We're back

Joanandjoe · April 26, 2007

We had a great cruise on the rivers and canals of The Netherlands and Belgium, and got back Monday afternoon. Since then, things have become an adventure. In the first 30 hours after we returned home (5:15 p.m. Monday):

a) We had a blackout, which lasted two hours, at 5:50, 35 minutes after we got home. The computer was loading 555 missed emails, and had loaded 548 of them when the power went out. When power came back on, it loaded all 555, so we had duplicates of almost everything - more than 1100 emails to sift through. Meanwhile, we couldn't restock the house or open the fridge, and had to eat at a restaurant. Joan, who doesn't have a cell phone, had already gone to the grocery at 5:45 to restock the house, and I caught her at the checkout. She had to put everything back on the shelves.

b) The next morning, Tuesday, we woke up, brought in the morning paper, and saw the lead headline. Our druggist, whom we'd be using for almost 30 years, was arrested for selling outdated drugs (that charge was dropped on the following day) and for repackaging and selling doctors' samples. A shock to say the least.

c) About 5 hours later, we heard that the Father of a friend had died. The funeral was yesterday.

d) Finally, at about 9:30 Tuesday night, our water heater burst, spilling the entire contents of the tank onto the basement floor. We called a plumber who couldn't come immediately, then the Fire Department. The firemen left at around midnight, so there was no chance to sleep off our jet lag.

With all of that going on, we're way behind on everything, so it probably will be another 10 days or so before we can write a review.

rogue · April 26, 2007

Well, welcome back from your cruise, Joan & Joe (I guess). Glad you enjoyed your cruise, but sorry to hear about the "adventures" you had on your return. I hope everything gets quickly solved.

JoeyandDavid · April 26, 2007

Joan and Joe Welcome back to the real world... Glad you had a great cruise....

my condolences to you on behalf of your Friends family..

joey

hazelson · April 26, 2007

Welcome home - but it sounds like you need another hoilday right now! :o)

KeithnRita · April 26, 2007

J&J, we are glad you had a nice cruise. So sorry for the aftermath as it sounds like the cruise needed to be a couple days longer. Our condolences to your friend's Father.

SCIROCCO · April 26, 2007

Welcome home J&J sorry to hear about your friends father May he rest in peace

Joanandjoe · April 28, 2007

Thanks, everyone.

Things have calmed down a bit. We got our hot water back yesterday, at a cost that was more than round trip airfare for two to Amsterdam. We're almost over our jet lag, and have started to write our review of the cruise.

A River cruise certainly is different from an ocean cruise. Food (other than fruit and 4 p.m. pastries) is only available at meal times, there's very little entertainment, and the ships and cabins are small. On the other hand, you're never out of sight of land on both sides of the ship, waters are calm, and wine and most excursions are included. It's very enjoyable, and a good change of pace.

In the past five years, we've had nine vacations: 7 cruise vacations (including our last 4 and 6 of our last 7 vacations) with 8 cruises (B-2-B Med., Dutch, Bermuda, Eastern Carib., Western Carib., and two Canada/New England), one car trip (NYS and Ontario), and one plane trip without a cruise (Copenhagen). We're overdue for something other than a cruise, so our fall, 2007 vacation, if we have one (which is 50-50 at best), will be a car or airplane trip. We're cruised out for now. (Yes, that really is possible.)

jacketwatch · April 28, 2007

Sorry to hear of all your bad luck. Our H2O heater sprung on Thanksgiving day! Fortunately things didn't get too wet and a good friend of mine came over and patched it up until we could get a new one. Take care, Larry