the town for about 40 minutes. The station is in the historic district, undergoing redevelopment. I saw a Children’s museum, “The Temple of Music” and some other nice things, but nothing of interest to a tourist on a quick stopover. I reboarded the train about 9AM and was having breakfast as we left Tucson.

Most of the day we were passing through a vast desert. In late afternoon we crossed the Rio Grande (not very grand, just a trickle) as we entered Texas at El Paso. The fences separating us from Mexico were just a few feet away. I found that after dinner I was quite sleepy and called it a day about 10/

As today’s parting shot one thing is different between a cruise and a train. While trains are pleasant, their purpose is utilitarian and their schedules reflect that. I’m now in San Antonio at 5:45. I’m on the street using McDonalds wifi, but they are closed. If they open at 6 I’ll buy milk and coffee, but we’ll see. I’m sure I’m a stones throw from the Alamo, but will almost certainly be gone before it opens.

Roy

Day BA17, Sunday, November 18, Disembark Crystal Symphony, Los Angeles

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It was a cloudy day with a bit of a chill as I walked 6 laps, finishing about 6. We pulled into the dock about 7, still a gray, cloudy day. Disembarkation was planned for 8:15, but we quickly learned that it would not start until 9, and was perhaps further delayed by a breakdown of the luggage conveyer. The process went fairly quickly thereafter, and the 9:45 group was called off about 9:50. As the last of the timed groups was called I started for the gangway and an announcement was made for all disembarking passengers to leave as my card was clicked out.

I had packed my big bag to be checked to Chicago and the smaller one to take on the train with me. Both were placed in the hall Saturday night. My small day pack had the things I had used for the last night, and I put that into the large bag for the trip to Los Angeles. The walk to Berth 95 was about 20 minutes, but getting there I found out the Amtrak stop was near the entrance, 10 minutes back. I was still there by 11 for my 11:25 bus.

The bus was 15 minutes late but we still arrived at Los Angeles Union Station 15 minutes ahead of schedule. As I was taking the daypack out of the big bag, Carolyn (haikou of Cruise Critic) found me and waited while I checked the big bag. We went to her car with the 2 bags I was carrying on the train.

After my experience in New York using Panera as a headquarters for electricity, internet, and proximity to a cell phone tower, I had a desire to return there, and we stopped at one in Santa Monica. We were joined by Carolyn’s sister, who lived nearby, and had a nice leisurely lunch of primarily soup. I did a bit of grocery shopping (apples), and then we drove through Malibu and stopped at Carolyn’s house, where we looked at her pictures from our Pacific Crossing. We returned to Union Station about 6.

I went out for a Burger and will board my train a little after 9 Pacific time.

Today’s parting shot is a salute to the joy of meeting up with old friends.

Roy

Day BA16, Saturday, November 17, At Sea, Casual

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I woke up when the clock said 4:15 and decided to put my laundry in the washer and go back to bed. 45 minutes later I moved it to the laundry and headed up to the Lido for coffee. I noticed the clocks all said 3AM and finally concluded I had moved the clocks the wrong way.

When I woke at the real 5AM I emptied my dryer (the laundry room was less busy at 5 than at 3) and started my walk. With a 20-knot headwind rounding the bow was a challenge, but I completed my 5 miles plus another 5 laps at the designated walk before turning in my vest. The temperatures were much cooler, I almost could have used a jacket. Around 5:30 the skies behind the ship were a beautiful red, and the sun just peeked through the clouds about 6,

It was a very busy day on the ship, starting with 3 Crystal Visions programs. Major General Perry Smith “World War II – A 70-year retrospective. Having heard the lecture 2 months ago I headed up to the Trident for my final Apricot French Toast of the year and went down to the Galaxy for his Q&A time. John Langley followed at 11 with “Ocean Liner Combatants” describing the World War I battle between a British and German passenger ship.

At team trivia the Left Behinds graded rather than created the winning answer sheet, getting 12 right while the winners had 13. Overall though, team trivia was very successful. The American Classic Buffet was in progress when trivia ended, and I enjoyed a couple of it’s dishes, as well as my only french fries of the cruise from the Trident Grill. The time I had them on the transatlantic I was a bit disappointed, these were much better. It’s a good thing I waited until the last day to try them.

Bill Toone brought Crystal Visions to a conclusion with “Flukes, Feet, and Wings: lead, follow, or get out of the way” discussing animal migration. There was a backstage tour of the Galaxy Lounge at 3 showing us the tight quarters the Ensemble packs with a dynamo of activity each performance, followed by afternoon tea. With Sunday a travel day I dropped in on the 4:30 Catholic Mass, immediately followed by the 5PM farewell variety show including the Ensemble, Jimmy Travis, Karen Grainger, and Michel Bell.

There were sad goodbyes at dinner, followed by a brief visit to the Avenue Saloon (my last before it becomes a non-smoking venue) and the sad task of packing.

As today’s parting shot, I was surprised to find that there had been an actual battle between passenger ships (with the German ship sinking). It turns out that passenger ships are really not effective tools of warfare. Thank goodness.

Roy

Day BA15, Friday, November 16, Cabo San Lucas, Formal

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I was up a little before 5 today and had an abbreviated walk, 6 laps, concluding about 5:40. I watched the first run of the 6AM morning show, and was up at the lido in time for breakfast and sunrise, as we anchored near the Disney Wonder.

My tour today was Camel & Mexican Outback Adventure. We tendered ashore at 7:15 and the 8 of us on the tour shared a bus to the site with the 5 people on the Bike Adventure. The ride to our ranch was just over half an hour, and the 2 groups boarded unimogs, 4-wheel drive offroad trucks with benches in the back. The terrain we travelled was a sandy desert, but it has rained recently and the vegetation surrounding the cacti is pretty lush.

After about 2 miles we stopped at the camel coral. We were fitted with helmets with cloth tails providing some protection from the sun. We climbed a platform to mount the camels and were led around a circuit going down a stretch of beach. I had ridden a camel once before (Australia, 2003) but had forgotten how bumpy the ride is. While a camel travels quite slowly, their gait is uneven and it feels like a gallup. I enjoyed the 10 minutes or so on the camel but was quite ready to dismount. One of the staff took a number of photos and I bought a CD, but don’t have a reader with me so the only one I can access is one photo which I was able to scan.

Just 100 yards (meters) from the coral was a ranger station which monitors sea turtles and cares for their eggs. In mating season staff and volunteers collect the eggs and then release the turtles when they are old enough to survive on their own. After a short drive we made a photo stop by a large cactus and our guide Polo pointed out several of the desert plants. While considerably cooler than in Puerto Vallarta the burning sun still felt pretty intense.

Our final stop was at the “ranch house” where we were greeted with the fixings for a late morning Mexican Buffet and Polo demonstrated tortilla making then let our escort Victoria try her hand in the corn mashing process. We then viewed/purchased our photos and had a Tequila tasting before returning to our bus back to the ship. Unfortunately the bikers were not ready yet and we sat about 15 minutes on the bus before starting back to town. With the last tender at 12:30 we reached the dock at 12:18. While I know they will wait for a ship’s excursion I still don’t like to cut it that close.

Captain Giske came on the PA about 12:40 as I was climbing the stairs from the tender landing. As might be guessed from our leaving Cabo early afternoon we need to average 20 knots to get to San Pedro on time. I took my Trident sandwich out on my verandah for sailaway which ended up just a bit late. Louis sang about 1:10.

It’s a bit of a strange day, not really a sea day and not really a port day. Probably my first ever port day Crystal Visions enrichment program came at 1:30 with Bill Boggs and “Rat Pack Revival”.

I used to be a regular at the Trident Ice Cream Bar but have done so much less in recent years as I always seem to be getting ice cream with desert. Today was an exception and I stopped by there following afternoon tea.

We had another pre-dinner cabaret show with Mark Ferris appearing in the Galaxy Lounge at 5. A reprise of the video duet with his dad from his show on the transatlantic was delightful, and the Kent Dancers joined him for one number. I thought his show on the transatlantic was delightful but he stepped it up a notch for this show. After our Formal (again my last on Crystal before black tie optional starts) dinner we had the Captain’s Farewell Party and the Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers in Curtain Call. For the second day in a row we are gaining an hour as we move to Pacific time. I plan to retire early tonight after posting my day’s entries and start Saturday with a walk and laundry.

As today’s parting shot I have a digital camera I’ve been using since about 2004. It’s starting to show it’s age with little foibles like sticky switches, and I purchased a new camera before this trip but tried to use the old one where I was exposed to the weather. A couple of days ago images on the old camera started getting fuzzy and, think it might have been humidity related, set it aside, not really ready to give up on it but fearing I would need to. Last night I discovered a setting had been accidentally triggered and old reliable is back in service. It’s usually the simple things that trip us up.

Roy

Day BA14, Thursday, November 15, Puerto Vallarta, Casual

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This was about the hottest day of the cruise. I started my walk (3 miles) just after 5 and finished just after 6. At that point the temperature was still pretty pleasant but a stiff wind made rounding the bow rather challenging. The guest on the morning show was Jimmy Travis who shared an awesome story of taking his guitar on a flight. He usually puts it in the overhead bin, but the airport crew wouldn’t allow it. After consulting with several supervisors he was finally allowed to buy a ticket for “A. Guitar”. Things still got complicated when “A. Guitar was selected for additional security screening. Sunrise was officially 7:11 but it was some time later when it reached over the hills of Puerto Vallarta as we approached the dock.

The cruise terminal in Puerto Vallarta is about 3 miles from the city. There is no shuttle to town although taxis are supposed to be plentiful and there is transit service for the adventurous. There is also a commercial area including a mall and a Walmart across the street from the docks.

My tour today was “Puerto Vallarta Highlights. At least 3 bus loads (mine had about 20) left around 8:45 and made the first stop in the center of town. We took a short walking tour, stopping at the Our Lady of Guadeloupe Cathedral. The main church in town, this is notable for it’s steeple with a crown at the top. The steeple was destroyed in a recent earthquake but has been rebuilt. We view a mural in the city hall and one of the lighthouses used in the early days to guide fishermen back to town, then had some free time on the Malecon, a lovely mile-long seawall promenade extending through the center of town. The Malecon would have been perfect if the temperature had been a bit less than 90F.

We took about a 40-minute drive out of town to a Tequila Distillery, making a photo stop where the Night of the Iguana was filmed. We saw examples of the blue guava plant from which Tequila is made and the harvesting, processing, and distilling steps to the finished product, followed by a tasting session with about 8 varieties of product. We returned to the ship about 1, with the Carnival Splendor parked across our bow in a kind of T shape.

After lunch at the Trident Grill I walked over to the stores, a modest mall and a Walmart that looked somewhat familiar but also very different. I returned to the ship about 2:30.

Near the start of Afternoon Tea Captain Giske came on the speakers and announced we had all aboard and would likely leave a bit early.

I’ve been somewhat remiss in using a term I thought I had explained but apparently didn’t. Each time a Crystal Ship leaves a port, “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong is played on the public address system. It’s a Crystal Tradition that I think is greatly beloved with the majority of passengers. I have been stating that simply as “Louis sang”. Today “Louis sang” about 3:50. With the bow of the Crystal Symphony pointed directly at the midship area of the Carnival Splendor, perhaps 100 meters away, we pretty much swiveled our bow out until we were headed parallel to the Splendor and then started moving forward.

We had a pre-dinner show tonight with Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers lead singer Colleen Williamson performing a cabaret act she calls “On the high Seas”. She presumably does this regularly on longer cruises as it was done on the September transatlantic as well, much of the same material with some variations.

All 8 of us were present for dinner tonight in the dining room, followed by a variety show opened by the Kent Dancers followed by Comedian/Guitarist Jimmy Travis.

We gain an hour tonight as we go to Cabo San Lucas. I used some of the extra time to drop by the Avenue Saloon and enjoy the music of Mark Farris.

Today’s parting shot is a point to ponder from Jimmy Travis. When you ship styrofoam, what do you wrap it in?

Roy