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No Sweden for us todayJun 13, 2010
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Ernie and I woke up very early today (4 am, 6am) to see the ship entering the waterway to access Stockholm, Sweden. We hear the channel is very beautiful and takes several hours to transit. At 4 am, we were still in the Ocean and the seas were fairly choppy. At 6 am, we were still in the ocean. Hmmm. We go back to sleep and wake to the sound of glasses clinking and a vacuum cleaner running. We were shocked to see that it was 8:30 am and our cabin steward was vacuuming the AC ducts outside the door to our cabin. But most surprisingly, we were still in the Ocean. We were to dock in Stockholm at 10 am. Well we jumped up and headed to the church service just in time to see it end. Then off to breakfast at Sabatini's where we were joined by John. Everyone was puzzled as to why we were at sea until 9 am when the Capt. came on the loudspeaker. He announced that there was a technical problem making it necessary to skip Stockholm and we were steaming for Helsinki, Finland. Later we learned that we would arrive in Helsinki at 2 pm and overnight there. We were disappointed, but hey life goes on and so do we. We were off to the Ping Pong tables and lounging in the solarium and then to a relaxing lunch in the dining room. Things could be worse :) . We arrive in Helsinki to a large number of sailboats out around the harbor. A beautiful sight despite the overcast weather and the 50 degree temps. We caught the shuttle bus into town and walked a bit and visited some stores and parks. As it is Sunday, most of the city is shut down for the day. We came back aboard ship at 6 pm when the rest of the shops closed, handled the laundry and the email. Tonight we are eating in the steakhouse on board keeping our Sunday night steak dinner tradition alive. Last night we had a wonderful surprise. We were talking about the World Cruise and the people on it and remembering our friend Onasis who was our wonderful waiter for 4 months. A moment later I looked across the dining room and saw Onasis looking back at me!!! What a wonderful surprise! Today we spoke to the head waiter and asked to be moved to Onasis' section of the dining room. It is great to be among friends when you are so far from home.
