As if you have not heard enough from me today, I am going to post some "people onboard" thoughts, for those who might be interested. I have been very tired all day, and now I am feeling like it is the middle of the day. Need to get to bed soon!

I have always been reticent about traveling by myself, as my experiences were limited to going alone on the Voyager shakedown cruise, which was great, and on two of Ngaire's group cruises, MCF, and the Black Sea this past August. If you are on Ngaire's group cruises, things seem to take care of themselves so long as you are sociable and reach out and make plans for that "dinner" thing, which is what most solo cruisers fear the most. So I will address this issue from a "solo" point of view, since when I am traveling with one of my kids I never even think about it, nor should anyone. To begin with, had Marcie and Tom not been aboard this segment, I probably never would have done it. I had at least one "link" to other passengers. I did not want to be a burden for them, since I knew that they were already settled in for plans for dinner etc. and I did not want to use them as my "crutch". I met several new cruisers on my pre-cruise excursion for two nights, and had dinner with 2 of the 3 couples I met. Along the way, I became acquainted with others, and dinner was not a problem, but I was active in trying to put together tables to get others who did not know each other to meet. The excursions I took led me to meet others traveling alone, and I enjoyed having dinner with several of them.

The long-time WC'ers have their own little group, which welcomed Marcie and Tom, and I met several of them through them. They were always most welcoming and gracious because of my connection with Marcie and Tom. On our overland excursion off the ship, I met a lady from Conn. traveling with her 94 year old mother. They were veterans from the Viking group that moved over to Radisson several years ago. We were about the same age, and discovered that two of our children had attended the same boarding same boarding school in Conn. We both had 4 kids, and a lot in common. We had dinner together with another single lady on the WC. When I said I wanted to include another lady I had met, she sort of said she preferred smaller tables. That was fine with me, and we enjoyed our dinner together. You notice that a lot of the old-time WC'ers don't get off the ship much. I saw a lot of them in the atrium each day as I would walk downstairs to the reception area on deck 5, just seeming to hold court or something. Their dress sets them off. Never stuff like Marcie and I wear, it is full-court press for country club casual for these ladies, including hats for many! Since I missed one of the formal nights, I can't report much, except to say that when I met my librarian friend in the Voyager lounge one formal night, a couple entered the lounge with a real flourish! They were on their honeymoon! She was dressed in a very formal gown that was apricot in color and had a sort of train behind it! The Colonel shouted to him as they left not to step on it! By the way, that Colonel is something. I think I got his hairs up one night when I probed his service in WWII, and he told me he didn't have to defend anything about it. Thing is, when I did the math figuring his age, he was about 16 when he was a Colonel doing his thing about reporting deaths to the families during the war. Not sure my math was correct. He was always in the Voyager lounge during dinner.

One night in VL I met a man about my age who was cruising with his mother for just this segment. He was a smoker, and found solace in our little group at the "back" end of the bar where it was allowed. Marcie made a big deal over him and what a good son he was to travel with her, and he really appreciated it! When we met her later, she looked to be more like his older sister! She told me she did not like being around a lot of people she had met who were on for the duration that were always complaining! I wish I had met her earlier and had the chance to have dinner with her without complaining. It is funny how fellow passengers can give a negative bent to a cruise. I try to stay away from them. Anyway, that's my "gossip", will add more as it comes to me.