How to fill time in retirement

After getting back on the ship from my excursion to Senor Frogs in Nassau, I decided to take a little nap before dinner. There was plenty of activity, we were not leaving Nassau until 11 PM, and I planned to go to my normal dinner time. I wanted to show my picture of the Kentucky couple to the ladies from Kentucky.  But they did not show at 8 PM, and I was left by myself.  Within a few minutes the Maitre'd arrived with two new people. They were a couple from North Carolina and usually ate at the First seating but missed it due to their excursion into Nassau. They were at the same table so knew the Antonio and Allan. They joined me.  They were very nice people, both played in a symphony orchestra. She played oboe and he played percussion. At least I was not eating alone. After dinner, they was lots to do.  I headed down to the Orpheus Theater where all the main shows were held. It has two decks of seating (balcony and floor), so I slipped in the back during a show...

It is good to hear from people that they do not like me leaving them hanging. As I go through my photographs, I am adding captions to each photo I keep and I delete others. This takes me time so I usually only spend about an hour on this and the blog. My lawn did not stop growing while I was away. Someone had to fill the refrigerator with food. NO, I do not have staff to do that. I mentioned that this was a solo cruise for me, my first.  To keep the price down, I choose an inner room for this trip.  Royal Caribbean does not give deals for going by yourself, they expect the double occupancy price regardless of whether there are one or two of you.  You do save on port charges and taxes so it is cheaper than if there were two, but not by much. I forgot to mention that I meant two young ladies from Ohio named Heather and Christina. I kept running into them throughout the cruise and they always said hi and stopped to chat. I guess they were probably in their 30s, half my a...

After getting away from the Port, I had plenty of time to explore the ship.  I had been on this ship before. My room, an internal room this time, was just a few doors down from the last time I was on the ship. The Captain told us there were about 900 crew members, and just over 2500 guests. There are lots of things to do on the ship beyond drinking....I did not figure out what those were. I am kidding of course. I enjoyed a little gambling each day, I spent time reading a book I had brought along. It is called "The Universe in a Single Atom" by the Dalai Lama. There was plenty of entertainment to see, both by the crew and the guests.  There was lots of food to eat. There were people to meet. While sitting at the bar on day one, a large man came over to order a Bud Light. He was carrying a beautiful little girl. I asked how old she was and he said she was 13 months and she was one of the triplets. They all had names that began with the letter A, I remember only Addison. I ...

Trying to find things to do in retirement is half the battle. Doing them is much easier than figuring out what to do. Since my retirement two years ago, I have been on a few cruises with friends. It has been fun and I enjoy my time on a ship, no matter what size. Bigger is not always better but it ain't too bad either. The last few cruises have been with Royal Caribbean International, and they have a program for people who are multiple cruisers on their ships. It is called the Crown & Anchor Society.  Each night you stay on the ship, you get a point. I just moved up to 23 points as a Gold Member. The next level is at 30 points and you become a Platinum Member. Points of 55 is Emerald and 80 is Diamond.  There are two more levels but they do not seem attainable yet. Part of the program is to book cheaper cruises online through there web site which has a special login for members.  My latest cruise was a last minute, fill the ship deal. I booked it on Thursday and I...