Blogs from Oceans and Seas - page 15

Here we are again, sailing north along the coast of Europe heading back toward England. Today is the last day of this cruise, but not the last of our vacation. Virtually every other passenger on the ship will leave tomorrow but we will be staying aboard for another short 3-day cruise. So our saga will still have a few more chapters after the ship docks tomorrow morning. However that is just a teaser to keep you interested. We got up at 7:30 and went to the dining room for a sit-down breakfast instead of our more common buffet. Janet had another chance to have Eggs Benedict and David had another omelet. We were seated with others and everyone got talking about where they have been and where they still wanted to go. Our list of former ... read more

Hello as the Sapphire Princess sails north again, across the Bay of Biscay. When we were heading south early in the cruise, the wind was blowing and the sea was choppy. Today the temperature is about 75, the sky has been clear and sunny all day, and the sea is very smooth. We set the alarm today for 8:00 so we would get back into more normal hours and not sleeping too late. So we went to breakfast about 9:00 and got a buffet breakfast from the Horizon Court. We sat with a British couple and compared stories about Lisbon. After breakfast Janet went to the Knitter’s meeting in the Skywalker Lounge. There were only 4 knitters today and Janet only followed about half of what they were saying. But it was peaceful and refreshing. Meanwhile ... read more

If we have counted correctly, today is Monday and is the first day of the week for most people. For cruisers, we do not keep track of the day of the week but instead of the location in the itinerary. Anyway, we are at sea in the Mediterranean and the temperature has been about 70 most of the day with occasional overcast. The sea has been fairly smooth with just mild swells. This is good because Janet has been doing without her seasick patch for a couple of days and has managed pretty well. The real test will be when we get back into the Atlantic or the English Channel, but she has done pretty well today. We got up about 8:45 and planned our activities. We decided to trade out excursion tickets in the next ... read more

Transpacific Adventure, Vancouver to Tokyo, September 2018 I’ve done a few cruises over the years with different companies, and today I’m again boarding a Celebrity ship for a repositioning cruise across the northern Pacific Ocean. What’s different about this journey is the fact I’m sailing Concierge Class, which comes with a boatload (no pun intended) of benefits I haven’t had the opportunity to sample previously. The one I probably appreciate most is the priority check-in which, for anyone who has cruised in the past knows, is a godsend – sometimes the line to get from quayside to cabin is a living nightmare – I don’t DO crowds and long lines, period! The other goodies of this cabin class rate fairly high on my list as well and I can’t wait to get started. Checking out of ... read more

Day 1 An early morning start of 4am to catch the red eye to Sydney saw us tired, however landing in Sydney the excitement increased. Kym and I were appropriately dressed for a cruise. I donned a navy and white nautical inspired outfit right down to my shoes and nails and Kym wore his Captain Hellfire tshirt and 3 quorn pirate hat, which had comments all day about him being Captain Jack Sparrow and his got excited seeing a real pirate. An uber shared between the four of us and we were at Circular Quay. Dropping off our suitcases at the terminal we had a few hours to kill before boarding and walked to the Opera House and bought our first celebratory drinks overlooking our cruise ship and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The warm sun felt ... read more