A Relaxing Day at Sea

Yesterday was a partly cloudy, cool and windy day.  While the seas were relatively calm it was not the best day to be outside but that did not stop us from sitting on the veranda.  Today we awoke to a sunny day with calm winds and flat seas. It is just beautiful. This is the fourth time we are doing the Miami to Barcelona crossing in March and, somehow, we have always been blessed with good weather and the accompanying smooth sailing.  I hope you can see how smooth the water is in the photo below. I am living proof that an atheist can live a blessed life!

One thing that they are doing differently on this cruise concerns the time changes.  On the journey from Miami to Barcelona you have to set the clock forward by 1 hour six different times.  Typically, those time changes are done overnight so, in theory, you lose an hour sleep. But, let’s get real, you are on a cruise with days at sea so you really don’t have to lose that hour sleep.  Nonetheless, on this cruise they are setting the clocks ahead at mid-day so 11:30 am becomes 12:30 pm. It seems quite sensible and today was our first change. We’ll see how it goes.

One event on today’s sea day was the officer’s challenge where the passengers compete with the ship’s officers in games such as golf putting and bean bag toss to earn valuable Big-O points.  Here is a picture of Linda competing in the ball toss against a security officer. Incidentally, this security officer was the one who, in St. Kitts on our last cruise, came out to the port area at about 10 pm (we were supposed to sail at midnight) and figuratively dragged us back to the ship because Captain Flokos wantd to leave early and we were the last 2 people on shore!

In many ways, Linda and I have so much in common but there are some differences.  For instance, check out the picture of us on the veranda - me in shorts and T-shirt and Linda in jeans and a sweatshirt!

Tomorrow we have a port day in Bermuda.  Looking forward to taking a long walk before we set sail again for 4 days at sea.

On The Road Again

I am sure that it will come as no surprise to anyone who knows us that we are on the road (or I should say, ocean) again.  This time were are sandwiching some land and island time between 2 cruises.  Let me explain. 

We start with a transatlantic cruise from Miami to Barcelona on the Oceania Riviera.  As I write this it is Thursday and we are at sea heading for Bermuda, scheduled to arrive on Saturday.  This is the third time we are doing this crossing on the Riviera having previously done it in 2014 and 2016.  Yes, we are on the alternate year plan - only even number years.  Here are a couple of pics from our embarkation day:

The champagne toast on the sail-away.

 The beloved life boat drill!

The crossing includes stops in Bermuda, the Azores, Tangier and Mallorca before we reach Barcelona in 2 weeks.  So far, the seas are fairly smooth with just enough movement to rock us to sleep.  Here's hoping that it stays this way.

After arriving in Barcelona we jump on a flight to Tenerife in the Canary Islands where we will be staying with Manuela and Wolfgang, friends that we met on a previous Oceania cruise.  We are looking forward to four days there having not been to the Canary Islands before and, of course, catching up with good friends.

When we leave Tenerife, we fly back to Barcelona to spend 5 days in and around that wonderful city.  We've booked a couple of day trips - one that will take us to Andorra and one that explores the Costa Brava.  We've also booked a visit to the Sagrada Familia to see the progress they have made in the almost 20 years since we've been there.  And, of course, we will indulge in tapas at our favorite restaurant in Barcelona.

And, when our stay in Barcelona is over, it will back on the Riviera for another 12 day cruise, this time with ports of call in Lisbon, 3 of the Canary Islands, Funchal and Tangier again.  At the end of that cruise we will be flying back to Long Beach.

No promises, but I will try to keep this blog as up to date as I can.  Sometimes it depends on the ship's internet as to my ability to add photos.

So, as I've said before, we live an incredibly blessed life with all of our travels and, more importantly, with our wonderful kids and grandkids.  It gives me great pause as I write this to think about some people we know who are bravely battling cancer.  There is our friend and neighbor Marlene, who is the main impetus (or nudge) for me to write this blog.  There is our long time friend in Cincinnati, Carol.  There is one of the Oceania cruise directors, David Peterson, who we ran into unexpectedly at breakfast in Miami yesterday only to learn that he is also battling cancer.  There is our cousin Juanita in Hawaii who is putting up the good fight.  Our thoughts are certainly with them.

That's all for now.  Hopefully I'll be back in a day or two with an update on our progress.