Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Arrive: 10:55am April 2, 2008 Depart: 5:00pm April 4, 2008

The cruise starts here.

April 2, 2008

Arriving

That was a long flight. We got to our hotel in fine shape but quite tired from our travels. So of us managed to sleep on the plane and some not.
We had enough energy to walk to a restaurant for dinner. Shirley ordered the best dish which was something like a baked brie and fruit sandwich. We didn't do much after that and retired early and crashed and slept long and hard.

April 3, 2008

Jardim Botanique and Corcavado

We took a city taxi to the Jardim Bontanique. It was very beautiful. We wandered about for several hours and had lunch. From there we taxied to Corcavado. Many pictures were taken but you will have to wait until we return to see any.

April 4, 2008

Departure

Everybody is well and we are touring the ship waiting to leave port. We are all excited.

We finished off the day with toasting of champagne.

Sailing, Sailing

Day 1 April 5, 2008

A day at sea.
We started out our morning with walking laps around the boat. It takes 3 1/2 laps to do a mile.
The weather is overcast and we are running from a storm that gave us a bit of rain last night.
I am currently sitting in the Explorers Lounge looking out a window at the ocean going. We are far enough out that you can see shore.
It looks like a quite day of simple things aboard ship (which generally means planing for what happens before you eat next.)
We enjoyed the curry bar for lunch and I jumped in the pool on the back of the ship. Unfortunately it isn't a sea water pool as expected.
We later went to a lecture about tectonic movement over geologic time and the to afternoon tea. (Louise quite liked sitting for tea.)
Some more touring of the ship after that (I think I have found just about every place you can go) and then back to our staterooms to dress (and press) for the format dinner that evening.
At dinner we enjoyed one of our wines that we prepurchased. After dinner it was off to the movies to watch 'Michael Claton'.
Being that it was a formal night the ships crew were offering to take portraits for purchase later (of course.) Not use, I have enough camera equipment with me that I setup my own little sitting for us and took a lovely group photo. Shirley and Nancy retired for the evening at that point (about 11:00pm) and Louise and I went off to dancing until midnight. (You know how Louise loves to dance.)
Finally at the end of the night we went outside on the top deck (the Sport Deck) and viewed stars we had never seen (we guessed one constellation was the Southern Cross).
That was it, crash, sleep and tomorrow Salvador.

Salvador, Brazil

Day 2
Arrive: 10:55am, April 6, 2008
Depart: 5:00pm, April 6, 2008

First port of call..

Well... no need to go back there.

The layout of the port area in this city is interesting. There is the lower city and the upper city. They have constructed very large elevators to take people up and down from each level. They charge 0.05 Reals (the Brazilian currency 1.00 Real equals 0.60 US) to take the elevator. It was clear to us that the upper city was were we wanted to be. The lower city was like a ghost city since it was Sunday. As we left the dock more then one person warned us that the lower city was not safe if you went off of the main street. So, we proceeded directly to the elevator (by major streets) and took it to the upper city.

Not soon after stepping of the elevator the skies opened up and the rain began to fall. We spend most of the rest of the time walking in rain with our umbrellas. It was like having a huge sign on ourselves -Yes we are tourists.-.

We found a small church to tour and then after just a bit more walking around we headed back. Before leaving the upper city the rain quit and I was able to grab a few pictures. (My new camera bag payed for itself my having a built in rain cover.)

It was a short visit to Savaldor and it didn't encourage us to come back.

Louise and I went to the Crows Nest (very front and high on the boat lounge) for the cast off party were we had a great view. My favorite pictures of the day were of other large boats as we sailed past leaving the harbor.

We finished off the day by sitting in one of the lounges and playing Name that Tune, which Louise enjoyed and was the only one of our group that was any help.

On to the next port.

Maceio, Brazil

Day 3 Arrive: 10:00am April 7, 2008 Depart: 7:00pm April 7, 2008

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We arrived on time in Maceio. This is a working dock and we were required to take a provided shuttle to get from the boat to the entrance to the dock, which we did.
From the entrance we started walking to a nearby beach. There we saw some fishermen dragging in their net onto the short. Between the heat and humidity and the impression that Salvador had left on us it didn't take us long to decide to turn back and return to the ship.

Recife, Brazil

Day 4 Arrive: 8:00am April 8, 2008 Depart: 3:00pm April 8, 2008

This was the only port in Brazil that we choose to book a shore excursion. A bus took us to a manatee rescue center and an old 16th century Dutch fort. The best part about the rescue center was that we got to see a baby manatee.
The fort was built on a beach and I found it to be neat. The fort was made of stone and had a double wall. Between the walls they had filled in with sand. I looking forward to seeing the pictures I took here.
After the fort we walked across the beach and had some beer at a local 'bar'.
We soon left and headed back to the ship. We decided we liked this tour with our guide Leonardo.
We were delayed leaving due to some crew members that hadn't made it back to the boat yet, but we soon were underway.

Sailing, Sailing

Day 5 April 9, 2008

A day at sea.
The most interesting thing today was a hazing of sorts that they did to the 'polliwogs'. This is the name they give crew members that have not yet crossed the equator. It was quite a production (mostly for entertainment for us I think.) With theatrics that included King Neptune, they basically slopped colored whipped egg whites on them and threw them in the pool. Other then that it was a simple day with a good sunset.

Sailing, Sailing

Day 6 April 10, 2008

A day at sea.
This morning we crossed the equator at 12:30am ship time. (6:30pm Pacific DST time). We were out on deck tracking our progress up to the crossing with a handheld GPS. It was like counting down to midnight on New Year's Eve.

We found out that our cell phone works on board the ship without any effort on our part. So if you are desperate to get a hold of us you can leave a message on Louise's phone ($6.00/minute roaming) [714-680-0781]

Sailing, Sailing

Day 7 April 11, 2008

A day at sea.

The most interesting thing for today was the tour of the galley. It is quite a production feeding us all. The boat goes through 18,000 eggs/week along with other amazing quantities of other items.

We continue to enjoy the evening shows that have included singers and a magician.

Banjul, Gambia

Day 8 Arrive: 10:00am April 12, 2008 Depart: 6:00pm April 12, 2008

It was interesting to learn that the national language of the country is English. This made the visit easier since we were able to communicate with the people here much better.
We went on a 'shore excursion' to a wild life preserve. We saw birds, monkeys and crocodiles. The drive to the preserve was interesting in that we passed through a major town of the area. It is amazingly different here. The obvious lack of money shows in every way.
We were reminded that the locals don't always like to have their picture taken. On the ride back to the boat a group of young men got quite upset with us for taking their picture as we passed.
We are back on the ship now and waving goodbye to The Gambia. Tonight was a 'cook out' on the Navigation Deck where the pool is at the back of the ship. It was great fun. We got out and danced to music under the stars until midnight (and of course they fed us again... sigh.

Dakar, Senegal

Day 9 Arrive: 8:00am April 13, 2008 Depart: 4:00pm April 13, 2008

We didn't get off the boat.

After The Gambia we couldn't get excited about just wondering about town in Dakar and we didn't have a 'shore excursion' booked so we choose to stay on the boat. After talking with a few people that returned from Dakar we decided it was a good choice.

I did have fun taking pictures of some local birds that were flying very close to the boat. Shirley was especially thrilled with the images.

That evening while sailing to Tenerife the crew put on a BBQ on the back deck (Navigation Deck) with the pool complete with music a dancing. We all had a really nice time.

Sailing, Sailing

Day 10 April 14, 2008

A day at sea.

Very relaxed, doing things like swimming in the pool, reading books, and attending the Captains Black & White Ball.

Tenerife, Canary Islands

Day 11 Arrive: 12:00pm April 15, 2008 Depart: 9:00pm April 15, 2008

This is a place that we all agreed that we should come back to and spend a week or two. It was very nice a very pretty.
We visited some beautiful gardens on the North side and walked around town on the South.

We purchased some local wines (that are not exported) and have already enjoyed one of the reds.

Lanzarote, Canary Islands

Day 12 Arrive: 8:00am April 16, 2008 Depart: 5:00pm April 16, 2008

Well blow me down. It was WINDY here getting off the ship.

We took a shuttle from the ship into town and wondered. The highlights were an old fort, old church, and local beer at a cafe.

Sailing, Sailing

Day 13 April 17, 2008

A day at sea.

The day started with Shirley going to the ship's doctor to only get confirmation that she had a virus of some sort. She had been fighting it for the past few days and was back to her old self by the 19th. She did end up having to stay ashore in Lanzartoe and rest.

Louise was the character of the day. She whipped out here knitting needles and knitted and scarf to cover her head for the mosque in Morroco. She did this in the afternoon and through the evening show, completing it with in time. Dinner that night was again Louise being the entertainment by amazing Shirley by eating three lobster tails.

The night was capped off by visiting the foredeck outside at night for a VERY nice view of the stars and the sea. This is an experience you can't get anywhere else, cruising at night, standing outside toward the bow, no lights to bother you. Really something.

Casablanca, Morocco

Day 14 Arrive: 6:00am April 18, 2008 Depart: 8:00pm April 18, 2008

No tours this time. We got off the boat and got a taxi (rather entertaining, it was like an action with all of the drivers that bargain for the price) and headed to the Hassan II Mosque. This is the second largest mosque in the world.
Mosque is such a small word for such a big place. It was amazing. Room for 80,000 outside and 25,000 inside. We only got to see the outside. Bummer.
We had lunch a Rick's Cafe, which is modeled after the one in the movie Casablanca. It was great, we all enjoyed it.
The local market after that wasn't to interesting and we ended up walking back to the ship.
The pictures from the ship at sunset had promise with the mosque in the foreground.
The nights ride to Cadiz was rocking and rolling with 15 foot seas.

Cadiz, Spain

Day 15 Arrive: 8:00am April 19, 2008 Depart: 5:00pm April 19, 2008

What a great little city. Our tour was just OK with a visit to a bodega (place they make sherry). The better part of the day was when Louise and I walked the old part of the city of Cadiz following a walking tour painted on the ground. We stopped and had lunch at charming restaurant and found the local Cathedral. We had to quick march back and made it to the boat with only 10 minutes to spare. (We loved it.)

Leaving the port was entertaining in that we got a demonstration of how the ship could spin on it's axis (i.e. turn on a dime).

Lisbon, Portugal

Day 16 Arrive: 7:00am April 20, 2008 Depart: 5:00pm April 20, 2008

The tour took us to a small town called Sintra. It was very beautiful, we could easily spend more time there. The weather gave us some rain but none so bad that it spoiled anything for us.
A visit to a local palace provided some great images from the garden.
We enjoyed the sail to sea up the Tagus river from the foredeck. The wind was incredible at points. It had to be the most wind I have ever experienced (40+ mph constant.)
The seas are rocking the boat some more but the stabilizers really help. A nice sunset ended our day.

Sailing, Sailing

Day 17 April 21, 2008

A day at sea.

We cruised past Gibraltar at 10:00am local time. It was neat to finally see. Guess what, it's a big rock.
Louise wasn't feeling well today so she stayed in the cabin for most of it. Shirley and I bummed around the ship and spent a bit of time out on deck. It was one of the most beautiful days we had. We cruised along at 20 knots and had a 20 knot tail wind, so the apparent wind for us was nearly zero. It was really great to stand on deck running along on top speed with no wind.

I had fun IM Jill and forgetting about the time change. I managed to get her our of bed at 3:00 am her time.

Valencia, Spain

Day 18 Arrive: 8:00am April 22, 2008 Depart: 5:00pm April 22, 2008

Valencia was great. We were able to take a public bus from the port to the old town district.

This turned out to be a cheap and convenient conveyance for us. We were dropped off at City Hall square where Mike took the time to take a 360 degree picture of the square.

After getting our bearings we headed off to several churches to find the Cathedral.

On the way we found the central market and the old Silk Exchange (a world heritage site).

Like all old buildings this had some incredible grandeur to it and like all old buildings Mike had fun taking pictures.

We decided to walk thru the market as it was once the second largest market in Europe.

It was full of epicurean wonders in the many stalls, fish, meat, nuts, fruits, vegetables, more than can be listed here.

Michael was determined to buy something so he bought a small bag of prosciutto chunks, since he was put off by the idea of $100/lb for some of the slices.

At the other end of the market we weren't quite sure where to go until we saw that there was the entrance to another church we knew was nearby. The outside gave no hint to the beauty of the interior which we all enjoyed and of course, more pictures.

We enjoyed lunch at a street cafe near the market where we all sampled paella. With time running short we headed east toward the Cathedral where we were able to poke our heads in for a moment before we had to head for the city bus.

We got back to the ship without problem were we enjoyed the 'Sail Away' party in good fashion on the back deck with the pool.

Barcelona, Spain

Day 19 Arrive: 8:00am April 23, 2008 Depart: 6:00pm April 23, 2008

We started our day with a taxi to our most desired place to see, the Inglesia Familia. After quite a while there we took a metro to the Romblus Square were there was a huge crowd as this was a holiday.

We walked down the Romblas seeing the Market where we bought some nuts.

We had lunch at a restaurant recommended in a tour book 'The Attic'. It was very chic but affordable lunch.

We wondered down the street headed to the 'Columbus' statue. Mike took some video in the market while encountering some very rude people who tried to push him out of the way 'Ha!'.

Our shuttle was at the Columbus monument and we were back to the boat in good order.

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Day 20 Arrive: 10:00am April 24, 2008 Depart: 11:00pm April 24, 2008

This picture doesn't show the new pier that we docked at. We had booked a "Shore Excursion" here but it didn't leave until early afternoon, so we had the morning to get off of the ship and wonder about Monte Carlo. We walked up some hills on the South side of the port to get a view down. The was in the gardens that are near the palace. We were rewarded with a nice view of an overlook.

Our show excursion took us to Nice along the Middle Corneche highway. There we wondered in a flower market and then down to the beach. We lost track of Nancy but later found here at the bus. Louise of course had to dip her toes into the water, so I followed her down with the camera at the ready. After the beach we took some photos near a large fountain and then climbed back on the bus and headed to Ese.

Ese is a small old fortress like town on the hills overlooking the sea. It was a lot of up hill walking so Nancy and Shirley stayed behind and unfortunately missed out on some of the great scenes. From Ese we headed back to the ship.

This port stop had a late departure, so after dinner on the ship Shirley, Louise, and Mike headed back out to see the downtown area. We took a boat taxi across the harbor and walked up to The Casino. Louise and Shirley went in for the experience and Mike stayed outside shooting pictures of the Feraries. We wondered as usual and took a auto taxi back to the ship.

Mike spend the last bit of the evening shooting night pictures of Monte Carlo from the top deck of the ship.

Livorno, Italy

(Gateway to Florence)

Day 21 Arrive: 7:00am April 25, 2008 Depart: 8:00pm April 25, 2008

As we had an early bus transfer to Florence we ordered breakfast in our room and discovered it to be delightful. Everything was hot, ample and in some ways better then the cafe food. It was fortunate we'd ordered room service as they steward woke us since Mike set the alarm for 6:30pm.

After about an hour bus ride we got to Florence. We walked to the Piazza del Signoria and visited the Placia Vecchiao. Fabulous rooms of frescoes and decorated ceilings. A copy of the famous David statue stood in the plaza.

Then off to a museum. Shirley stayed dow stairs while Mike and Louise toured the second level. We headed toward the Cathedral and had a nice lunch of sandwiches, wine, and gelato in a little shop en-route.

We got a bit of a show for some of the local "vendors". Apparently there are many that are unlicensed and the police are trying to address the problem. So every now and then you would see many vendors suddenly grab all there stuff and start running.

We toured the Cathedral and headed back to our bus. We met the tour director waiting for everyone to arrive and Mike asked if he had time to run off and buy some wine. It turns out he didn't but since she had said yes, she couldn't complain that he was late getting back.

Nancy had taken a tour to Pizza so we didn't see her until we were returned to the ship.

Back on the ship that night it was dinner, dancing, comedy act and bed.

Civitavecchia, Italy

(Gateway to Rome)

Day 22 Arrive: 7:00am April 26, 2008 Depart: 8:00pm April 26, 2008

At the end of this day I we were all looking forward to the sea day that followed (especially Shirley.)

Another breakfast in the room (they don't charge you for it) and another long bus ride.

In Rome we jumped on the Metro and headed toward the Vatican. We ended up paying for a tour which worked quite well for us. It saved us time getting in and was really quite good. The museum was incredible as was the Sistine Chapel. We also got to see St. Peter's Basilica. WOW! That took us about 4 hours and from there we grabbed the metro to the Colosseum. We didn't have enough time to do any more then see it from the outside but we were happy with that.

Shirley thought the subway ride was quite an experience, which included people packing into a car like sardines.

Sailing, Sailing

Day 23 April 27, 2008

A day at sea.

We went through the Straights of Messina today. This is area between Sicily and mainland Italy. The interesting bit of this was that it requires a pilot to board, and here (just about the only place on the planet) they don't want the ship to slow down. So this guy has to jump aboard while the huge ship is going along a 20 knots. It was deftly done and fun to watch.

We also passed Stromboli (a volcano) which was cooking away as evident by the smoke.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Day 24 Arrive: 9:00am April 28, 2008 Depart: 6:00pm April 28, 2008

I like this was the biggest surprise of the trip. None of us new what to expect and we didn't really have high hopes. As it turns out we loved it and had a really nice day. This was the first time we had to us the tender boats to get to shore. The ship anchors and uses it's own life boats to get the passengers to shore. The tender boats enabled Mike to get some nice pictures of a local bridge that has a very modern and pleasant architecture.

The old town was charming and the architecture was amazing.

We enjoyed a lunch in town and had a nice slow day. We needed it after the previous 5 ports.

Argostoli, Cephalonia, Greece

Day 25 Arrive: 11:00am April 29, 2008 Depart: 6:00pm April 29, 2008

This town was basically leveled my earthquakes in 1953 (only 1 building was left standing.) This was another port that we had to anchor and 'tender' in using the life boats.

Shirley and Nancy decided to simply tour the town on foot and Mike and Louise were off on a tour of a cave and underground lake.

Overall it was OK but not great. The cave had suffered many a visitor through the years and was showing some affect. The underground lake was neat but not has big as I had hoped. Some good pictures might have come from it.

The sunset tonight was great. It took 55 pictures of it trying to be sure to get a good one.

Santorini, Greece

Day 26 Arrive: 11:00am April 30, 2008 Depart: 9:00pm April 30, 2008

Santorini was once a single island volcano also known as Thira. About 2600 years ago it blew it's top and resulted in the largest explosion known to have occurred on the Earth. Let me tell you, if this thing was able to erupt and all of the earth that was in the middle of the volcano was thrown out... WOW! Looking at it makes it hard to imagine. It would be something like scooping out all of Mount St. Helens and throwing it into the sky and not just a single side.

The cruise ships like to stop in the center of the caldera which is now quite deep with the sea water. They can't anchor so they have to kind of just sit out there on station keeping themselves from bumping into each other. When we pulled in today we were 4 ships. Normally the ships use their own life boats as tenders to move the passengers onto shore. However, here in Santorini they have realized that there is money to be made in the tendering business. This means that the ships must pay and use the local tender "service". Somebody figured out how to make some money!

The shoreline on the inside of the caldera is quite vertical and for the most part there is not access. To get to the top near the old section of the main town, the locals have provided two means. A) Ride a cable car for a fee or B) To walk up a small twisty narrow path that has about 1000 feet of elevation. Now if that walk sounds like a lot then you can buy a ride on the back of a donkey. It's pretty funny.

None of these options appealed to Nancy and she ended up not even leaving the dock and just got back on the tender and returned to the ship. Shirley, Louise and Mike took the cable car up with delite.

At the top of the caldera wall the locals have built many buildings along narrow twisting almost maze like streets. (This was supposed to help against unfriendly invaders.) These streets were turned into shopping areas with many very nice shops and restaurants. We were each tempted by things that were much to expensive.

Michael is hoping that the images from Satorini are some of the best of the trip. It is very picturesque when looking down into the caldera.

Our lunch was good with Louise's moussaka being the best and the tzatziki also being quite good.

After some more shopping and picture taking Shirley opted to return on the cable car and Louise and Mike started down the long steps on foot. Well, I learned that sometimes you just need to throw an elbow to make room for yourself with a herd of mules. One bad part about the mules is that you could find you way down this path at night with no lights just by the smell. You might find along the way that some of the cobblestones are surprisingly soft and squishy.

This was a good stop, someplace worth coming back to and spending some time.

Kusadasi, Turkey

(Gateway to Ephesus)

Day 27 Arrive: 7:00am May 1, 2008 Depart: 7:00pm May 1, 2008

The ship pulled in early today but our tour was not due to leave until 12:45. We choose to relax on the ship until it was time to leave. None of us minded missing a chance to browse another port. (I think we are all ready to come home.) Louise and I had a bit of a surprise with the tour once it started out. It turned out that it would be only driving past Ephesus and not stopping. (bummer) As it turned out we didn't feel like we missed all that much after we had seen the view. What our tour did do was visit what is believed to be the last known location that the Virgin Mary lived. The disappointment here was that it was 'restored'. This means that there was a building there that was mostly reconstructed and only the foundation was original.

Next we visited a pretty small town. This was ok, but a bit of a tourist trap. We almost kept all of our money.

The last thing on the tour was a visit to a place that is teaching the art of rug weaving to the Turkish youth (mostly girls because having small fingers helps). This actually was pretty neat. We got to see everything from how the silk it retrieved from the cocoon to the final weaving. The rugs there were REALLY beautiful and just showing us the various rugs, especially those made of silk, was almost enough to open our wallets. No luck for them, we weren't ready to spend on the order of $8,000 dollars for a 10'x12' rug. Most of them weren't really our style and the only thing we even came close to thinking about was a size you would hang on the wall but that was still on the order of $800. Louise was happy to get another item for your 'curiosity basket' (a silk worm cocoon).

This is our last night on the boat. This means we are packing up and getting ready to get kicked off early tomorrow.

Piraeus, Greece

(Gateway to Athens)

Day 28 Arrive: 7:00am May 2, 2008 Depart: 12:30pm May 4, 2008

End of cruise.