Houston to Barcelona: Departure from Houston

Transatlantic Departure:  Sunday 11:00

Houston to Barcelona, Spain

            Our thanks to good friends David and Tammy Buford for driving us to Bush IAH where Princess Cruises had a bus waiting for us.  This was really convenient since we are leaving from the Port of Houston but returning home to IAH.  Our friends took our car home and when we return H in 20 days, we will have a car and driver waiting to take us home.

            Anyhow, I made myself comfortable on the bus, dozed off and woke up just as we were approaching the Cruise Terminal.  Our bags went ahead by truck and were deposited outside our room later in the day.  The boarding process was incredibly easy since only about a third of the passengers got on in Houston.  We'll pick up the other 2600 in Fort Lauderdale.

            Our balcony stateroom this cruise is on the Carib Deck (10). We met our cabin steward, Randy, who seems eager do whatever it took to make our cruise comfortable, including bringing six extra fluffy pillows so MA can convert her twin bed into a sit-up sleeping recliner. Her rented wheelchair was waiting in the closet. FYI: The ship is very wheelchair friendly! I wheel her around trying to avoid bumping into corners or worse yet to other passengers!  I call this bonding as she reminds me to drive carefully.

            Because our next order of business was lunch, we made our way to the 15th deck where we joined a couple from Austin, Texas, Luigi and his wife Mary.  Luigi is a retired doctor, Neurologist. He has homes over the place, from Buenos Aires to Vancouver! They were fun to talk to and get to know.  When we told him we were from Cypress, he recognized the place as the location and origin of many of his municipal bond investments.

            All our bags arrived and were waiting for us outside our door.  We spent the next hour unpacking and hanging up clothes.  The great thing about cruising is you only do this once.  We had dinner later and met some more nice people.  It looks like this is going to be a great cruise.  See you later.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida.........Day 3

Fort Lauderdale Departure

            We have spent the last two days in the Gulf of Mexico cruising around the Florida Peninsula and docking at Fort Lauderdale this morning.  We have met some great people from all across the US at breakfast, lunch and dinner.  On Tuesday afternoon I hosted a veterans get-together of about 30 vets, including a USAF female master sergeant.  We are doing a lot of reading and relaxing, watching movies I downloaded.  Ship-life this time is not exactly as we would have liked, but it is exactly what we need to rest and recover.