Blogs from North America - page 5

Hi Everyone, Today is our last day of cruising. The port is Dover, England. When this cruise was booked last year, I had booked myself a tour I really wanted to go on. My (then) cabin mate said that she preferred a different tour and didn't want to go alone. Even though I had already been to both the places on that tour, I cancelled what I had booked and got onto her tour. By the time, she cancelled her trip. there were no available seats on the excursion that I had originally booked but I did not cancel the excursion that I had booked to travel with her. The other day, I decided to cancel it and stay on board. So my last cruise day was spent on board drinking lots of tea, honey and ... read more

Hi Everyone, Today my excursion was on Guernsey. Guernsey is a tender port, meaning they put you on one of their life boats and take you over to the port as the ship is too big to dock there. It was a gorgeous sunny day and got up to about 55 degrees. They have their own monetary system but they are one of England's Channel islands. The main business, by a huge percentage, is banking and finances. Guernsey was demilitarized in June, 1939. On June 28, 1939, the farmers were all taking their tomatoes in huge carts in like a walking caravan to a ship to have them taken to the England. Apparently the Germans didn't get the word that the island had no army and their fighting planes passed over them and saw the long ... read more

Hi Everyone, Started the morning in a very long, huge, unbelievable, line to meet up with the Irish immigration and present my passport. Apparently very few were adhering to their assigned time slot. It took me 45 minutes to get through and out. Pretty fast considering the line of people literally went from 1 end of the ship to the other end and circled back! There were a lot of grumbling people in that line. Guess they really need their coffee in the morning and maybe they shouldn't have tried to beat the line by coming early. Instead, they created the line. I thought it moved pretty well conidering how many people were in the line. My excursion wasn't scheduled until 10:45 so I didn't care about the line or how long it took. One of ... read more

Gorgeous couple of days in Marathon! Still very windy so we visited the Dolphin Research Center. Dolphin Research Center was founded as a nonprofit corporation in 1984 by Jayne Shannon-Rodriguez and Armando "Mandy" Rodriguez. Their goal was to ensure the dolphins had a home here for life, and in doing so to establish a unique education and research facility. The bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions presently living here provide a range of personalities and backgrounds. Over half of our family was born at the Center, while the other members have either come from other facilities or were rescued, rehabilitated and deemed unreleasable back into the wild by the Government and now have a forever home at Dolphin Research Center. Florida Keys Steak and Lobster House in Marathon, FL. was... read more

Hi Everyone, Hard to believe that today is the start of the second week of the cruise. Am in a nice routine of having a totally leisurely day, every day. Lots of reading and people watching. Am going to the discussions on the different ports that we will be stopping at. In order: Cork, Ireland - excursion is to the Jameson Whiskey distillery St Peter Port, Guernsey - excursion is around (and under) the island. Germany occupied this island from 1940-1945 and apparently built a lot of tunnels/hospital/etc underground La Havre, France - excursion to Omaha Beach Dover, England - excursion to Leeds Castle and Canterbury Once we start hitting these ports, I'll be up and out of the cabin by 7 AM. That will be a shock to my system - and my cabin stewards! ... read more