FINALLY. I have time to sit down and post here from the Mariner. Well I really did have time but I have been VERY lazy and sleeping in and then the day has been full. Been a busy couple of weeks with the office move I think I have been catching up on my rest.

Love having Captain Felice and Davor the GM onboard. We have been sailing with them a lot recently and most of the people in our group know them. So that makes it very nice. At our cocktail party last night Davor arrived sporting all of his collected pins. That was great everyone enjoyed seeing those and figuring out what cruises they had been on with Davor. We have pictures that Ken will post soon. It was a very noisy party with a lot of laughs and people stayed over past 7.30 pm. It took us 15 minutes to get our dinner dates out of the party.

We arrived in the dining room to find only two 6 top tables left. We selected one of the small side areas of the dining room against the middle wall. It worked out well it was pretty quiet there and no one was around us. You did get the glare from the kitchen but I think the benefits of that table outweighed that glare from the kitchen for the ones facing the kitchen. Might do that again.

This time we are in cabin 730. I always considered this a bad cabin. It is right next to the casino and next to the casino toilets. I could imagine "ding ding" all night from the slot machines and the "flush" of the bathroom next door. Never booked anyone in this cabin unless absolutely necessary. Well I am pleased to report that the storage closet between our cabin and those bathrooms blocks all sound. We hear absolutely nothing and this is a very convenient location right off the public area on deck 7. So what I was thinking was a bad assignment turned out very nicely and I am pleased I now know this is a good cabin after all.

Weather been pretty smooth and sunny. 80 degrees each day. The cruise started off with two days at sea. Lovely way to start. PBS and the Artful Traveler are onboard. So there were lectures at 10.00 am and 2.00 pm each day mostly on the NOVA channel productions and of course politics. This program is offered n a few select cruises and feature lectures and cocktail parties. It is free to all guests and to get details you sign up ahead of time on your booking. If you did not sign up ahead of time you can sign up onboard and be part of everything. This is a nice program and very well received. Plus Terry Breen gave two lectures so it has been a very busy schedule.

We played one game of hearts - three ladies one man. The man lost and the ladies all tied for first place. Maybe I should stop there? Cannot get much better than that from the female point of view.

Today we have a port call but we do not arrive until noon and our tour is at 2.00 pm. For me so far this is a perfect cruise, just what I needed. No early mornings, good friends, great staff and good food. As all my tee shirts say LIFE IS GOOD.

Be back later.