Not that I had any real desire to go to San Francisco - but I am glad I did...the "Sail Under" of the Golden Gate Bridge was spectacular...I have sailed under the bridge before, in tour boats of various sorts, but I have NEVER been quite so close...it seems we cleared it by just a couple feet, and standing on the fantail as we went under, you could see the faces of the people lining the bridge to watch and wave.
And then, after docking, when we got off and started walking towards Pier 39, we caught a real break...Sunshine, glorious sunshine. Had to take my jacket off, it got so warm...a real surprise, after sailing all day thru fog. So, we walked from Pier 27 all the way to Ghirardeli Square (I forgot that last block was straight uphill, and on the way back went out the Hyde Street pier to look at the historic boats, stopped and had a bowl of clam chowder, got a sketch portrait down by a street artist (Mothers Day is coming), then walked out Pier 39 to watch the seals (some serious seal Sumo wrestling was going on, as two bulls fought for a spot), get a picture of Alcatraz, etc...all in all we spent 3 hours playing tourist and had to hurry back for dinner.
When we got back, we found our dining table had been re-assigned (the first night we were all the way in the back, and had to do some serious manuevering to get the wheelchair out). Not only did they get us a table right by the door, but the Maitre d' came and positively fawned, making sure our new table was right. Since a ton of passengers stayed in town for dinner, we spent pretty much the entire meal talking to our new waiters...I had the Jerked Pork Loin, which was as good as last time, Steve opted for the Penne Mariscos, which was loaded with shrimp, scallops and calamari - good dinner, great service.
After dinner we wandered the halls a little and listened to music. Paul and Linda, in the Atrium Lobby were excellent, Bruce, on the Promenade deck, outside the casino was as bad as I have ever heard on a ship, outside the Karaoke, and finally we ended up listening to the Legends Auditions...apparently the Legends show at the end of the crew has passenger/performers (as well as the regular entertainment cast)...the auditions were pretty much like the first episode of American Idol...from the ridiculous to the sublime. A couple of the passengers could easily be working on the ship, and a couple should really leave it in the shower. Most were just average, but they all deserve some credit just for giving it a shot!
Anyway, we finally sailed off at 10p.m., Steve went to bed and I closed out the night, you guessed it, at the Piano Bar....lot livelier crowd last night, including a couple celebrating their 60th Anniversary....nice to know it's possible, anyway...
Later
And then, after docking, when we got off and started walking towards Pier 39, we caught a real break...Sunshine, glorious sunshine. Had to take my jacket off, it got so warm...a real surprise, after sailing all day thru fog. So, we walked from Pier 27 all the way to Ghirardeli Square (I forgot that last block was straight uphill, and on the way back went out the Hyde Street pier to look at the historic boats, stopped and had a bowl of clam chowder, got a sketch portrait down by a street artist (Mothers Day is coming), then walked out Pier 39 to watch the seals (some serious seal Sumo wrestling was going on, as two bulls fought for a spot), get a picture of Alcatraz, etc...all in all we spent 3 hours playing tourist and had to hurry back for dinner.
When we got back, we found our dining table had been re-assigned (the first night we were all the way in the back, and had to do some serious manuevering to get the wheelchair out). Not only did they get us a table right by the door, but the Maitre d' came and positively fawned, making sure our new table was right. Since a ton of passengers stayed in town for dinner, we spent pretty much the entire meal talking to our new waiters...I had the Jerked Pork Loin, which was as good as last time, Steve opted for the Penne Mariscos, which was loaded with shrimp, scallops and calamari - good dinner, great service.
After dinner we wandered the halls a little and listened to music. Paul and Linda, in the Atrium Lobby were excellent, Bruce, on the Promenade deck, outside the casino was as bad as I have ever heard on a ship, outside the Karaoke, and finally we ended up listening to the Legends Auditions...apparently the Legends show at the end of the crew has passenger/performers (as well as the regular entertainment cast)...the auditions were pretty much like the first episode of American Idol...from the ridiculous to the sublime. A couple of the passengers could easily be working on the ship, and a couple should really leave it in the shower. Most were just average, but they all deserve some credit just for giving it a shot!
Anyway, we finally sailed off at 10p.m., Steve went to bed and I closed out the night, you guessed it, at the Piano Bar....lot livelier crowd last night, including a couple celebrating their 60th Anniversary....nice to know it's possible, anyway...
Later
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