Wednesday October 30, 2013, Margate, FL

My cold was still hanging on and I slept late.  We had coffee and still had not heard from the mobile RV service.

I called Coach Net and told them about the situation.  The sent another mobile service out.  The new service arrived at about 1 Pm and had most of the problem found and fixed in short order.  There was a blown 150 amp fuse in the engine compartment.  That fuse being blown cut of power to a fuse box in a front of the motor home.  I say most of the problem because after he left I tried the leveling jacks ad the fuse blew again.  I called back but he wasn't able to come back until tomorrow.  I put a new fuse in so that everything will work, except the leveling system.  The service man will check that system for shorts tomorrow.

Gerri and Neva went shopping and picked up our mail on the way back.  I now have my new driver' license and a new Master Card to put in the new wallet on a chain that Gerri bought me yesterday.

The horse is already gone, but now the barn door is locked.

Gerri bought shrimp for diner.  I fired up the Weber and cooked them on skewers after she marinated them for awhile.  Served with scalloped potatoes, cottage cheese and sliced tomatoes they were a good meal with some left over for later.

Some TV and computer time finished off the evening.

Depending on what the service tech does with the short in the leveling system we may leave here tomorrow so that we have time to visit relatives in Mount Dora on the way to Lake City for the Barnhart mini reunion

Tuesday October 29, 2013, Margate FL

My cold was still hanging on this morning, so I stayed in bed until almost 11.  My cold hasn't been too bad, I was able to enjoy my coffee this morning.

Gerri did go grocery shopping.  While she was gone I took down the filters for the air conditioning return ducts and washed them.  Two of the vents didn't have filters.  I felt around the duct work and found the filters.  The Velcro had come loose and the filters were sucked up the vent a little way.  The return air system design leaves something to be desired.  There are 12 vents that have to be removed with a screw driver.  The filters themselves are held to the plastic vents by Velcro and the adhesive had given up.  I replaced the missing Velcro and washed out all the filters and replaced them in the ceiling.  Another not so glamorous motor homing chore.

Gerri went to pick up her mother at the airport.  I waited for the RV service company.  4 PM came and went.  At 4:40 I called Coach Net and they contacted the mobile service.  The story was that their last call had taken longer than expected.  They said they would be here in about an hour.

The RV repair people arrived at the same time Gerri got back with her mother.  It was dark and I explained the problems and it was decided he would call American Coach for schematics and call me back in the morning.

I must say he didn't inspire a lot of confidence.  We will see in the morning.

Today was Neva's birthday so we had a big celebration  The festivities began with sliced apples and cheese hors d'ouvres.  The extravagant dinner was turkey and cheese sandwiches followed by oatmeal raisin cookies in honor of National Oatmeal Day, AJ's favorite cookie.

We visited with Neva until about 10:30, of course she is still on Nevada time.  We unfolded the sofa for the first time this year so Neva could be comfortable.

Monday October 28, 2013, Margate, FL

I didn't sleep well.  During the night I realized I had a cold coming on.  Normally I would have stayed in bed and nursed it.  Today I had things that needed to be done.  I wanted to see how wide spread the problems with things that were not working with the coach.  I wanted to make a list before calling Kevin Mallory at Cruising America.  The list was longer than I had thought.  Many things didn't work.  The power awnings, the seats won't move and the leveling jacks don't work and the steps don't move.

 I called Kevin and without me having a multi meter I couldn't answer some of his questions.  I called Coach Net and they have arraigned for a mobile RV repair company to come out tomorrow and check out the problems.

Gerri went to the laundromat and CVS Pharmacy while I tried to nap.  No luck at the napping.  She did pickup some Haaggen Das ice cream and gelato as a surprise for me.

We watched a couple of Judge Judy's and had left overs from last night for dinner.  I had a couple scoops of the gelato before taking my medicine and going to bed around  9:30.  Gerri stayed up longer.

Sunday October 27, 2013, Margate FL

Our disembarkation instructions were to vacate our room by 8 AM.  We set an alarm for 6:30.  Our scheduled arrival was 6 AM, but we were in port by 4:30.  We did get up at 6:30 and out of our stateroom by 8AM.  All but our carry on bags were put out last night before we went to bed..,

We assembled for or disembarkation in the Vista Lounge.  We were in a group set for disembarkation  at 10:45.  The crew announcements blamed the border and immigration people, but I think the ship just didn't have it together for over 4000 people leaving the ship.  Once off the ship there was a shortage of porters to help with the luggage,  We did reach the pickup point and waited for the limo to pick us up.  Richard had waited as long as he could but had to do another pickup.  The substitute driver, Paul, found us and we were soon on our way back to the RV Park.

Back at the motor home, a little before 1pm, the driver unloaded the bags at our door step after a stop at the office to pickup our keys.  Gerri started up the motor home and put out the passenger side slides while I hooked up the water and sewer lines.  A little later I realized that she hadn't put down the leveling jacks.  I noticed that some lights were on on the dash that shouldn't be.  I never figured out the problem.  That will be a job for tomorrow.

It took quite awhile to catch up our e-mail and I went through the blogs and cleaned up duplicates and and bad dates.

Gerri went out to Boston Market and picked up a meal that included the meat loaf she didn't get last night.

We called it a night at a little past 11.

Saturday October 26, 2013, At Sea

On our last full day at sea we woke up to cloudy skies and the choppiest seas we have seen during the Atlantic crossing.  It did clear up some by mid day. I saw the first ship since we started our crossing.  I was far in the distance and I couldn't tell if it was another cruise ship or a container ship.

Gerri started packing for our arrival in Ft. Lauderdale.

We had lunch in the Horizon Court and then went to the art auction in the Vista Lounge.

Back at the room we got some more packing done and got ready to go to the Vista Lounge for hors d'ouvres with our table companions.  We returned to our room and put three of our suitcases out for pickup.

We had dinner at our regular time.  Gerri and Kay ordered meatloaf and later had to reorder because they were out of meatloaf.

Tonight there was a crew talent show in the Princess Theater.  The last act of the talent show is members of the crews director staff doing a skit called, "If I Was Not Upon The Sea."

Tomorrow we arrive in Ft. Lauderdale at 6 AM and we have to be out of the room by 8 AM.

Friday October 25, 2013, At Sea

Our sixth full day at sea.  It was cloudy today but the sea wasn't very rough.  I tried posting yesterdays blog but the internet service was down.  After our coffee we went to lunch in the Concerto dining room.

At the photo gallery we weeded through the photos and choose those we wanted to buy. At 3 PM we went to a get together of first responders for Police and Fire.  There were ten of us there.  Many of the others had been retired a lot longer than Gerri or me.  There were no firemen there.  Two of the policemen were from other counties, Canada and Germany. Two were retired from New York City and another from Suffolk County.  After introductions there was some general war story conversation.

Gerri went to the Piazza to see the passenger talent show before the session ended.  I joined her there later.  As usually with this large a group, there were a good number of very talented people.  After the talent show the passenger choir put on their show.  The choir was 70 people who had met and practiced 8 times.  They were very good.

We returned to the room and got ready for dinner.  Before dinner we met Lou and Mona, Del and Kay and Jayne in the Vista lounge for hors d'ouvres.  Following that we went to an art show at the art gallery.  Lou and Mona went with us to the Vista lounge and listened to a singer that did soul and blues songs. 

Dinner was at our regular time with all our table companions there.  After dinner Gerri and I went to the Princess Theater and saw a floor show by the ship's singers and dancers.

Tomorrow is our last full day at sea.  Today was another day of smooth sailing and we enjoyed the ship board activities.

Thursday October 24, 2013, At Sea

This is our fifth day at sea en route from Madeira, Portugal to Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  Guess what, we slept late.  After our morning coffee Gerri went to the art auction.  I went on deck 16 and had a cheeseburger and sat to do Sudoku puzzles. 

I did meet a couple from Boca Rotan, FL.  They were originally from New Jersey.  Night before last we went to a comedy show featuring comedian Al Katz.  At one point in his show he mentioned that everyone from New Jersey knew their exit number.  The couple I met were also at the show and they knew their exit number.

The art auction had lasted late and Gerri had a grilled tuna sandwich at the crown grill.

We met back at the room and after some rest we got ready for our last formal night on the cruise.  I dressed in the ship provided tuxedo and wore AJ's cufflinks and red bow tie.  AJ is Gerri's father, it has been eight years since he died but his memory is vivid in our minds.  It was an honor to wear something that was part of his life.

Our evening started at the Captain's Farewell Party in the Piazza on deck five.  After that we went to dinner at our regular time with all our regular table mates.  I don't think I have mentioned that our regular dinner routine usually lasts an hour or an hour and a half.  Dinner itself is four or five courses followed by coffee and conversation.  We aren't the last party out of the dining room but we have been close several times.

We had no plans after dinner and returned to our room.  Gerri did some Sudoku puzzles.  The app we have on the iPad only has easy puzzles, so she disposes of most of them pretty quickly.  I may upgrade the app to include what the app describes as medium, hard, evil and diabolical.  I stayed up too late watching a really bad movie after she went to sleep.

Tomorrow is our sixth and next to last full day at sea.  We are scheduled to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale at 6 AM Sunday morning.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013, At Sea in the mid-Atlantic Ocean

This is our fourth full day at sea, we passed the midpoint of our crossing the Atlantic Ocean sometime early this morning.  There were only a few bumps this morning as we passed through the edge of tropical storm Lorenzo.  According to the Captain's announcement we were 173 miles from the center of the storm and as we proceed toward the Bahamas the winds will reduce and the sea will become smoother.  We have been very fortunate with the weather on all our cruises.  Since we got up this morning the clouds continued to lift and the day became sunnier.

Even with the clock being set back an hour last night we slept late before ordering our coffee, bran muffins and melon bowls.  We didn't go to the taping of the Wake Show in the morning.  We did solve some Sudoku puzzles on the iPad and watched some news while just being generally lazy.

On the news this morning I heard that this was the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon.  This is one of the world events that I remember where I was and what I was doing.  We were exploring back roads in the Desert Wildlife Preserve.  This bombing was the watershed event for Islamic radicalism.  It was the death knell for Lebanon and peace in the middle east.  I usually assign this type of comment for my other blog, but this was an important event.

This afternoon I went up to Deck 16 with intentions of walking, but the wind was coming across at 32 knots, so I gave that up and had pizza.  Meanwhile, Gerri, went down to the Piazza on Deck 5 to listen to Dixieland music.  We rejoined at our cabin and then went back up to Deck 16 where Gerri got her a grilled hotdog and we watched part of the movie Ferris Beuller's Day Off.  Ice Cream cones called our names and we took them back to our cabin.

Hors d'ouvres today in the Vista Lounge was creamy goat cheese on pita bread.  Del and Kay joined us for awhile.  We attended part of a show in the Princess Live with some of the group Volume. We didn't care for the show so we went back to our room and put the iPad on charge.  Gerri and I have been doing quite a few Sudoku puzzles on the iPad.  We do the puzzles differently.  I mark all of the possibilities and do them very methodically, eliminating the wrong numbers as I go.  Gerri looks for the most obvious answers and only fills in the square when she is positive.  She does the puzzles faster than I do, so I started trying her method.  At least at the easy level it works pretty well.

Dinner was at our regular time followed by a comedian show in the Princess Theater.  It is ironic that we go on cruises and see shows featuring people that appear regularly in Las Vegas and we have never heard of them.  Maybe we have to get out more.  After the comedian show we went to the Vista Lounge, another trip the length of the ship, to see a floor show.  The show had a "Ye Olde English Pub" theme and involved audience participation.

Back at our room I watched the latest Lone Ranger movie before bed.  It was not the Lone Ranger I grew up with and now watch on old time TV.

Another day at sea tomorrow, one day closer to the end of our cruise.  Even though we haven't had much pool side time we have enjoyed another day of smooth sailing in a beautiful ship.  Tomorrow night is our last formal night, our 5th one on this cruise.

Tuesday October 22, 2013, At Sea between Madeira, Portugal and Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Our third full day at sea.  When we left Madeira we expected rougher seas than we have experienced.  The Captain announced this morning that we were steering around a yet to be named tropical depression.  We may expect some rain showers tomorrow morning.

We started our day as usual with coffee in our stateroom.  We only had the coffee this morning because we planned to have lunch.  We attended the taping of tomorrow's Wake Show.  One of the guests was the executive chef for Princess cruises.  He has worked for Princess for 40 years.  He is from Italy and the restaurant we have enjoyed so much, Alfredo's, is named after him.

Lunch was fish and chips at the Wheelhouse.  Well mine was fish and chips, Gerri had fried prawns and chips.  After that we went back to our room and Gerri caught some rays on the balcony while I took a nap.

The plan for tonight was hors d'ouvres, sushi, at Club Six followed by dinner.  We met Lou and Mona at Club Six.  Before dinner we checked out the latest photographs and had some more taken at another scene.

Dinner was with our regular group,  Gerri had turkey breast and I had surf and turf.

After dinner we went to see an impressionist, Joey Van, in the Princess Theater.  Followed by another show by the Mentalist, Brent Webb, in the Vista Lounge.  These activities involved a lot of walking.  Our dining room is on deck six at the rear of the ship, the Princess theater is on deck 6 at the front and then it was back to the Vista Lounge on deck 7 at the rear of the ship.  Only a little more walking to our room amid ship and on deck 9 to call it a night.

Of course tomorrow is another sea day.  According to the Captains announcement we will reach the halfway point in our crossing at about 3 AM.  Before going to bed we noticed that the sea was a little rougher, but not bad. We also turned our clocks back another hour.

Monday, October 21, 2013, At Sea between Madeira, Portugal and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

This was our second full day at sea.  We had our coffee and muffins in the room and later went to lunch in the Concerto Dining Room.

In the afternoon we went to the filming of the Wake Show.  It really gets confusing when they film tomorrow's show and talk about activities that are scheduled the next day, actually they are talking about day after tomorrow.

Gerri went to the Lotus Spa and had one of her nails redone.

At 7 we went to the Captains Circle Reception. Part of the activities is introducing the people that have cruised the most days.  The couple with the most days had over 1300.

Dinner was at our regular time with our table mates all present.  After dinner we went up to deck 16 to watch the fountain show with Frank Sinatra singing in the background.  It was then back to our room and where we watched some TV and called it at night.

Sunday, October 20, 2013, At Sea between Madeira, Portugal and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

This was the first of six days at sea before arriving at Ft. Lauderdale at 6 AM next Sunday.

We have to set our clocks back several times during the trans Atlantic portion of the cruise.

We slept in late and had our coffee, melon bowl and bran muffin in our room.  We didn't get out and around until afternoon.  The weather was better than had earlier been announced.  There were rollers but not many whitecaps, and only an occasional lurch.

Gerri went to the onboard outlet sale.  She came back empty handed.  We then went to a presentation on repositioning cruisers presented by the Future Cruise Director.  It was interesting but didn't really cover our questions about the advantages of repositioning cruises. 

Gerri went to the art auction at 2 PM, I dodged the bullet again, no purchases.  At 3 PM I met up with Gerri in the Princess Live Theater to watch the filming of tomorrow's Wake Show.

We had lunch at Alfredo's.  Last night Gerri had tried anchovies on her Caesar salad.  Today she tried anchovies on her pizza.  After that we went on deck 16 and sat near the pool while I had an ice cream cone from Swirls.  The weather wasn't conducive to hanging around the pool for very long.

Back at our room Gerri was able to sit out on our balcony and enjoy the sun for an hour.  We also rested and watched the first of a Three Stooges movie before heading to dinner at our usual time.  Gerri had Asian Duck and I had calamari steak.  The dessert menu included a soufflé, so I didn't have to look any further.  I can only remember having soufflé one time that wasn't on a cruise.  That was after our first cruise.  Morgan Harris made them at a party at Dale Askew's house in Las Vegas.  That was a party with other members of the board of directors of the Clark County Credit Union.

There was no live entertainment that interested us after dinner.  We went back to our room and watched the rest of the Three Stooges movie and then another movie called Robot and Frank.

Tomorrow is another sea day.

Saturday, October 19, 2013, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

We arrived in the port city of Funchal at about 8 AM.  This was our last port of call before crossing the Atlantic and returning to Ft. Lauderdale.

Our tour was scheduled for 10 AM.  We went to the Horizon court and had breakfast before going to the Princess Theater to start the tour.  We boarded the bus and our first stop was not far away in downtown Funchal.  Funchal is the capital city of the islands that make up the autonomous region of Madeira.  The islands are part of Portugal.  There are four islands, only two are inhabited.  The islands are known for producing a fortified wine bearing the same name at the islands, Madeira.  We walked through an outdoor market with arts and crafts.  No competition for Montyne and John's, Still Flowers.

Back on the bus we drove to three high points of the island.  The islands make up a volcanic archipelago and rise sharply from the sea with very little beach area.  Agriculture is predominate with terraced farm land once outside the city.  The island is tropical along the sea but rises sharply with distinct temperate zones.  Originally sugar cane was the main crop.  Now there are extensive areas growing Bananas, Avocado and many other crops including sugar cane.

The tour went through the hotel area of Funchal and then into the higher country side.  We stopped at a viewpoint that overlooked the town and ocean.  There was a cache listed nearby but if the container was where we thought it was we couldn't retrieve it.  I forgot to write down the cache name or GC number, so I couldn't write the owner about it.

Our next stop was at a point above the ocean with a 2000' drop almost vertical to the sea.  This stop had a sky walk with a glass walkway looking directly down the cliff to the sea.  The guide said it was the second highest sea cliff in the world.  The highest being in China.  The guide was doubtful of the Chinese measurement.  The view was quite impressive.  From this viewpoint there was also imposing views of the surrounding area and the terraced farm land.

At our third and last stop along the coastal cliffs there was another cache nearby but we had no luck finding it.  The view from this point was of the terraced farms plus a fishing village far below.

The bus drivers skill on the narrow winding roads was impressive.  He also exhibited a lot of patients with other drivers who had a propensity to stop in the narrower portions of the road to talk to neighbors or unload items from their cars.

Our tour returned to the ship at about 3 PM.  We took our purchases to our room and then had a sandwich and clam chowder at the International Cafe on deck 5.

There was a cache about a quarter mile away.  I left Gerri on board and walked to it.  As I was signing the log another couple came up.  They were also cachers from the ship.  We talked for awhile and walked back to the ship together, they were from New York.  This was my last cache on this trip.  I managed to find eleven caches in six countries.  I thought I added two continents, but it turns out the cache I thought was in Asia was in the European part of Istanbul.  Our other stop in Turkey, Kusadasi, was cancelled because high winds prevented the docking.  I have now found caches on four continents.

We went to dinner again at our regular seating.  And afterwards went to a show in the Princess Theater featuring a mentalist.  Back at our cabin I stayed up and watched the latest Superman movie.

Tomorrow is the first of the seven sea days before landing in Ft. Lauderdale.

Friday, October 18, 2013, At Sea between Barcelona, Spain and Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

Sometime around midnight we passed through the Straights of Gibraltar.  Thus from the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean.  We slept in again and ordered our usual breakfast in our room.  After posting yesterday's blog and getting Gerri's e-mail.  I ventured out  and dropped off our Future Cruise deposit form and our disembarkation information sheet. 

Yesterday my iPad locked up and I couldn't figure out how to get it restarted.  I went by the internet cafe and one of the people there showed me how to reset it.

We went to the pool area on deck 16 for awhile but the clouds were coming and going and the wind came up. I then tried to go for a walk, but on deck 17 I almost lost my hat in the wind.  I gave it up and went back to the cabin.

At 6:30 there was a show in the Princess Theater.  We enjoyed another comedian, he was very funny.  We then watched some of the Brazilian Line Dance Party in the Vista Lounge and part of a movie music trivia Name that Tune contest before dinner with Dan, the Deputy Cruise Director.  He is always good for several funny comments. Too bad we couldn't stay for the whole contest as we had to leave for our dinner.

Dinner was at our usual time and everyone was there.  Another great meal.

Tomorrow is our last port of call on the small island of Madeira before heading toward Ft. Lauderdale.  We have a tour booked and I hope to have time to find a cache there.

Thursday, October 17, 2013, At Sea between Barcelona, Spain and Madeira, Portugal

Today is a sea day.  We get to rest from shore excursions.  I slept in.  Gerri got up and did our wash.  We have many more cruise days before we reach Elite status and our loyalty rewards will include free laundry.  This cruise has many more Elite status passengers than usual.  Probably because this is the maiden trans Atlantic crossing of the newest and largest Princess ship.

Gerri went to get her nails done in the early afternoon.  I went on deck and had a slice of pizza and an ice cream cone from Swirls.  I also read a little.  At 3:30 we met back at the cabin and then went to the filming of the Wake Show in the Princess Live Theater.  There were about 30 of us at the filming.  It was a lot of fun with the Deputy Cruise Director Dan keeping things moving with jokes and give a ways.  We didn't win anything...sigh..

We went to the Princess lounge for hors d'ouvres.  Today was guacamole and chips plus the assortment of vegetables and cheeses.  The early seating dinner were already dressed for the formal night at sea, so we felt under dressed.

After getting dressed for dinner we had some photos taken at one of the positions set up around the ship.  We went to dinner at our regular time.  Our table was full and most of us had lobster as a main course.

After dinner we went back to our room.  Tonight we set our clocks back an hour.  Tomorrow is another sea day.  We should pass through the Straights of Gibraltar tonight at about midnight.  Too bad I would liked to have seen that during the day time.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013, At Sea between Barcelona, Spain and Madeira, Portugal

We had a tour scheduled to meet at 9 AM and planned to go to the Concerto dining room for breakfast.  I set an alarm for 7 AM.  When the alarm went off it was still dark outside.  We were also moving along pretty fast with no land in sight.  The ship was due to dock in Barcelona at 9 AM.  Since our balcony was on the port side, I assumed that we would see land soon.  The sky behind us was turning red and it wasn't long before I could see lights.

This was the first time on this trip that we had a sit down breakfast in a dining room.  It was a nice change of pace.

We met Lou and Mona at the Vista Lounge and got our bus assignment.  Our tour for today was to Montserrat.  The attraction there is a Benedictine Monastery dating to mid-evil times.  The bus ride from the port was about an hour.  As we got out of Barcelona the guide pointed out the mountain in the distance, the Monastery was built at the 1300 meter level on the mountain.  We stopped at one point along the way where we could see the Monastery.  The road from there got narrow and winding.  It reminded me of both the "Going to the Sun Highway" in Glacier National Park and the Mt. Carmel Tunnel road in Zion National Park.  Unlike the "Going to the Sun" the road was drivable by vehicles longer than 25'.  The Montserrat road was 10 kilometers which I think is longer than the hair pin portion of the Mt. Carmel road in Zion, without the narrow tunnels. 

Going up the mountain we didn't meet any other vehicles and of course none could have passed us.  It was extremely crowded at the Monastery with more buses than the parking lot could accommodate.  Our guide walked with us to the doors of the church explaining different parts of the complex.  There are 80 Monks that live at Montserrat, their mantra is "Work and Prayer."  Most of the monks work at maintaining and reserving an extensive library of ancient books.  The books are only available for qualified researchers.  There are accommodations for Pilgrims of all stripes and reasons you can imagine from hikers and mendicants to historians and anything in between.  The accommodations ranging from hostel to commodious.

We went into two parts of the church, the Asp, and a room where pilgrims leave gifts and notes asking for favors from the Black Madonna, a patron Saint of Catalonia. I posted pictures on Facebook.

Part of the decent from the mountain was over the same route as we ascended.  Of course it was just as winding.  I must give credit to our driver, and all the other drivers, who make a living driving 40' coaches up and down this mountain with the lives of so many people's loves depending on their skill and attention.

We got back to the ship at about 3 PM.  Gerri went aboard with the intention of getting in sometime around the pool.  I checked my GPS and there was a cache less than .1 miles away.  Our ship was at Terminal B and the direction arrow pointed toward Terminal A.  I walked that way and the arrow turned at 140' toward the bridge from town.  I walked back to where the bridge came down to the terminal level and then back up the bridge about 500' to a parking area.  I found the cache and signed the log.  This was my 4th and final cache in Spain.

Back on the ship I looked around for Gerri in the pool area with no luck.  I went back to the room and she came in a little later after getting her hair cut.

A P&O cruise ship sailed just before dark and I watched them sail away.  Then it was time to get ready for dinner.  We joined our table mates for dinner at our regular time.

After dinner we went back to our room and read and watched TV.

Tonight and tomorrow night our course is toward the port of Madeira, Portugal on the island of Funchal.  That is our next and last port of call before heading across the Atlantic to Ft. Lauderdale.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013, At Sea between Cannes, France and Barcelona, Spain

Our day in Cannes started with high clouds and haze.  We arrived at 7 AM.  I heard the clunking that seems to come from next door and it went on for awhile getting me up earlier than I would have liked. I'm not sure what the noise is, I can't imagine what they are doing in there.  Maybe the noise is made by some ship activity as opposed to the neighbors.

We ordered our breakfast as usual and enjoyed our coffee as the day brightened.

Our tour started at 12:45 in the Princess Theater.  This is the first port of call that we were taken ashore by tenders instead of docking.

Our tour was along the Cornish, a winding road along the shore, sometimes quite high above the sea.  The day actually got grayer instead of clearing up.  We spent about an hour in a town called St. Rafael.  We took some pictures along the road and in town I got a good shot of an old church.  I did look for a cache near the church, but didn't have any luck. 

After walking around for awhile we went to the pickup point.  While we waited for the bus, Gerri did a little shopping.  The drive back to the port at Cannes was over the same road we came on.  Our prospective was different as we were now on the side of the bus facing away from the ocean.  It got colder and shortly after we left St. Rafael it started raining pretty hard.  We drove through several small business areas along the road.  Most of the houses of various sizes were literally clinging to the hillside.  We could tell it was the end of the season in the south of France, many of the businesses were  closed and most of the homes and apartments had some type of shutters closing them off.  The cliffs along the road and the hills beyond that could be seen were a red colored limestone.  The area resembled Red Rock Canyon at home or many places in southern Utah.

It was quite cold when we got back to the port at about 5 PM.  The last tender to the ship was scheduled at 5:15 with sailing soon after that.  The process of boarding the tenders involved long lines and a lot of waiting.  The same things were involved in re boarding the ship.

It seemed like a long cold day so we stopped at the grill on deck 5 and had a bowl of Tortilla soup.  That hit the spot and warmed us up.  After the soup we split a grilled tuna fish sandwich and small quiche before going to our room.

We didn't weigh anchor until 7 PM.  No nice sunset tonight.  But all in all a very good day, both of us are feeling better.  I think I'm pretty much rid of my cold.  Gerri seems to better and she has always been able to function better than me with a cold.

We went to dinner at our regular time.  Everyone was there so we had a full table.  Since I have had a hard time falling asleep last night I abstained from the coffee and tea this evening.

Tomorrow we will be back in Barcelona,  we booked a tour to Montserrat that will take most of the day.  Barcelona is about 290 miles away.

Monday, October 14, 2013, At Sea between Citavecchia, Italy and Cannes, France

We had no tours booked today, our only plan was to take the shuttle to the port gate and walk around the town.  We ordered coffee, bran muffins and melon bowls from room service.  We took our time over coffee and went ashore about 12:30. 

The shuttle took us to the port entrance, which was about 3/4 mile away.  We walked into the town and on a couple of the side streets.  There was a pedestrian mall with shops and restaurants.  We went down an alley where there were booths set up selling arts and crafts items.  There was a small plaza with a few shops, we chose a small cafe with outside seating for lunch.  They also had free WiFi.  Gerri ordered lasagna and I ordered a margarita pizza.  After awhile the waitress came and apologized that they didn't have any lasagna.  Gerri changed her order to pasta carbonara.  The waitress came back and apologized that they didn't have the cheese for the margarita pizza, so my pizza order was changed to prosciutto.  Although they weren't the meals we had planned they were both very good.  We lingered there for awhile and were serenaded by a string trio.

We walked back down toward the waterfront.  There was a large plaza with a carnival at one end.  They also had a replica of the sailor kissing a nurse statue that is in the harbor of San Diego near the Midway Aircraft Carrier.

We caught the shuttle back to the ship and spent the rest of the late afternoon watching the activity on the dock.  Our balcony faced west and the clouds and marine layer showed a lot of promise for a beautifully colored sunset.  As the sun got lower we got some great sunset pictures.

All aboard time of 6:30 came and went.  There was an announcement that there would be a delay as there was a tour bus that hadn't returned.  The bus came back a little past 7.  We were still on our balcony and saw our friends Lou and Mona get off the late bus.  It was completely dark with a 3/4 moon when we sailed away.

We went to our regular sitting for dinner.  Lou and Mona came to dinner but not Del and Kaye.  Lou told quite a story about bus difficulties.  They had bus problems the day before on a tour in Naples and again today in Citavecchia on a tour.

Tomorrow we will in Cannes, France and a tour booked for the late morning.

Sunday, October 13, 2013, A Sea between Naples and Citavecchia (Rome),Italy

We arrived in Naples at 6 AM.  We didn't get up until later. After that we ordered our coffee plus Gerri had a egg, cheese and bacon breakfast on an English Muffin.  I had a bran muffin.  Being up and down in the morning I soon discovered I still wasn't at 100%.  Some of my cold was still hanging on.  Worse than that Gerri has a twinge of a sore throat.

Our city tour of Naples didn't meet until one in the Symphony Dining Room.  Our group wasn't called until 1:30.  Since it was Sunday there wasn't a lot of traffic. This was probably the worse bus trip for photographs.  The streets were narrow and the historical sites were too close to get good photos, or there were power lines and signs in the way.  We made one stop for refreshments and rest rooms.

When we returned to the cruise ship terminal Gerri did some shopping in the duty free stores, but didn't buy much.  Back on the ship I laid down.  Gerri brought me a margarita pizza and then left me to rest.  After eating I watched a movie.  Gerri had gone to a couple of areas to read.  She returned to the room with a bowl of soft serve ice cream from Swirls.

Gerri went to bed early and I stayed up a little longer.

Tomorrow we are back in the port city of Citavecchia, the port closest to Rome.  We have no tours booked but hope there is a town center and shopping area close to the dock area.

Saturday, October 12, 2013, At Sea between Messina and Naples, Italy

The ship docked in Messina early in the morning, about 1 AM.  We got up, I was feeling much better this morning and ordered our coffee at 8:30.  After getting dressed we walked into town.  At this port the ship was docked close enough to town that is was an easy walk to shopping and restaurants. 

I checked the GPS and there was a cache near the ship dock.  We headed that way.  The hint said it was magnetic and GZ was near a wrought iron fence.  Gerri spotted the container quickly and I retrieved it, signed the log and returned it to its hiding spot.  This was my second Italian cache.

Gerri bought souvenirs at one shop, one that sold only items made in Sicily and afterwards we stopped at small restaurant for a snack.  We had no idea what we were ordering. It sounded like some sort of pizza.  It was like a quesadilla with mozzarella cheese.  The waiter wrote down the name, a slaid bread piedina.  It was tasty.  The restaurant had free WiFi so we uploaded some pictures to Facebook

As we returned to the ship we stopped at what appeared to be a fast food restaurant and bought another snack.  This one we had seen on the video in our room.  It looked like an orange.  It had a crisp outside shell of cornmeal and was filled with rice, corn, ham and a tomato sauce.  It was real tasty. 

As we approached the ship to re-board it rained, not heavily but steady.  It was warm enough that the rain wasn't unpleasant.  Back at our room we relaxed for awhile and then went to the Piazza on the 5th floor to see a performance that was billed as illusions with wandering miniatures.  There was a string quartet playing when we got there, the music was enjoyable.  When the quartet took a break the illusionists came on and wondered around the area talking to passengers.  It was a strange act.  The illusion was that the characters were dressed as back packers, they looked like small people with large packs.  The characters faces were not real and the voices came out at the face level that was about three feet tall.  The characters must have been actually looking through some of the higher parts of the costume.  I may not be explaining this very well.  The costumes portrayed normal size people as very short people with large backpacks.

We went to the Vista Lounge for hors d'ouvres.  We didn't see any of the people we have met before.  We sat with a couple from Victoria, BC and had a nice chat before going to our room to dress for dinner.

We went for our regular seating for dinner.  We have discussed switching to the early seating for our next cruise.  We talked about switching to anytime dinning, but decided that we liked getting to know people at the regular seating.  Everyone was there tonight.  One of the entrees was frog legs.  I hadn't had frog legs for a long time so I ordered them and a NY Steak just in case.  The frog legs were very small, Gerri had ordered veal cordon bleu, but she tried the frog legs too.  The steak was done just right and could have been cut with a fork.  All in all a very good meal

After dinner we went back to the room.  Gerri read and I watched the end of a movie I had started before.

Tomorrow were are in Naples again and are booked for a city tour in the afternoon.

Friday, October 11, 2013, At Sea between Venice and Messina, Italy

Another overcast morning.  Many of my cold symptoms were gone but I hardly slept last night.  I still had a light headed feeling.

I stayed in bed most of the day and never left the room.  Gerri brought me a tuna sandwich for lunch. During the afternoon Gerri went to an art auction.

I really felt like going to dinner until I took my shower and had been up and around for a while.  I had to lay back down.  Gerri went to dinner after ordering me a cheeseburger from room service.  She brought me Creme Brule from the dining room. 

I watched a couple of movies before going back to bed.

Tomorrow we dock at Messina.  We didn't make any excursion plans and hope the town is close enough to the dock to walk in for a while.  We are only scheduled to be there until 2 PM.

Thursday, October 10, 2013, At Sea between Venice and Messina, Italy

Another overcast morning.  Worst  of all I didn't sleep well and my cold now included a twinge of a sore throat.  I took more Nyquil and stayed in bed most of the day.

Gerri did some shopping and met with Jayne for awhile in the Vista Lounge over hors d'ouvres.  She also did some shopping.

It was all aboard at by 4 PM and we moved out into the grand canal, to the Venice Lagoon and on to the open sea.  I took some pictures as we traveled past the main part of town.  I took the pictures with my iPad.  I touched something on the screen and found that I could zoom in for closer shots.  It took some time to figure out what I done to get the zoom feature, but now I know.  I don't know what the pixel count is for the iPad, but it takes very good pictures.

In the early evening I was feeling better, no sore throat and I wasn't coughing as much.  I took a shower and got dressed planning to go to our regular dining room meal.  We were assigned a new table for this portion of our cruise, a round one that seats six with all chairs instead of the couch on one side like we had.  Our table mates are still Lou and Mona from Coronado, CA, and Del and Kay from Tucson, AZ.  Of course now we have to get used to new waiters, that shouldn't be a problem we have 16 more days with them.

After dinner we went back to the room  I medicated myself again, just in case.  We called it an early night.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013, Venice, Italy

Another overcast day with rain forecast.  To make matters worse I woke up hoarse and coughing.  I took some antibiotics and Dayquil and stayed in bed most of the day.  We did go get our cruise cards activated and pictures taken for the second leg of our cruise.

Gerri spent much of the afternoon taking pictures as there was a little blue in the sky later in the day.  She also visited with Jayne and the cruise director, Samantha.  I later joined her and Jayne for hors d'ouvres, they changed the event to the Vista Lounge because of the larger number of Elite and Platinum passengers as I was feeling a little better.

We didn't get dressed for dinner.  We went to the Horizon Court Buffet.  After eating we returned to the room. I called it a night early and Gerri read for awhile.  I'm hoping that I feel well enough in the morning so we can take the water taxi back to the main center of Venice, which is St. Marks Square.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013, Venice, Italy

The sky was still gray this morning, but the sea was calmer.  We arrived in the harbor of Venice and the ship made its way up the Grand Canal to our berthing place by 1 PM.  The passage seemed narrow and at least on our side they built large buildings right down to the water, in some cases they were built into the water. There were a lot of islands with boats of various sized plying back and forth with no seeming pattern.  There were smaller canals visible between rows of buildings with small boats moored along the side.

Once we docked I went out to see if any cache were nearby.  The closest was .31 miles.  As I walked toward the port exit the cache got further away.  I checked the GPS again and was now closer to a different cache, which was only .2 miles away.  I walked there and found the cache easily and signed the log.  The cache was a plastic envelope rolled up and hidden in a crack in  the brick wall along a small bridge.  The coordinates were right on.  After three other ports of call in Italy where no caches were accessible, I was beginning to wonder if I would score one in Italy.  After I found the cache I walked back to the ship.  Round trip to the cache was a little over a mile.

Back on board I met Gerri and we went to afternoon tea in the Concerto Dining room.  It wasn't very well attended.   We had some small sandwiches and desserts with our tea.

Since our tour didn't meet until 6 PM we also had the daily hors d'ouvres at Club 6 at 5 PM.

Our tour scheduled at 6 PM was a gondola ride.  A water taxi picked us up at the ship and took us to the area of St. Mark's Square.  It was raining hard when we got on the taxi boat but that stopped before we docked downtown.  We walked along the water front to St. Mark's Square and to a gondola station on a side street.  One of the other passengers fell in the square and hurt her head.  There was a delay while paramedics came to take care of her.

We boarded the gondolas near a Best Western Hotel.  Four passengers we assisted into each gondola.  We were assigned to the gondola that carried the singer and accordion player.  The gondola ride lasted for about an hour.  The singer was very good and was able to project his voice very well, in the wider canal areas the gondolas bunched up so everyone could enjoy the music and singer.  Since it was getting dark we probably didn't get many good photos.

After the gondola ride we walked back to the water taxi and returned to the ship.  We had left the ship directly on to the boat.  On the return trip we were taken to a shuttle dock and had to walk about a quarter mile back to the terminal and go through a security station to show our passports before boarding.

We decided to have dinner at Alfredo's on deck 6.  I had pizza and Gerri had a tuna baguette.  Very good.

Back at our room Gerri had determined to use all her remaining internet minutes after I posted this blog.  The minutes don't carry over to the next leg of our cruise, since that is considered a different cruise.

Monday, October 7,2013, At Sea between Athens, Greece and Venice, Italy

We woke up this morning to a totally gray sky.  Clouds were evenly covering horizon to horizon.  The sea was equally gray and running with 6-9' rollers with whitecaps.  The wind didn't seem to be very great, there was no spray lifting off the whitecaps.  Our course is now roughly north west with the heel of the boot of Italy off to our west but out of sight.

We had our coffee in the cabin along with a melon bowl and bran muffin.  Gerri watched some episodes from the third season of The Good Wife.  I did a few Sudoku puzzles on my iPad.  We were just generally lazy not venturing out of our room until late afternoon.

Last night I had trouble with Blogspot not publishing the blog.  Later I found that it had published the blog several times.  I also realized my day of the week was wrong, I had two Wednesdays.  I tried to correct the days and erase the extra postings.  Apparently I erased one of the posting that I had shared on FaceBook.  That made the link I shared on FaceBook invalid.  I think I got the problems fixed.

Tonight is a formal night and the only thing we have planned before dinner is our visit to the Club 6 for the hor d'ouvres.  The main hors d'ouvres were the creamy goat cheese on pita bread.  Very tasty.

We had dinner at our regular time, all of our table mates were there.  Tonight lobster tails and jumbo prawns were the main course that everyone chose.  We started with shrimp or sea food and escargot.  Gerri also ordered the wild pheasant which we shared.  Tonight's main dessert was Baked Alaskan served after waiters did the traditional march around the dining room carrying it with lit candles.

As you might guess we over ate.  It was back to our room for us.

Tomorrow is the last night on the first half of our cruise.  We arrive in Venice at 1 PM and the forecast is for rain.  We are scheduled for an evening gondola ride and are hoping the forecast is wrong.

The sea was angry today my friends but the ride was smooth.  The height of the swells and waves didn't change a whole lot during the day.

Sunday, October 6, 2013, At Sea between, Athens, Greece and Venice, Italy

The ship docked in the port of Piraeus at 8:30 AM.  Our tour of Athens and the Acropolis didn't meet until 10:30 in the Princess Theater.  We went to breakfast in the Horizon Court before going to the theater. 

The buses parked outside the cruise ship terminal and it was a little walk to board them.  The streets in Athens are narrow, like most places we have been in Europe.  It is amazing the buses don't have more body damage.  Our route took us by the two harbors and three marinas that make up the port of Piraeus.  Athens is 7 kilometers from Piraeus but we never left town, narrow streets and buildings all the way.  The guide pointed out several different sites and recounted some of the 2300 year history of the area..  Our first stop was at the stadium built in 1886 when the modern Olympic games started.  It has all marble seats and seats 65,000.  From there we drove past several ruins of temples and theaters to the base of the hill where the Acropolis is located.

To get to the ruins of the Acropolis and the Parthenon required climbing 89 uneven marble steps.  On the way up we had to pass several dogs lying in the sun.  The guide said they were very common.  The guide stopped periodically to point out some feature or give some history information.  At the top of the stairs the guide pointed out some of the reconstruction efforts and explained why the ruins were in the bad shape they are in.  Besides the ravages of time both the Turks and Venetians made attempts to destroy the area.  The Turks by killing the inhabitants and the Venetians by bombardment with cannon.  Then came looters and archeologists that took way many of the columns, frescos and statuary. We walked around the ruins for about an hour.  No dogs were at the top but like Mykonos, we saw a lots of cats wandering around.  While on the top of the hill we had to be careful with where we put our feet.  The exposed marble was slippery, probably because of centuries of feet walking over it.  Remember the 89 steps to come up the hill?  Of course we had to come down the same steps, in away a more daunting feat that going up.  I felt like a doddering old man clinging to Gerri's hand for balance.  Counting going up walking around and coming down we were at the Acropolis for a couple of hours.  The views from the Acropolis were spectacular.  Our next stop was for shopping in a small shop on a narrow street.  The skill of the bus driver negotiating these streets was amazing.  We got back to the cruise terminal at 3 PM.

Gerri went back to the ship and our room.  I decided to go back to the harbor entrance and look for a cache listed there.  The "Piraeus Lion" was .39 miles away across an open parking area.  The lion is a statue that looks out over the harbor.  The current statue is a replica of the original that overlooked the harbor until 1687.  An admiral from Venice took it to Venice when he looted the city.  I found the cache easily and was back on the ship by 4 PM.

After seeing the ruins close up and the work involved in restorations using modern equipment, it is mind boggling how the ancient Greeks built them in the first place.  It is equally amazing that looters could haul of such large columns, statues and monuments.

Before going to the Club 6 I walked around deck 16 and took a few pictures of the harbor.  We went to Club 6 at 6 PM.  The hor d'ouvres were the usual cheese and vegetables plus steak tartar.

We went to dinner at our regular seating.  It had a double baked goat cheese soufflé and as an entree a medley featuring roast veal, chicken kabob and a lamb cutlet.  Gerri had wild mushroom soup and order the skillet fried chicken and a half order of Fettuccini Alfredo.  Again we lingered over coffee with Lou and Mona before going to our room.

Tomorrow is a sea day, so no land excursions are planned.  Even though Athens is a very large city, 4 million people,  It and Mykonos have impressed me more than others we have visited.

Saturday, October 5, 2013, At Sea between Kusadasi, Turkey and Athens, Greece

The ship arrived in the area of Kusadasi as scheduled.  We met in the Princess Theater for our tour to Ephesus.  Shortly after we arrived the Captain announced that due to high winds the ship couldn't safely get into port at Kusadasi.  Bummer, we were looking forward to seeing those ruins, especially because of the city's prominence during the Apostles' time and their travels.  This change of plans made today a sea day.  Of course the wind and cool weather will still pretty much keep us off any open deck areas.

We met Jayne and got a copy of a group shot that was taken in Barcelona with Jim and Jayne and Art and Chris.  Oddly enough we haven't run into Art and Chris since boarding in Barcelona.

We had fish and chips for lunch at the Wheelhouse Grill.  After lunch we checked our photos that had been taken by the ship photographers at various times.

The Club 6 featured guacamole and chips again tonight we met a couple that we had sat next to at lunch on our tour of Naples and visited for awhile.  After that we went to the Wheelhouse and sat listening to a trio play music there.  Before dinner we went back to our room to freshen up.  We went to dinner at our regular seating again tonight.  I enjoy the menu selections there.  They have some items that are available all the time and others that are featured on different nights.  I like the variety of choice and the ability to fall back on standards if the other entrees don't sound that good.

Today I ran out of internet minutes and starting with this blog we will be using Gerri's minutes.  We only have four more days on this cruise so we should get by without buying more time.  The portion of our trip from Venice back to Ft. Lauderdale was booked as a separate cruise so we should start again with 250 minutes each.

Friday, October 4, 2013, At Sea Between Istanbul, Turkey and Kusadasi, Turkey

We arrived in Istanbul, Turkey at 8 AM.  It had rained and the balcony was wet.  The sky was cloudy and it sprinkled rain off and on. There was a lot of traffic on the water.  Everything from small fishing boats, to ferries and tankers.  By 9 there were four cruise ships in harbor.  We were docked near the Karakoy Port section of the city looking out on the Bophorus from our side of the ship.  Looking out from our balcony I could see two continents, Europe and Asia and the Bosphorus Straights leading to the Black Sea.  Istanbul is the only city in the world that is situated on two continents.

I looked at my GPS and there was a cache just.22 miles from our balcony on the port side of the ship.  I got dressed and went out to see what was on the starboard side, the direction of the cache location.  The name of the cache was "Mosque by TOPANE."  The information and hint for the cache were posted in both English and Turkish, so I pretty much knew what I was looking for.

I could see two mosques close to the ship when I exited.  Even though the mosques were close the exit through the cruise ship terminal was quite a ways in the wrong direction.   A lady in the terminal gave me a map of the port area and circled the mosque I needed to walk to, she also lent me a pen so I didn't have to go back to the ship to get one.  I had to walk past taxi stands with drivers competing to give me a ride.  By the time I reached the street the cache was further away than when I started, .38 miles.  The walk was along a really crowded busy four lane road.  I did walk by several restaurants and shopping areas.  Once at the mosque I zeroed in on the area of the cache and found it quickly.  The cache was on what appeared to be a tall fire hydrant. The container itself was a plastic tube with a screw on lid and magnets taped to the tube to hold it on the hydrant.  This my first and only find in Turkey.

The Topane Mosque was a great stone structure built in 1580-87 with a massive wall around it and two minarets.  The wall had windows and looking through I saw what looked like grave markers.  I had never thought about mosques being a sort of church, graveyard and all.

After finding the cache, my first in Turkey and my first in Asia, I walked back to the ship.  It had been raining a little when I started for the cache, now it was just downright cold.

Later in the afternoon I walked around the upper decks of the ship to try to take more pictures of the city.  It was cold and windy and the clouds limited the quality of any photo opportunities.  I took some pictures but I' m afraid they won't show much.

When we sailed away, the ship turned stern to the dock went north for a short distance and then did a 180̊ turn and headed into the Marmara Sea towards the Dardanelles Straights and into the Aegean Sea.  Essentially we back tracked the way we came in last night except we turned south toward Kusadasi.  We are scheduled to arrive there mid day tomorrow.

We stopped by the Club 6 and had hors d'ouvres again in the area set aside for Platinum and Elite passengers.  After that we went to the Future Cruise office and booked a Mexican Cruise for April 2015.  This will be a 10 day cruise starting in Los Angeles, going into the Sea of Cortez with port visits to Loretto, La Paz, Cabo San Lucas, then to Puerto Vallarta and returning to Los Angeles.

We opted to have dinner at the Crab Shack instead of our regular dining room.  The Crab Shack is a special restaurant set up in a part of the Horizon Court and they served the food as opposed to buffet style. We had Tempura Shrimp and Hush Puppies for appetizers, Manhattan Claim Chowder Soup.  For our main course I chose a pot of mixed seafood with potatoes and corn on the cob and Gerri had a pot of clam and muscles.  We then had a choice of desserts served from a cart at our table and we both decided on the cheese cake.

After dinner we went to the Princess Live TV Studio and sat in on a murder mystery.  It was funny but we weren't even close to picking the suspect or murder weapon.

We retired for the evening at about 11 PM.