Month: January 2020

At the beginning of November, Julie, our friend Sharon and I boarded the Brilliance of the Seas in Barcelona, Spain. We were beginning our first TransAtlantic cruise which we called our ‘Coming to America‘.

I really wanted to start this out with ‘It was a dark and stormy night’, but Barcelona was actually warm and sunny as we boarded the ship. Being relative cruise novices, we decided that the first thing we needed to do was explore the ship.

We found Royal Caribbean’s ships more asymmetrically, at least when compared to our only other cruise experience with Holland America. The ‘Centrum’ is a large open space that rises from Deck 4 up to Deck 11. Balconies surround it and it serves as one of the entertainment hubs on the ship.

The ‘Centrum’ elevators are all on the port (left) side of the ship while the lounges, bars, and service counters are on the starboard side. (Plus some nice suites on higher decks). We tried to appear as seasoned veterans as we explored the open areas on Decks 11, 12 and 13, and I think we did a pretty good job. Hey, they let us remain on board!

Cruise Concern #1 – Boredom

As we were planning this trip we got plenty of questions and feedback. While we heard many questions, questions about keeping busy and avoiding boredom were the top issues. “Sixteen days across the ocean, what are you going to do?” or “How are you going to keep busy?”

To be honest, I wondered that a bit myself. However, most of the trip was not at sea. After Barcelona, we stopped in Cartagena, Malaga and Seville, Spain. We also spent a couple of days in Lisbon, Portugal and then in the Azores, our last stop before heading out for America.

The excursions in each city really focus on giving you an overview or focusing on some particular interesting aspect of the city or region. Since you’re only in a port for a day, two at most, there is little opportunity of an immersed experience. Cartagena is a good example.

After spending a day in Cartagena, I knew we wanted to figure out if we might want to spend part of our winters there! The city is clean and attractive. Warm and sunny most of the year, Cartagena and the surrounding area is beautiful, and hosts a significant expat community. We plan more research once we get back home, but we’d love to hear from anyone that’s stayed there.

We didn’t actually get to Seville. We docked in Cadiz, and the excursions we chose took us to the white villages. This was a great stop because it introduced us to the region and gave us a good sense of what it’s like. I’d say the same for Lisbon, Portugal. We spent enough time exploring the city in a Tuk-Tuk to see and enjoy the old-world charm. Both Seville and Lisbon are on our list of places we want to return to and spend more time.

That’s one of the great things we’ve found with taking a cruise. We visit and see interesting places, getting a good enough overview that we can decide if spending more time in the region should be part of our future plans. The Azores is a place that we’re glad to have visited, but other than stopping on a cruise again, I’m not sure we’d make it a destination. The islands are beautiful and offer some interesting natural beauty, but they’re definitely remote. I can’t see us spending a week exploring the islands. But that’s just us. For others, the Azores might be right up their alley!

The last six days were in open ocean, but there was plenty to do on the ship. The entertainment was fantastic. Magicians, comedians, dancers and two outstanding entertainers we’d surprisingly not heard of before. Mary-Jess is a incredibly talented singer from Great Britain best known as the ‘voice of Downton Abbey’ she sings the intro. Another surprise was Jimmy Hopper, a Las Vegas entertainer who can belt out opera as easily as rock and roll.

Our days were full with dance classes (Julie and Sharon, not me I don’t need no stinkin` dancing class), movies, more entertainment, seminars and more. There was no point where we were looking for things to do; it was more about de-conflicting schedules.

To sum things up, Portugal and Seville are on our list to explore in more detail. Cartagena is under investigation. We’re taking another trans-Atlantic cruise ‘back to Europe’ in the spring. Now, on to the second concern.

Cruise Concern #2 Sea Sickness

In conversations before the cruise, typical first questions were about sea sickness. ‘What about sea-sickness?’ ‘Do you get sea-sick?’
Now that we’re back, the first question is normally ‘did you get sea-sick?’ Well, the answer is one of us had one bad evening but there was a sinus infection contributing to the big picture.

Julie and Sharon both wore ‘sea-bands’ and really had no issues. You could feel the motion of the ship, but there was nothing uncomfortable about it. The one ‘bad’ evening was after leaving Lisbon, Portugal. Heading south, the seas were a bit rough when we were west of the Gibraltar Strait. Crossing the Atlantic was pretty comfortable, even when there were some heavier seas.

Maybe we were lucky, or maybe the sea-bands were all that we needed to ward off the effects of the sea. (For clarification, I didn’t rely on sea-bands as that would have been unmanly) If you’ve been on a cruise before, you know about the delicious food. We didn’t have to skimp because of sea-sickness. I sure had my share of prime rib and sirloin as we made our way to America!

This spring we’re heading back to Europe, but this time we’re heading to a place we’ve not visited before – Greece.

We’re going to do our exploring as part of a group tour with Globus. Even better, several of my siblings are going to be joining us. So, let me give you a high level view of our adventure.
[Okay… this is obviously a work in progress…]

Athens

Sightseeing – we’re planning on the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the Erechtheum and the Temple of Athena Nike. My high school english teachers would be impressed that I remember that Socrates held school, or court in Athens (Theseum)… maybe it would be my history teacher…? The first of the modern Olympic Games was held in Athens (not Olympia), and we hope to see that stadium from the 19th century.

Mycenae

One of the major centers of Greek civilization, Mycenae was a military stronghold that dominated much of southern Greece. The period of Greek history from ~1600 BC to ~1100 BC is called Mycenaean in reference to Mycenae. Peaking in 1350 BC, the citadel and lower town had a population of 30,000.
Nearby Corinth derives its name from the ancient city-state of Corinth. Homer’s writings describe this area.

Olympia

An archaeological site on the Peloponnese peninsula, Olympia was a major Panhellenic religious sanctuary of ancient Greece, where the ancient Olympic Games were held. The site was primarily dedicated to Zeus. Having done some research, I’ve found that it’s nowhere near Mount Olympus (Northern Greece), where the Twelve Olympians were believed to live. On the other hand, the Olympic Games were held here every four years from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. In addition to the Olympics area, we’re hoping to visit the temples of Hera and Zeus. (Even though we all know he lived on Mt Olympus…)

Delphi

The archeological excavations of the Oracal of Dephi are obviously located here. (Not to be confused with the cookie baking Oeacal in the Matrix…) In addition to several museums and sites, we’re getting a dance lesson where we’ll learn how to dance the sirtaki just like Zorba the Greek. I’m gonna need a couple of glasses of Ouzo.

Meteora

This is a place of more recent history. Monks and hermits have been finding refuge in this unique rock formation for more than a thousand years. Six Eastern Orthodox monasteries—some dating back to the 14th century—remain in place, still home to a small number of monks and nuns. Meteora is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I’ll be sure to have my camera ready.

Thermopyale

‘The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece.‘ Okay, that’s what the Interenet says. I think that’s the ‘Battle of the 300’,… not 100% sure. South of here is Marathon, the site of another famous battle. When we visit this area I’m sure we’ll be talking of the historical events that took place here.