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Wow, I have definitely been derelict in sending out this trips travel blogs seeing as it has been some 12 days into the journey. Lets start with the transatlantic crossing.
I picked up my friends the Whitmans at Fort Lauderdale airport on Saturday, the 25th April. After dropping off their luggage at my house, I took them up to the shop for a quick tour after which we met Louis and Elena at the Wine Cellar for a really delightful dinner. After breakfast at Dennys the next morning (the 26th), we closed up the house and took a taxi to Port Everglades Terminal 2 where Bob Bartole got us expedited thru embarkation for the Crown Princess. Wonder of wonders, not only were we moved up a couple decks, but both upgraded to balcony cabins…..great for the Whitman’s first ocean cruise and my first balcony crossing. I had finally gotten out of my “cave”, had a queen size bed, a balcony….just like the rich folk. It was a very light sailing, with only 1300 passengers.
Now you have to keep in mind that Jeanne Whitman is my old junior high and high school girl friend. You know, the proms, the
ROTC balls, the skipping school….all that stuff. She got a kick out of telling people we met on the ship that I was her boyfriend and that Tom Whitman was her husband. Of course we had to order the “ménage a trios” dessert when it showed up on the menu. I don’t look very corporate these days (tho I have to admit I really looked good in my suit and tie on formal night) so she started telling folks that I had played in the Alice Cooper rock band in the 70s and 80s!!!!
On with the crossing. The first 2.5 days were wonderful. Room service breakfast on my balcony; sunning in the buff on my balcony just because I could. Service all over was great and the staff was really friendly. Even the piano player David Juneau from last year was working aboard. But what was with asking if we wanted to buy bottled water before every lunch and dinner in the dining room? Wasn’t the steak thicker last year? Wasn’t there a soufflé dessert on every dinner menu last year? The priest on board doubled as the port lecturer; there was lecturer on fine art and opera
Ponta Delgada
quiet on a sunday divas and a retired Los Angeles prosecuter to remind us about all those star-studded court cases….in case anyone forgot how the O J Simpson trial turned out.
Then the seas got bumpy and that way until 12 hours before the crossing ended in Lisbon, Our cabins were pretty much mid-ship, but a deck 12 cabin and a deck 15 buffet sway a lot more than the public rooms on decks 6 and 7. In spite of the bumpy seas, we did pay the extra $20.00 each for a glorious dinner in the Sabatini Italian restaurant. Movies under the stars is just not fun at 60degrees temperature on a rocking 122,000 ton ship.
The bumpyness did stop when we made an express stop in Ponta Delgada from 8 AM to 1:30 PM on Sunday, the 3rd of May. Of course the town was closed but Jeanne and Tom bought the quick tour to the gardens and volcanic pools in Furnas. Too bad they could not have the leisurely tour our little group enjoyed back in November. I stumbled (these damn new glasses) into the Cathedral just as mass was starting…..and stayed cause the big organ was playing, a large choir was singing, there were guitars and drums and even a greeting in English. I thought I’d give my legs a break with some sit down time, but wouldn’t you know they kept standing up, sitting down, getting up, sitting down….not much kneeling, either.
Of course, the bumpyness made us two hours late into Lisbon, but that was OK cause then it was full daylight and we had a sunny, calm cruise up the Tagus River….past the Belem Tower, the Jeronimos Monestary, the Monument to the Discoveries and under the 25th of April bridge…..all under the watchfull eyes of the large Christ statue on the opposite bank.
By 10:15 AM on the 5th of May, I was in a taxi to the Oriente train stationh….where I missed the train to Faro by 5 minutes and had to wait 3 hours for the next one. But that will be another report.
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