A full day on board the Ruby Princess with nothing in particular planned except to sleep-in, relax, maybe read a little, and of course eat a meal or three. We also wanted to look at a map and try to figure out where we are going once our cruise ends early on the 10th. As of right now we have ZERO plans, other than our transatlantic cruise from London to Boston leaving on August 31st. No reservations, and frankly no idea of what we want to do, or where we want to go next.

We will truly be “winging it” when we walk off the ship on Thursday morning. We are leaning toward catching a train from Southampton going Northish (made that word up, but it is the best I can do at the moment) toward the central West coast of England. We would like to catch a ferry to Dublin and stay there for a week or so, them maybe head down toward the Ring of Kerry area.

Our weather was gray one moment, and sunny the next, but it did not prevent those hardy few from lying in the sun or even going in for a swim. With the temperature in the 60’s that is just WAY too cold for me to even think about getting onto a swimming pool.

Our cabin steward, Dariusz, (“D”), has kept us entertained with a variety of scenes using our travel companion, Gus. He is so clever and has been the spark that made this cruise even more memorable. It must be so difficult for the staff on board to be away from their families for long periods of time. Talking with “D”, we found out that he has been with Princess Cruise Line for 14 years. Besides his wife, he has two small children back home in Poland, a daughter 8 and a son almost 5. He works 6 months on the ship and then has two months at home. This year he will have his very FIRST Christmas ever at home with his children. His eyes got damp as he talked about being able to play Santa Claus for them.

Here are some more surprises we found when we returned to our cabin over the past few days:

A pet or a new friend?

Monsieur Gus, the artist

A trip to the dentist or getting his teeth whitened

Cold Gus?

Gratitude Moment: Today I am grateful for being able to have my life partner by my side. I would not do well if we had to be separated for any length of time. After being together and working side-by-side, 24/7, for the past almost 25 years, I can not imagine it any other way.