DAY 15 in CARTEGENA pronounced Cartehena in Spanish.

It was only a short walk from the ship into the middle of town.  Spanish cities and towns have the most wonderful architecture.  The shops don’t open until around 9.30 – 10.00am on a Saturday, then of course they close at 1.30pm to 2.00pm for Siesta time until 4.00pm then open again until around 9 or 10pm. They dress with style, even the children and it was so nice to see families out together enjoying a Saturday a morning shop.  The Mercado (Market) as always was most interesting we added some more anchovy stuffed olives to our collection to take home.

A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our son Chris today.  It was so lovely to chat on SKYPE with Chris and our daughter-in-law Donna this morning. Internet technology makes everything so easy.  When I was young it was communication via Postcard or letter only.  Now I’m showing my age…hahaha.

The weather changed mid- afternoon to 30 to 40 knot winds as a low pressure past through Cartegena. As a consequence our departure was delayed from the scheduled 4.30pm until 7.30pm. There were two other ships in port with us, the Sea Dream Yacht again and the Oceania.  The Oceania left before us and when the weather suddenly changed the Pilot couldn’t get off Oceania so she was hovering in the bay waiting for the front to pass so he could get back into his Pilot boat and then hop on to Voyager and take us out to sea. This delay will not change our arrival time into Valencia tomorrow morning. Looking at the chart on the TV we’re currently cruising at 13.7 knots and the wind is at 35miles per hour, 7 Beaufort, South Westerly, and the depth below us is 800metres which seems shallow after what we had across the Atlantic. Once again this ship handles so well and as I sit here in our cabin which is right at the very front of the ship on Deck 9 I can’t feel any movement.

The show tonight was one of the best we’ve seen ever; in fact it was more like a concert.  It was a Beatles Celebration and these guys were ‘The Beatles’.  They all had the Beatle moves, the hair, the talk and the sound.  If I closed my eyes I would have thought I was listening to the actual Beatles.  Everyone was singing and dancing in the aisles.  Having grown up in the Beatles era Roy and I could remember the words to every song. Of course they did an encore and got a standing ovation too. A great night. J

I must apologise if I have repeated anything along the way in my blog.  Sometimes I can’t remember if I mentioned something so I just tell you again anyway….  That’s what happens when you slip in ‘cruise mode’.  We don’t have a clue what’s going on in the rest of the world as we’ve not had time to watch FOX or CNN.  All that we know is the ships time and the ‘City of Voyager of the Seas’ is happy and rocking….not literally…lol  J

More tomorrow from Valencia….. Who would like and Orange?

DAY 14 in MALAGA, SPAIN

We woke sometime in the middle of the night to have a look at the North African lights.  Then up early again to watch us coming into the port of Malaga.  As Roy opened the slider to the balcony there was a tiny little bird sitting there.  How he got there and where he came from we’ve no idea.  Maybe he’s been hiding out there since Ponta Delgada and stowed away looking for a new life in Spain. As daylight broke flew off into the morning sun.

As I type this we are watching Celebrity Solstice dock right behind us and in the distance we can see another ship on the horizon. One of the Sea Dream Yachts is also in port.

Sitting at McDonalds in the centre of Malaga…..not drinking the coffee though, it’s so strong you could stand the spoon up in it… J

Here are some more photos:

Our Cabin

Our Balcony

The Captain

Roy's winning photo of from the Ice Show

The Ice Show

A cheese shop in Ponta Delgada

All sorts of delicious bits and pieces

Ponta Delgada

Voyager of the Seas

DAY 13

There is some blue sky today and the sun is trying to peep through.  Still a little cool outside.

Did you get the answer to yesterdays’ Trivia question? “Cuckoos”. 

The Grand Finale of our Progressive Trivia took place this morning.  Worst ever score for us……a mere 8 out of 20.  They made it really hard for everyone as it was the final.  The highest score for today was only 13. We ended up in 10^th place, so we were middle of the road and can’t complain.  We had a lot of fun.

Roy entered a photo competition a couple of days ago. This morning all entries were judged by the Officers on the ship.  Roy was most surprised to hear his named called as the winner. It’s a great photo.  I’ll put his photo up on here whilst we’re in Malaga.

While eating lunch today in the dining room we were gazing out to sea and suddenly there was big spout of water from a whale.  There only appeared to be one but we’re sure they are always in pods so the others must be somewhere close but we didn’t seem any more.

As we get closer toward the Straits of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea the sea traffic is getting busier. We’ve seen 4 cargo ships since yesterday afternoon. I’m sure we’ll see a lot more in the next few days.  Later today we will be cruising  2 nautical miles off Morocco and will be passing the Rock of Gibraltar at around 1.00am tomorrow morning. We will be able to see Tangier, North Africa on our Port Side and the Rock of Gibraltar on our starboard side. The Captain explained that the Straits are like a Freeway and we will be in a lane as we sail through and in our case we will be sailing very close to North Africa.

Tonight we enjoyed dinner at the speciality restaurant ‘Portafino’ on deck 12.  It was absolutely wonderful, superb menu and all cooked to perfection.  I would absolutely recommend it to anyone planning a cruise on Voyager. The Tiramisu was the best we have ever had with an added shot of Baileys, Tia Maria and cream on the side.

Malaga tomorrow.

DAY 12 ANZAC DAY

This morning the day started with a service held for the Australian and New Zealanders on board to commemorate Anzac day.

The weather is cloudy and misty today and quite cool outside. We’re travelling at 18 knots and there’s is a swell of 2 metres but in a ship as large as this you wouldn’t know it’s there. The ‘floor’ of the ocean is 15,000 feet below us, so we must be back in the deep end again. J So far we have travelled 5057 nautical miles since leaving New Orleans.

Everyone is still talking about Ponta Delgada, such a charming place, so happy we got to go there.  We enjoyed walking around yesterday and our Pedometers told us we had walked just over 8 kilometres.  It really didn’t feel like that far. The Army Fort was very interesting and Army Personal still live there and guard the fort. The local Prison has to have one of the best views in the world as all the cells look out toward the ocean.  We could see this wonderful old stone building as we sailed in thinking it could be all sorts of things but never thought for a minute it was a Prison.  As we got a little closer we could see the barbed wire above the great wall that surrounded it and later we were told what it was. It was built in the 17^th Century, so maybe it’s only the view that it’s got anything going for it. 

They grow a lot of Pineapples in Green Houses which rather surprised us and export to Europe and the UK. The British Royal family only eat Pineapples from the Azores. As we left the port the tug boat escorted us out of the harbour with a wonderful water canon display.  Many of the locals turned out to wave goodbye. They are very welcoming and friendly people.

Trivia was back this morning, one more day to go to before we find out who are the grand prize winners…..we know it won’t be us, the ‘42 Dayers’ we had a terrible score of only 10 out of 20 this morning.  Here’s one of the questions:  “The Easter Bunny brings us Easter Eggs, but in Switzerland who brings their Easter Eggs?” We had no idea….. nor did anyone else in the room… so at least we were all the same as we all got it wrong….lol.

On the next leg from Barcelona to Dubai I will put up some pictures of the wonderful food we are all enjoying on board.  We will be on a serious diet when we get home…. J

Wow, wow, wow just got back from the Ice Odyssey show and what an amazing show it is.  I’ll share some photos with you when we arrive in Malaga. You cannot imagine how they can skate with such skill on ice on a moving ship. This ship is going to ‘wow’ Australia and New Zealand in a big way.

 

Tonight is our last Formal night on this leg of the cruise.  There are three Formal nights altogether.

Quite often we sit and enjoy a drink mid-afternoon in one of the bars. People watching is one of the most interesting past times…..we think.  We have the Mrs Bucket look alike who gets pushed around in a wheelchair on board the ship, then low and behold there she is as large as life walking around the centre of Ponta Delgada yesterday.  We also have the two gentlemen who love to go to every show but also love to chat to each other the whole time during the performance ignoring everyone’s ‘shhhhhh’.  Then if there’s ever a queue for anything the same two gentlemen will waltz by and walk right up to the front of the queue as if they are the only ones there.  Oh well it takes all sorts to make this world and we’re sure we’ll find a few more ‘individuals’ along the way. Watch this space. J

It’s now midnight and we’ve just come back to the cabin from watching the  show tonight in the theatre.  The guy Jonathon King does Elton John.  He looks like Elton John, he sounds like Elton John and he had everyone in the whole theatre up dancing in the aisles and up dancing on the stage like Elton John used to do. An excellent show.

We put our clocks forward yet another hour at midday today.  We’ve all lost track of the time in any other part of the world and only know the time in our floating city…. J

Today’s quote from Captains Frank Martinsen’s midday report is: “Daddy how much does it cost to get married?” “I don’t know son, I’m still paying.” J

DAY 11 in PONTA DELGADA, AZORES

What a beautiful place this is.  Quite different to how we expected it to be.  Some very old buildings and a lot of history here going back from the 1400's when it was discovered.

Prices are all in Euro but are very cheap, I could easily spend here.....and have a bit.... ;)

We're sitting outside in a square in the middle of town under a lovely umbrella drinking the local beer which is only 1 Euro a bottle... we might have more than one....lol. The language spoken is Portuguese and the only word we know is 'thank you'.

I'm going to put up a few pictures whilst I'm here and have access to free internet.

The view from the Windjammer watching the sunset.

Looking at the Island Grill which is part of the Windjammer

Roy enjoying a meal in the Windjammer

Look down at the ships Bridge from the 'Peek a Boo' area

The Pig and Whistle Pub on the Royal Promenade Deck 5

Looking down half the length of the ship

Me trying it ice skate :)

Looking over the pool area from the Viking Lounge

DAY 10

This is day six at sea.  Tomorrow we arrive in Ponta Delgada, the Azores.  I must say the six days have just flown by and it’s hard to believe we’ve been on the ship for 10 days already.

Again the weather is beautiful with blue skies, sapphire sea, sunshine and calm seas.  It is getting a little cooler at night now.

An update on this our Progressive Trivia this morning…….13 out of 20.  We just don’t seem to be able to improve on that figure. We had a couple of questions where we had the right answer then after deliberation changed it…..and it ended up to be wrong and the first choice was correct.  We all hate that when that happens.  So our team has decided that we’ll go with our first choice from now on.  We’ll do anything to improve our placing…lol.  It was all on this morning because one of the questions was ‘what is the British equivalent of the FBI”?  The answer the majority had was ’MI5’, however a couple of teams were up in arms as they said the answer should be ‘Special Services’ so quiz master Chris has accepted their protest and will research and give us his finding the day after tomorrow. No Trivia tomorrow as it’s a port day.

This afternoon they’re running a ‘win a 7 day cruise’ Bingo. I guess everyone will be there, including us.  But as they say “you’ve got to be in it to win it” J We’re all trying to guess which ship it will be on, some are saying Oasis of the Seas in the Caribbean.  I could handle that.. J

Just returned to the cabin after the Bingo…….I didn’t win the cruise but the couple sitting next to me did.  They are from Adelaide in South Australia and this was the first time they had played Bingo so as you can imagine there were very excited. They’ve won a 7 night Caribbean cruise on any ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet.

We had an invitation to the introduction to the Ice show before dinner this evening.  Quite amazing to see the skaters flying around an ice rink on a ship. There are 8 dancers altogether and each of them had represented their state or country at ice skating. They were very multi-national coming from Russia, France x2, Canada x2, Japan, Hungary and Czech Republic.  We look forward to the full show in a couple of days’ time.

Thank you to those who have left comments and my apologies for not responding.  We have one hour of free internet which we have used up so we are now paying for our internet connection.  Please do keep the comments and questions coming I’m reading them all and love to hear from you.  Those who are booked on Voyager the Internet packages are as follows: These prices are all in US dollars: If you wish to just pay by the minute it is 65c per minute. Or you can purchase the following packages:

60 minutes $35.00 = 58c per minute

100 minutes $55.00 = 55c per minute

150 minutes $75.00 = 50c per minute

250 minutes $100.00 = 40c per minute

500 minutes $150.00 = 30c per minute

I missed the Captains quote of the day today.  I happened to be walking through the Casino and stopped and put in my change of US$2.50 into a slot machine and won US$36.75. The machine was making such a noise I couldn’t hear what he had to say. He’s such a friendly Captain and very informative on his midday reports.

More from me tomorrow from Ponta Delgada in the Azores. J

DAY 9

I have to tell you once again the weather is perfect, sun is shining and the ocean is sparkling.  Temperature today is 21C.

I was a bit slow out of bed this morning I’ve found muscles I didn’t know I had and they’re all aching after my ice skating attempt yesterday.  I won’t give up I’m going back to have another go.

The 70’s night was so much fun; the Royal Promenade was packed with everyone dancing to Disco music.  The crew threw glow rings to everyone from the bridge which crosses the ‘street’. The disco balls were spinning and the lights filled the street with colours. Of course everyone did a great YMCA the ship was ‘arockin’  as the Captain joked today.

We’re getting toward the shallow end of the ‘pond’ today as there is only 3675 metres below us but as the Captain pointed out it’s still the closest land…. J

The Casino opened last night having been closed since we embarked for refurbishing.  They have been installing new tables for the Asian market as the ship will be cruising Asia for a few months before making its way down to Australia. I played US$20.00 in one of the slots and in a matter of minutes won US$58.75 so took my money and ran…. J…..Quit while you’re ahead as they say.  I’ll return another night to pick up what everyone else has lost…. ;) The Captain mentioned in his report this morning he was pleased to hear the Casino was busy last night….. “I like to know my retirement fund is still healthy”, he said. J

Another hard morning at the Progressive Trivia, we scored only 13 out of 20.  We’re not proving but we’re trying hard. We’re still in the top 7…….just. There are a total of about 30 teams of 6 players in each team.

Today we don’t have to put our clocks forward.  Just as well because sunrise is now at 8.11am to be precise.

Even though this is our 5^th day at sea it doesn’t feel like we’ve been at sea that long.  The days seem to be flying by probably because there is so much to do on here whether it is during the day or the evening. The benefits of being on such a large ship are there are so many options to choose from, there is definitely something for everyone on here. The age groups are varied from quite a few young couples on their Honeymoon right through to the ‘oldies’ like us….. No we’re not that old…..really! There’s a little group of ‘walker wheelies’ who seem to spend most of their time chatting, drinking coffee and eating. We’ve only seen 2 children on here, I don’t doubt there could be more but we’ve only seen the 2.  It will be interesting to see who boards the ship in Barcelona.  Many of the guests from the USA are only doing this leg of the voyage.  Many tell us they do a Trans-Atlantic crossing every few months.

Time to get a bit of sun out on the balcony…..

Captains quote of the day…..”Man who wants pretty Nurse…must be patient.”