by JudyJB » Sat Mar 27, 2021 11:36 pm
Picked up my replacement electric heater and a couple of other things today. Also got some printer paper at Walmarts. Not much else since I am being really lazy.
I was lucky enough to take the QE2 from New York to England twice, except once was England to NY. England to NY was best because each day was 25 hours long! (NY to England each day was only 23 hours long.) Had a teeny tiny, windowless single room, which don't exist on very many ships any more. Barely room for a single bed, a dresser, and a place to stand to get dressed, plus a tiny bathroom. Loved the five lazy days on board. Not as expensive as you would think because fee included one-way airfare. We got a late start, so best part was crossing the Atlantic at 30 knots or 34 MPH, and no "cruise" ship can do that now that she is retired from service. New Queen Mary can almost hit that speed, but nothing could beat QE2 for a couple of decades before when the SS United States was retired. Her speed is still a national secret.
And, speaking of cruises, in summer 2019, I was camped at Fort Flagler State Part at the eastern tip of the Olympic Peninsula, overlooking the in Washington. I could watch the ferries leaving Port Townsend and heading across Puget Sound. Well, I kept seeing this big ships heading out every evening, so I got out my binoculars and was able to figure out that they were cruise ships leaving Seattle to go to Alaska!! So, I looked up the ships and found out there were 14-day cruises that went all the way to Anchorage and 7-day cruises that went to Skagway and Glacier Bay. I checked out the prices and found out that if you waited until three weeks before sailing, the prices dropped by 50%. Typical for a double with a porthole was about $599 per person, and a little more for a double with a balcony. Can't remember how you got back because most were one-way, but price was not bad, so I called my friend from New York and asked her if she was game for a cheap Alaskan cruise, and she said yes. But of course, this past summer was COVID, which messed up everything. I like small ships over the big "apartment blocks" as the British call the big ships, and Holland America has one with only 1,200 passengers.
Maybe in a year or two....
Getting my second shot on Wednesday. Yea!!!