This morning the ship left Havana at 6 AM and is now headed towards the Bahamas. Apparently lightning hit the ship in the morning, but I was still resting after closing down all the bars at 3 AM. When I did wake up I went to the pool and relaxed in the pool and…
The shipped arrived in port early this morning. We were docked in a great location in Havana. We went through a short line through immigration where they took our visa and stamped our passports (although mine doesn’t say Cuba very clearly). I exchanged my Euros (80 Euro = 95 CUC), GBP (20…
I started my day with a behind the scenes tour of the ship. The tour took us to the laundry room, kitchen and backstage in the dressing room of the theater. No photos or video was allowed. The ship docked at an active military port. We were asked not to take photos while in…
I managed to finish packing last night. I always wait until the last minute…. 0330 alarm clock, left for the airport at 0430, arrived at the parking spot at 0530. I was in through security by 0555… one of benefits of traveling on a holiday is that there is no traffic. I used one of…
That’s the notice I see when I log into NCL’s system while I’m stalking the cruise price. I got the email confirming my upgrade to first class today. I haven’t been upgraded on United in a long time despite having 1K status. This flight was the cheapest round trip flight I’ve probably ever bought….
After a short nap I woke up and took the metro to Place Espagna to catch Aerobus A1 to the airport. I got on the Aerobus at 0705. I think it is silly that Barcelona spent all kinds of money finally getting the metro to connect to the city and the metro is slower than…
Because the cruise was very active (many long nights in the many bars) I intended to use this as a recovery day – intended. Sine we needed to be out of the room by 0800 I had set my alarm for 0645. I was already packed for the most part. I packed most everything…
In attempt to use some of the $150 of onboard credit I decided to take a tour arranged by the ship to Avignon, the Palace of the Popes and Les Baux. There were 25 people on my bus. Luckily it was cold, windy and out of season, so there were not many other groups…
I organized a private tour in an 8 passenger minivan. Our driver guide Benjamin was excellent. Our tour started by driving along the waterfront in Cannes. We got a few photos of the red carpet in Cannes and the ship. We then drove along the waterfront of Nice. We then drove up to a…
Today I had organized a tour of Cinque Terre. It was a private tour in an 8 passenger minivan. We left the ship at 0745 and the guide drove us past La Spezia to Manarola. The town was beautiful and empty. We explored a little while the guide got us ferry tickets. …
I started a bit later than I should have. The ship was scheduled to be cleared at 0600. By the time I got the free port bus to town it was 0700 and 0720 when I finished walking to the train station. I had half the port bus following me because I actually knew where…
Sea days are a wonderful thing. Today’s activites: I slept in until around 0930. I would have slept longer, but the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle (official meeting) was scheduled for 1100. At the Cruise Critic meeting I met a few of my fellow cruisers that were joining me on the private tours…
I was one of the first few people off the ship today. I had intended to visit the Bellver castle, however as I was walking I checked the website and found that it (and many other museums in town) were closed on Mondays. Luckily I determined this before hiking up the hill to the castle. …
Thanks to my favorite airline (United) my flight landed at 10:32 instead of 07:45. I rushed to drop off my suitcase at Bags & Go (which will bring it to the ship for me) and catch the Aerobus. I took the Aerobus to Placa Catalyuna and the metro to La Sagrada. Luckily I arrived at…
So far everything is looking wonderful. The door chime on the Excursion wasn’t active this morning. I got to the Parking Spot (#2) and luckily I was more organized than usual and had my reservation because they were out of uncovered parking, so I got a free upgrade to extra wide uncovered parking. I’m…
I’m mostly ready for my next fun trip – my first ocean cruise this year. I’ll be sailing on the NCL Epic on Sunday from Barcelona, Spain (or will it be Catalonia?). My flight goes through IAD (Washington DC Dulles) Itinerary is as follows: Sunday Oct 22nd: Arrive in Barcelona, tour of…
This morning we packed, had a small breakfast and left the ship around 8:00 AM. I stored my luggage at a friend’s hotel and then went to the Rijiksmuseum. The museum is large and we left around 1:00 PM. I rushed back to the hotel to get the tram (12) to the…
This morning we arrived in Amsterdam, Netherlands. We docked not too far from the central train station. There was an MSC ship docked at the port when we arrived. It left shortly after 9:00 AM. Our included tour started with a bus tour of the city. We had a short walk where the guide…
This morning we arrived in Koln (Cologne), Germany. We started the morning with a 90 minutes walking tour of the city. There was a special pilgrimage occuring at the Cathedral, so it was difficult to explore. We visit St. Martin;s church and the Roman ruins under the church during our free time. After lunch…
The ship stayed docked in Rhudesheim, Germany until 9:00 AM. I walked briskly through the town to get a few photos in the daylight. It was quite foggy as we were departing, which worried us that we wouldn’t get to see the best scenery on the cruise. Luckily within minutes the fog lifted. It…