Preparations for the upcoming trip to the Pyramids…

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Digging through our two remaining large suitcases, we pulled out our Africa clothes. In in After all, tomorrow we will be Africa, an appropriate time to wear our lightweight bug resistant pants and long sleeve shirts. 

The ship’s excursion staff explained in our daily bulletin that no matter the temperature when visiting Egypt and the Middle East, we must not have any exposed shoulders, knees or cleavage. 

With the recent donation of our three large suitcases, I began worrying that I didn’t have a remaining pair of “below the knee” Capri pants in a light color. We both only have shorts and blue jeans.

Tom to the rescue!  He dug out the suitcases to reveal the new clothing we’ve yet to wear that we’ve been saving for going on safari in Africa; lightweight, cool, made of natural fibers and, the bonus of insect resistant with a non toxic fruit derived substance.

Our clothing, shoes and desert hats (that cover the back of the neck) are neatly stacked for an early morning start when our group will gather in the Savoy Theatre at 7:15 am in preparation to disembark the ship and board the awaiting air conditioned buses for the 3 1/2 hour drive to our destination. 

_____________________________________________

Getting connected while out to sea has been difficult to say the least. Tom is unable to
download his daily Minneapolis StarTribune newspaper on his Nook app. I have been trying to buy one of our precious young grandsons a birthday gift but unable to bring up Amazon.com since we left
Barcelona on Monday.

Without photos, I can post by continuing to try to get connected, however weak throughout the day. Going to any website with photos is a lost cause. From time to time, we can receive and send email.

The process of going through the required multiple steps several times a day in an effort to connect to the ship’s WiFi is time
consuming and frustrating. It’s difficult to get the login page to appear.

One of the ship’s officers approached us as we sat in our familiar comfy booth this morning, apologizing for the poor service.  He explained that even “the bridge”
was having difficulties with the satellite signal which is vital for their navigation.

From time to time, we get an unexpected steady green light, as a sign of life on our Xcom Global MiFi. 


When the light is a steady hot pink, we’re fully connected.  The steady green allows us to get email but unable to open web pages.

By early tomorrow morning, Friday, the ship will dock in Egypt. By 7:30 am we’ll be departing for our 12 1/2 hour excursion to Cairo, the Pyramids and the Sphinx. If we both do well crossing the desert on foot for 3 1/2 hours, we’ll book another excursion for early next week. We shall
see how that goes.

The thought of an opportunity to visit a Bedouin Tribe was appealing until we talked to others having experienced this excursion on other cruises.

Apparently, something is lost in translation when such a visit day after day to the same tribes, as it’s orchestrated for tourists,.The
authenticity of their lives is lost in the cruise-lines-designed commercialization. 

Perhaps, while we’re in other parts of Africa for nine months beginning August 31, 2013, we’ll encounter opportunities to visit various
tribes in their natural habitat in a less contrived manner. 

This same commercialization is evident on all of the excursions offered by the cruise lines. (I realized that I’ve mentioned this many times). In order to see historic sites such as the upcoming events of tomorrow,
it makes sense for the sake of safety to go along on the excursion rather than
venture off on our own. 

We’ve heard enough horror stories on the news of wandering tourists being snapped up in life threatening scenarios. That won’t
be us, carelessly wandering about in a high risk area during political unrest.  We’ll always chose safety over adventure.

The shopping on the excursions is the equally frustrating, often with one quarter to one half of the time designated for the
excursion. The endless array of trinkets, wall hangings, pottery and jewelry,
although appealing to many tourists, have no place in our stuff free lives. 

For example, tomorrow’s tour requires approximately 5 hours of driving time, 3 1/2 hours of walking to see the exhibits, 1 1/2 hours for lunch in Cairo, ending in what may prove to be a full 2 full hours of shopping.

Most certainly, we’ll look at the handcrafted items, taking some photos, appreciating the quality, hard work and dedication of the
craftspeople striving to earn a living as they spend the better part of each
day in the sweltering heat.

In one of two seminars we attended yesterday, we were told not to give money to beggars and to keep our sunglasses on when shopping. Apparently, one’s dilated
pupils are a dead ringer for expressing interest in an item.  The vendors have learned to read this sign resulting in their relentless pursuit of making the sale, hoping desire for the item will win over desire to negotiate.

If I did in fact, want to make a purchase, my inclination would be to pay the asking price, if at all reasonable.  These people are very poor, living in war torn and ravaged countries to which tourists have shied away.  (We were told yesterday, that we’ll encounter few tourists in many areas as opposed to a few years ago, due to fear of
political unrest). 

As a result, their economy has greatly suffered leaving many vendors scrambling to feed their families.  Haggling seems petty when us tourists have been able to spend $1000’s to go on a luxury cruise.

In an effort to keep our eyes wide open, we try to learn as much as possible from our fellow travelers and visitors to our blog,
many of whom email us as opposed to posting in “comments” available at the end of each post. 

Please, feel free to do either. If you post comments offering us suggestions
or sharing your own stories, we are able to share them with all of our readers on our site. We love hearing from people we meet, family and friends and our readers from all over the world.

Last night we joined our new friends for dinner in the Sound of Music dining room for yet another good meal, impeccable service and attention to every detail in my limited diet.

After dinner we walked along the “Royal Promenade” to the Savoy Theatre for a rip roaring laugh fest with a hilarious comedian. Could Tom laugh any louder?

Last night for the third night in a row, I slept
through the night, a full seven hours.
This is a rarity for me.  No melatonin, no Tylenol PM and no Formula 303 was necessary to get me to drift off into much needed oblivion. 

The comfortable bed, blankets and pillows, coupled with the smooth seas must be a
factor in this uncommon phenomenon. 

These next 12 days hold much for us to behold, adventures beyond our wildest dreams, with the ongoing opportunity to engage with world travelers of varied interests and experiences. 

This, my friends, is how we’ve envisioned ourbtravels…full of wonder, swept up in the rich history of each area all the while in awe of its people and cultures that helped shaped our world. 

We’ll be back on Saturday with photos of our visit to Egypt,  In port for four days, we’ll be able to use our MiFi for a fast connections enabling us to upload photos.

Joyfully, we carry on…

Current cruise itinerary…Gulf of Aden…Pirates? Warning from the Captain…See letter and map below…

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After we go through the Suez Canal, we’ll enter the dangerous waters of the Gulf of Aden. Of course, it will be a relief once we depart this area.
(Correction:  Yesterday, I wrote that we visit the Pyramids on Thursday when it is actually on Friday. It’s easy to lose track of the days of the week lately.)
Bite-sized pieces. That’s our lives, living one day at a time, taking in all that we care to, at our own pace, free of expectations, and one adventure at a time, if at all possible.

Our Current Cruise Itinerary

May  6, 2013, to May 21, 2013

Royal Caribbean – Mariner of the Seas, departs 5/6/13, 15 nights

Mon
May 6, Barcelona, Spain, 5:00 pm

Tue
May 7 At Sea

Wed
May 8 At Sea

Thu
May 9 At Sea

Fri
May 10 Cairo / Giza (Alexandria), Egypt 7:00 am

Sat
May 11 Cairo / Giza (Alexandria), Egypt 3:00 pm

Sun
May 12 Suez Canal, Egypt (Cruising)

Mon
May 13 Luxor (Safaga), Egypt 7:00 am 10:00 pm

Tue
May 14 Petra (Aqaba), Jordan 9:00 am 10:00 pm

Wed
May 15 At Sea

Thu
May 16 At Sea

Fri
May 17 At Sea

Sat
May 18 At Sea

Sun
May 19 At Sea

Mon
May 20 At Sea

Tue
May 21 Dubai, United Arab Emirates 6:00 am

Last night, after an enjoyable evening out to dinner with our new friends, a good meal, a great Broadway-type show in the Savoy Theatre, a stop in a Lotus Lounge, and a leisurely stroll along the Promenade, we sauntered back to our cabin.
Early birds that we are, up by no later than 6:00 am most days, we try to get to sleep by 11:00 pm, which is not always an easy task. Our body clocks are back into our regular schedule after struggling with the nine-hour time difference from Belize to Barcelona. It took us almost three weeks to adapt.

My earlier prediction that sailing across the seas slowly would make adapting easier was shot, as the daily changes across the ocean took us deeper and deeper into “biological clock” hell. 

At the end of last week, we lunged into a massive change by getting up at 6:00 am with much difficulty, falling on our faces by 11:0 pm that first night. In 24 hours, we were back on track.

Anyway, last night, as we entered our room, we discover the usual next day’s program of activities and two other items:

One…this cute “towel per” elephant on our bed:

“Towel Pet” wearing my sunglasses.

Secondly…this letter from Captain Flemming, Master, Mariner of the Seas, purposely placed in plain view next to the “towel pet”

Letter awaiting us when we returned to our cabin after our evening out.

On the last ship, the Norwegian Epic, we met a couple who had cruised this route a few years ago, telling us intimidating stories of guards with machine guns guarding the ships at night, frequent and strict drills, and a similar protocol as indicated in this letter.

We’d anticipated the likelihood of certain procedures being put into place necessary for safe sailing through these high-risk pirate-laden waters. Perhaps, not to this extreme, until we talked to the couple on the Epic, whom we thought at the time, was enjoying getting a reaction out of us.

Although, in essence, it may not have been intended to elicit fear any more than our recent telling of the 50-foot swells and 65 MPH winds we experienced for three days on the Atlantic crossing of the Epic.

Are we scared? No. This huge ship has many security measures in place, along with a very important drill coming up on May 15th at 10:30 am, a full day before we enter the dangerous waters of the Gulf of Aden.

Finally, in our new home for the next few weeks…On Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas!…

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The pilot boat approaching our ship to let the pilot on board to guide us out of the Port of Barcelona

Prior to leaving the Hotel Grums at 10:30, we asked the reception desk to order us an SUV type taxi.  Within two minutes a small taxi appeared on the street with a taxi driver insisting that he was the one called. 

This five mast sail boat was touring with passengers when we stopped in Mallorca Spain on the way to Barcelona.

With our multiple bags on the curb, we waved a hand showing him how much we have and he claimed in unintelligible Spanish that he could fit us and the bags into his small cab.  Not possible.

Views as we pulled away from Barcelona

As we shook our heads “no” a second equally small cab appeared saying he was the taxi called.  He commenced arguing with the first driver.  Another 60 seconds later, a larger SUV taxi appeared just as I began to walk back into the hotel to ask for their help.

The Windjammer Buffet, very nice, great food, comfortable ambiance.

The three cab drivers stood on the street yelling profanities (from what I could determine) at one another.  The hotel desk guy came running out into the street yelling at the first two cab drivers, explaining that he’d ordered the SUV taxi not the two smaller taxis.

Four of them were yelling all at one.  Finally, after an obscene gesture by cab driver #1, the two drove off in a huff, leaving us grateful to the hotel guy for interceding in our behalf. 

Apparently, they all heard the request for a cab at the same time, scuttling to our location hoping they’d be chosen.  Twenty Euros (US $26) later and a short 10 minute drive we arrived at the Porte of Barcelona.

The process of boarding Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas was disorganized and time consuming.  This was our worst boarding to date with over 2000 passengers boarding speaking in at least 10 languages all seeming to arrive at the Port of Barcelona, earlier than the suggested 1:00 PM arrival as stated on the cruise documents.

Arriving at the pier at 10:45, our nine items were tagged and quickly whisked away including one of our two rolling luggage carriers which we kept to hold our carry on bags:  our prescription bag, two computer bags, my handbag and one small bag with a newly broken zipper. 

View from the ladies room by the Windjammer Buffet. 

At this point, we proceeded to the lengthy line waiting to go through the first round of security, with a newfound interest in paying special attention as to what we put into the white plastic bins and what came out after the knife incident (see post of May 1 about this incident).

With our vitamins scattered throughout our bags, now checked we felt at ease going through security.   Our year’s worth of prescriptions were in my hand as always in a wrapped cloth bags with accompanying documents in a computer bags.  We made it through without a hitch with two more checkpoints yet to go.

A full three hours later we used our new key card/ship credit card to unlock our balcony cabin with nary a moment of disappointment as to its amenities. Roomier than most other cabins, it was clean, comfortable and well stocked.

In the casino this glass floor was a sight to behold.

Soon, our delightful Chinese cabin attendant, Jing, stopped by to see to our needs:  ice daily, morning and night, a few laundry bag (we had hand washed small items but had 16 days worth of wash with no laundry facilities on board the Epic nor here on the Mariner of the Seas.

Shortly after unpacking a few items, we were herded of to  our muster station to be left standing in one spot for over an hour while they waited for dallying passengers to appear for the mandatory emergency evacuation training.  In our minds, they should have begun on time requiring the late comers to attend a separate training.

It was frustrating and annoying as unconcerned passengers lollygagged to the area at their own pace with little regard for the process.

More of the playful décor in the casino.

However, the passengers on this ship is of entirely different demographics, mostly retired travelers, (although over half are non-English speaking), leaving us feeling more comfortable in the less noisy, less rowdy party-like crowd we experienced on the Epic, especially over the last four days of the cruise when many new passengers boarded in Barcelona.

With our diminished inventory of clothing after ridding ourselves of five large suitcases since April 13th, we can’t go for long without getting our dirty laundry washed. Today, we loaded 25 items into the ship provided laundry bags, handing them over to Jing to be returned to us tomorrow, most likely at a cost of over $100.

Right now as I sit here in the Café Promenade along the “street” inside the ship, entitled the Promenade, I am wearing a nice tee shirt and my solitary remaining pair of workout capris. Literally all of my few remaining casual shorts and jeans are being laundered.

The Savoy Theatre where we attended two seminars today.

Ugh!  Tonight is dress-up night.  We will be forced to wear casual dressy (if such a thing exists).  Tom’s suits and sport coats where shipped to Julie, my sister in LA, and I donated all of my dressy dresses, leaving me with but a few casual dresses to dress up with costume jewelry.

All future photos of us will be with us wearing the same darned clothes over and over.  Sorry.  Its the nature of the beast. Tom always comments when he’s wearing the same shirt over and over in photos.  We’ll wear these clothes until they fall apart, replacing them one item at a time.  I even donated five of my bathing suits, leaving me with a tiny inventory.  Oh well.

The Promenade, an actual street with shops, bars and restaurants.

So, this ship?  Do we like it?  Love it? Or what?  Its early to say for sure, but so far, we love it!  It reminds us of our favorite Celebrity Century, although its 1000 passengers larger.  Its an older ship like the Century possessing the “old Hollywood charm” we so much love.  We’re content as we could be.

More treats in the Café Promenade, none of which we could eat.

In two days, we’ll arrive in Alexandria Egypt.  At 7:15 am we join a shore excursion to see the Great Pyramids, Giza ad the Sphinx at $179 per person.  The 12 1/2 hour expedition requires hats, sunscreen and bottled water, includes a buffet lunch in a fancy hotel in Cairo, five to six hours on the bus and…a three and a half hour walk in the desert, mostly uphill to arrive at our destinations. Oh.

Café Promenade “outdoor” bar.
Café Promenade, all foods and beverages are included in the fare.

This morning, after a seminar on our upcoming ports of call: Egypt, Jordan and United Arab Emirates including some history of these countries, I headed to the health club to test my ability to walk uphill for on the treadmill for 40 minutes.  All went well but in the upcoming 100 degree heat, the desert sands blowing in our faces, it will be a totally different experience than walking on a treadmill in air conditioned comfort.

Décor in the playful casino.

There many passengers much older than us with walkers, wheelchairs and medical conditions affecting their ability too walk.  If they can do the 3 1/2 hours, so can we.  The key will be staying hydrated during the entire period.

If we are back with photos on Friday morning, then we made it. We’ve heard many stories of the difficult hike.

Another pool view later in the day as it warmed up slightly.  Brave souls in the cool air.

As we’ve determined, we won’t be riding the camels after hearing many horror stories of people being thrown off the camels or, the camels being run out further into the desert by their swindling owners in order to rob unwary passengers, left to fen for themselves miles from civilization. Then there’s the stories of the camels turning their long necks to bite the riders, leaving many severely injured.  No thank you.

While in the Savoy Theatre today.

Tonight, we’re meeting our new friends, Adele and Wally for dinner at the Sound of Music Dining Room.  We met them while at the Hotel Grums in Bareclona this Sunday, only to discover that they were also boarding this ship on Monday.  Small world.

As for dinner last night…heavenly.  Yes, they also will require me to pre-order for the next night but, they are more accommodating than any other ship, running circles around me to provide me with the perfect three course dinner.

My view this morning while working out on the treadmill.  To the left of this photo is the bridge which we can peer into through windows down a short flight of steps.

The food was fabulous:  a seafood salad made with homemade mayonnaise and excellent seasonings, a dinner salad of fresh greens, vegetables and giant chunks of perfectly cooked rare sliced tenderloin with a side of steamed veggies.  For dessert:  a plate of cheese comparable to the fine cheeses I devoured daily in Belize from Cavesbranch Cheese Factory in Belmopan.

Tom enjoyed his dinner as well.  The service is extraordinary everywhere we’ve been on this ship in the past 24 hours. Perhaps, its a little early to say we love this ship although, we have a feeling the pleasure will continue all the way to Dubai.

The health club, well-equipment, good views.

We’ll be back tomorrow, Wednesday and again on Friday with photos and stories of our adventures to Egypt, the only remaining ancient Wonder of the World.  Gee…sounds like us, ancient wanderers of the world.

A night in Barcelona….Hotel Grums…

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With our camera packed away, we won’t have photos until tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

Last night was our first night in a hotel since arriving in Scottsdale, Arizona over six months ago.  Booking the hotel on Expedia with four star reviews put our minds at ease that it would not only be close to the Port of Barcelona but also acceptable by our relatively picky standards.

At $169 a night for a “standard deluxe” room for last night chose to select this hotel for last night and again on June 3, 2013.  We wanted to ensure we’d like the hotel to avoid the need of cancelling an prepaid reservation.  Thus, we were willing to pay a little more for that luxury.  For this, we weren’t disappointed.

The room was modern, clean and comfortable with plush king bed with comfy covers, a spacious seating area with sofa, lots of storage (which we didn’t need since we didn’t unpack), a flat screen TV with one English speaking channel, (BBC news) and alas, our first experience with 220 electrical outlets, with which neither our computers or smart phones could be charged.

We did bring a litany of adapters and converters befitting travel anywhere in the world.  Unfortunately, they were tightly packed away in our “not to be opened” luggage, now consisting of two large suitcases, two carry on bags, two duffel bags, two computer bags and a couple of peripheral hand carry bags. 

As mentioned earlier, our goal is to ditch all but the two large suitcases, two carry on bags, two computer bags and my handbag by the time we leave Dubai to fly back to Barcelona for the remaining one night at the same Hotel Grums. The next day, on June 4th, we’ll be boarding yet another cruise on the Norwegian Spirit through the Mediterranean Sea for 15 nights.  (We’ll post the itinerary for that cruise at that time).

Back to the electrical issues.  Without easy access to our adapters and converters, (we try to remember every detail but some do fall through the cracks), we asked the front desk if they had the necessary adapters/converters for recharging our US 110 equipment. 

“No, problemo,” stated the handsome young man at the desk, as he began rummaging through a box of 50 various plug-ins.  After a few minutes, he enthusiastically pulled out what he believed to be the correct adapter.

Wary of plugging our digital equipment directly into the plug into which could potentially “blow out” our phones or laptops, we tried it using the only other electrical item we’d be willing to part with if something went wrong…the oldest of three surge protectors we had in our possession.

Poof!  Yes, poof!  It blew the power out in our room and fried our surge protector. We tossed it in the garbage. For some odd reason, we both had suspected it wouldn’t work although it was indicated as a US converter. 

Getting back on the elevator, I went back to the desk requesting an adapter that would work.  Again, the cutie dug through the box finally pulling out a much more elaborated plug.  I told him our power in the room was out asking if he’d send someone to flip the circuit breaker. 

No one in the hotel seemed to know where the breaker box was located in our room, after six attempts to find it by one person and then three attempts by a second person.  Finally, a third person appeared and found the box hidden behind a false wall.  Once the power was back on, Tom held up the new adapter again asking, “Will this work for US plugs?”

The employee emphatically stated it would work.  Finally an hour later, Tom spending much time as the power continued going out, he managed to get everything working to ensure we wouldn’t fry our laptops or smart phones.  At this point, all of our equipment was deader than a doornail.

By the time everything was charging, we were anxious to find a great restaurant to head out for dinner.  Oh, no such luck.  All the nearby restaurants in Barcelona are closed on Sunday except, the fine dining restaurant in the hotel.

With little English spoken in the hotel, I went online and found this gluten free chef card in Spanish to which I added, handwritten in Spanish, after researching Google Translate:  sugar free, low carb, starch free, grain free, no beans, rice,  or soy.

Handing this to the waiter at dinner resulted in his giving it to the chef for a perfect meal of salad with fresh greens, blue cheese, tomatoes, onions, olives and no less than eight giant prawns sautéed in olive oil  (with heads, guts, brains included) with a freshly made olive oil dressing that was absolutely delicious.  I will continue to print these Chef Cards in various languages to use as we travel from country to country.

I hadn’t had that good of a meal since the night we dined in the specialty restaurant on the Carnival Liberty almost three weeks ago.  Tom opted for a bun-less veal burger topped with veggies, cheese and a fried egg.

Exhausted, we slept through the night bolting out of bed at 6 am this morning  to get ready for the day and down to the restaurant for coffee.  As typical “cruisers” we decided to wait to eat until we were aboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas for the “free food.”

So now at 2:00 PM, Barcelona time, we’re sitting at a comfy table in the Windjammer (buffet) Restaurant having had a rather perfect GF lunch with tender roast beef, grilled fish, egg salad and green beans. 

Our ship sails at 5:00 PM inspiring us to go online now while taking advantage of our MiFi working, although slowly, while we’re still in port.  Before the muster drill at 4:15, we’ll meander to the Internet Café to sign up for the ship’s WiFi, a necessity with many upcoming days out to sea.

Tomorrow, we’ll post our current itinerary for this cruise to Dubai along with photos of our “new home” for the next 15 days as we commence our journey through the Suez Canal along our way to the Middle East. 

Alright you naysayers…You were right!!!

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Due to a poor Internet connection today while at sea, we are unable to post a single photo. Please check back tomorrow for our story and photos on our day trip to Marseilles.

With over 6000 people on this ship since embarking in Barcelona on May 1st, the 50 degree weather with no one at the pool, the Internet is literally clogged up with many passengers online at the same time. 
As a result, it appears impossible for us to post our photos from our day in Marseilles yesterday. I tried to no avail. They just won’t load. Tomorrow, when we’re in port, we’ll be able to use our MiFi for a great signal and ease of posting our story and photos.
Subsequently, we’re going to tell you a story today, sans photos, a story we can’t believe we’re writing, a tail-between-our-legs-story,  of learning, of mistake-making, of striving to become more adept at world travel, as-we-go.
For those of you who warned us, sit back and enjoy a smidgen of gloating, a smattering of chuckling and a general feeling of “I told you so” at your leisure.  We get it and don’t blame you.
Today, much to our disdain, we are packing, a full two days before its necessary since we don’t disembark this ship until Sunday, when we’ll spend a night in Barcelona before heading to Dubai on Royal Caribbean”sMariner of the Seas. Why pack so soon, you ask? Ha! Hear this, my friends!


WE’RE DONATING THREE FULLY PACKED SUITCASES OF OUR STUFF TO A CHARITY IN SPAIN with the help of Norwegian Epic’s guest services department and the port agent in Barcelona, more than willing to arrange the disposition of our stuff. Yes, the disposition of three of our brand new, now slightly damaged from handling, orange 30″ Antlerbags? Yes! Three? Yes, fully loaded! We had to lighten our load.

Ouch!  It hurts.  I just spent the past two hours going through every single item of my clothing, packing my share of which “to say goodbye,” newer, cute, fun, well fitting clothing, that I, as a “girlie girl,” had handpicked with meticulous detail. Gone. Bye, bye.

My single solitary…uno…one remaining suitcase that I get to keep is packed and ready to go. The remainder will be packed in the three orange bags to be picked up in a few hours from now, by Brian, the guest services king that helped us figure this out.

As I write this Tom is going through his clothing, item by item, minus any grumbling. I have promised to offer no opinions, no morsels of packing wisdom, since it turns out I don’t know a damned thing about packing, other than as to how to stuff as many things as possible into as many bags as possible. Who am I to opine, neophyte that I am?

By 5:00 PM today, we’ll each be down to the following:
1.  One 30″ orange Antler bag
2.  One small orange Antler carry-on bags
3.  One leather computer bag

Plus, purse for me (plus the cloth bag for our prescriptions)
Plus, the vitamins? We’re still figuring that out, but now, the small extra duffel bag contains receipts and copies of our doctor’s acknowledgment of our use of them. We may have to carry that separately.
We’ve set aside all of the clothing we’ll need for the next several days until we’re on board the new ship on May 6th, a mere three days from today. We’ll either toss them or stuff them in a bag.
Now, we’ll be flight worthy without extra fees for extra bags. Now, we won’t have to pay exorbitant fees to porters, skycaps and the like. Now, we won’t feel the burden of the excess weight, a strain on our aging bodies and equally aging minds. We’ll be free.

So go ahead, gloat, grin and giggle at us.  We accept it freely without judgment of your right to do so.

Tonight, as we sit at the bar, we’ll toast our new found freedom and all of you who “told us so!”
Tom will be happiest.

Barcelona, Part 2…Photos of city….Sagrada Familia…

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The Farmacia Bouyat where we purchased the contact lens solution. The pharmacist spoke no English, but pointed to a water bottle and my eyes made our request easy for her to understand. The two bottle pack cost roughly US $8, very reasonable.

Barcelona, a historic city steeped in rich history is cacophony of one massive architecturally interesting building after another. 

Since we’ll be returning to Barcelona for 24 hours after this four day second leg of this back-to-back cruise, we thought if we took the time to see at least one major historical attraction, we’d have more time when we return.

The outdoor café where we surprisingly found a table for two, ordering a drink while enjoying people watching.  This simple activity fulfilled a fantasy of mine to experience such an outdoor café in Europe.

Our choice for the day’s trip included two cab rides, one delightful stop for drinks at an outdoor café on the boulevard near the Sagrada Familia and the purchase of my contact lens solution for a total cost of $100. 

When we exited the ship we purchased Euros $136 with US $200. When we returned to the ship, we had spent half. Had we gone on an excursion, part of the time would have been spent at a shopping area for which we have no interest. The excursions ranged from $140 per couple to as much as $5500 per couple. 

Tom looks up at the Sagrada Familia as we sat in the outdoor café.

Much to our surprise, we’ve decided on an excursion today to see Marseilles France. As we sit in our favorite booth at the Garden Café, as I write this now, we are overlooking the alps of Marseilles, a sight to behold.  Tomorrow, we’ll share the photos of our group exploration, a first for us now on our 6th cruise since January 3, 2013.  The cost of this excursion is $150 per couple including a 21% tax. 

As it turns out there is a 21% VAT (valued added) tax on just about everything in the European Union, including alcohol, goods and services. It’s a tough pill to swallow. Unfortunately, I hadn’t budgeted for these taxes (live and learn). Thus, we’ll be tightening our belts too compensate.

The drive along the streets to Sagrada Familia.

So, off we went after a 20 minute cab drive through the traffic congested streets of Barcelona, horns blaring, cop whistles blowing as they shouted at drivers and pedestrians walking willy-nilly with little regard for their surroundings. Life in big cities everywhere has a distinct similarity.

Gaudi, the architect responsible for the design and building of  Sagrada Familia and many historical buildings throughout the city of Barcelona.

Our hope had been to enter the church, over 100 years in the making. Unfortunately, it was not open to individual tourists. Apparently, group bookings with two hour lines has superseded the opportunity for anyone else to enter. Had we signed up for a pricey excursion, we’d have been waiting in one of those “around the block” lines. 

Sagrada Familia

Alas, we weren’t disappointed, instead enjoying the exterior views from a number of vantage points in the general area, especially when seated at the outdoor café. The people watching was equally entertaining.

Its massive size made photo taking tricky, so enjoy these various shots.
More than 100 years in the making.

In the afternoon, we returned to the ship as we experienced the stressful security incident with the knife, as outlined in the post of yesterday.

The intricate details are breathtaking.
Notice the varying coloration.
It’s no wonder that it is taking so many years to build this intricate monstrosity.

As the Norwegian Epic has “reloaded” with a new batch of passengers while in Barcelona, we find at least 75% of the passengers are European, many not English speaking. 

We gasped observing the many aspects of this amazing structure.
Cranes were in place for many years at the towering structure is built.
The local buildings left us in awe as we drove through the city.

Since last night at dinner, we’ve met two lovely couples from the UK. The conversation has been enriching as they share their varied experiences of world travel, as we soak up every morsel of their suggestions.

The  Arch or Arc de Triomphe (not unlike the structure of the similar name in France)
A fountain shot we got while driving in the cab.
Tourist buses were everywhere packed to the rafters with tourists.

We’ll be back tomorrow with photos of our visit to Marseilles, France. Please stop by.

Barcelona, Part 1…Security scare!!!..OMG!!!…

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Please stop back tomorrow for the remaining photos of our visit to Barcelona including our visit to Segrada Familia.

The Port of Barcelona.

Before we describe our visit to the bustling historic city of Barcelona, Spain, let’s get the scary story out of the way. Thus, this is the end of the story described in the beginning.

The bridge over the bay by the pier.
On this back-to-back cruise, we were given priority sticky badges to wear when we return to the ship, to avoid the lines with new passengers boarding. On our last back-to-back on Carnival, this process was literally seamless, taking only minutes to board as we were graciously pushed through the lines.
The long dock we observed from the Garden Café early this morning.

As a precaution today, Tom wore two pairs of pants. The inside pair was cargo shorts with multiple pockets closing with Velcro. Over those shorts, he wore a pair of jogging pants with an elastic waistband. 

An animated “headless” man, hoping money will be tossed into his container.

The purpose of the abundant attire was to protect those items from pickpockets for which we have been well-warned by many travelers. It would have required the pickpockets taking Tom’s pants off to get to the stuff. 

An artist’s rendition of the colors of Barcelona.

Ironically, as we departed the ship we noticed most passengers carrying backpacks, purses, wallets with straps and various other bags and containers, all fodder for pickpockets. Barcelona has a reputation for a high risk of being pick pocketed, in many cases rather aggressively. We were prepared. No such incident occurred.

A vendor shop along the boulevard attracting tourists.

Returning as back-to-back passengers, Norwegian Epic’s process was cumbersome and annoying. Returning from Barcelona after the hectic rush of traffic, zillions of tourists in a mad frenzy to see the myriad sites, we were anxious to get back on the ship.

At the entry point, we were steered into a lengthy line with hundreds of passengers of all ages, rolling their carry on luggage and talking while paying little attention to the movement of the line. 

Tom is not the most patient person on the planet, easily annoyed by lines.  Hopefully, as our travels continue, he’ll become more patient. He’s trying. In no time at all, he gets over it and the grumbling ceases. I tend to ignore his fussing. 

This afternoon, around 2:00 pm when we returned to the ship, his patience was wearing thin as 30 minutes or more crawled by as we waited in the long line. Finally, we reached the security checkpoint.

I was a little anxious as we approached security, since while in Barcelona, we stopped at a “Pharmacia” to purchase more contact lens solution. I’d already gone through the small $12.50 bottle we’d purchased on the Carnival Liberty. The Epic’s little shop doesn’t carry contact lens solution. Quite odd, actually.

Security checkpoints do not allow bringing any obvious liquids aboard the ships as prohibited when flying. Along a shelf, I noticed numerous partially used bottles of various liquids, soda, water, iced tea and lemonade. 

Oh, oh. Were they going to confiscate my contact lens solution? (When we originally boarded the Epic on April 20th, we learned this lesson when we had to forfeit our liter bottle filled with Crystal Lite Ice Tea).

As we approached the security area during the mad rush, we decided to share a white plastic bin with the items from our pockets: the camera, one RFID passport holder containing both of our passports, Tom’s plastic pocket comb, my metal tube of  lipstick, a holder for our cabin key cards, a small amount of Euros we’d purchased when we got off the ship and Tom’s jacket. That’s all we had on us.

Pushing the items through the scanner we each walked through the metal detector, one by one, without incident. As we reached the end of the table,  preparing to grab our stuff as our white plastic bin came through, suddenly a bevy of Spanish security guards surrounded us. 

A breath caught in my throat. Tom and I glanced at each other, panic in our eyes. What was wrong? The seated security guard pointed to an item on his scanner, shouting, “What is this?”

Tom and I both crooked our necks to see an item on the screen neither of us recognized. I suggested it was my camera, my heart beating in my throat. Tom was baffled. Obvious confusion was in his eyes. 

The guards surrounding us started taking the items out of the bin, one by one, to discover a closed 4″ BLACK HANDLED BUCK KNIFE!!!!

This was the type of knife in our bin, but with a 4-4.5 inch blade.

Shocked, I looked at Tom wondering if he had brought such a knife, dismissing it instantly, knowing he’d never be so foolish. At exactly the same moment we both protested, panic in our voices,”This is not ours.” It wasn’t ours. 

Someone had placed the knife in our white plastic bin! How were we going to get out of this pickle? Were we going to jail? Oh, good grief! Were they trying to get us to pay some exorbitant fine? Why? Why? Why, had this happened?

We both protested loudly, desperately trying to communicate with the Spanish speaking guards. We kept saying, over and again, “No, no, no.  This is not our knife! We have no knife with us! We are returning passengers to the ship. Take the knife! It is not ours!!!”

The guard talked in muffled tones among themselves. The seated guard looks up at us and says, “Go, go, go.  Not your knife!”

Baffled by the experience, hearts still pounding, we couldn’t walk away quickly enough. As we raced through the walkways toward the ship, we barely spoke, still reeling over the incident.

How did that knife get there? Tom suspects that it was a standard test put upon the security guards by the upper echelon to see if the guards would, in fact, “catch” the knife on their scanner as it came through. I’m not so sure. I suspect that another passenger realizing they had the knife on them, wanting to avoid being arrested, tossed it into our bin.

We’ll never know.  Lesson learned? One of us holds onto the bin as it goes into the scanner while the other waits on the other side for it to come through.  Anyone have any suggestions? Please, do tell.

My contact lens solution went through without incident.

Traveling styles…Where do we fit in?…

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“Dino,” our towel, pet last night.

Time changes continue. At our present location, 12 hours from entering the Straits of Gibralter we are 9 hours later than Los Angeles and 7 hours later than Minnesota.

Last night during the night, we hit rough seas again, not as bad as a few days ago, the three torturous days of 50 foot swells. 
Sleeping still seems to be an issue for us but also other passengers revealed that they, too, continue to be unable to go to sleep until 2:00 or 3:00 am, awakening at 9:00or 10:00.  It’s the nature of the beast.

Yesterday, after only four hours of sleep, we awakened early. Sluggish all day, I’d hope an
early night would be in order. After dinner and a live show last night (comedian/magician) we returned to our cabin at 10:45 pm to find yet another card on the bed informing us to forward our
clocks yet another hour.

Suddenly, it’s almost midnight with nary a desire to sleep. By 2:00 am Tom dozed off. At 3:30 am, I did as well. We awoke at 9:00 am, still tired, struggling to get up and ready for the day.

During the night I was up several times with a funny stomach, not “ha ha” funny but “oh oh” funny.

Never one to suffer with abdominal distress,immediately my mind went to either food poisoning or norovirus. My fish tasted funny last night at dinner,not “ha ha” funny but “oh oh” funny. With an absence of other distress or nausea, I dismissed it as a fluke, refraining from eating anything yet today.We’ll see how it goes.

Still reeling from the joyful experience yesterday of meeting Gina, the owner of the house we’ll rent in Madeira Portugal next yearand having an opportunity to tour of portion of the tiny island of Madeira.

Pilot boat picking up the pilot that had come aboard as we approached the pier to aid in maneuvering the ship to the dock, which we’ve observed as we enter each port of call.

Today, we’re content to spend a lazy day, reading our books and perhaps watching a movie on the giant screen in the Atrium, the main lobby area of the ship. 

Every three or four days, I consume a novel, many of which either free or under $5 on Amazon.com, mostly books popular a few years ago with four and five star reviews. Mostly some simple stories,  some more significant.


Tom, a slower reader has been wrapped up in many books written by Vince Flynn, a Minnesota author who’s series of well-written novels center around CIA stories of international intrigue, an ongoing saga of a character, Mitch Rapp. So far, he’s read five lengthy novels with many more to go.

Most of our reading occurs at night in bed with only an hour or less during the day. With no US
TV shows other than a few news networks, we seldom watch anything. Occasionally, a 10-15 year old movie runs, many about baseball.  We’ve seen “Field of Dreams” three times and “The Natural” four times, mostly in bits and pieces since there’s no way to know in advance when a movie is on.

When we’re online for short periods each day to read email, look at Facebook, handle financial matters and post this blog, Google often comes up in German, Portuguese, mainly based on the majority of the populace in the areas we’re sailing

“Pirate” type boat for tourists, observed while still in the Port of Madeira.

Last night, we dined in the “included” Manhattan Room, the food again mediocre, but made memorable by the four women at our shared table, many experienced travelers, two coincidentally from Minnesota. 

It’s enriching to hear the suggestions by other travelers with much more experience than us.
We’ve observed how each traveler has their own specific style of traveling. Our human nature is
to believe that “our” methods are the best. We are no exception, although we’re curious about the methods of others. 

Many factors determine the style travelers we all choose to be: financial constraints or desires, time constraints, need or desire for comfort, personal interests, personality and lifestyle. 

Pier as we pull away from Madeira.  A ship, the MSC Sinfonia remains at the pier.

We find many travelers content to backpack, stay in hostels and sleep in tents if need be. Others are in the middle, as we are, desiring comfort while willing to pay a little more for it. Others will only travel staying in the most plush cabins, finest hotels and dining in the most posh restaurants. 

Whichever style the travelers we meet choose, we find them interesting, often picking up a tidbit of information that we may find useful in the future. On we go, to the port of Barcelona in two days while we continue on our second leg of this back-to-back cruise for four more days to Majorca and Marseilles. We’ll have get off the ship to go through customs but able to keep our stuff in our cabin.

Goodbye, Madeira.  See you again next year.

On May 5th, we’ll be back in Barcelona  for our next leg of our journey, the 15 day cruise through the Suez Canal to the Middle East. Some say we’re crazy to explore this highly charged area of the world while we feel excited for the opportunity. We plan to explore Barcelona, sharing photos and stories of how we’ll avoid the rampant pickpockets, for which Barcelona is so well known.

Scary night…lessons learned….

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We’ll be posting more photos once we get to Madeira on the 28th.  Internet too slow to upload photos.

It’s 11:30 pm.
Clocks will change another hour forward at 2:00 am.  With winds close to 65 mph and 30 foot waves, we’re swaying from side to side in our cabin. The walls and ceilings are creaking so much that it sounds as if something is about to break apart.

Many passengers are seasick. Ready-to-use barf bags are taped to the railings. No one can walk a straight line. Most of the entertainment has been shut down until further notice.

Not a word from the bridge since this morning. The TV channel entitled “Word from the Bridge” gave us the above stats.  Are we safe? I guess we are. How will we sleep with the rolling and the noise? I don’t know.

We’re a two and a half days from our first port of call, the island of Madeira, Portugal, off the coast of Algeria. We’re more than halfway across the ocean.

It’s 2:00 am. I actually slept for a few hours. We changed our clocks when we went to bed at midnight. I was dreaming about water running, lots of water running. The water sounds as if it’s
coming from outside the door. Tom is sound asleep. I want to awaken him, but I don’t. 

I want to open the door and look outside in the hallway. I try to open it. It won’t open. The heavy self closing door requires a hefty pull using my right arm. I haven’t been able to open it once since we boarded six days ago due to my bad right shoulder. 

Why would I think I could open it now? I jiggle the lock, but can’t tell, in my harried state, which way is open. Give up opening the door, my head screams. The swaying and creaking is louder than ever. I need to look outside. 

Repeatedly faltering as I maneuver to the sliding door, I fall toward the glass, grabbing the thick drapes to keep me from going down. Pulling the drapes to the side, in the dark I can see the huge white caps, the 30 foot waves, grasping at the ship in an angry rage, as if to attack.

There’s nothing I can do. I’m a little scared, but I must be brave. I crawl back into bed, pulling the covers over my head. Sleep, please come. Thirty minutes pass. I take the Tylenol PM I’d left on the shelf next to my side of the bed, just in case.  Swallowing it down with leftover iced tea in my mug, it feels stuck in my throat.  I drink again and position myself on my left side, as always, protecting the bad shoulder with a pillow under my elbow. 
The noise is deafening, the creaking, the sound of running water, the roar of the sea. Finally, I drift off, desperate to escape my own thoughts.

It’s 8:52 am. Sun is filtering into the cabin through a tiny sliver I left open during the night in the thick red drapes. The sound of the cabin creaking is a soft murmur. The sound of water running is no more. The cabin is rolling gently, a smooth roll, almost comforting as rocking a child in a cradle. 

It’s over.

I made a huge mistake before going to bed. I hooked up the Internet on my laptop at $.40 a minute, researching high winds and waves on cruise ships. The results were ominous.  Over the past 30 years, people died, ships broke apart, ships sunk. 

Not much was written about the ships that “weathered the storms” other than a few comments passengers posted about their terrifying experiences, ultimately surviving without incident.  Why didn’t I glom onto those comments as opposed to the dreadful news? 

My old fearful self, crept her way back into my psyche in my exhausted state. Shoo away, old
self!  New brave self, emerge!  In a way I guess she did, when she gave up and went to sleep. Old self would never have taken the Tylenol PM and gone back to sleep. She needed to stay in control by staying awake.

How can one possibly stay in control and “piloting the ship” or “fly the plane” when one is asleep?  I’ve never slept on a plane. If I slept, it all would fall apart, wouldn’t it?  I guess not. 

It’s 11:10 am. Now as I sit with Tom, still oblivious of the scary night, in our favorite booth in the Garden Cafe, the gentle rolling continues and I’m no longer afraid, not now and hopefully, not in the future. Last night I learned something, something simple.

It’s OK to sleep during the storm.

We changed ships!…Heavenly!..Back to back cruises again, same cabin…

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Our new huge ship, the Norwegian Epic with 4200 passengers and 1750 crew. 
Comfortable bed, covers, soft towels, huge shower and vanity area.
 Cruise #1

Norwegian – Norwegian Epic, departs 4/20/13, 11 nights
Day Date Port or Activity Arrive Depart
Sat Apr 20 Miami, FL 5:00pm
Sun Apr 21 At Sea
Mon Apr 22 At Sea
Tue Apr 23 At Sea
Wed Apr 24 At Sea
Thu Apr 25 At Sea
Fri Apr 26 At Sea
Sat Apr 27 At Sea
Sun Apr 28 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal 10:00am – 6:00pm
Mon Apr 29 At Sea
Tue Apr 30 At Sea
Wed May 1 Barcelona, Spain 5:00am

Cruise #2
Norwegian – Norwegian Epic, departs 5/1/13, 4 nights
Day Date Port or Activity Arrive Depart
Wed May 1 Barcelona, Spain 7:00pm
Thu May 2 Marseille, France 8:00am – 7:00pm
Fri May 3 At Sea Sat May 4 Palma de Mallorca, Spain 6:00am – 6:00pm
Sun May 5 Barcelona, Spain 5:00am

We couldn’t be more thrilled to be on board the Norwegian Epic as shown above to find it much more modern and classy than the Carnival Liberty.  Also, with a more mature crowd there isn’t the loud blare of rock music filling the air as in typical on Carnival Fun Ships. 

 Our mini suite with balcony.  Plush amenities.

Yes, we are old, preferring the more elegant, quiet, less frenzied pace of this ship.  Initially, we were concerned about the enormous size, but after wandering about for the past three plus hours, we feel we have a handle on the layout.

 Tons of storage space not only to unpack our clothing, but to hide our bags under the bed.
With over half of our bags already unpacked, soon we’ll run to the Internet Café to set up our wireless package.  Once we sail in the next hour we’ll lose our ability to use our MiFi connection and be subject to this ships $.40 a minute charge.  That’s the highest rate we’ve seen thus far. 
  Coffee in our cabin, not available in the past four cruises.
Having budgeted for these expenses, allows us to communicate with loved ones and of course, keep our blog and photos posted on a regular basis.  The connection is secure which enables us to do our banking, pay bills online and check our credit card balances.
All of our credit cards, do not charge an exchange rate.  Thus, we use them for everything we possibly can, paying them off every few weeks, to keep them from accumulating huge balances and avoid interest charges.  So far, we’ve yet to incur a single dime in interest or fees. 
 Easy to use safe, wine cooler/fridge.

Our final bill on the Carnival Liberty came to $672 which included $159 for Internet, $100 for dinner in the Diamond Steak House, $12.50 for contact lens solution, $44.98 for one bottle of Cognac for Tom, cocktails and beverages, plus, the cruise line charged our bill $161.60 for tips plus additional tips we paid as we ordered beverages. 

Oversized shower, vanity with lots of drawers and medicine cabinet plus, an outlet. It’s an odd configuration with the sink in the bedroom and having to walk through the two sections of the bathroom when entering the cabin.

In addition, last night, we handed out additional cash tips to our cabin steward, dining room service staff, restaurant hostesses and luggage handlers.  This totaled approximately another $180, leaving us over by $82. On the prior cruises we were under budget, making it a wash. 

Our balcony for the next 15 days.  Love the two little tables.
Have to run and get to the Internet Café since we’re about to lose our signal.  We’ll be back in touch soon with more photos of this amazing vessel. Tonight we have a reservation to see the Blue Man Group, included in our fares. 
Back in touch soon.