Wednesday October 21, 2015 Las Vegas, NV

Our meeting time for disembarkation was 5:30.  We were up at 4:30.  We went to the dining room designated as out meeting place.  They didn't have any coffee out.  We went ashore to the bus at 5:30 and were at the airport by 6:30.  We were told that we could check in for our flight 2 hours before departure time.  Inside at the United ticket counter we were almost last in line.  Most of the people from our bus were there.

The St. Lawrence River showing
the strips of farmland

There was one agent working.  She had two women at the desk and was on and off the phone.  This went on for over an hour before security escorted the two away.  Time for our 8:25 flight was getting close before we were checked in.  Once the wheelchairs arrived we were whisked through security and directly on to the airplane.  This airplane was a United Express flight with a row of window seats one one side and an aisle and window seat on the other.  It was a 2 1/2 hour flight to Chicago.  We got our coffee on this flight.

Korean Air on the ground at Chicago

The wheelchairs met us in Chicago and whisked us what seemed to be 3 miles including 3 sets of elevators to our connecting flight.  We passed all the food courts and were taken directly on the airplane for our flight to Las Vegas.  We didn't have anytime for shopping or getting anything to eat.  We had seats together on this flight.  The airplane was a 737 but had more legroom than any we had ever flown on.  They only serve sandwiches and snack boxes, for a price of course,  Finally we had something to eat.  It was a rough flight, the fasten seatbelts sign never went off.

Other foreign airplanes on the ground in Chicago

God even supplies scenery in the sky

We arrived in Las Vegas at 2:30.  There had been wheelchairs to meet us but people that got off the airplane before us commandeered them.  After some delay we had our chairs, claimed our baggage and met Montyne at the passenger pickup area.

A quick view of Lake Mead

Over Paradise Valley

On the ground

Once we got unloaded at our house, Gerri took Neva to the ER at Centennial Hospital.  Her doctor had ordered the visit.  The wound was examined and clean and redressed and recommendations for a podiatrist were issued.


















Except for Neva's injury and my having to use a walker for safety, this was a good cruise.  We saw new places met an old friend, made new friends and saw some great fall colors.  I was a little disappointed in not having found caches in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.  Prince Edward Island was not my fault and I made a mistake and the caches I downloaded for Quebec were over 3000 miles away.  I never had a cellular data connection to do a local inquiry. We plan to be part of a RV caravan to the Canadian Maritime Provinces next year.  The caravan ends in Quebec, I may do better then.  Gerri checked and we only need 3 more days at sea to move up in the Princess loyalty award to Elite.  That will mean free laundry and some other embarking and disembarking privileges.  Based on that we may do a short cruise out of Los Angeles in mid-November.

Tuesday October 20, 2015 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Our tour was set to meet at 8:15.  We got up early enough to have our coffee and breakfast before going to the Princess Theater and ashore.  We went out the bus area to start our tour.  We were docked in Quebec but it was quite a jaunt to the bus parking area, but still better than taking the tenders ashore.

Beautiful painting on side of building

It was cloudy and cold.  Our first stop was in a restored section of lower Quebec.  Quebec was founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain and is the only remaining walled city north of Mexico.  It is also one of the oldest cities in North America. The lower city has many cobble stone streets.

Weird art 

Chateau Frontenac

British General Wolf

Of course the city has expanded outside  the walls.  We toured the Battleground Park.  This park is part of the Plains of Abraham, on Sept 23, 1759 the decisive battle for possession of Canada was fought here during the French and Indian War.  In Europe this was known as the 7 years War between the English and French.  Some of the roots of the American Revolution come from the believers by Briton's that the American colonies should pay part of the expense of the war, thus the taxation without representation.

Battleground Park

A chapel on the way to St. Anne

The tour then went out to the countryside where we were shown examples of the homes that were typical in what was then known as New France.  We had lunch at an inn called Auberge Baker.  The leaves were in full color near the inn.

One of several Root Cellars

Another style Root Cellar

Neva at the Inn

A road up a hill

Inside the main church

We then traveled to a basilica dedicated to seamen.  Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre.  This was a huge ornate Catholic Church, the current building completed in 1934.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupr%C3%A9

The chuch in the basement

One of a few exact copies of Michelangelo's Pieta

Montmorency Falls

After visiting St. Anne's we made a stop at Montmorency Falls.  The guide said these falls are taller than Niagara Falls.  They may be taller but they are not nearly as impressive.  http://www.sepaq.com/ct/pcm/index.dot?language_id=1

Gerri and me at Montmorency Falls

After a stop at near the top of the falls we continued on to a drive around the Ile d'Orleans. http://tourisme.iledorleans.com/en/ Before we returned to the ship.  The Island is mostly agriculture with a few villages.

Quebec City from across the St. Lawrence River

The day had been cold and windy with very little sunshine.  I discovered that I had made a mistake when downloading caches in the Quebec City area.  I missed finding a cache in Quebec Provence.  I hope to get some caches in the area next year when we do the RV caravan to the Maritimes.

Back on the ship. Neva went to her doctor appointment.  Gerri started packing.  Our meeting time is 5:30 AM tomorrow for our transportation to the airport.

Tonight for dinner we sat with the people at the next table, part of their party didn't come to dinner.  We took their place.

Back at the cabin we were ready for bed shortly after getting the rest of our luggage ready to be loaded for the trip to the airport.

Monday October 19, 2015 At Sea on the St. Lawrence Seaway

Entrance to the St. Lawrence Seaway

This was our scheduled day at sea and we had entered the St. Lawrence Seaway.  We slept in and then ordered our coffee and breakfast.  It was cold out so we stayed in the cabin except a few times we went on the balcony for pictures.  Most of the day we were in sight of shore, sometimes very close.

Entering the Saguenay Fjord

There is supposed to be the face of an Indian there somewhere

Our view of the statue

At the start of the cruise I had put in a shout out for a meeting of geocachers.  The time was set for today at 4:15.  From the logs of caches that I had found, I knew there were at least two other cachers on board.  As the time for the meeting approached we were reaching a point in the fjord. There was a statue on the hillside, Notre Dame du Saguenay.

A view of the statue from the Internet

At 4:15 we met with the other cachers in the Wheelhouse Bar.  There were two other couples that were cachers and a third couple that had heard about caching and wanted to learn more. We met for about an hour exchanging stories and experiences.  The other cachers were Jim Powell, from Ontario, JRP43 and Roger Perss, from Illinois, FeastBeast2.

Neva went to the doctor.  He removed 4 more stitches.  The doctor again advised taking it easy with as little walking as possible.

We also went to the Internet Café and caught up on computer chores.  Internet service in the cabin is still poor.

Baked Alaska and our junior waiter

We had dinner at our usual time and place.  Tonight they had the parade of the Baked Alaska, but will be serving it tomorrow.  We planned to go to the Crooners Lounge for the piano player but he quit early because of the balloon drop celebrating the 50 year anniversary for Princess Cruise Lines.  We didn’t stay for that.  

Our singing Maitre D'hotel, Hector

We were ready for bed at midnight but had to adjust our alarm because tonight the clock goes back an hour and the iPad hasn’t reset.  The reason for the alarm was that our tour in Quebec meets at 8:25.

Sunday October 18, 2015 At Sea In Route Quebec City

A ghostship or break in the cloud front

We were awaken at 7:30 by a ship wide announcement that we would not be making port in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.  The Captain didn’t belief that it was safe to maneuver to a dock in the small harbor due to gale force winds (30 knots.)

We saw a lot of changing clouds

We went back to sleep for a while before ordering our coffee and breakfast.  It was a pretty lazy day.  Actually a good thing, Neva was able to stay off her foot most of the day.  She only ventured out for her doctor visit and to dinner.

While Neva visited the doctor, Gerri and I went to the Internet Café and caught up on computer chores.  On Neva’s visit to the doctor, he removed one stitch so the wound could heal better from the inside out.  More advice to stay off the foot as much as possible.

Dressed for dinner

Gerri and I went to the Skywalker for hors d’oeuvres.  Tonight was the shrimp fountain.  We met Neva back in the cabin and dressed for dinner.  This was our last formal night.  After dinner Gerri and Neva went to the Crooner’s lounge and listened to the piano player for a while.

The sea has been a little rougher today, but not much.  The Captain did a good job of skirting the storm front.

Saturday October 17, 2015 At Sea between Sydney, Nova Scotia and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Panoramic view off our balcony

We started our day as usual with coffee and breakfast in our cabin.  We hadn’t booked any tours for today so we didn’t have to hurry for anything.  On the shore opposite where we were docked there were houses and open spaces  There were a few taller buildings.

They have an affinity for fiddle music

A statue in the park near a geocache I found

The Carpet Bowling course

Around 1PM Gerri and I went to Deck 5 in the Piazza which is near the Internet Café and considered a Public area.  We can get on the internet somewhat faster in these areas.  We collected our emails and posted yesterday’s blog on Facebook. 

At 2:15 Gerri and I went to the Wheel House Lounge, where we played carpet bowling.  Carpet Bowling is a modified version of Bocce Ball.  There were six players and we played three rounds. I was amazed with the results, I won.  The prize was one of the highly sought after Princess lanyards.

The winning form

After the bowling I went ashore and found a geocache.  This find was my first in Sydney and my second in the province of Nova Scotia and my 5033^rd find overall.

I met Gerri in the Skywalker on Deck 18 for hors d’oeuvres while Neva kept her appointment with the ship’s doctor.  Neva joined us later.  From this high point of the ship we could see much of the harbor.  There were a few small boats moving around but the harbor wasn’t very busy.  It may be the time of the year.  We watched a couple of wedding parties come and go taking pictures in a small park and marinas near the stern of the ship.

The end off the Cruise show

We saw the sunset and then went to our cabin at rest before dinner.  I had partaken of too many of the hors d’oeuvres and was uncomfortably full before finishing dinner,  After dinner we went to the Princess Theater and watched the International Cruise Show.  It feature 6 of the talented members of the crew and the ship’s orchestra.

 

We were late getting back to the cabin and went to bed shortly after wards.