We
are headed out for our second cruise of 2018, the first being the
trans Pacific Tokyo Japan to Alaska cruise last spring. That cruise
had a lot of sea days on one of the oldest ships in the Princess
fleet. By contrast we are sailing on the Regal Princess, the second
of the “new” ships in the Princess fleet although it is now 6
years old. We were on the old Regal through the Panama Canal
back on our second cruise many years ago. In contrast to the Pacific
crossing, this will be a trans-Atlantic repositioning. We like the
Regal because of the redesigned buffet area, the large open piazza
where zumba and line dancing are held, the crab shack and Alfredo's pizza restaurant. We did receive a very nice upgrade to a
Deluxe Balcony on Deck 8. The itinerary is similar to the last
crossing we did on the Regal 4 years ago. We decided on this
repositioning because of the ship, the ports and the September dates.
It is the ship that has one of my photos framed on deck 8. I am
looking forward to seeing the print of the Great Wall of China
again.
After
driving to Toronto, we fly Air Canada directly to Copenhagen 2 days before the cruise to spend some time revisiting the city. We wanted to be well rested before the cruise begins! One of the
things we hope to do in Copenhagen is a bike tour of the city. As the maps
shows, after sailing from Copenhagen, we stop in Arhus the second
largest city in Denmark. In Norway we are returning to
Kristiansand. I found a nice little harbour tour for that port. On
to Glasgow where we may take a ship tour and then down to the
Dublin. There we have booked a tour of the old city jail rated as a top
attraction. We have had 2 wonderful hosted visits in Dublin
previously so we plan to wander. The final stop in the
British Isles will be in southern Ireland at Cobh. We booked a tour
to Spike Island which at one time was a prison located in the middle of the harbour.
After 5 days of crossing the Atlantic we will arrive in Halifax where
we hope to meet up with some friends from Florida. Another day at
sea and we will arrive in New York and the short trip back to
Toronto. We are looking forward to 14 days of fun.
After
this trip we will have 347 days on Princess (still stuck in a rut?)
but now that we attained Elite status we can hardly pass up the perks
- free laundry, mini bar and wine tasting ! Anyone that has cruised
will appreciate what a luxury it is to have free laundry!It means
that you do not need to pack as many clothes. However we still will
not be even close to have enough days to be invited to the private
Captain's Party held for the most traveled passengers.
We
have not yet booked a ship tour. After doing the research and having
been to some of these places before we are content to explore on our
own. That may change.
At
the bottom of each post is a small icon that looks like an envelop.
If you open it, you should be able to send us an email directly to my
gmail address from the post. If you have a gmail account I think that
you can leave a message on the blog. It is always nice to read the
comments of people interested in our travels.
