Blogs from Atlantic, Oceans and Seas - page 23

Saturday 20th February, 2016. Cruising the Atlantic Ocean We passed the morning catching up with blogs, reading and doing puzzles then we went for lunch in the restaurant. At 3.30 we went to play in the quiz with Christine (John has got the lurgy). The new name for our team is "We were Robbed" due to the two instances when we were "robbed" of the keyring prize! We didn't win. At 4.30 we went to see Eggies in the Captain's Bar which was a giggle as usual. We went to see the "Opera & Beyond" show after dinner. This was more operetta with lots of 'Rat Pack' songs. The performer was a new guest act called Laurence Robinson. It was OK but not magnificent. We went to the disco with Danny afterwards.... read more

Friday 19th February, 2016. Cruising the Atlantic Ocean After breakfast we sat in the Captain's Bar while D did his puzzles and M caught up with some blogs and downloaded the photos from the camera. We went for a slightly early lunch and then went out on the deck for the judging of the boat building competition. As the sea was a bit rough Ross informed us that the pool could not be filled so the boats could not be floated today. They had got a paddling pool in case of this event but it turned out Katie had purchased a pool cover (with tie holes) rather than the actual paddling pool. Therefore, the competition would be in two parts: initial judging today and the float test tomorrow. This is a competition which we had seen ... read more

Geo: 12.53, -70.03Serenade has docked in Aruba before we awake. We are in a position near the container dock which we thought was going to be some distance from the main terminal building but we can see that it would only be a 5/10 minute walk at most. Carnival Breeze is approaching the dock at a slow rate of knots. She passes us on our starboard side and docks in between us and Serenade's sister ship, Jewel of the Seas.We breakfast in the WJ and manage to find a couple of seats outside at the back of the ship. True to its reputation Aruba is windy just as it was when we were here last year. Back in our stateroom we shower and change and remember to put sunscreen on before heading down to deck 2 ... read more

Wednesday 17th February, 2016. Cruising the Atlantic Ocean We wiled away the time reading and doing puzzles (M didn't fancy making a cushion!). After lunch we sat at the bar on deck and continued with our books or puzzles while we waited for the Captain to announce that we were going to cross the equator and enter the Northern Hemisphere again. The five minute warning was given and at about 4.15 pm Sandra took some photos of us together as we crossed. M reciprocated for them. John quietly invited us to a performance by the passenger musical theatre group that he had arranged for 7.00 tonight as a surprise for Sandra to celebrate their 47th Wedding Anniversary. It was also Sandra's birthday. After we crossed the line the Equator Olympic Games began by the pool. This ... read more

Geo: -21.0326, 55.2351 This was ourlast stop in South Africa. Durban is an even larger port than Port Elizabeth.We came in a little late as the pilot was tardy in arriving. He flew in byhelicopter. We watched the sail in from our balcony. We docked and were free toget off about 9am.We hadplanned to get a taxi from the pier and go into the city. However, we foundconfusion on the wharf. There was a long line of people waiting for taxis andnone in sight. We decided to buy a ticket on the ship shuttle bus which was takingpassengers to Ushaka Marine Park, located on “The Golden Mile”, a stretch ofbeach leading to the Football Stadium which was built for the World Cup. TheMarine Park was housed in a large complex containing shops, restaurants andvarious animal enclosures. ... read more