EMBARKATION DAY!

Passau, Germany

Sunday, October 26, 2018

Wow! I’m doing such a great job with keeping up with this blog! As I write it’s Friday, two days before the cruise ends and I’m blogging about getting onboard ship! At this rate I’ll finish covering the cruise about the time Frank and I get home at the end of November.

Oh well, pressing on….After a good night’s sleep in the Hotel Wilder Mann it was time to board the ship. With the little VW station wagon Frank had rented it took four trips to get all 6 of us and our luggage to the ship. Fortunately the rain had stopped and it was only 60 degrees. We got our luggage to dockside and the crew loaded it all aboard, stacking it in every conceivable flat space in the passageways. We couldn’t get into our rooms until three o’clock.

Amazingly we discovered that since I was a second timer on the cruise line and since I had paid double occupancy that I could upgrade to a Suite at an amazingly cheap price. Since this comes with a butler and all other kinds of amenities (can anyone spell ‘they’ll wash my clothes every day for free!!!) I jumped at the chance. If you look on the ship’s deck plan (I think it’s in one of the pictures from a previous post) I’m in 402 with a balcony.

The S.S. Maria Theresa is only two years old. The SS stands for ‘Super Ship’ so it’s loaded with all kinds of electronic gadgets...touch button light switches (really takes getting used to how long to leave your finger on the button our it flashes like and SOS signal) to an electronic window switch the opens and closes the window…….well, at least it’s supposed to open and close the window. I haven’t tried mine (I’m too cold natured--I’ve actually got the heat on in my room and everyone else is roasting). (Have you ever noticed my grammar is like Paul’s epistles? In Greek they are a nightmare with run-on sentences, thoughts interjected into the middle of other thoughts?? No? Really? And here i was about to compare myself with one of the world’s greatest journalists.)

At any rate, pressing on again...the windows. They come down easily enough but when you start to put them up they move about an inch every time you press the button. Being a good clergyman I shall not express the sentiments my cruisemates evoke at the please of using this highly sophisticated technology.

I must say, my butler has been superb! She anticipates my every want and is so gracious.

Okay. We’re now aboard ship and firmly ensconced in our rooms, but--wait!--there’s more! We don’t set sail until tomorrow (Monday) so we have another full day in Passau. Covering my shopping adventures will

be the subject of my next thrilling episode of “Blogging your way down the Blue Danube which ain’t blue at all but a muddy brown!”

Till then…..

Blessings and Peace!