Blogs from Atlantic, Oceans and Seas - page 6

The Atlantic, North to South – December 2018 Dawn breaks over my last morning in Barcelona and after enjoying another great buffet breakfast at the Hilton, it’s time to make my way down to the lobby, grab a local taxi to the cruise ship terminal and begin yet another adventure on the high seas. As I left the hotel the rain began to fall, as if the city was crying at my departure (yeah, like that would happen – NOT) – and it continued to come down harder as I approached the World Trade Center Terminal. Arriving here early made check-in was a breeze, and in less than 30 minutes from being dropped off, I was onboard and making my way to the restaurant for an early lunch, while the staterooms were being readied. One of ... read more

When we woke up today, the weather looked great outside. We had a planned a relaxing day of sunbathing so we are relaxed for our few days rushing through Florida. On the way to the buffet for breakfast, we met up with a few people that we have met before on the cruise. By the time we got to the buffet, it was an hour later. Unfortunately, on arrival at the buffet we witnessed a lady falling badly on the slippery floor. The crew were very efficient and the doctor was soon there. She was wrapped and strapped to a stretcher and taken down to the medical centre. What a terrible way to finish a holiday. It looked bad. By the time we got out of the buffet after breakfast the rain was falling again, so ... read more

We have another time change last night and only one more before we reach St Maarten. Our plan today was to spend it sun bathing. We should know never to make plans as it was overcast. At breakfast, we met quite a few people from the Facebook page as well as the page admins. It was lovely to sit and have a proper chat with them. (Paul and Robin) We were advised by another guest that if we had any constructive comments, it was a good idea to inform Nelson the Hotel Manager. They have slips for doing this in reception to address some minor problems on board. This was to turn into a pile of US dollars for us. As we left them, we went to walk along the deck to go down to the ... read more

We had a lazy start to the day as we have nothing to rush for over the next few days. The clocks went back an hour last night so we are getting closer to the US east coast time zone which is five hours behind UK time. We cleared a few admin tasks. We have had to change the schedule for our proposed UK visit to and wanted to make sure everyone involved was happy with the proposed changes. We also did a little bit of work towards the trip we are organising to Maho Beach when we arrive in St Maarten. We are really not sure how many people will be joining us, but we may find out in the morning as we have asked everyone to pop by and say hello. Around twenty people ... read more

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