Blogs from North Atlantic, Atlantic, Oceans and Seas - page 3

North Atlantic Crossing – Rome to Fort Lauderdale, October 2018 My next ocean experience begins with crack-of-dawn Delta flights across country to New York, and then over the pond to Rome, where I plan to spend a few days, rediscovering the Eternal City. Being autumn, kids are back in school, the majority of “ugly tourists” have departed for home shores, and I feel as though I have the city to myself. I had a long 6-hour layout at JFK, but thankfully my arrival and departure gates were in the same terminal and the Delta Sky Lounge was right in the middle. It’s been updated a lot since I was last here a few years ago – looks good, the drinks are cold, and the food selections are varied and delicious. Sure beats sitting on those rock-hard ... read more

The Queen Mary 2, somewhere in the North Atlantic On board, finally, and settling into our stateroom is like coming home. Absurd though it may seem, we were just so delighted to end up in a spot where we do not have to move for seven days. Susan had everything unpacked and put away in the time it took me to read the room service menu and flick through the TV channels. Which is our usual division of labor upon arrival. Well, from each according to ability . . . . We then went to the Royal Court theatre where I DID get up on the stage and Henry V all over the place to an audience of one. The smell of ham permeated the air, let me tell you! Bless her, she is so patient ... read more

Hello from somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean. Since there are no specific landmarks for us to reference during this cruise, anyone who is interested can still get an idea where we are in the ocean by using the following URL: https://www.seascanner.com/ships-position-queen-mary-2 We got up this morning about 7:30 and went to the Britannia Restaurant. This is where we have our evening meal too. The dining room actually has two levels and we are seated on deck-2, but quite a few folks are up on deck-3 on the tiered balcony above us. But this is actually the lowest level of formal dining rooms on the ship. There are various other dining rooms reserved for passengers in larger and higher priced cabins. We are essentially the “steerage” on this crossing. Anyway, Janet as able to get Eggs ... read more

The plan had been to get up and to work on the blog for a couple of hours before it would be time for Sharon to scurry off to mass. Well, that was the plan! Instead, I awake to Sharon saying, “Well, it’s about time that you opened your eyes! I’m off to mass.” Okay, so I’m naively thinking that there will be plenty of time to get caught up. I do manage to meet Sharon after mass near the Hudson Room on the Upper Promenade; but, I just barely got there before the “Go in Peace. Mass is Ended.” We’d tried to talk to the Future Cruise Assistant yesterday; but, only managed to get a reservation for today at 9:45AM. So, we only had a bit of time to grab some breakfast in the Lido. ... read more

Some people don’t like sea days. It’s a good thing that we do. For one thing, it gives us a chance to catch our breath instead of going on a tour day after day to the point that it becomes a grind. And also, like yesterday, we found ourselves with an unscheduled sea day. We’ve been on cruises where fellow passengers would insist that if they missed a port it was due to some sinister plot by HAL to keep them on board to buy more things in their onboard stores; or, just to ruin their vacations! That doesn’t seem to be the case on Voyage of the Vikings where the norm is to be a 4-star or 5-star mariner and there seems to be an appreciation that the captain’s primary focus is our safety. And ... read more