Trip to Cape Canaveral

As I have said the trip so far has been very good. The large cabin is great we hardly realize there are 3000 people on the ship. We have had 3 dinners, 2 of which were in the Streak House. The first night they said if you booked for that night the wine was free and last night we had a reservation. One thing we did do was change our dinner time to 6:00 from 8:15. This is much better for Roger.

Trish and I have a rental car in Cape Canaveral and are headed south maybe to Fort Pierce

Trish at Lunch

Our Cabin

Our Neighbour Disney Magic

A Container Ship we passed 2 or 3 hundred mile our

A start on a nice collection of tower animals

View from balcony

A little rough but we did not feel it

January 31, 2014 I think

Good morning

We arrived at Cape Canaveral at 6:30. The ship eased up to the pier with no assistance and without waking up any of the passengers. The internet on board is expensive and very slow. I had meant to upload more picture but ran out of time.

The following are of Roger, Linda, Trish and I at the airport and on the plane, which by the way was very smooth.

Our Plane

Roger, Linda and Trish at Toronto City Centre Airport

Roger and Linda

Trish and Bill

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January 29, 2014

On January 28, 2014 Trish and I along with very good friends Roger Conant and Linda Sully went on a Cruise aboard The Carnival Splendor. We had an uneventful trip to the boat from Toronto thanks to Porter Airlines and Carnival Cruise Lies. Last week we had a call asking us to upgrade to a suite. We debated but finally Trish said yes. Along with a larger room we got Priority Boarding. This was a godsend. The boat is full and the line up we avoided was two or three hours long.

The one thing I would do differently is next time I would take the train to Penn Station from the airport then a taxi. The shuttle took about an hour and a half to get to the airport. Well you live and learn. This is a learning experience and so far we have found out we like the larger cabin, the priority boarding and the Steak House. Last night we had to pay extra but had a wonderful dinner. We did not have to pay that much more because having reserved for the first night we got a free bottle of red wine and a glass of white wine for Roger.

I have included several pictures. The boat is rolling a bit, but so far is fine by us. I don’t know if it is OK for the rest of the passengers. There are plenty around, but Trish and I got a window seat for breakfast.

As a private aside to all at home we are having a great time but miss you all.

Thanks to my sister Joan Trish and I were welcomed by flowers

Waves 10 feet high!

Excellent Ocean Suite

Trish and I go on a Cruise

Next year Trish Kelly and I are intending to sail to the Bahamas in Irish Mist III. As research for this trip and future Big Boat Cruises we are going cruising.
Tomorrow we fly from Toronto Centre Airport on Porter to Newark. Carnival pick us up and take us to the boat. At 4:00 we leave for our first stop Port Canaveral.

Yes you are right if you are thinking it may not be that great a cruise. The boat is too big and the weather for most of the cruise is too cold. This is an experiment first to see if we like cruising then assuming a positive answer what do we want or need on a future cruise and what is not important. Why this one simple it is simple and relative cheap.

I do not know when I will be able to post due to the very pricey internet service onboard.

Carnival Splendor

Edward M. Hodder Dinner 2013

Saturday night we held the 6th annual Hodder Dinner. Four of the 21 recipients were unable to make it, they apparently were skiing. The rest had a wonderful dinner prepared by Chef Jonathan of either Beef or Salmon Wellington. It was a great dinner and a wonderful time to start thinking about our plans for the summer.

The Hodder Dinner 2013

This week was a big week for my sisters and their yacht Pipe Dream. On Monday they received the Graham F. Crate award and at the Dinner they received their Hodder Flag. Combining both courage and perseverance they completed the requirements. Trish, Kelly and I are very proud of them and along with all other recipients of The Hodder welcomed them to the club.

If you would like to learn more about The Edward M. Hodder Award please go to my February 17, 2013 post Commodore Edward M. Hodder Dinner.

My Sisters receive a big award

This past Monday was our annual meeting. Before we got into the controversial business of changing membership categories and in doing this raised the fees for every member who has been a member for at least 20 years and is at least 65 years old.

Mary, Margaret and Joan Brennan my sisters received The Graham F. Crate Trophy for Navigators. They received it mostly for the reconstruction work they had Mark Bruckmann of Bruckmann Yachts perform during the winter of 2012 - 2013. In addition to this one of our Past Commodores David Howard had Mark create a keeper which has a usable hand held compass integrated into the design.
Needless to say they are very pleased. I have included a picture of our Vice Commodore Fleet Derek Fisher and a close up picture of the keeper alone with a picture of the trophy.

 

First a Visit to Irish Mist III

Last weekend I went down to the parking lot to see how IM III was fairing. The verdict was generally not bad. The aft starboard zipper was open and it was blowing about 30 knots. I decided it had to be fixed so I proceeded to break the slider. I think it can be fixed, but it is around 0 Fahrenheit. Far too cold to try and fix anything. I have included a picture of IM even though it is not in it's most attractive position.