Hello Seattle

We did a tour of the Boeing Factory. It was wonderful. Off to the Pike Market for a wander then found some gorgeous houseboats.

Richo had a plate of chips and oysters then we drove around the beaches, coastal communities and the city. The GPS has made the driving the Hyundai Elantra a joy. We found some fellow passengers and took them with us around the city and then went to dinner with them at the Steakhouse at Lynnwood across the road from the hotel we are staying at.

Day 22 Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas Cheekyricho cruise holiday

We didn't leave the room until 5.30pm. We watched more reruns of really old movies Dirk Bogart was the star when he was really young, that'll give you an idea of the vintage. The oldest passenger on board is 107 years old, she would probable have seen that as a girl, when the movie first came out.

We went for a wander and took photos of various parts of the ship. This is a sculpture which is several stories high and took up one of the foyers, the glass bubble elevators give a delightful view of each floor. When the doors open at a restaraunt level you can smell the dinner. I think that would be helpful for people with eyesight problems.

The formal dining room is 3 storeys high and hollow in the middle with a balcony around the inside and big picture windows outside looking out to sea or shore depending upon where you are.

They have a formal night every week and the tuxedos, dinner suits, frocks, jewels and finery are a splendour to behold.

We brought formal wear but haven't been able to use it much due to our health issues.

The deck temperature has dropped to 16 degrees Celsius and Richo challenged me to a game of shuffleboard. He beat me this time but we might make it best out of 37 games to find the true champion😉🤔

There are all different types of bread available including but not shown roti, gluten free and vegetarian breads along with waffles, French toast, pastries, croissants hamburger , hotdog buns to name a few. All baked fresh and delicious. My favourite is this brown toasted pepita spangled roll with icy cold butter. You guessed it, Richo goes for white. I tell you the man isn't very adventurous.

Every night there is a different theme. Last night was Caribbean. I was keen to try their jerk chicken. Holy Smokes is that stuff hot. Tonight they cooked you fresh crepes you could fill with various things and you could even select your own veges and noodles for them to stir fry fresh Thai Noodles while you wait. We have had delicious steaks cooked to our liking with various sauces, gravies and other condiments and accompaniments. The carvery has a different roast every night from chicken, beef, ham, lamb, pork and duck, turkey with all the traditional accompaniments and trimmings. Richo has Icecream every night and at lunchtime you can have a low fat flavoured frozen yoghurt cone out on the deck. 

Tonight was my favourite Tacos, chilli, refried beans, guacamole, sour cream, salad and salsa with a small bowl of Roasted Pablano Soup. It's the first meal I have been able to finish. With some sugar free lime juice and I didn't cough at all. Yay me!

Day 23 Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas Cheekyricho transpacific cruise holiday.

My recovery was short lived back to fever, coughing and snuffles. 

We went to the early stage show. It was incredibly loud. I loved the fact that the orchestra was housed in individual boxes behind the singers and dancers. It was a 70's & 80's revival. I was looking forward to it but I only recognised a couple of the songs. A couple of the dancers were quite overweight which surprised me as I have never seen dancers with rolls around their midriff. Then we went to dinner. It was a German theme night and Richo got all excited about the thought of sauerkraut, until he tasted it. The vinegar was so strong, it must have been reduced right down, it took your breath away and was so very salty it was inedible. We had weiswurst and they were nice. Richo pigged out on green peas with malt vinegar. When I met him he dined every night on meat, boiled potato, carrot or pumpkin and PEAS. No gravy but salt & tomato sauce on everything. Breakfast was weetbix and a cup of tea. How far has he come? Light years along the culinary trail but he is older and wider now so I have had to become the handbrake. He is like one of those dolls with no off switch , on his appetite. When he is beyond satisfied he has 3 scoops of Icecream. His justification.... We missed lunch.

My argument.... We aren't doing any excercise, the occasional waddle to and from the food trough, does not count.  With lungs functioning in less than 25% capacity, legs that feel like jelly and an insatiable thirst due to the cold medication the need to huddle in the sanctuary of our cabin has become our insulation from the real world.

We decided to go to the movies at 10.30pm to see Sisters the first half of it was one of the worst movies we have ever seen. I cannot pass judgement on the other half because we walked out along with a significant number of the remaining audience. I would've been very disappointed if I had paid to see it. Spoiler alert... Give it a huge miss,  it's not funny, it's crass, immature and irresponsible. There was not one single entertaining feature in it.

Richo has entered the extreme runny nose phase, lost his voice and confused as to why he is still so unwell. He is sympathetic to me now as he had no idea how ill I had been and dreadful he would feel

As he travelled through the various stages of the illness. He keeps asking me "how long did your headaches, runny nose, loss of appetite, light sensitivity, aches, temperature etc etc etc last?" He is trying to judge where he is along the road to recovery. Why ask me? I'm nowhere near there yet. His latest statement to summarise his 'Man-Flu' ""if I'd known I was gonna get this sick, I wouldn't have come!!!"

He has been watching reruns of Top Gear for days and taking a real interest inAmerican  Politics. Trump or not wot the?

With the help of my iPhone have discovered how many steps it takes to walk to breakfast LOL!

Day 21 Royal Caribbean Cheekyricho Explorer of the Seas Cruise Holiday.

This little turtle wandered around the bar oblivious to the patrons.

Arousing the interest of a dog that had never seen a turtle before, she was very nervous, then curious and then brave, well a little bit brave. Her tail was tucked so far under her tummy it looked like a g-string.

Back in the cabin and we had the little dog family made out of towels to greet us.

Made us miss our girls even more. I suppose you need a good imagination to see the resemblance but the coincidence of the little one hiding under the bigger dog wasn't lost on us.

To make matters worse just about every ad on the ships TV involving a dog looks like Tilly. 

We seem to have had a short respite from our flu symptoms which has returned with a vengeance. We are beginning to wonder if it's the same flu or a different bug. Richo is wingeing about getting industrial deafness from my coughing. We are staying indoors and ordering room service, leaving our room so it can be serviced. Doesn't matter where we go, we try to go somewhere secluded but  people take off as soon as I start coughing. I don't blame them, I wish I could get away from me too.

Occasionally we get the smell of cigarette smoke through the air conditioner into our cabin. All the rooms are non smoking so it must be some one close, makes me think if we are getting their unfiltered air they would probably be getting ours. Our attempt to voluntarily 'quarantine' ourselves may be futile if that is the case and would explain how bugs are spread so readily. I carry hand sanitiser with me, muffle my cough with a thick handkerchief and use the hand santising stations everywhere I go. Richo suggested to one of the staff members they include more santising stations within the buffet area as people clean their hands upon entry but then eat with their hands, lick their fingers and then handle the tongs and food servers. This would be a very obvious source of cross contamination. Children and Indian people tend not to use cutlery and without appearing to sound offensive or critical of other cultures, I would no sooner lick my fingers and then handle serving implements that others are using than fly to the moon. I think the practice is particularly unhygienic. I have seen people topping up drinks, returning to the buffet with dirty plates to be refilled and handling food with their hands. One woman even picked up bacon with her hands and removed the eye of the bacon from several rashers before dropping the discarded portion back into serving plate, for others to eat.  People really are inconsiderate pigs I wonder how such a lack of manners and common courtesy could have been so far removed from our society.

Note to Self 'lift foot higher when jumping into a pitching tender boat' the resultant collision between your toe with an immovable step is not going to be enjoyable😬

Further note to self 'STOP kicking sore toe!!!!'

Day 18 Cheekyricho Royal Caribbean cruise holiday aboard Explorer of the Seas Maui!

Seas are much calmer today we got up early and headed ashore. Grabbed out little car from the wharf parking and headed south west. It was a beautiful day and we stuck to the coast as much as possible.

The neighbouring island was shrouded in cloud. lainahi is an old whaling port and there are old homes, museums quaint shops and now outlet stores here. The town is at the wharf and is really nice to stroll around. We found this dilapidated old loading wharf and it may well be a whaling relic too. We headed further and encountered really plush resorts and the most beautiful golf courses I have ever seen. Not a blade of grass was out place and it was a spectacular day warm sunnylight  breeze we had some wonderful views of the coastline.

Frangipanis in bloom everywhere, bouganvillea, flowers and foliage in manicured hedges and gardens. Condos built literally on the beach metres from the surf.

The road was described as narrow and winding. It is tar but two way with layovers for passing. Many places were barely wide enough for one vehicle blind corners on crests. Luckily most of the traffic was headed the same way as us.

Rugged coastline and hidden valleys.

Dropped the car back at the airport, 2 bus trips back to the ship and its happy hour at the down the hatch bar. 2 beers, a mai tai, a pina colada and a lava flo and its time to waddle back to the ship.

Seattle here we come.

Day 18 Maui Cheekyricho Royal Caribbean cruise holiday

Coming in to Maui it's windy as and the sea is rough. Tender ashore was hairy. Waves broke over the top of the tender and drenched the skipper.

People cheered when we made it to the wharf. I hired a car to pick in port. Great plan, except that office closed a year ago. I'd already paid so the car I had waiting was on the other side of the island or an $80.00 taxi fare away. We opted for the bus and 3 hours later picked up our Chevy spark. Don't let the name fool you folks its smaller than a spark.

It has been raining so hard the waterfalls are pumping, there are rock slips everywhere. The mist and water gushing over the road is making the drive quite unpleasant.

Combine that with our 'Chinese BBQ' lunch.

Which was supposed to be eat in but served as a takeaway. We deliberately went to a restaraunt and avoided take out and now Richo is sick. The winding road, heavy rain, poor visibility has caused us to stop a few times, for the usual, photos, toilet breaks and Richo has added vomitting to the schedule.

We found these little weasel stoat type things playing in the rain and pinching food off a chook. There are lots of little pregnant wild cats about with half a tail. Richo was really taken with these little bright red birds but they were camera shy.

This Hana on the other side of the island. The road is bitumen but horrendous winding steep blind curves and crests and lots of cars with a very relaxed attitude about their correct position on the road. Full sized trees fell onto the roadway due to the wind and rain, along with significant land slips, rocks and huge clumps of bamboo. On the way back there was little traffic,one road in and one out,so we opted to push on in daylight and retrace in the rainy foggy dark. Good driving practice for left hand drive navigating an unfamiliar car on a very challenging drive in putrid weather conditions, with a barfing navigator was considering walking back to the ship due to his severe car sickness. He never gets car sick but he thinks he might have a sinus problem left over from his flu.

The waterfalls were beautiful and this one was a lot cleaner than the rest which were teeming with muddy water.

I saw these gorgeous little baby pink clusters of wild flowers. I have no idea what they were but I thought them pretty.

Here is our trusty steed parked on the car park/ 2 way road with Richo outback leaning over having a technicolor yawn. He reckons it's the longest road trip he's ever been on & was wishing it would end.

The ship looked amazing all lit up out in the Harbour and thankfully the tender ride back in the dark was a lot smoother.

Our cabin Steward made us a stingray out of towels. It looked cute.

Day 16 Cheekyricho cruise holiday aboard Riyal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas

Today was a turning point for us. We ordered room service for breakfast, same as yesterday but half as much. Went back to sleep until midday. Tried to make sense of our camera. It is so alien to what I am used to and went and played with it in different light out on the outside deck. We decided to have a swim as an afterthought it was lightly raining and we had the pool to ourselves. The the surge in the pool was like body surfing, I got the giggles as we we got washed up the steps or swam madly in a forward direction only to get washed backwards. It is a salt water pool and sea temperature and I loved it, I have so missed my daily swims. Back to the room for a shower and off to see Daniel & Mario "The Two Funny Guys" a comedy act of two brothers from Vegas and I laughed and coughed a lot. I thought they were quite funny and unpredictable. Off to dinner then and getting ready for our arrival in Honolulu tomorrow. We have to clear immigration first and it sounds a very ominous operation with the cruise director stating the entire ship is at their mercy tomorrow. With very strict restrictions and time schedule to follow. We are first cab off the rank at 7.15am so no cold tablets tonight or we can't go to America because we would sleep through it. LOL💤🇺🇸  

Day 16 Royal Caribbean Explorer of the seas Cheekyricho cruise holiday.

Today we ordered room service for breakfast. Scrambled eggs and bacon, juice, toast and yoghurt. 

We had to order it the night before so it's hard to know when or What to order it for. Richo woke with a giant headache and didn't feel well at all. We ate what we could of breakfast and it was massive. Put the tray outside and went back to sleep until midday. Went for a walk around the outside deck for a few minutes and went back to sleep the rest of the afternoon. Up for dinner and we went to the buffet. The food was quite dissapointing and we heard a large number of people complaining about it. We opted not to go the late movie and went to bed early. We are starting to sleep as much as a koala or chihuahua😴💤

Richo is starting doubt we will ever get better. I've had this bug a week longer than him.

We try to give our cabin boy time to service our room. Sometimes we just catch the lift to here just to sit quietly until we can go home.

There is a 24 hour cafe on deck 5. Where you can have freshly brewed coffee, pizza, sandwiches and cakes. Many people grab a snack or drink and take it to the movies or back to their cabin for a midnight snack.

Day 14 Royal Caribbean Explorer of the seas Cheekyricho cruise holiday Richo's Birthday

It's Richo'sBirthday, our cabin stewart made a low calorie Birthday Cake and cake slice out of towels, complete with candle and set the spotlights onto it. It was so perfect it was a shame to move it.

So Richo Blew out the candle and we thanked him profusely. He is such a humble polite man, he was thrilled with our reaction. He placed a sign on our door and had been looking for us all morning. To wish him Happy Birthday.

We went to the midday movie to see the Intern with Robert Di Niro, it was lovely movie. Lunch upstairs and back to the room for a nap. It's a Formal night tonight but we just went smart casual. 

I had crab salad with a prawn .

Richo had his old faithful Prawn Cocktail, he loves the sauce & its spicy. I Am Winning the chilli war 😉

We shared a Smoked Duck and Duck Pâté salad entree because I loved the sound of it.

We opted for the Giant prawn on crab mash with a lobster bisque sauce with spinach and roasted mushrooms.

Richo's first mouthful was full of sand. The prawn still had the digestive tract intact and it was full of black greasy sandy grit. The mash gave me a good idea to try at home when the crabs are on but mine will be amazing. Richo thought his sense of taste and smell must have been having the day off. I assured him that the sauce indeed had no flavour. It was very disappointing because I thought it may have been a celebration dinner. We had a bottle of French White wine we bought in Noumea as a toast to him commemorating another year. 

This is Baked Alaska, neopolitan  icecream covered with Swiss meringue then torched. I will let you be the judge. We both feel the meals have dropped off since the beginning of the cruise and hope when they restock in Hawaii that the same level of food quality and variety will return. I can usually find something interesting to try but today's lunch was a sous vide meatloaf, a beef and mushroom stew that ran out so I didn't get to try it. Some grilled fish, Indonesian rice meal, burgers and hot dogs, salads, cold cuts and sandwich fillings.

I have rarely dined in the dining room this trip in fact the greatest proportion of my meals have either been missed altogether or taken in my cabin with Richo making a selection of things I might like to try. He obtained a tray from somewhere and it is a coveted item. It attracts many comments. We have been limiting our carbs at home in the interest of eating more healthily. One Meal Richo got had mashed potato, chips and a whole baked potato accompanying a salad and slice of roast beef it was carb city but they make the best mashed potato on board with lashings of butter, a scoop of gravy over the top and the chips and I had a party. One day  he brought me taccos, I was so excited, I could smell and taste them for the first time in over a week I wanted to eat food and they were taccos. What a wonderful bonus. He brought me little tubs of yoghurt for the tablets I'm taking, honey for my cold and single serve cereal boxes with tetra packs of milk in case I need to eat something. He has been peeling me oranges and bananas, slicing apples and doting on me, he reckons I don't eat enough fruit but I eat salad and veges with most meals. I have chocolate but have hardly touched it. Chocolate has never survived this long in the same room as me.

Day 12 Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas Trans pacific Cheekyricho cruise holiday.

Richo had big plans, hot shower to inhale steam, couple of cold tablets and up to Breakfast. Great in theory bad in practice. He was going great guns until we went to leave the cabin, a huge croupey coughing fit put him out of the race. So I headed off with my trusty tray to fetch supplies🍽 

We went for a walk on deck four to get some fresh air the starboard side is reserved for smokers. In shade and plenty of air but the smell of smoke was playing havoc with my fragile cough ready lungs so we headed to the warmer port side where the air quality was decidedly much worse the strong smell of diesel was being sucked on deck by the swirling warm wind we didn't last very long outside and retreated totally exhausted to our nice tidy cabin. Johnstone had prepared our room after breakfast and neither of us left it for the rest of the day. Watching reruns of reruns 

and playing Lumosity while Richo slept.

We weren't up to going up for lunch so have it a miss by dinner time we were ready to eat so Tonight I ordered room service.

Everything came in covered trays they must have felt they were feeding an army.

We had soup, some honey stung chicken pieces with sweet potato fries, a beef burger with fries and Richo had a cheesecake and shared my little cheese plate. Washing up consisted of Richo opening the cabin door as I carried the tray laden with plates, covers and cutlery out to the hall. 

Meals are so much simpler when they are delivered. 

I fully intended to order breakfast but my pen is missing in action. In my effort to pare down my carry on to the barest minimum, I decided not to bring a handbag, (which is full of pens) so the after thought 'spare' pen quickly became my Robinson Carusoe Pen and now it's missing. So trek to Breaky for me tomoz.

This is what Day 5 of this shitty flu looks like.

This is the Schooner Bar, it's my favourite so nautical, ropes, blocks, sheets, carved timber, shiny brass and portholes with comfy chairs and these mesmerising little statues or mermaids, sea creatures and sailors entwined with pearls treasures, fish weeds and collages under round glass windows. There is a whole wall of them & the whimsical me loves them.

They have lights in them and over them framed in lovely Australian Cedar type timber.

They are really large and even the occasional tables are really pretty.

I adore the pictures, they are so clever. We have host of delightful timbers at home and I'm sure I could do something like this in our bar, with plenty of timber, bricks, mirrors, brightly coloured spirit bottles ( I have been known to buy a bottle for the top shelf for the prettiness of its bottle) and assorted bar paraphernalia. I even have a wall mounted promotional beer light inside a glass of beer with real bubbles. Did I tell you I love garage sales? People sell the darnedest stuff!