Sunday, May 12, 2013


May 12th 2013, day 15 and last day of our cruise.   Total distance traveled was 4692 nautical miles. The weather was beautiful up through day 8 but as soon as we left Ponta Delgada, in the Azores Islands, it turned cloudy and COLD.  Temperatures ranged from about 49 to 58 with drizzle and rain.   We avoided the 14 foot swells but we did encounter 9 foot swells and I guarantee the ship was doing some creaking and swaying during the night. One of the interesting things to observe was at each port, upon arrival, a pilot ship would come out to meet us, pull up to the side of the moving ship, and a port pilot would board our ship to direct us into port.  Upon leaving, the pilot would be on board as we left and about 7 miles out, the pilot ship would again pull up beside the moving ship and the pilot would disembark.   This could prove to be rather harrowing as the pilot ship was about the size of a large ski boat and done while both ships were moving and often bouncing up and down on the waves.   We visited with many people that had taken 5, 10 and even more transatlantic cruises.     There were about approximately 3000 passengers on board. The staff of the ship was for the most part young adults 20-25 years old and very friendly.   We are now staying in London, due to catch a plane early in the morning to head to Amsterdam to see the tulips blooming and the windmills.   Hoping the weather will cooperate.


Before the weather turned too cold, we were able to watch several movies at night out on the deck by the pool under the stars.  

Waiting for one of the nightly shows to begin. Saw comedians,  singers, dancers, and  one evening  there was a piano player that did a tribute show to the music of George Gershwin, which was quite enjoyable.   


Nonette consumed mass quantities of fresh watermelon and pineapple.  

Having 3 (sometimes 4 or 5) meals prepared for you  every day could get habit forming!

Jerry standing among the roots of this massive tree.   It was amazing.

 Nonette sang in  the "Princess Choir" that preformed a short concert one evening in piazza. 

Our choir practiced 5 times and sang fun songs like "Sweet Caroline" and  "It's Not Unusual" (Tom Jones hit).   Actually we sounded pretty good as there were several in the choir that were trained musicians.

One of the lovely lighthouses.

Visiting a Guinness Pub in Ireland is a necessity!

Well, since we were there------we decided to sample.

Deck 7 of the ship and the walking track.  2 1/2 times around was one mile.  
One of the beautiful sunsets.



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