Another Most Excellent Adventure

Skip and I are on a most excellent adventure at sea. The night before we flew to Florida, I couldn’t sleep. I was fretting about having overweight luggage as I had to bring a second suitcase full of knitting equipment for the classes I would be teaching. The next morning, I went online only to find that all my worrying was for nothing - Southwest has a very generous luggage allowance - 2 pieces of checked luggage with a 50 pound limit per piece plus an unweighed carryon with dimensions within 10" x 16" x 22" plus a ‘personal item’ (i.e. purse). I was SO relieved.

Our ship, the Crystal Serenity, is a very luxurious ship that accommodates about 1000 passengers. We have a deluxe stateroom with a verandah with a fridge that is always stocked with beer, pop, and bottled water. Crystal is an all-inclusive cruise line so there is no extra charge for pop, coffee, standard wine, booze, tips, etc. Since our last cruise, each guest gets 60 minutes of free Wifi per day that rolls over if not used. Basically, it’s like afloating 6-star resort.

Customarily, I was scheduled to teach on the ‘at sea’ days of which there are 4 on this cruise. However, more classses have been scheduled for the guests so at least two more knitting classes were added for today and tomorrow. My knitters have been very enthusiastic including one guest who, when she, a few months ago, saw my name on the entertainment list for this sailing, looked me up on Ravelry and sent me a message that she’d be on the cruise I was scheduled for. She is very enthusiastic and decided to meet at our teaching place every day, class or not, for a sit and knit. Last cruise, I had beginner knitters at every class which occupied most of my time. This cruise, I’ve only had one beginner (a left hander I taught to knit by just having her sit facing me and mirroring what I did as a right-hander). She was thrilled to master the long-tail cast-on and knit stitch after years of being told she would never be able to learn to knit left-handed. I was very happy for her. Today, during class, a gal who was eating nearby (I teach in a café) asked if I could teach her how to knit. I assured her that I most certainly would be happy to do so at tomorrow’s class.

After a day at sea (on which I taught my first class) we docked at Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos. This is my favourite beach destination as the beach is about 200ft from the end of the dock. We spent the morning there where I dipped myself in the crystal clear, turquoise water. The next day (yesterday) we anchored at Samana, Dominican Republic. However, it was pouring rain and many of the guests didn’t want to be tendered ashore in the rain so not many guests disembarked. Today was a beautiful day as we anchored off Virgin Gorda BVI, so Skip and I went ashore to stand on ‘terra firma’ for the first time since Grand Turk. There really isn’t much of a shopping area where we docked and we didn’t sign up for an excursion, so we just walked around a bit, found a free Wifi connection, sent some annoying ‘here we are in Virgin Gorda and it’s 30C’ photos home and went back to the ship for lunch, a bit of a nap, and preparations for today’s class. Tomorrow we anchor off St. Barth’s FWI - a very high end island where wealthy French people frolic and millionaires dock their yachts and boats. Skip and I will walk to a very nice beach in the morning, do some swimming, and again, return to the ship for lunch (God forbid we miss a meal), a wee nap, and prepare for my 3:15 class. The next day we anchor at Guadeloupe. We have no excursions planned so may just tender ashore and walk around a bit. Then there’s a sea day (another knitting class for me) before we arrive at Bonaire. One of the Dutch ABC (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) islands. Skip Googled it and learned there is a donkey sanctuary only 7 km from the port which we hope to visit.

I have been knitting an Escher sock using Regia Blitz yarn. I should have just knit a ribbed sock as the pattern really gets lost in the faux fair isle pattern. Oh well.  I finished the first sock and started the second, but bailed on it and have just cast on yet another Business Casual sock.

Right now then satellite Wifi onboard is very slow so I won't upload any photos. Hopefully soon.

Until next time...