June 4, 2024
Time to roll the dice!
Our ship embarking date and sail has again shifted out, due to the DNV inspections. Late yesterday, we were informed they have to make one additional retrofit on the Ship propellers in dry dock and this work will take 10 days; therefore, our new boarding and departure date is June 15th out of Belfast. This propellor change had been previously grandfathered by DNV with prior ship owners. It was due to be done at our next maintenance stop and thankfully the parts had already been on order. Villa Vie filed a grievance with DNV regarding this, but bottom line is, we have to do now. Villa Vie ownership has been fantastic in communicating all this to us. Their staff has scrambled today to come up with a contingency plan to give us all an alternate to camping out in Belfast. There are roughly 300 passengers waiting to embark, most are in Belfast now and others like me are scattered around.
My choices at this point are:
1) Keep the rental car I have from Belfast and continue to stay in Cork at Edel's or visit more of Ireland. Edel'scommitments in Cork start again on 6/8. But I could stay here until 6/15.2) Return to Belfast, swap out some of my luggage, turn in rental car and go on trip to Canary Islands with fellowpassengers in waiting, Villa Vie is working out all-inclusive details now.3) Return rental car in Belfast or Dublin and get a flight to Hamburg Germany and go visit my friend Tom who was supposed to join me on cruise on 6//16 in Hamburg. Villa Vie has yet to announce where we will be sailing on the new embarking date of 6/15, so not sure if my planned catch up with Tom will be impacted.Right now, I am leaning to option #2. The Canary Islands will be more beach like weather / locale, and it will be good to start connecting with the other passengers. Also, I don't expect any real beach spots in the planned itinerary much before late September and everyone knows I am a beach lover at heart. They have signed me up for all-inclusive now, for planning purposes, but I am still reserving option 3 if it looks like Hamburg, Germany is being removed from itinerary.Suppose to have more details later tonight or tomorrow.So for now, stay tuned!
R
I joined in with 49 other Ship Residents to attend an event the next day at The Vietnam War Remnants Museum also known as The Museum for Peace. This was put together by our residents as part of our ongoing efforts with the Ship's Odyssey Rotary Club and our Global Flagship of Peace initiative.
HO CHI MING CITY or SAIGON was our last port in Vietnam . The downtown area was an hour away from the Port , so most of us got Hotel rooms in town, as prices were so reasonable. Sadly, it was a rainy four days, but that kept temperatures moderate and we could still get out and do most things. We stayed in district #1 as most of the City highlights are in this area along with the nightlife. Traffic is very busy in the City, especially motorbikes. Crossing the streets needs to be done with intent and quickly as there are very few traffic lights or stop signs.
It's never a dull Sea Day on the Odyssey! We have such creative residents, that are always coming up with new ideas to entertain ourselves and have a good time. This plot was the calculating of Eddie and Michelle - a Game of Clue! The rules were simple - find the party venue at 8:30 pm, come dressed as a character, weapon or room from the game and solve the mystery of who stole the Ship's bell.