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Here we are visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.  This was a major bucket list check off.

Cruisin’ Across the Atlantic Ocean – Again

December 10, 2014

Kathie and I are on our third trans-Atlantic cruise and at this writing we are located about 500 miles east of Morocco, bound for Hamilton, Bermuda.  We started in Rome and stopped in Florence and Pisa, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma (Mallorca Island, Spain), Gibraltar, and Funchal (Medeira Island, Spain).  We are cruising the 2,080 miles from our present location to Hamilton, where we will arrive 6 days from now.  After a day in Hamilton we sail two more days and end our cruise in Ft. Lauderdale on December 19.

Some images from our cruise:

Sailing into Gibraltar as the sun rises behind "the Rock."

The Gothic Cathedral in Palma, Mallorca Island, Spain

Sailing away from Gibraltar

Finishing up a ride on one of the so-called "snowless toboggans" after a downhill ride on the island of Madeira.  Toboggans like these have been transporting tourists for more than 125 years.

This is our first time cruising on what is regarded as a small ship, the Ocean Princess, which at 30,000 tons is only about one-fifth the size of Royal Princess, which weighs in at about 150,000 tons, and on which we crossed the Atlantic last year. 

Above is a photo of our ship, the Ocean Princess.  The graphic immediately above shows the relative size of our ship against a larger, more typical cruise ship.

We have met many of the 600 of our fellow passengers on this cruise; we met only a few of our 3,000 co-cruisers on Royal Princess last year.  We are still mulling over the pros and cons of sailing on a small ship.  We will share our conclusions at the end of our cruise.  One pro is that we can get to places on the ship quickly.  A con is that there are few places to go. 

Here is a view of our our cabin looking through sliding glass doors and our balcony. This is our home for 18 days.

Check out the view from our Bridge Cam at http://www.princess.com/bridgecams/?shipCode=op .

First Stop:  Florence

Our first port of call was Livorno, which is the port serving Florence and Pisa.  Florence is known for both art and architecture.  One of the highlights of our time in Florence was our visit to the Academy of Fine Arts – the Accademia – where we saw Michelangelo’s David.

Those who are squeamish about nudity in art can get this “Dress Up David” kit for making images of the sculpture more proper by dressing David in either business or casual attire. Note the cool shades.

Later in Florence we saw the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Flore, with its famous dome, or duomo.

One of the most popular sights to photograph, and visit, is the Ponte Vecchio bridge

A Day in Rome

 

Notice

In addition to this blog of our Trans-Atlantic Cruise, we invite you also to follow the blog of our trip to Thailand during Thanksgiving week 2013 .  Follow that blog at Thanksgiving in Thailand.  There you can join us on our trip and subscribe to receive email notices about posts as they are published.

We now resume our Trans-Atlantic Cruise Blog: 

A Day in Rome

Like most in-port days on our cruise, our day in Rome was sunny and warm.  Along with cousins Kate and Elliot, and friends Genevieve and Marc, we hired a car and driver first for a tour of the Vatican with a dedicated private guide, and then for a drive around the city with stops at some of the major sites including Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, Pantheon and Forum.

The port serving Rome, Civitavecchia, is located about 50 miles west of Rome, so any arrival by cruise ship for a visit to Rome starts with a ride in to the city by train, bus or car.

Here are some photos from our visit to Rome.

Our group at Civitavecchia, the port serving Rome.  We arranged for a day tour with a car and driver/guide.



Our day in Rome started with a tour of the Vatican with a private guide.  We didn't expect such large crowds in October.  We learned this was a high season for tourists.  Who knew.

Cruise Weight Loss Challenge Result is In

The weigh in on Oct. 11

Recall that in a post at the outset of our cruise I challenged myself to weigh no more at the end of the cruise than I did at the beginning – and maybe lose a pound or two – even with the fabulous and plentiful food offerings here on Royal Princess

I would do this I said, through regular trips to the ship’s fitness center.  And, I would not skimp.  I would not cower before the unlimited pizza, cheeseburgers, ribs, pasta, ice cream, and the rest of it.

I weighed myself at the beginning of the cruise and wrote down my starting weight on a piece of paper that I locked in our stateroom safe.  Then,

Completing a workout - just before lunch

yesterday, on October 26, I weighed myself again.  Before witnesses, I compared my starting and ending weights.  Did those 12 visits to the gym over the last 18 days pay off?

Yes.  I lost 0.83 of one pound, which I am rounding to a loss of one pound,  Not a lot, but, as predicted, I did prevail.  I had my cake . . .

Cruise Note:  Poor satellite connections and extremely slow speeds have prevented me from posting about our last port stops - as well as our final days at sea.  I will get caught up when I have access to better connectivity.

Pompeii: Great Mountain Views!

After touring Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese ports for the first 11 days of our cruise, we are now on the seven-day non-stop sprint across the Atlantic to Ft. Lauderdale.  I finally have some time to sort photos and reflect on the ports we visited.  It’s hard to believe that more than a week has passed since we visited Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast of Italy. 

I talked about the Amalfi Coast in a previous post.  Here is a photo essay on our later visit to Pompeii.

Imagine you live in Pompeii on August 24, 79 A.D. and you are strolling in the Forum, perhaps sipping on a beverage and gazing at the 10,000 foot Mt. Vesuvius just a few miles away.  Some of your friends and neighbors, fearful of the mountain’s recent rumblings, have decided to leave town, at least for a while, until the mountain settles down.  You are not worried, Vesuvius has not erupted for 1,500 years, and, besides, just yesterday you just participated in a celebration to the god of fire, Vulcanalia. 

You moved to Pompeii for the view and you were going to enjoy it – no matter what.  You take what turns out to be the final sip of your beverage and then it happens.  Several thousand feet of Vesuvius explode and up to 50 feet of ash land on Pompeii, killing you and some 30,000 others.  Residents of nearby Herculaneum watched this happening, horrified, now doubt, until they were soon engulfed by a river of ash and mud and muck that dried into a substance not unlike concrete.  Some 10,000 residents of Herculaneum were entombed by this mixture.

Our tour guide told us that the ruins of Pompeii were discovered in the 1700s.  Since then the ash has been cleared away and now about 2.5 million people visit the well-preserved remains of Pompeii each year.

Here are some photos from our visit to Pompeii:

We started our visit to Pompeii with a great meal at the Ristorante-Pizzeria Lucullus, probably the best meal we’ve ever had that was included as part of a cruise excursion.   We were served a three-course lunch that included champagne and a bottle of wine.  The cheese cannelloni were the best we ever tasted.

Here are some views of our visit.

Here is a view of outer wall of Pompeii

Pompeii for Mature Audiences

This post is for mature readers only.  Reader discretion is advised.

Visitors to and residents of ancient Pompeii were a frisky bunch.  The town had a number of brothels in a thriving red light district. 

Keep reading. 

 Many of the roads in ancient Pompeii led to the red light district

Visitors who did not know the way to the red light district just needed to look down for directional help carved into a cobblestone.

 Sometimes the simplest advertising conveys the most effective message. An enterprising  sole proprietor in the red light district used this to advertise her establishment.

Friend JV shows how a customer in ancient Pompeii may have been greeted at a place of business located in the red light district.

Many visitors to Pompeii did not know the local language so illustrations appearing at the "offices" of practitioners depicted the services provided.  Some offered more than one service.  Some offered services that are difficult to identify, even with these visual aids.

Two Days at Sea

It’s been difficult to post regularly at sea because accessing the Internet has been slow, tedious, and expensive.  So, I am tinkering with ways to post photos and information more quickly and efficiently.  Formatting may get a bit screwy as I cut corners to facilitate posting through a slow satellite connection.

It’s evening of the second of two days at sea as we cruise from Barcelona to the Madeira Island town of Funchal.  Madeira is an overseas island territory of Portugal that is located southwest of Portugal and west of Morocco.  It has been a resort destination for hundreds of years. 

If you’ve been following this blog you know that we passed through the Straight of Gibraltar October 17 on our way to Madeira.  I wanted to take a photo as we cruised through the straight and show both the European and African continents in one shot.  I couldn’t do that in one photo because of the lens I use, but I was able to create something of a panoramic shot by stitching two photos together. 

The following photo shows the coast of Spain on the European continent to the left, and Morocco and the African continent to the right as we passed by.  It was taken from the stern of the ship so our wake is seen in the center of the photo.  This was a very low-light environment so the quality is not the best.  I did enhance brightness just a bit.

 

Passing through the Straight of Gibraltar on October 17 around midnight:  Spain is on the left, Morocco on the right.  (I think those are the lights of Tangiers on the right.)  The two lights in the center are from other ships.

Keeping Busy Onboard

I’ve said that one of the main objectives of this blog is to show that multiple days at sea can be as busy, or as relaxed, as passengers want.  Yesterday was a hectic day at sea for Kathie and me.  For me it started with a workout in the fitness center about 8:30 a.m. while Kathie participated in a zumba class.  Here was my schedule - it was probably not atypical.

8:30 a.m.
            Worked out.

10:00 a.m.

Attended a workshop on advanced digital photography,

11:00 a.m.

Participated in a Maitre d’Hotel Wine club tasting featuring six wines with    

            accompanying canapés to demonstrate proper pairing of the wines.
 

Noon

Stopped by the “Holiday Store at Sea” where for “3 hours only,” gifts were just $10.00.  You could buy “watches, evening bags, jewelry, ties, wallets, and much more.” I bought a watch and almost bought a hat.

12:30 p.m.

Participated in a qualifying round for a slot tournament at the casino (I won my heat but wasn’t among the top seven who advanced to the finals.)

1:00 p.m.

Consumed a cheeseburger and pizza lunch and decided on my afternoon

activities.

2:00 p.m.

Attended an “Art Auction Extravaganza” that featured originals and prints

            from such notable artists as Picasso, Dali and Warhol.  Art auctions on cruises have     
            become big business.

4:00 p.m.

Participated in “Snowball Jackpot Bingo” with a possibility of winning $1,450 on the last game of the session.  I didn’t win.

5:00 p.m.

            Free time!

6:30 p.m.

            Dinner with friends in the Allegro Dining Room.  It was the second of three

formal nights on board so we had to look spiffy.  Lobster tails with crab cakes were featured at dinner.  Outstanding.

8:30 p.m.

Attended the second of five scheduled production shows during our cruise.  This was a song and dance show called “What the World Needs Now.”  The singers, dancers, and live orchestra were all great.

9:30 p.m.

            Stopped by the casino to try to win back my losses playing video poker.  I

            recouped some. 

9:45 p.m.

Stopped by the Wheelhouse Bar, one of 10 bars on our ship, to hear a song played by Ray Coussins, former piano player for Frank Sinatra.  Ray plays several nights a week and, in addition to knocking out some great tunes, tells fascinating stories about the music biz, his seven ex-wives, and playing for Frank.

10:00 p.m.

Hosted friends in our stateroom for some wine and conversation.

11:30 p.m.

Went up top to decks 16 and 17 to watch as we passed through the Straight of Gibraltar and take some photos.  It was an odd feeling passing so close to two continents.

Kathie did much of the above plus participated in two zumba classes, attended the daily “Knitters & Natters Get-Together, and took afternoon tea.  I had intended to attend a lecture on the legacy of the Sicilian Mafia but I just got too busy.

We turned back the clock one hour last night and we will do so five more times before we arrive in Ft. Lauderdale.  It’s nice traveling west by ship – with all the time changes we get a number of days either to sleep in late, stay up late, or both.

Here are some photos of onboard activities:

Shopping is a regular activity onboard.  At this shopping event, all items were $10.

 

Art director Daniel completes an auction sale.

  

One way to enter the casino on Royal Princess is by this spiral staircase.

 

This three-level piazza is the center for many shipboard activities.  Here passengers help create a  champagne fountain - a cruising tradition.

Coming posts (assuming adequate bandwidth and connectivity):  Pompeii (including a separate post on Pompeii for mature audiences only), Roma, Cannes, Barcelona, Funchal (Madeira), a review of Royal Princess, life onboard ship during our seven-day crossing, my self-imposed weight-loss/maintenance challenge, cruise ship fuel consumption, and more.