Goodbye Caribbean Princess Hello Home

          We arrived in Southampton early this morning apparently on time which was first time this trip that we actually did. Now this CO gets to leave! We were able to have a nice leisurely breakfast before we headed to our assigned departure room. We had a chance to give a hug to Laura and have a talk with Carla one of the Zumba instructors. We made sure we told both of them how they made the cruise so much more fun. We were able to depart the ship find our bus and head to the airport quickly. It was probably the easiest departure from a cruise that we have ever had. We were at the airport and checked in in short order before the 3 hour wait for our plane.

       The flight time was over 8 hours as we were non stop Heathrow to Detroit. We flew Delta/Virgin Air – a very nice international airline. We actually had leg room. The wine was free flowing and the serving portion were generous. The movies were up to date. With the over 8 hour flight we even had time for a nap as there was a 5 hour time difference between London and Detroit.

      No paper work to fill out on the plane as it is all done at a kiosk in Detroit . Customs and Immigration went quickly and after our good friends pick up, we were back in Windsor by 8pm. So another cruise officially ends. That is 20 on Princess! Thanks to all who left messages and emails about our trip. No plans for the next one -yet! So with the 5 hours time difference, bed came early!

Ashore in Le Havre France

     We arrived in Le Havre at just after 7 this morning. So the Captain missed another docking time after his announcement yesterday and the tour desk changing all the departure times. It did not affect us as we just going ashore to wander around town. We had been here before but had never seen the town as we toured with Princess. We had a nice leisure breakfast in the dinning room, sitting with another couple we had met and after that proceeded into town..We had researched the city before we left so we did have some definite things that we wanted to do although it is not Berlin or Paris! The shuttle dropped us in he middle of the city and our first stop was the market. It is always interesting to see what types of food that they sell. Fruits and vegetables are pretty well the same but the fish shops are always interesting. Some items that appear strange for us but nothing like the market in Busan Korea. However we did pass a number of pastry shops!

Notre Dame

St Joseph

        We then headed to Saint Joseph's church an odd concrete structure that was old but has been rebuilt in modern times. It was quite interesting. The next stop was the MuMa Fine Arts Gallery. There was a long line up to get in which we thought was a tour from the German Cruise ship that was in town. Turns out that it was filled with locals as the first Saturday of the month admission is free. I guess we lucked out! It was filled with Impressionists painting and a few Monet's but many from that style. Another short walk took us to Notre Dame Cathedral (what else) which is very old and has the typical style of churches built centuries ago. A short walk to the waterfront found us at a large stone beach filled with people just enjoying the day. Of course we sat and just looked out at the theocean for awhile, watching the large container ships come into port. Le Havre is the

At The Beach

Selfie with eclaire

fifth  largest port in Europe. We walked back to the market area to get our chocolate eclairs that Judy had eyed earlier in the day. As it was getting on we took the shuttle back where we enjoyed some pizza and a beer.

      Of course packing took up part of the afternoon and the rest was spent resting up for the trip home. There were many all day tours to Paris, the beaches of Normandy, Rouen and Giveney the home of Monet so the ship was relatively empty until dinner hour. Then it was time to say goodbye to Mike and Marge our dinner partners after an excellent meal.   Out went the luggage, reset the watches an hour ahead (finally) and get set for our flight to Detroit.

Last Sea Day

       We left Hamburg sometime after midnight. We were delayed as we had to wait for the high tide. It seems that the Captain of the ship can't seem to get sailing and docking times right! Of course he has to contend with pilot and berth availability, ship repairs, passengers, etc. The Captain then announced that because we left late we would be in an hour late tomorrow. You would think that he could make up an hour over 30 hours. There is probably more going on here than we know. In any case it is only a 20 minute bus ride into Le Havre so we should have plenty of time to see the sights

      After the long day people seemed to be just hanging around. Actually the activities for the day are pretty scarce. The program always looks full but I think they make things up just to fill it out. If you skip the look younger, skin care, back ain,metabolism, good feet, restore your looks and such things you get down to things to do. They are all put on by the on board spa. You get the idea. Zumba this morning was not too good. Since we were in port yesterday overnight, it seems that cruise staff, waiters, etc. had a real chance to go ashore and have some fun. The result was that the Zumba class did not flow very well! We did go to the last “big” sale but nothing appealed to us. I did get my 2 tee shirts early in the cruise.   Breakfast was early this morning so we had lunch in the dining room. We sat with a couple from the Vancouver area and one from California. The American talked about how he was able to get his 2 - 38's across the border and had to pay tax on cases of beer. I got the impression that he had little regard for the Canadian border. The Vancouver couple told him that if he had been caught, he would have been in jail and he said that he knew that. Since the Vancouver man said something we did not need to say much more.

Formal Night

           We had missed line dance class (nothing new) and did the afternoon Zumba with Theo. He did another great job that lasted about 50 minutes and I think he would have gone on longer but the Bingo people were starting to push exercisers (including me) out of the way. I told the lady that dabbing was way to much exercise for me. I don't think she saw the humor in it. The classes today were not well attended. The rest of the afternoon was spent on deck enjoying the sunshine but cool (60F) weather. We did receive our departure instructions which said we were to leave at 7:35 for Heathrow for our flight that goes after 2 in the afternoon. Then we got a revised departure – 8:30. The terminal changed , now we have the correct one. It would have been a disaster going to the wrong terminal.    

Formal Night

      Tonight was formal night which meant we got our in room canapes. We managed to finish our wine along with the eats. We headed down for a drink and to meet some people but we never connected. We did have a nice conversation with a couple. He was a former pilot with the U.S. Navy. We did catch the early show. The comedian was quite entertaining. Dinner included escargot, lobster tail and king prawns. By about 10 everything except the bands had finished. It was time for some rest. Le Havre the last port on the last full cruise day. We leave Sunday.

A Great Day In Berlin

        What a day of adventure. - Berlin. The day was warm and sunny.  We were up very early and finished breakfast quickly. We had an early meeting for our tour. During breakfast and when I went to get tea and coffee the lack of people milling about was noticeable. When I got back to our room, I check the tickets which we had ready the night before. We were not suppose to meet at 7:30 but rather at 6:45. The later time was from the tour we missed. We were 25 minutes late. We did the 100 or so steps down in record time. We got to the Princess theatre and the tour people said that we had missed it! Then they said 'just joking'. However we were the last 2 to enter the theatre! We waited for 10 minutes and then we all left. So no lines and no waiting for about 45 minutes! I guess it worked out. We were off to the bused for the short ride to the train station. It was a bit disorganized with 600 or more people all going to the same place. They had a “private” train just for the Princess people. The train ride took about 2 hrs 30 minutes. We arrived at the Zoo train station which is in the very centre of Berlin before 11.

The Church

Brandenberg Gate

              Bobby was our tour guide and he was excellent. He was German but sounded British but his language was very clear. You could understand everything he said. Our first stop was the Allied museum at the former American sector HQ. They had a nice display on the Berlin airlift along with a British plane actually used in the airlift. A French troop train was also on display. The museum highlighted the U.S. efforts in the divided Berlin immediately after the war. There was a short section of the Berlin Wall, a Soviet wall watch tower and a building that previously was at Checkpoint Charlie.

At The Gate

Reichstag

 After a drive through an exclusive big homes area of Berlin, the next stop was lunch at a downtown 5 star hotel. It was an excellent full meal that everyone at out table seemed to enjoy. We headed for the Brandenburg Gate at the very centre of the city passing the Kaiser Wilhelm church which is bombed out and has been left a memorial of the destruction from WW2. A photo visit to the Reichstag and then crossing into what was East Berlin followed. The area near the gate was in the Soviet sector and had many of the historical buildings of Berlin. The buildings are slowly being restored and should be completed by 2020. We visited the place where the Nazi book burning took place, the university and a war memorial. The buildings that the Soviets build were very 'Stalinist” in style. Finally we headed to the location of Checkpoint Charlie. Only 1 small building remains. Throughout the city there is a stone pathway that

Berlin Wall

marks the actual location of wall. We were constantly crossing from East to West Berlin. The portion of the wall has a wonderful history of the Nazi rule. Is is on the grounds of the ing and SS headquarters. Only 1 building remains from the Nazi government. You can still see the marks from bullets on many of the old buildings in this area. The wall is lower than the one in Dublin separating the 2 sides there but there was a wide no man's land on the East side and gun watch towers. In all it was everything you might think it would be. We saw where Hitler had his bunker but it was blown up by the Soviets, filled in and apartments built over the site. Nothing remains of that bunker.

Checkpoint Charlie

      Finally we drove around the centre of Berlin viewing other buildings and getting a sense of what a wonderful city we visited. By around 4:30 we headed back to the train station and by 5 pm we were on our way back to Hamburg. They did provide a small light snack on the way back. We arrived at 7:30 and had finally made our way back to the ship by after 8. We were just to tired from the long day to go to dinner. We ended up having something light and calling it a night. A light sea day tomorrow after leaving Hamburg after midnight. 

Alongside In Hamburg

At Tea

       We spent most of the day with a pilot sailing into Hamburg down the Elbe River. It was a very long transit and a good rate of speed. There was a German air force plane flyover early this morning checking us out!

Along The River

Close Quarters

       The only Zumba today was the morning session. I counted about 75 people there which has been consistent with the morning sessions. Again today everything was jammed into the morning with not much happening in the afternoon. We use to go to the art auctions but since they changed the art auction system a fer cruises ago they are not much fun even if we just sat there. I did go off to the earth science lecture which was on the formation of the earth and how the oceans came to be and he way in which our oxygen atmosphere developed. It was rather interesting. The lecture was quickly followed by the Le Havre port lecture. We decided long ago that we would be going into town. We have been to the area at least 4 times and since we are not going to Paris or the Normandy beaches (we have been there twice) we will take the shuttle into the city. We did research on it before we left so there was not much new. The only thing is that we can shuttle and nonot so good things to say about the way the cab into town.

Greetings!

       A nice lunch in the dining room. We sat with people from Buffalo NY. The conversation was mostly about killing pigs in Texas (the other couples) and Canadian customs. The Buffalo couple had nothing but good things to say about them. They had some harsher words for the way they get treated by US customs. After tea we watch the egg drop challenge. That contest involves dropping a raw egg from deck 7 to 5 without it breaking. We have done it a number of times. A few eggs actually broke but they gave a prize (pens?) to all the participants. Then of course the relaxing afternoon with a glass of wine followed. 

         We skipped the entertainment as it was a singer doing classics from the '30's and '40's. Instead we just sat, had a drink and watch the bank of the river go by. By the time we were close to Hamburg and then docking it was time for dinner. Some people went ashore as soon as we docked but because we are on tour at 7:30 tomorrow morning, we decided to get a good night's sleep. We will be touring Berlin. This tour is the primary reason why we selected this cruise.

Through the English Channel And Beyond

        We have already passed the Cliffs of Dover which we could clearly see early this afternoon. We have steaming along quite quickly all night and are well on our way to Hamburg. There was an announcement earlier today there will be there tomorrow night in the late afternoon. We will overnight there which should make it easier to do our 13 hour tour the next day. By this afternoon the wind died down and the weather sunny but still on the cool side (50F).

       We had to report to German immigration this morning but the officers have been on board since Liverpool so the whole process was quick and well run . Nothing like the Liverpool experience. Zumba followed and the we caught the end of the Earthquake and Archaeology presentation. We simple stayed in the theatre for the next event which was billed as “An Audience with Original Beatle Pete Best”. The cruise director asked a series of questions (probably supplied by Pete). He talked about the early days of the Beatles and the various clubs that they played at in both Liverpool and Hamburg. He filled in many details of what it was like, the name changes the band went through and their first recording sessions. He ended with the day he was let go from the bank and Ringo Starr became the drummer. He hinted that the reason given was he was not good enough although he said he was the best drummer in Liverpool. He suggested that Paul probably knows the reason. However In all a very interesting talk.

Ready for Formal Night

       A quick lunch with tea in the Atrium followed. The dance lesson today was on the Waltz and since we have done waltzes many times in line dancing, it was a lot easier to dance all the steps Theo demonstrated. That was followed by line dance class where we did Caribbean(?) style dances which seemed to be more zumba than dances. Then it was another Zumba class for 45 minutes. It was all a bit tiring. Finally we had a chance to rest.

       We did go to the Elite nibbles before dinner. It was formal night again, the third of the cruise. We have one more to go. We had seen the presentation of Bravo earlier in the cruise so we skipped the show. There was the full evening of trivia and dance bands but nothing extra special. Judy did manage to find some silver items that she liked. It took a bit of time but she finally settled on a necklace and earnings. I said that they were for our anniversary but I don't think she went for it. 

Not Ashore in Holyhead

Sleeping In

      Were were up early this morning as we needed to be ready to get on the tender to get ashore for our castle tour. At breakfast around 7 am (the anchorage time) we realized that we were still steaming merrily along. Soon after the Captain announced that due to weather conditions he was heading straight for Germany. The seas were rough and the visibility low. There would not have been a problem with the anchorage but the operation of the tenders would have been a safety issue. |The seas are a bit rough and it was not as cold as it looked. Weather improved greatly as the day went on.

     It was now 7:15 and no place to go with a limited activity programme. We decided to catch a bit more sleep but then an complete sea day program was announced. That meant Zumba at 9:30 with Theo. There were fewer people there. I think the 2 lecturers have left the ship as there was very little planned for the rest of the morning. Bean bag toss was not exactly a high interest item. The rest of the morning was at leisure.

      We went to the foxtrot dance lesson. It was probably the poorest dance that we have done. The instructor needed to fill in time and did many steps but we never got to put them all together. By the end wee were really ready to leave. We also decide to go to Sabini;s for the special pizza lunch. We were the last people in there and it took a little longer to have the pizzas made. The result was that by the time we were finished it was too late to get to the added afternoon Zumba class. With the quickly put together programme for the day, there was very little other things to do. We decided to just take in a movie.

       By the afternoon, the weather cleared and the “rough” seas conditions improved. By late afternoon we were already in the English Channel. The ship also announced that had requested the Hamburg port authorities to let us dock earlier. We do not know what this will mean in terms of a port visit. They have already refunded the cost of the Holyhead tours. We think that the decision to skip the port was made soon after we left because the forecast was very ify. We also will need to do another face to face immigration inspection before we arrive in |Germany although they will do that at sea tomorrow. It should not be as chaotic as the one for England.

Table cloth

Crab Shack Dessert

  

We had a bit to eat at the afternoon elite party and then went to the early show, a classical guitarist. It was probably one of the better musical performances that we have seen on this trip. After that we went to the Crab Shack dinner. We had no idea what to expect except that it was a seafood “specialty” restaurant although it was held in the buffet area. We met the 2 other couples. It was a great sea food dinner. We both had the king crab legs and shrimp as the main course. For us it was better than going to the specialty steak or Italian restaurant. We had a leisurely 2 hour dinner. We stopped in at the International Crew show and standing room only by the time we arrived. It was half over by the time we got there.

Ashore in Liverpool

      When we got up early this morning and looked out there we tall buildings and we were in Liverpool. Our side of the ship is along side the dock facing the centre of the city. If it had not been for the cool rainy weather which was with us all day, it would have been a perfect way to end the 7 straight sea days. At least they did not have snow which apparently they had last week. We also realized that the cruise has less than a week to go.

       We had to go through the immigration process this morning and from a ship point of view it was poorly organized. When we arrived at the appointed time we encountered 2 long lines. Those on tour were going one way, we needed to go the other. The line snaked around the deck until we arrived at the Explorers Lounge where we were given a number in the 500's to see immigration. Then they started calling out groups of 100's to get in another long line for immigration. By the time our number was called, the lounge held too many people. We did manage to get out of there in about 30 minutes. The rest was easy.

The Tower

The Church

      After breakfast we headed ashore. We walked to the Metropolitan Catholic church which we missed the last time we were here. We had already toured the very large Anglican cathedral. There was a serve at 11. It took about 35 minutes to get there. We arrived just as some of the ship tours were going through the church. We waited for a short period of time before the service started. It was wonderful with a full children's choir that sang both in

The Interior

English and in Latin. There were parts of the service that used the Gregorian chant. In all just a wonderful experience. The church is relatively modern with seating in the round. There is an old crypt below the church but it is not open on Sundays. We think it is next to the underground parking lot. The church itself is in the middle of the city with no free space around it. After the service all were invited for tea and a biscuit (cookie). Of course we went! The tea was not strong and by now the cookie was appreciated. We did talk to the priest who did the service for a few minutes. In all it was a really good experience. By the time we finished there it was nearly 1.

      We wandered back down the centre pedestrian way which was filled with Sunday shoppers. We ended up at the Albert Dock area, a renovated section along the river where the old warehouses have been given over to museums, shops, the Beatles experience, etc. We had explored this area the last time we were here a few years ago so we skipped all of the Beatles things. We did stop at the |Maritime Museum, a place we had visited before. We only stayed a short period of time going through the Battle of the Atlantic floor. The rain moved in again and by late afternoon, we headed back to he Caribbean Princess. A quick soup and salad and a cup of tea was enough to eat and then a rest was in order until we sailed.

Albert Docks

      

Wandering

The evening went quickly with a variety showtime with Doug Funk, the comedian from Toronto and a singer. Dinner provided us a chance to catch up on the experiences of our dinner friends. There was another chocolate journey dessert! They just keep on coming! There was “70's night in the lounge – read disco. With a early cruise tour tomorrow, ( we need to start the tendering at 7:30) it was time to end the evening early...again! We are in Holyhead tomorrow which is only a few miles down the coast. We are looking forward to our tour of a castle.

At Sea Day 7 of 7

Belly Dancing Class

      Big happenings today. As we got up today we saw a bird flying by the ship, the first bird we have seen since leaving Bermuda. Then later in the day we passed 2 oil drilling platform and a small tender craft. Finally as th4e day went on, we started to see land and other ships. We had finally made it to the English channel and we were seeing the Irish coast near Cove (Cobb) which we had been to the last few cruises. Coffee and tea in the Atrium along with a donut and yogurt was breakfast. It is only the 2^nd donut that I have had on the cruise. Zumba for 40 minutes followed. We missed the enrichment lectures today. Judy has been wanting to buy a gold chain and ankle chain which took some time. She received a free gold bracelet with the purchase. We did make it to the port lecture on Holyhead just barely finding seats. Since we had a light breakfast we did go the pub lunch early where they had fish and chips. Maybe we will get some real English fish and chips ashore tomorrow.

In The Lounge

Lounge Drink

     We did go to the Rumba class (no not Little Rumba the line dance. Judy then stayed or belly dancing but she did not have her shawl. Then it was Lexi's turn for another Zumba class, the last one for 2 days as we are in port both tomorrow (Liverpool) and Monday in Holyhead. Actually after today we only have 3 sea days more. After all that it was time for an in room movie, a glass of wine and some rest before we headed out for drinks at the Elite lounge.

Chocolate Cookie!

      The entertainment tonight was a mix between the Irish fiddle players and the singer. We decided against the entertainment and just went down a little later to the lounge for a drink and a bit to eat. We have another time change tonight and then the early (7:45) report to immigration for a face to face with them. I guess with all the recent troubles that British Immigration is looking a little closer at people entering the country. We are trying to track down our laundry that has been missing (at the laundry) for about 5-6 days. I told the front desk that we would be wearing towels soon if they can't find it. When we returned to the room tonight after dinner, our laundry was there. Some of the socks were still damp but at least we don't have to wear towels to the immigration check tomorrow.

At Sea Day 6 of 7

    And on we sail. We can actually see the coastline of Europe on the navigation map that is on one of the ship's channels. We still continue to move along at about 17 knots. We have done many crossings but usually we have a stop in the Azores to break up the sea time. Crossing from Florida to England; across the Atlantic at a 45 degree angle is different. We are starting to be anxious for Liverpool which we will be in early Sunday.

Even with the time change last night we were up early enough to have a coffee and tea in the Atrium along with a muffin and yogurt. Zumba for 40 minutes followed. We both went to the enrichment lecture on cars. This one was on the British car industry through the ages. Today Britain is the number 12 in car producer. The leading producer is Mazda. He did talk about Austin Healys and did mention that they have the Lucas electrical system; so poorly designed even mechanics can't figure out why some of the pieces are inn there. The destination lecture on Liverpool followed. Since we have been before and have a good idea of what we want to do, it only gave a few ideas on what we might do. As usual, the theatre was packed. We also had a chance to put in our future cruise deposit.

    Since we had a light breakfast we decided to eat in the dinning room. It is a nice break from the Atrium or the Horizon Court but it takes a long time to be served and finish. We had nothing going until mid afternoon. I went off to see the Star Wars movie in the theatre and Judy did “Low Impact” Zumba although it was not much different from the regular class. The Elite lounge is closed tonight because there are 4 more parties for Captain Circle passengers. We decided to watch an movie. We do get Fox a and MNBC news channels. They seem to cover the campaign and everything that is said 24 hours a day! It is either that of the BBC!

Our Table

     We decided not to go to the early show tonight. The production is Born To Be Wild a show we have seen many times. Judy was still watching a movie when we were suppose to leave. Dinner with Mike and Marge followed. We wanted to go to the Crab Shack on Saturday but they were full up. We booked for May 2 instead. The roast beef at dinner was excellent as it has been all this cruise. We did pop in on one of the game shows that they hold every night that we can't get to because of the time we have dinner.

   We were informed that we will need to clear British immigration before we go ashore. This will take place after we dock. With 3100 people to go through the process, it should be quite a mess although we have been given a specific time to report.

At Sea Day 5 of 7

Ready For The Party

    Today we had a bit if a break from the routine that we have been following. I think all the things that we have been doing is having an effect as we seem to need a full 8 hours of sleep and then some. In any case breakfast at the buffet was followed by the only Zumba class today which lasted about 45 minutes. I did go the the Navigation at sea lecture when they talk about the ship. It use to be done by a very junior officer who had a hard time communicating. Today they had a short video presentation showing the changes in navigation techniques. That was followed by a series of slides detailing how the bridge actually operates. The navigation has certainly changed plenty from the days of slide rulers and paper charts. Now it is all done electronically although they stiff carry a set of charts for the areas they will sail in. There was plenty of details about the ship and the construction, speeds, foods consumed every day (18 tons) fuel use etc. He took many questions at the end of the talk. He did mention that the person who was next show.medivaced yesterday was a senior employee of Princess. He is the senior procurer for the fleet. He had a small heart attack and then a large one. We were about 200 miles from the Azores when the helicopter met the ship.

       We went to Sabitini's for lunch. They run the restaurant as a pizza place with the same menu that we found on the Regal Princess last fall. They have about 6 pizzas to choose from and you can add things if you want. They did not have the soups and salads as on the Regal. We were about the first in line which was nice for a change. We say with a very nice couple from Northern California and had a wonderful time. We finished early enough to get to the Salsa dance lesson followed quickly by the 45 minute Zumba class followed by line dance class. It was at a higher but not difficult level Same old stuff but by the time we finished those 3 activities we were ready for a rest.

Laura - Cruise Staff

      I went to the improv workshop and the waited to see if our names were drawn for the free package of formal portraits that we had done last night. Luck would have it, no luck. Then at 5:15 it was time for our Captain's circle party. There ship can hold 3700 passengers with all the extra berths in the cabins (we have one) on the ship. There are 3100 passengers on the ship, about 1000 at the Elite level. When you include all Captain's Circle members, they needed 4 parties to host them all.

     

We did attend the show – a singer from London. He did one song from Les Mis which was best. There are still long lines waiting to get into the next show. They did have a late show but since we are advancing an hour again tonight we managed the early one. Dinner as usual was very good. We have a good time with out table mates. After the rather tiring day we decided to leave the rest of the evening to the youngsters!

At Sea Day 4 of 7

Medivac

  Today started out quite exciting. We got up to a plane flying over the ship. Soon after that there was announcement that the medical transfer was going to take place at 8 am. Fire doors were closed in the passageways. I have never seen that happen before. Soon after we could hear the noise of the helicopter as it approached the ship.

The transfer took place on our (port) side of the ship. The helicopter seemed to hover directly outside our balcony. It was all quite exciting. Then it approached the bow of the ship. The transfer took place there. The last helicopter transfer that we saw was from the stern. The captain ask that the upper decks stay clear of passengers. Apparently the were many out there!

We had breakfast in the Atrium and then headed to the morning Zumba class. It seems that I am finally getting the hang of it. I can almost move my feet and arms in unison. I seem to have more flexibility that when we started on this cruise. The class continues to be quite large, especially in the morning. 45 minutes of Zumba is standard now. 

     The car lecture today was all about the muscle cars of the late '60's and early '70.

Dress For Formal Night

Dressed Up

Finally there were cars that we can remember. The Mustang and cars like that were featured. He even talked about the Dukes of Hazards. An interesting fact is that the opening jump scene wrecked the the car cars. About 100 were used in the series. He showed a picture of the cars after some of those scenes. He pointed out that the car that jumped was a 1973 model; the one they showed landing was a 1974. The science lecture concerned the ice age. There were plenty of details about what probably triggered the ice age and some of the outcomes, including the spread of humans out of Africa.

     Lunch in the Atrium (with tea) was followed by another Zumba class. The afternoon sessions are not as well attended as the mornings. After a walk outside, it was time to rest up for formal night, Out canapes arrived around 5 and we were out for a drink soon after. We had formal pictures taken again tonight. We always like to see what we look like the next day! We stand around and comment on how good that couple look!

Chocolate Journey Dessert

   We did receive our tour tickets for a tour to a castle. We had been on the waiting list. We are still waiting to get on another tour if we can. There was a production show tonight. We got seats by going early although we had seen the show before. I don't think that we are going to go early any more. Being formal night, we had our choice between prime rib or lobster. We decided on the lobster and had 2 each! We needed to walk around a bit after, stopping to see the Beatles music trivia. They are showing the latest Star Wars movie on the big screen outside but since it is over 2 hours long and it is a bit of a cool night, I watched only about 30 minutes of it. Tomorrow we have the Captain's Circle reception.

At Sea Day 3 of 7

    The seas were absolutely flat and very blue this morning when we went to breakfast. There were no waves at all. The swells were rather low. By the afternoon the seas were back too a moderate height although there is very little ship motion. We are still steaming along at around 18 knots. So far we have sailed about 3300 miles from Houston. It was cloudy all day with a heavy shower this morning. The rest of the day remained cloudy. The air temperature is getting noticeably cooler but still pleasant (60F). So day 3 at sea was much like all the sea days on this ship. Currently we are in the middle of the Atlantic about even with Halifax or the southern tip of the Grand Banks.

    After a light breakfast we were ready for the 9:30 Zumba. Theo the instructor reminds us that Zumba is like eating on a cruise ship – it needs to be continuous. It was a good work out. After that it was lecture time. Both lectures were back to back. Elegant cars (early on) was the topic. Tomorrow it will be muscle cars. The science lecture was on the difference between Nerds and Geeks! He has a collection of 150 t-shirts with some type of “science” on them. He called himself a geek. Apparently if you collect things you are a geek! It was a humorous break from the science although he has little jokes that makes the presentations interesting.

    We decided to eat in the dining room as we had a bit of time before afternoon Zumba and the line dance class. We skipped the Samba dance class and the art auction. The second workout last 45 minutes and we as harder one than this morning. This instructor did “Proud Mary” again and all we could think about is the dances in Highland Lakes where they play that song all the time. Line dance followed. She did one dance that I had on my list of starter dances for Highland Lakes but never did. After that it was time to rest before heading off to early snacks and then rushing to the theatre to catch the early show although there was a late show.

Our Passageway!

    This afternoon the captain announced that at 10 tonight there was going to be a medivac by helicopter sent out from the Azores. This is the second cruise in a row that we have had this done. It must have something to do with the age of the cruisers who take these re positioning cruises (Oh no that's us!) There was an ambulance on the dock in Lauderdale and another in Bermuda when we arrived there. As the day went on more announcements. The time changed to 10 tomorrow. An announcement just a few minutes ago placed the transfer at 6 in the morning. In any case it seems that it will be in the dark. Fortunately we are not in a cabin that must evacuated during the transfer. All this with a time advance tonight!

     The show tonight was a master of illusion (the old magic tricks presentation). We have seen the same tricks before but they always leaved you wondering how it was done. The show was packed and the line up for the next show was long. Dinner was chateau briand! After dinner we sat in on the “Queen Music” trivia although it was mostly over by the time we arrived.

At Sea Day 2 of 7

    We are still moving along at around 20 knots. Weather is cloudy but the sea remains moderate and the sailing is very smooth. The ship activities continues to follow the same pattern with most big activities in the morning with a rather light afternoon. We continue to meet new people but it seems than we never see them again.

     After the time change last night, we were up a little later this morning but still had time for a muffin and coffee for me and a yogurt at the international cafe in the Atrium.

There was only 1 Zumba fitness class this morning. Today we had Theo one of the cruise staff as the instructor. There are 4 on this ship. A few years ago they had trouble putting 1 one the ship. It was a good work out, probably one of the best so far. I headed to the lecture on the Model A Ford and the development of the flathead 8. The lecturer is a former mechanic (born in 1939) so has first hand knowledge of what it was like to work on cars from 50 years ago. Judy did a promenade walk and then came in for the talk on Yellowstone and the floods of lave. Again most of what was in the talk I was aware of although he did fill in many small details.

    We wanted to go to the pub lunch today but the venue is small and the line was long. We did not want to wait for 45 minutes to get a seat. We opted instead to go the Caribe Cafe where the theme today was Mexican. With a lesser choice it is easier to keep the pile of food down. That did not prevent us from having more than one (hint) chirros. Cha Cha lessons followed. That is one of the easier dances because we do many cha chas in line dancers so we were able to go through the steps easily. A deck walk followed the lesson.

I sent a note to the cruise director this morning asking him to schedule an unsupervised line dance session. There seems to be a lot of dancers (a lot of passengers!!!) on the cruise. We have done this on previous cruises. At least we can do something a bit different!

      We had the Captain's Circle grape wine tasting this afternoon. It is one of the perks of being elite level. I did notice that they have added a 3^rd level of wine tasting on the ships. I think it is around $40 per person. The wines used are the highest priced ones on the ship. We use to get a free shot glass at the tasting but that is just one of things that we have noticed over the last few cruises. All the wines in this wine tasting were in the $30-$40 area. We did find 2 wines that we liked and probably will order with our wine package.

   

In The Theatre

We headed off to the 7 pm show early enough to get a good seat. About a half hour before the show, most of the seats are filled. Livewire was the act, a duo that played guitar and the electric violin. They specialize in Celtic songs and it was a very good show. We have found that on this ship very few people applause for the acts. By the time the last note is played half the audience is getting up and going. I guess that they want to get out of the parking lot quickly! People were lined up through the smoky casino and were 45 minutes early for the next show.

Balloon Drop

In The Pit

   Dinner followed the show. |The dessert tonight was cherries jubilee – very good. They had the Princess 50^th Anniversary Balloon drop in the Atrium but by the time we finished dinner, all the balloons had been broken.  

At Sea Day 1 of 7

     We are steaming along at about 20 knots on the 7 day passage to Liverpool. Being Sunday it seems that things started a little later as there was a church service at 9am. We did have breakfast in the dining room again because of the extra time, although we did not order full meals. The program that this ship seems to follow is that all the enrichment lectures are in the morning right after each other. For us at least it means trying to choose between 2 activities that we want to do. By afternoon there is little for us. We do not do trivia or play bingo or want to take part in the betting activities or use the casino.

      The result is that we have fallen into the same routine. We did the Zumba twice today, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. They have 4 instructors that rotate so that keeps it fresh. They seem to be getting easier but I think that for me I am finally getting the hang of it. I do know that flexibility is getting better and there are no aches or pains. I missed the road lecture (part of the cars series) because of overlap. We did get to the Science lecture on plate tectonics. Not much new there for me. I think Judy did get a bit glassy eyed during it. It ran well past noon so after a light lunch we were off to line dance class. We did the Wobble as well as a few others. |In all a good cruise line dance class. At lease the instructor is doing different dances. We have started to go to those classes every day. They are pretty easy but at least they are not the same old things. I have been trying to practice the dances that we had during the 2 classes we had when we were in Windsor. Zumba followed immediately and then by 3 we were exercised out and had to have some down time.

At Nightly Reception

    We decided to try to get to the early show tonight. Dough Funk is a comic so we needed to be out early in order to get a seat. We were ready and out about an hour earlier than usual. After the elite reception that happens nightly (sushi tonight), we headed to the Princess theatre, getting there in plenty of time. It was standing room only again tonight. Doug Funk is a Canadian from Toronto who specializes in the improv style of comedy. We have seen him before and I remember parts of his act although with improv the characters and situations always change. He used 3 people from the audience to assist him. It was a very good show. Dinner tonight was Italian style. The rock and roll party was also on tonight but with so many people on the ship it is hard to get into the venue where the party was held. A walk on deck ended the night.

    We continue to steam along at a good pace. The ship has very little felt movement to it. I suspect that is because we are headed in the same direction as the gulf stream and the wind system. Another hour advanced tonight.

Bermuda

Because the ferry to Hamilton did not leave until 9:30, we decided to have breakfast in the dining room. We sat with some nice people from Texas! It was a very pleasant start a great day ashore

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    Today we ashore in Bermuda, our last port before the 7 days at sea on our way to Liverpool. The captain did it again; he was over an hour late getting to the berth. The seas were calm and the morning was bright and sunny! Maybe his watch isn't working!

   We were the last people aboard for the ferry for the 20 minute crossing to Hamilton. We stopped here years ago so we did not have a particular agenda that we wanted to follow. We wander the streets, stopping at city hall that had a small art gallery. All the paintings were done by local artist. It was not the official art gallery. We then stopped at the cathedral but did not climb to the top of the tower. We had been there the last time and decided to move on. We headed to the botanical gardens (never did make it) and diverted to the old fort. It was built about 150 years ago in the typical British fashion. It was interesting that they did not have a fortification before then.

    The fort itself is all open with few plaques or artifacts. It is just a nice place overlooking the city. However w e were able to walk thorough the space between the outer and inner wall. It probably would be called a moat if it had water in it but we were not sure since the fort itself was on a hill. In any case natural vegetation had taken over and it was as good as the botanical gardens. There were a number of flowers in there that we did not see anywhere else on the island. It would have been a perfect place to film Jurassic Park. Lush vegetation, high wall on both sides, etc. Just a wonderful discovery.    

Blue Waters

 After wandering down the main street and stopping at some of the shops, we opted to take the bus back to the dock. Having been walking for nearly 6 hours we returned to the ship, had a snack and then rested until sail away. After a cocktail we tried to get into the 7 pm production show (we had seen it many times before). However since we were only 20 minutes before the show, the theatre was packed with no seats available. On these cruises people eat early and the go to the early show. The late show occurs during our dinner. I guess we need to be there 30 minutes before in order to get a spot.

    After dinner we headed to the upper deck. The ship was holding a disco/70's party with the Love Boat theme. The night was cool but there was lots of action. The cast dancers were there to do dance routines.

   We left Bermuda only a few hours ago but we can already feel it getting cooler. Before we left the captain made an announcement about rough weather. As mentioned before he has a heavy accent and we could not tell if he was expecting bad weather or if he was doing it as a “..we warned you.” It may have something to do with the Royal Caribbean ship getting caught in a storm earlier this year.

Sea days to follow – 7 to be exact!

Bermuda – One Day Out

    We had the time change last night and that meant that we did not get up very fast this morning. |In fact we had little time for breakfast. We grabbed something light at the International cafe and headed to Zumba class. Having skipped yesterday some of aches were gone. They have 4 different instructors on board so there is lots of different music and routines. We skipped the cooking routine so we could work out our tours. Sine we decided to do one more (courtesy of Princess) we had booked something yesterday but by today decided that we did not want it. We put ourselves on a wait list for 2 tours that we wanted to take as well as booking another tour just in case we do not get on the castle tours. In any case, we will be doing an all day tour in Liverpool. We are back to doing Holyhead on our own.

    I did catch most of the talk on the early days of Chrysler and how many companies came to be the present corporation. The talk went all the way through the mini-van. That talk was quickly followed by the talk on the end of the dinosaurs. Although I knew most of the story, there were many interesting details that came to light. I left that to go to the line dancing class. I must admit that it is somewhat better than other cruises. We did a version of the Watermelon Crawl and Sweet Home Alabama. Judy even did the Cotton Eye Joe which she hates. I was late so I missed being in the line. Another Zumba lesson followed. The instructor this afternoon did not seem to be as hard as some of the others. We even did a routine to Proud Mary which had some semblance to the one Judy does in Florida. Then it was rest time and an in room movie.

    After a stop for pre dinner nibbles, we took in the entertainment, a very good classical piano player. After another fine meal, we were on the 17^th deck to go star gazing. It was a very clear night with few clouds. The moon was absolutely bright! It was hard to follow the explanation we did have earphones provided. The highlight was a bright meteor went across the sky. I do not know how Princess arranged it but it was worth the time on deck. Bermuda tomorrow!

NOTE:   Itried to post pictures but could not get them to insert.

At Sea To Bermuda

           We finally got out of Lauderdale at 3:30 this morning. For whatever reason we missed our sailing time by more than a few hours. I think that they were changing one of the radar domes and I suspect that was the reason for the delay. Either that of the captain can't tell time! In any case we got up late this morning to the sounds of the sea!

     All the stairs (108) to the lobby was starting to take a bit of a toll so we decided to skip Zumba for today and just have a slow pace to the day. Judy did a slow walk on the deck while I went to hear about the General Motors story at the cars lecture. One thing that I did not know was the large number of car companies that were formed around 1910. Slowly they became the big 3. He has photos of all the different autos from back then which are very interesting.

|     Morning tea followed and then we listened to the port talk on Bermuda. Having been before we had a good idea of what there is to do there. We plan on just taking the ferry to Hamilton and wandering around. We both went to the science lecture.

Chocolate Again

It was on disaster movies and how they abuse science in awful and hilarious ways. It was quite light hearted . We did catch the last part of the line dancing class. It was jammed and she was actually doing something more interesting than the standard Princess dances (electric slide – agh!) The rest of the after noon was spent by the pool enjoying the nice weather and listening to the live music.

     Tonight was the first of the 4 formal nights. Of course that meant the champagne waterfall and greetings by the captain. He has a heavy accent and does not seem to be comfortable in public. Although the ship seems to be really crowded now there did not seem to be many people at the waterfall . There was a show going on at the same time. Princess use to serve mixed drinks and wine but now it is only champagne. 

Chocolate Dessert

Dinner was good again. Our table is down to just to the 4 of us. If someone was scheduled to have dinner with us they did not show up the last 2 nights. We skipped the show as it was a full show with the singer from last night. Since this is a time advance night we decided to turn in early.