Day 220 - And There He Is!!!

Why do mornings always come so soon? I never get enough sleep! Unless I go to bed at 9 or something! I was nice & toasty under the covers, so I wasn't excited to get out! However, Karen & Werner have in-floor heating in the bathroom downstairs, so my tootsies were toastie if nothing else!!! I regret not taking a photo of their bathroom! It looks so awesome! Next time!!! 


The shower even has a corner cupboard to keep shampoos, soaps, etc. What a clever idea! The soap doesn't get soggy that way! And they have a smart flush toilet. I remember I saw my first water saving toilet in Australia. Another ingenious idea. Why doesn't Canada have these toilets EVERYWHERE!


Anyhow, finally out of the loo & ready for the day, I packed up the rest of my stuff, including my hard drive that Werner so wonderfully loaded with movies & shows! Yay! (More Big Bang Theory!)


We hit the road & headed for downtown Victoria. We were stopping at the grocery store for a few items I wanted for the ship & then to Booster Juice for a smoothie. Thank you for the Canadian Colada, btw! Stinkers!


We headed for the ship, but our route was slightly altered. Apparently there was a bike race in town today. No biggie. My heart started to race a little when I couldn't see the ship. I had fleeting moments of panic. Did I get the day wrong? Was he here yesterday? I hadn't checked my emails! What if I missed him!? And then, there it was! I could breathe a sigh of relief! It was the right day & my baby was just a few moments away! Yippee!


Werner parked in his usual spot - they've visited the pier many times before! Either to visit his brother, Nico, or Nico's girlfriend, Talia, or dropping me off to see Jaco... We all hugged goodbye & I told them I'd see them in a few days when the ship was back. They watched from the pier until I'd made it onto the ship. (See photo below & try to find them!) :o) 


Of course, everyone was more concerned about Valentina & her whereabouts than they were me. The disappointment in their eyes when I told them she was at home for training!  Once onboard, I couldn't find Jaco! The paging system wasn't working & he didn't answer his door! He had told me a few days before that he might try & go ashore, but the A-Pass system said he was still onboard. 


Finally he answered his phone. He'd been in the shower! Oh, it was so good to see him again! I swear he gets more & more handsome each time I see him! We had a wonderful visit for the afternoon & then it was clinic time for him. He was VERY busy this cruise & there was no end in sight! I ventured upstairs to find Eddie. 


Oh he has quite the dramas... Apparently US Customs & Border Patrol decided to pick on him when the ship was in San Francisco last. There were a few Argentinian crew members on a completely different cruise line that jumped ship in San Francisco a week or so ago. CBP decided to make ALL Argentinian crew stay onboard for an unknown period of time. Because if all my friends jumped off the bridge, I would too. Oh the lack of common sense drives me batty! To make matters worse, Canadian CBP held him onboard today in Victoria. Why? Because the US CBP told them to! Ridiculous! Hopefully he'll get his I-95 back soon. It sucks to be stuck onboard & he has some good friends in Alaska that he enjoys meeting up with.


I also ventured down to the shops & to my surprise, Maria, a shoppie from Portugal was there! She had joined the day I left in Florida & I knew her from the Dawn Princess a couple years back. We had a great visit & she's been to some amazing places since I saw her last! She was telling me about CAT sized RATS in China. I still shudder at the thought of it! Yuck!


Of course, I saw Daniela. She was so sad when I told her I didn't bring Valentina. Valentina loved her so much. Every time I would go back to the cabin with Valentina, she's smell like J'Adore, Daniela's perfume. And she LOVED Daniela's cuddles! Daniela was heading home to Macedonia in a few days time. She was VERY excited to be finishing up her contract. I know that feeling!!


Jaco was busy with work & I was happy when he finally finished up & we were able to spend a little time together. I told him I'd help him tomorrow with whatever I could... At least that way I could see him - hopefully! He's a hard workin' man these days!


Sleep well & see you at sea!
xxxxx
Maria & Jaco

Can you see Karen & Werner? Thanks for a great time guys!

My hubby, hard at work!

Eddie, 'grounded' at sea

Busy moments at the bar. Can you see the orange elbow on the right hand side? This horribly annoying little kid & his non-disciplining Mom came by for a coke & coffee. The kid couldn't whistle to get Eddie's attention, so instead he squealed. Loudly. High-pitched. One more whistled & he was going to walk the plank!!! :o)

Day 178 - St. Lucia

So I seem to have this sleep issue when I’m on the ship. I just can’t wake up. I know, I know, I sleep late when I’m at home. On the ship, it’s even worse! Granted, I was pretty tired from the flights & all the running around of the previous week, but I could not drag my butt out of bed until noon. I guess my body was telling me it needed some rest. (I listened for once!)

I was not allowed to take Valentina off today, but I wanted to collect a bit of grass to put in her potty box, as she still hadn’t used it. I took a little ziplock baggie with me & ventured off to a desolate corner of the terminal area & took my collection. While I was there, I noticed those neat little plants that don’t like to be touched. They close their leaves up whenever you touch them. It’s pretty neat to see a plant move so quickly!

It was overcast & rainy, but still hot & humid. Oh how I love the humidity! I peeked in one of the shops I had found bargains in 4 years ago, but no luck. I was actually wearing the shirt I bought there 4 years ago & I wanted to find another one like it. I always get compliments on it & sure enough, I had 3 compliments on it by the time I boarded the ship again!

There were a few security girls that I recognized from previous ships – it’s always nice to see some familiar faces! I also ran into Eddie. Who’s Eddie? Eddie is a Bartender I met on ships 2 years ago when I visited Jaco for the first time. They were both working on the Dawn Princess. I had brought along a juicer & plugged it in at the bar to make my grape juice. As we were on Red Level for Norovirus, I had to eat my food upstairs in the buffet area, without Jaco. I sat at the bar & visited with Eddie. We got to know each other quite well & lo & behold, I was on the Star, again visiting Jaco, when it was doing the South America/Antarctica run. Eddie lives close to Buenos Aires & jumped at the chance to show us around his beautiful city. We frequented his friend’s sushi restaurant, downtown history & of course, La Boca, the Tango district.

Of course, I was delighted to hear that Eddie would be onboard the Sea Princess & it didn’t take me long to find him! He immediately began to make plans for the coming weeks. He had just purchased his first digital SLR camera, so he was pretty pumped to head out & do some photo shoots. He talked about all the best beaches, dinners & so on & so forth. He was very excited to hear about Valentina. I must say, his Italian accent is much better than mine! We enjoyed dinner at the Pizzeria tonight - the three or four of us will be busy these next few weeks!!

Anyhow, I brought the grass back onboard & no luck. We were approaching 48 hours with no #2. Jaco, being the Doc that he is, figured a little lactulose would do the trick. We googled the right dosage for dogs. Nope. A little doggy enema? Nope. Finally at 0100 in the morning, after being ‘sick as a dog’, I had put her in her kennel, when the bedroom filled with a certain foul aroma. Hey, at least we got a little business done. Her poor little tummy was so bloated, until then! This potty box could be a challenge! She is so used to going potty outside & thinks she’ll get in trouble for going inside. I’m sure if she hears me say, ‘Go pee pee’ one more time she’ll bite my arm off! And FYI, the grass didn’t do a darn thing. She just ate it!

I’m finally going to bed… What a day!

Love & hugs & happy bladders,

Maria, Jaco, & Valentina

xoxoxoxooxxxoooxoxox

View from the terminal area

Oh the memories!

Now you see me...

Now you don't!

Smuggling some 'grass' onboard!

Cloudy day in paradise!

Island life!

Eddie, Jaco & I at the Pizzeria!