Dad & Son Bluegrass Cruise October 29- November 5, 2011

October 29: We spent last night in a Fairfield Inn in Melbourne, FL, about 25 miles from Port Canaveral. Left hotel about 9:00 We had to wait about 45 minutes at the parking lot for our ride. Got a wheelchair with no problems and that put us in the VIP line Got on board about 11:30, but couldnt get into our room until 1:30 The ships itinerary had to change to miss bad weather near Mexico. We are now going to Nassau, St. Thomas, and St Maarten. First meal was excellent: fish, and grilled chicken No one on board know anything about the bluegrass portion of the cruise. I had lost the phone number for the sponsors of the bluegrass cruise. I had to call Becky and she went to Dads house to find a paper that had the numbers on it. I had to call several times, but finally reached them and found them in one of the meeting rooms on Deck 4. We got signed up and now we wait until 8:00 for the first show. Dinner was good. However we are assigned to the aft restaurant at 6:00. Its a long walk for Dad. We may opt for the Lido Restaurant some this week to avoid the walk. I had grilled tilapia; Dad had fried chicken. He also had sugar free orange cake and decaf coffee. We have an assigned table. We are dining with a dentist from Chicago, (John, I believe), He is cruising alone. The other table guests are a brother and two sisters with two spouses thrown in. They are from NC. One lady told me her 12 yr.old granddaughter won first place in bow shooing competition. The show started late and the last show ended at 12:30 a.m. Dad decided it was too late for any jamming. I think he was just taking it easy on me. Dad didnt bring any pajamas. I gave him my long lounge pants. I still have my boxers to sleep in.

October 30. We pulled into port at Nassau at 8:00 a.m. We had room service deliver coffee and croissants at 7:30. Dad is still asleep. He was up several times overnight, as usual. He has to get sleep when he can. We should have time for him to get a nap this afternoon. Dad got his coffee at 8:30. He asked me how to operate the microwave to heat his coffee. I explained that it was not a microwave but a room safe. Hes catching on. I took a short trip off the ship into Nassau. I bought Dad a T-shirt that says Jammin in Nassau. I also got myself a ball cap for $6. You can never have too many ball caps. Dad wore one of the flowery shirts I bought for him. He looks like hes on vacation. Lunch for Dad was fried chicken.again. I had some kind of grilled fishagain. We also had Manhattan Clam chowder. Everything was very good.

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I took Dad to the bluegrass room and had him lead me back to the room without my help. He made one mistake when we got off the elevator on our deck. He was confused about where we were and where we needed to go. Its easy to do on a huge ship. Even if we had gone the wrong way, we would have ended up in the restaurant where we eat breakfast and lunch. He would have found his way easily to the room from there. We both took a nap when we got back to the room. Dinner was good again. We both had prime rib. No desert for Dad. I had the warm chocolate cake with ice cream. (Beckys favorite!) Bluegrass shows over earlier. We were back to the room by 11:30. Seas were rough all day. Not swaying, but more irregular jumping. Its like driving over a rough road. There is no hint of motions sickness from this movement. Monday, October 31 Room service brought the incorrect breakfast order. (Or I made a mistake ordering). They brought hot water and coco and no coffee. I walked to the restaurant to get us coffee. I put it in the carafe they bought the hot water in. We went to a guitar workshop today. The leader was a young musician from one of the bands. He is outstanding! There were about half dozen players who showed up. He showed them some things to work on. He leads a week long work shop near Ashville, NC in the summer. I plan to check into it for Dad for next year. Lunch was Caribbean dishes. I have tried to get Dad to go to a restaurant for lunch where we can order off a menu. He says her prefers the buffet. However, he doesnt fill his own plate. I always pick everything for him, while he sits and holds our seats. I dont mind. I am just happy he is enjoying everything. Dads blood sugar has been good all week. Pretty high (above 200 in the evenings and about 100 in the morning) We went to our first jam session today. There were about 8 jammers. The quality level of the participants, except Dad, was beginner at best. But Dad was a good sport and joined in the music. Before long, he was the star. Its easy to see why the professional musicians dont come to join the jammin. The bands dressed up for Halloween for their shows. We didnt stay for the last show. The group is not one of Dads favorites; so, we left a little early. We got back to the room at 10:30.

Tuesday, November 1 We docked in St. Thomas, USVI, this morning. Room service breakfast, coffee and croissants, was on time and correct. However, Dad decided he still wanted breakfast, so we headed to the Lido Deck restaurant and stuffed ourselves with eggs, pancakes, ham, grits, etc. We went shopping in the tee shirt area near the boat dock. We went to four stores before Dad gave up on getting just the right tee shirt and opted for coffee cups for his friends back home. He did a great job walking, probably over an hour; I bought a St
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Thomas tee shirt. You can never have too many tee shirts. There are no St. Thomas carousal ponies or music boxes in the cheap stores. Sorry, J & K. We took a tour of St Thomas in an air conditioned bus. Most tours are in open buses. We appreciated the AC. The tour was interesting but not spectacular. Tour guide could have been better, as well. We had pretzels and chips for lunch bought at a if you have to ask what it costs, you cant afford it shop on the tour. We also brought some snacks back to the room. Dad has mentioned several times he would like to have some snack food in the room. We already had some candy in case of a sugar crash, but he wanted real food like chips or crackers. We are now well stocked. Dad rested for 3 hours. The shopping trip followed by the tour was a little too much for him. Dinner was a little disappointing. My fish (red snapper, they said), was a little too fishy for my taste. However, Dad gave me half of his steak, which was very good, so things worked out fine. The entertainment was good. We skipped the final show again and made it to the room by a little after 10. We are getting closer to my bed time each night. Wednesday, November 2 We docked at St. Maarten this morning. (St Maarten is the southern, Dutch side of the Island; St. Martin is the northern, French side) I watched the medical guys haul a man off the boat on a gurney, load him into an ambulance and haul him off. I assume they took him to a local hospital. I was reminded again to thank the Lord that Dad is doing so well. Breakfast was a bagel and coffee via room service. After that, Dad said he was not hungry enough to eat more breakfast. I think both of us are eating too much bread. Not to nice on the digestive system. We are going to have to find more roughage (fiber) to combat the situation. I went ashore alone. Dad was not up to the walk after yesterday. He told me last night that he forgot to pack any alcohol swabs for his insulin injections. I did not expect to find a drug store, but again the Lord is looking out for us. I was able to purchase enough for him to make it home. While I was on shore, I bought a tee shirt, a baseball cap, and a visor, all for $10. I know that usually you get what you pay for, but my goal is to provide a patch for our travel quilt that will get put together some day. And, you can never have too many ball caps (or visors, for that matter). Dad went out to the pool and sat for a little while during my shore visit. This is the first time he has ventured out of the room on his own. He dropped something on the floor this morning and when he bent to pick it up he hurt his back. I had to pick it up for him. He has taken pain medicine, but it still bothers him. We went to a jamming session today. The quality was still not very good but Dad appeared to enjoy it a little anyway. Dinner was good: seafood for me and a pork chop for Dad. The entertainment was also good. We skipped the end of the last show to get back to the room by 11:00. On our way back to the room, Dad stopped to see what was happening at the poolside dock party. The leader put a ribbon and metal around his neck and tried to pull him to
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the dance floor to enter the dance contest. Dad was obviously confused and started to walk away. She was obviously disappointed and made him give up the ribbon and metal. I believe he would have given those young punks a run for their money. The sea is obviously rough tonight. Since we left the dock at St. Maarten, the swaying of the ship has been very noticeable. I hope it rocks us to sleep without making us seasick!

Thursday, November 3 This is the first of two days at sea before returning to Port Canaveral. There was a small rainstorm we could see several miles from the ship. It created a beautiful rainbow. We could see the end of the rainbow on the water, but the pot of gold must have been just below the surface. We just had coffee this morning from room service. Then, we had a nice breakfast. There was no line at the omelet counter, so we had eggs over medium, the way we like them. The sea is very calm today. We saw a bird flying along with the ship. I am pretty sure he will be coming aboard to rest sometime today. We also saw several flying fish come out of the water, skip along the surface and then dive back under. Neat. There was another jam session this afternoon. This time many of the professional band members took part. However, it was just too many people for Dad to provide valuable input. We are still hoping for a small group session with some of the performers, but time is running out. The shows dont start tonight until 9:00. We went to the room after dinner. Dads back is hurting so he decided not to go to any shows tonight. There are shows tomorrow afternoon and night. So, we still have time for more bluegrass. The ship is moving more than I have ever experienced. Its the constant sway of rising and lowering waves. It is not causing us any upset stomach, but it can be challenging to walk around. Although the movement is very slow, it is still very noticeable.

Thursday, November 3 (addendum) I helped Dad order dinner, as usual. Although he is getting more confidence to do it on his own. And our waiters are great. Both of them have shown a lot of attention to Dad and this has helped him feel more at home. Anyway, one of the appetizers was escargot. I told Dad he should try it. I thought I understood him to agree. When it came he tried it and told our friend across the table that he thought it was some kind of mushroom. I told him what it was when I ordered it, but he obviously did not hear me. After what he said to the guy across the table, I clarified to him that it was snails. Well, that was the end of that! No more escargot for him. I washed a load of laundry in the ships laundry. It is very conveniently located almost across the hall from our room. $3.00 to wash and $3.00 to dry. I used a 3-in-1 sheet that I picked up at Jennifers. It worked great.

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Friday, November 4 Although we went to bed early, Dad was still asleep at 8:00. He was up several times during the night. I think the pain in his back is bothering him. He took pain pills but it doesnt work completely. We had coffee only from room service. Then out for a somewhat lighter breakfast than previous mornings. Dad: 2 pieces of French toast with sugar free syrup. For me it was fruit and yogurt. Dads blood sugar was over 300 last night. We both forgot to check it this morning. But, I can tell he is not feeling well, at all. We are still planning to go see relatives in Lecanto, FL, tomorrow. Dad says he doesnt feel like it, but I told him he may not have many more opportunities, and we are very close, less than 150 miles. So, we probably will make the trip. However, we will also probably leave Sunday to head home instead of our original plan to head home on Monday. Dad got to jam with Junior Sisk and his mandolin player, Jason Tator Tomlin. Although Dad was not feeling as well as he has earlier this week, he still enjoyed it. Playing with Junior was top on his list of things he wanted to do this week. Dad was not feeling well enough to go to the afternoon show. I went and recorded much of the music. When I got back to the room, he was asleep. When he woke up he was sick at his stomach. I hope he can hang on and be able to go the final music session tonight. At 5:15 p.m. an announcement was made over the intercom that we will be stopping in Nassau to allow a sick passenger to be taken off the ship. No word on whether that will impact our arrival time in Port Canaveral, which is scheduled for 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. We made it to dinner. Dad only ate navy bean soup and sherbet. So, I had to eat two meals to make it come out right. I had both the shrimp and the prime rib. Very good! The closing bluegrass program was great. Dad was able to sit through the entire show that ended at 11:30. The bands shuffled their members and played with all new guys. They did a good job. We set our three checked bags out and they have been taken somewhere. We hope to be reunited with them when we get off the ship tomorrow morning.

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