From My Mind to....

Day 1: Quebec City

Pearl Seas Cruises offers a wide range of amenities suitable for both first time and seasoned cruisers. Geared toward adult cruisers, there are no waterslides, basketball courts, or putt-putt golf courses.

The Pearl Mist can accommodate up to 200 guests, offering much more personal cruises than those ships that have a capacity of 2-4 thousand people.  Every stateroom and suite has its own balcony, and a glass-enclosed dining room offers a panoramic view while four to nine-person tables affords the opportunity to make new friends at every breakfast, lunch and dinner meals. There is no buffet dining, but a variety of choices for every meal never fails to satisfy one’s palette. Complimentary snacks and drinks were available throughout the day at both lounges.

I suppose I could just list all the amenities offered, but suffice to say, we did not want for anything. If you’re interested in learning about all the amenities, check out their website: www.pearlseascruises.com.

Returning home from the cruise was so much easier (and quicker) than getting there. We arrived at the Springfield-Branson airport in Springfield, Missouri at 4 am, well before our 5:50 flight time to find our plane delayed for maintenance. The three-and-a-half-hour delay meant we would miss our connection in Chicago to Quebec City. Apparently, Quebec City merits one flight per day from O’Hare. Our check-in agent went above and beyond to find an alternate route. Over the next 30 minutes, Katlynn was able to weave a path from Springfield to Dallas-Fort Worth to Newark to Quebec City.

It would cram a six-hour journey into 20 hours but would avoid missing our 11 am boarding call on the Pearl Mist. We always schedule flights a day in advance so we can spend some time in the port of departure … and to allow for flight delays. We arrived at our hotel after midnight. But we were able to see some of Vieux (Old) Quebec City from the backseat of our Uber to the ship’s dock. It was considerably warmer than the excursion I took from the University of Maine to Winter Carnival in old Quebec City in February 1975.

Our first order of business on board was the Mandatory Emergency Drill. Take your personal flotation devices from your room’s closet and go to your muster station to learn how to ‘abandon ship’. Obviously sitting at the dock doesn’t give much or an air of urgency to the drill. But I have to say as the seas got rougher on the Atlantic Ocean side of Nove Scotia, the lessons became a bit clearer.

We sailed at 3 pm heading toward our first stop. Jeanette and I headed to the upper (Pacific) lounge to meet other travelers during the Sail Away Party, a feat much easier to do with only 175 cruisers on board. Small boat cruising really lent itself to more personalized service.

We met folks from Maine to California, and Texas to Minnesota, including some very nice, but serious Lions’ fans with whom we shared the Chiefs-Lions Monday Night Football game during the second week of our cruise. What fun!

All told, sports rivalries and political affiliations remained well in the background of most conversations on the cruise. We went to sleep traveling up the final 65-mile-long fiord to Saquenay, Quebec.