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
Other residents had a great experience at Singapore's Food Playground on prior visits, so we wanted to try it out! Our first day in Port, twelve of us signed up for a fun afternoon, where we got to enjoy our creations as a yummy lunch. Front row (L to R) is Ellie, Rick, their visiting friend, Sue, Christy and Angela. Back Row - Me, Bosco, Delia, John, Terri & Lori.
We just relaxed on the Island of Koh Chang, Thailand. It's one of the largest Thai Islands in the Gulf of Thailand and it has a dense, steep jungle & National Park covering the interior of the Island, which extends off shore, to coral reefs. The coast line is dotted with beaches and villages. This was a tender port, so we decided to stay on the Island for 3 nights, to be able to experience the nightlife. Turns out, it is low season, so nightlife was pretty sleepy. However, we did find a new favorite night time activity! Any Guesses?!?
Love Sea Days ! I got a much needed haircut and color. Think I'll be going shorter, but giving this a whirl! Can you see the back in the mirror? The bangs and side volume, is what drives me nuts in the heat and humidity!