Our First Cruise: Arriving Home (Sunday)

We arrived back in Florida Sunday morning around 8:00 am and departed around 9-9:30 am.

Sitting on the Lido deck waiting to disembark.

The guys--Ed, Nick, and Tim.

All-in-all it was a great trip. We wish there were more activities during the day but if we had known better, we might have planned our time differently. We sailed on Carnival Sensation which we understand is one of the older ships so it's lacking some of the amenties on newer, larger ships. My sister also indicated that the Disney cruises had more activities and more food options. However, Carnival was significantly less expensive, so I guess you get what you pay for.

Would we do it again? Absolutely! Seeing the Bahamas was quite a site! And we did upgrade to a balcony room and that was so well worth it as well. I could have simply sat on our balcony and been happy. But we did partake in the activities and that was fun as well. It's true you get out of it what you put in into it and what your expectations are. A great, short getaway (that seemed much longer than 3 days)...a perfect way to refresh after the events of the power outage!

Our stateroom...looking towards the balcony.

Desk area.

Looking back towards the entrance from near the desk.

Bathroom--toilet and sink (looking towards the left from the doorway).

Bathroom--shower (lookings towards the right from the doorway).

Across from the bed--TV and connecting door to next stateroom.

Our room was the extended balcony, bottom level, last one on the right.

The Carnival Sensation docked in Nassau.

Our First Cruise: Day 3 (Saturday)

The last day (Saturday) was a "day at sea". We basically hung out, went to the casino, sat by the pool, watched people, had the "drink of the day", ate, played bingo, participated in trivia games, and played mini golf.

It was quite windy that day.

But we found a sunny location that wasn't too windy.
Had our "drink of the day" and some pizza while hanging out here.

The early morning while I was out getting coffee.

Playing mini golf with Nick and Lexi.  It was definitely windy up there!

Lexi singing and dancing with our waiter Roberto at dinner.

A seal for our final evening.

Lido deck at night.

Our First Cruise: Day 2 (Friday)

Friday morning we watched a beautiful sunrise from our balcony.  I hit the jogging track on the top level and brought coffee back to our stateroom for us to enjoy while sitting on the balcony.  We then had breakfast at the buffet and then arrived in Nassau, Bahamas by noon.

Ed watching the sunrise from our balcony.

The blue seas of the Bahamas.

Arriving in Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau, Bahamas

We purchased a "Sea and See" excursion which included a submarine-like ride underwater to see the fish, coral, sponges, etc., followed by a brief bus tour of Nassau. Ed and I then walked over to a nearby beach where we had a drink, jerk chicken, and collected some beach sand for Dan. It was quite windy, but the water was so warm and we still cannot believe how blue the water was.

A small number of straw markets at the top of the hill in Nassau.
Nothing compared to the number down in the city.

The nearby beach we walked to.

On the beach!

Having drinks and jerk chicken on the beach.

Me on the Beach in Nassau.

We did souvenir shopping at the straw market and the stores along that area before heading back to the ship around 6:30 PM. What was most surprising was that the stores and market closed at 6 PM! Ed and I missed the sit-down dinner (elegant night) and so went to the buffet that night for dinner.

The buffet-style dining room.  You got used to the neon colors!

Friday nite we played trivia games in the main lounge. Having Lexi there to encourage us and make us sit in the front row to play made it actually more fun and enjoyable. Having the kids gave us reasons to act like kids and we also participated in a scavenger hunt earlier in the day.

Ed being a good sport and playing in "Carnival Conquest".

Lexi showing off the "trophy" we all got for winning "Carnival Conquest".

We had a lot of fun and laughs. We then watched the musical song-and-dance show before heading back to our stateroom for the night.

An elephant for Friday night, some chocolates, and our FunTimes for Saturday.

Our First Cruise: Day 1 (Thursday)

Part of the inconvenience of the power outage was that we were taking our first cruise on November 10th.  So dealing with the power outage and trying to get ready for that was a bit stressful.  Things like printing boarding passes, getting departure information, and even packing was proving to be more difficult than usual.  Since our flight was at 6:30 AM on Thursday, Ed and I also booked a hotel room at the airport for Wednesday night.  Thankfully they got power restored so that was not an issue.  When we got to the hotel Wednesday night, though, it was amazing to see the number of electric company trucks at both our hotel and those in the surrounding area.  While we were checking in, crews from the electric company where changing shifts--a bunch of guys checking in and a bunch of guys going back out.

Anyhow, my sister Cathy has previously been on two Disney cruises and earlier this year she decided her family was going to take a 3-day Bahama cruise on Carnival.  She sent out an invitation to the rest of the family asking if any of us wanted to join them.  Since Ed and I have never been on a cruise, we figured a short, 3-day cruise, traveling with "experienced" cruisers, would be a good opportunity to try out cruising.  What a trip!

Our flight from Bradley to Orlando left at 6:30 am Thursday morning.

Tim, Cathy, Nick, and Lexi waiting to board.

Me and Ed at the airport.

We surprised the kids and rented a limo to Port Canaveral.  We easily boarded without any long lines and were on the ship before noon where we had some lunch, the "drink of the day" and then toured the ship and enjoyed the beautiful Florida weather.

In front of our limo

Starting our cruise with our "drink of the day"!

The ship departed dock at 4 PM.  Our first day was spent checking out our stateroom and just walking around the ship.  We went to an auction before dinner (where at the end whatever you bid/won, you received for free!) and then all of us went to dinner.  Unbeknowst to me, the seas were quite rough and many people were in their staterooms instead of dinner and going to shows.  Of course, this was my first cruise so the fact that you couldn't walk around without swaying and holding onto things I did not realize was not normal (but Tim explained that to me).  Thankfully (depending on how you look at it), I need to take Dramamine or Bonine for flying (I used Bonine on this trip), so I did not have any problems with sickness that first night.  In fact, the rocky lulled me to sleep that night.

Lido deck; departing Port Canaveral

Our towel animal the first night.

The Year Halloween Was Cancelled

By now we are all aware of the extent of the damage and the thousands of people without power.  When all was said and done, we were without power for a week and without cable/internet/phone for another week.  Of course everyone has their own story to tell and here's a brief version of ours...

Monday, October 31st

On Monday morning we found out that power was restored at my work and at Ed's work.  So both of us went into work.  It was amazing the number of people at work but with heat, internet access, and running water I think folks took advantage of that.  I know I did.  I brought food in for breakfast and lunch for a few days and kept it in their refrigerators.  With power at Ed's work and a small frig/freezer, he was able to bring a good portion (but not all) of our freezer food and store it there.  We were also able to charge cell phones, refill water containers, get a cup of hot coffee, etc.

Ed also called an electrician he knew in Amherst and he was able to come out Monday morning and redo our meter box and wiring.  It was quite disconcerting to see we were now totally disconnected from the power lines, but in the end, it was the right decision.  Ed also went to the Spirit Haus to get ice and a cooler for the refrigerator food (thank you Marvin).

My sister Marion in Greenfield had power restored on Monday and my sister Theresa and her two kids (who live in Palmer) headed up there for the night.

Branches cleared off our wires but also showing the branches down in our yard and our neighbors.

Tuesday, November 1st

At about 3:15 am, power was restored to my sister Cathy's house in Hadley.  The previous night Ed and I discussed options for showering--going to the high school which was setup as an emergency shelter or washing up in the sink at his work.  But once we heard my sister had power, we both headed over there to get a hot shower and then head to work.

We were now getting into a routine.  We thankfully have a gas insert in our fireplace so we were able to heat the living room (although without the blower the rest of the house was still cool).  We used the gas grill to heat water and cook dinner. And after dinner we watched a DVD on my laptop (since I could recharge the laptop the next day at work).  Thankfully we had filled several containers with water before we lost power so we had drinking water and water to heat on the grill, etc.  We also had buckets for "flushing" the toilets and were able to refill those during the day with the melting snow.  I am also SO thankful for my smart phone which enabled me to text my sisters to get information but also be connected with the outside world.  I have to say radio stations were not a very good source of information, but Facebook certainly was and I think a good number of us relied on our smartphones to get and share information.  I know I did!


Wednesday, November 2nd

Wednesday afternoon my mother's power was restored and so we packed up a bag and headed over there.  My mother was so excited to have power that she cooked a roast for dinner that night which was waiting for us upon our arrival!  We then stayed with my mother until our power was restored on Sunday morning.  We got into quite a routine and I wish we had more time together.  It was actually fun and thankfully by the time we left, we all were sorry that our time together was coming to an end.  I guess that's better than the alternative!

Our shed is underneath there...so thankful that the garage and house were not damaged.

Saturday, November 5th

I have to say, we were lucky in that the weather all week was fairly good.  The days and evenings were cool enough to enable storing food outside, but warm and sunny enough to get work done outside.  On Saturday, Ed (with some friends) worked in the yard to cleanup brush, etc.  I worked in the house and cleaned out the remainder of the frig and also put away the Halloween decorations.  A crew from National Grid came by and reattached the wires to the house (since we were ready and waiting!!).  What nice guys and I thanked them profusely for all their hard work.  I don't care what others say, but I appreciate those who worked for National Grid and Charter to get things back up and running.  It was a tremendous mess and there was no magic button or technology that was going to make it happen any faster.  It was human beings on the ground, working hard many hours a day and I appreciate all their hard work.

Ed clearing the trees off the shed....and the crushed shed.

Back yard with the brush cleared and trees cut up.

Sunday, November 6th

Power is restored at our house! What an exciting day!! I can't remember everything we did that day, but I did use hot, soapy water from the faucet (!) to wash out the refrigerator and freezers before we restocked them.  We emptied out coolers and did laundry and vacuumed.   Cable/internet/phone was estimated to be restored by Thursday, Nov 10th.  So while at my mother's (and using her internet!) I added the hotspot option to my phone.  That way we had "some" level of internet connection while at home (which was invaluable!).

When all was said and done--we all survived.  We learned to "rough" it but more importantly we learned to appreciate all those things we take for granted every single day--electricity, heat, running water and family and friends and even strangers who reached out to help each other!

The Power Goes Out

Saturday, Oct 29th:  Evening

After we lost power, we finished dinner, put dishes in the dishwasher.  The snow was piling up much more quickly and heavier than originally predicted.  Around 9 PM, we could hear what ended up being branches snapping and crashing to the ground. As we looked out into the darkness it was only the shadows on the white snow that gave us an idea of what had fallen.  You would hear the cracking and a softer crash indicated it was further away.  One of the loudest occurred was when the wires were torn off the house.  I could see the shadow outside the office window and when we shone the flashlight out the window, we certainly could see the wires on the ground.  In my naivete at that time, I called National Grid to report it.  That was about 10 PM.  We then went to bed to try to get some sleep.  However, I have to say it was one of the scariest nights I ever experienced.  You would lie in bed and hear the cracking and just pray that nothing fell on the roof of the house.  As we were lying in bed, another very loud crash shook the house and we could see a large tree across the back yard and were quite sure it took out our shed behind the garage.  Somehow that evening we slept.  Waking in the morning light showed the extent of the damage.

Sunday, Oct 30th:  Early Morning

As we awoke, the damage was devastating...  Tree and large branches were all over the ground.  A second branch took down another portion of wires to our house.  Yes, the shed was crushed.  It appeared the house and garage survived unscathed.  Looking across to our neighbors, it didn't look so bad...a few branches down but his wires to his house were still intact.  Ed and I then ventured outside.  Ed moved some of the branches blocking the driveway while I ventured down the street.  That is when the full extent of the damage really sank in.  There were wires down across our street, many houses with wires torn off the house, tree limbs in the street and some still hanging perilously in the power lines.  The road was unpassable not only due to the damage, but due to the snow.  The total snowfall was closer to 18" than 6".  As I walked towards Route 9, the damage clearly extended well beyond our little, dead-end street.  Route 9 (which is a state highway) was not yet plowed and there were abandoned cars in the road and trees and branches down that only allowed a small, single lane to get through.  Wires were down on Route 9 as well.  It was clear this was huge.  The words used by several people to describe what we saw was "war zone" and that pretty much summed it up.

Back yard Sunday morning...This picture is pretty with the snow and blue sky totally opposite of the evening before.

Front yard showing the wires pulled down.

 

Back yard with a fallen tree.

Route 9 looking east.

Snow is Predicted

Today they are predicting some snow for the region.  It's way too early for snow, but they are quite sure it will hit us.  Snowfall totals for our area were at first 1-3", then upped to 2-4".  Ed and I went out to do our weekly grocery shopping, but got to the stores early since people were freaking out.  We weren't freaking out (yet) and reports were that power outages would be likely due to the fact that leaves were still on the trees and the weight of the snow would likely cause a power outage.

So after getting groceries we headed home to cleanup the yard.  We put away all the yard decorations and lawn furniture that had been out for the summer.  Although we usually don't do this until November, it needed to be done, so better to do so before we got a couple inches of snow.

I was also super productive and got the house cleaned, laundry done, and dishwasher run...just in case we lost power.  Last time we lost it for 12 hrs, so this way I didn't have to worry about what I wasn't going to get done on Sunday if we did lose power.  Ed also filled a couple containers with water so that we had some drinking water and water to flush the toilets as needed.

We were scheduled to go to Hardwick for a surprise birthday dinner for Ed's mother.  Ed was worried about driving back through the Quabbin, at night, with several inches of snow on the ground.  He called his sister Mary and said that we were just going to watch the weather.  Mary was also worried about Billy and Courtney driving from Brimfield as well.

By 2 PM, the snow had started--several hours earlier than originally predicted.  Within 10 mins, we had a good coating.  By this time, they had also upped the snowfall total to about 6".  So we decided we were not driving to Hardwick...it wasn't the drive out that we were worried about, but more so what we might encounter later in the evening while trying to drive home.

At 6:50 PM, while eating dinner, the power went out...

Columbus Day Weekend

Columbus Day weekend was absolutely gorgeous.  In fact, it was a bit freakishly warm with temperatures in the 80s.  We would have liked to go away for the weekend, but unfortunately I was sick with some type of flu-like symptoms, so we stayed home and did a couple things around home.  If I was feeling better, I would have spent a lot more time outside, but we found a balance between getting out and about and me being able to stay home and rest.

Saturday we ventured over to the Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton. Some very cool stuff, but VERY expensive! Most things were in the hundreds of dollars and some were in the thousands. We did buy one thing (as a Christmas gift) but it was under $50 which was a rare thing to find. Part of the fun, though, was checking out the prices. A beautiful jacket for $800; a necklace for $4500... Really?? It was entertainment for sure!

On Monday we headed up to the Hardwick Winery and did their wine tasting and bought some wine.

On the way home, we stopped at the Quabbin Reservoir. It was a beautiful day so we spent time walking around the Quabbin and enjoying the views.  We even ran into a few people we knew!  I forgot what a great place this is to visit.

All and all a nice weekend!