Atlantis Travel Blogs, page 32

Oceans and Seas » Atlantic » Atlantis September 25th 2011

Geo: 21.8615, -114.609Hubby & I woke-up early today. We have been good at taking naps but not good at sleeping-in since ship time is west coast time i.e. two hours ahead of our normal time. This morning we decided to go out on the quiet deck and have a croissant. It was barely daylight outside, cool, and wonderful. Hubby went to the balcony to read and I grabbed my laptop and updated this blog. The Internet was non-existent on the ship so I couldn't update it in real time but I did keep my Word document. We finally both got semi-bored so we walked around the ship until we found the 12:00 wine pairing class. For $17.50 per person you get to taste different wines with different foods and learn some new "wine things" and frankly, ... read more

2 year wedding anniversary gift from the in-laws

Quirks

Oceans and Seas » Atlantic » Atlantis July 25th 2011

A Little Bit Higher ...

vagabondvoyager

Geo: 42.6299, 24.3443Some quick observations/tidbits on Bulgaria discovered during the first few days:Bulgarian music videos appear to be of only two types - either cheesy, traditional folk-music, featuring homely Bulgarian women, or Eurotrashy and blinged-up ones, with scantily-clad Bulgarian beauties bouncing around. When it comes to the latter, I'm not complaining.The Bulgarian version of "Just For Laughs: Gags" is much like the original Canadian version, except that all the jokes involve half-naked Bulgarian beauties bouncing around. Once again, I'm not complaining.The Bulgarian version of "The Voice" - judges seem to only choose performers who sing in English, no matter how badly. Case in point, a dude starting belting out a horrific version of &... read more

18,000 RPM

Oceans and Seas » Atlantic » Atlantis June 11th 2011

Hearty Breakfast Before F1 Qualifying ...

vagabondvoyager

Geo: 45.5008, -73.525818,000 RPM - that's how fast F1 engines rev. They are LOUD, up to 140 dB in the cockpit!!! Eating breakfast this morning, we could hear the F1 cars doing practice runs, even though the B&B is a good 5 km from the track. It definitely cranked up the anticipation several levels, as if it wasn't already high enough! The only thing keeping me from immediately running out the door and heading to the track was the yummy breakfast from Marche St. Jacques, highlighted by some truly stellar bread. Though busy, I expected a larger crowd at the metro station but it is only qualifying, after all - it'll probably be chaos on race day. The atmosphere wasn't quite like I had expected - definitely busy, but there wasn't the real buzz in the ... read more

Heading Toward Home

Oceans and Seas » Atlantic » Atlantis April 23rd 2011

Anna

NellieVA

Geo: 25.4681, -89.6539The last full day of the cruise was -- thankfully -- spent at sea. We all slept in and no one was rushing around that morning. We took in a fairly early round of team trivia after breakfast, which we won -- we named our team the Brambletonians. Anna and I won a team trivia contest on our first sea day, and this last day Katherine joined in and helped us come out on top. Speaking of winning, we also won a raffle prize earlier in the cruise, and Katherine won a free golf lesson from the on-board pro. She had a really good time, and she said hitting the balls in the cage up on the ship's top-most deck was quite something.For lunch we attended a "murder mystery" put on by the Second ... read more

Across the Gulf

Oceans and Seas » Atlantic » Atlantis April 18th 2011

Checking Out the Fellow Cruisers

NellieVA

Geo: 25.006, -87.7148We loved the itinerary for this sailing, as it started and ended with "sea days," with four port days sandwiched in between. Having these built-in buffers on either end worked out great. Katherine and I started what also become a ritual, with a pre-breakfast walk on the promenade deck. Later in the morning, Anna and I won one of the trivia challenges. Go team! A good amount of the day was spent sunning on deck and around the pool. Multiple ice cream breaks during the day did wonders to keep us cool. ;-)... read more

A lazy day on the river in the Gambia

Oceans and Seas » Atlantic » Atlantis January 12th 2011

pelican island

Tizwoz

Geo: 13.1651, -16.8091The Denton Bridge spans the Coco River and connects the capital Banjul to the rest of the mainland. It is from here that the boat trips set off, outwards for those who want to fish or up river for those like us who wanted tranquillity. The Chef comes out to greet us and we clamber aboard our pirogue and meet the Captain and his helper. There are not many boats around as it is already 11.30am and most have left but we do not like early starts on holiday! It is high tide as the boat meanders through the Mangrove trees and it is also very quiet. There is not much to see apart from the Mangroves stretching mile after mile so apart from waving to the odd passing boat we relax on top ... read more

Daily life in the Gambia

Oceans and Seas » Atlantic » Atlantis January 9th 2011

our terrace

Tizwoz

Geo: 13.4531, -16.5775GAMBIA 1Guaranteed sunshine, balmy heat both day and night and accessible from the UK via a 6 hour flight. The main reasons people say why they keep coming back to the Gambia. But then they add "of course the people are also so nice and friendly, the food is good and the place is safe and the prices are so much cheaper than the Euro zone." All true as we were to find out. Our hotel is the Coco Ocean recently built and one of the better hotels along the Atlantic coast. We have a villa with large bathroom, simply furnished but with minibar, complimentary tea and coffee and a large private terrace with two sun loungers, 2 long settees & 2 tables. The most delightful thing is to hear lots of birdsong in ... read more