[Bruno Krause]

Well this is a first for me...postin' on dot.org from the Texas on the LENGENDARY ONE.

The trip so far has been the usual, expected ball. The usual crew, what seems is our second family is on board, I've eaten way too much, and it's only the third day, and our bar tab is becoming an item.

Lots of discussions about the boat's future with the passengers. I'm doing my best to give out the truthful stuff and to squelch rumors. And, this is a biggie, EVERYBODY that has cruised before on the ol' gal, and there are a slew of two and three timers on board, are in universal shock. Lot's of "What the hell are we going to do?" Jo Ann, I'm talking as fast as I can..

The only thing that seems a little different to Deb and me is that there are no passengers that we have cruised with in the past. But lots of friendly people, including people from Denmark and a slew of people from Canada. The boat is full, which I see as an exceptionally good thing.

Deb and I are the only ones wearing PSSOA nametags and I've stopped counting the amount of times that I was mistaken for a crewmember.

I disagree about some of the comments on the quality/quantity of the food. I just had one of the chef's made to order omelets, talk about to die for! Actually the dinner portions are smaller, but that is something I welcome. The breakfasts and lunches seem no different than previous years. And the dinner items seem to have improved a little from our earlier cruises this year, that may be because our very favorite chef is on board this time.

It is obvious to Deb and I miss all the FRN's (and thanks to a crewmember who will remain nameless we were indoctrinated to what that stands for :-) ) that typically cruise with us. We have gotten a gazillion comments on how beautiful our door name plaque is that our buddy made for us. Sometimes I wonder if David should be taking orders... And Denis's picture viewers is going 24 hours in the Texas, wonderful stuff, and zillions of the pictures were taken by Diamond Dave.

As I said, we're having a ball, but we miss you all a lot, and you know who you are...

Deb and Bruno Krause