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Day 21

Cruise Day 17ish

Up at 06:30 for coffee and shower.  I walked the top deck one last time while Kelly got ready. We left the ship at 08:30 and once off we grabbed a cab to the National Express Bus Terminal.  Both Janet and David were also on our bus and we enjoyed the drive. Our 9:45 bus was a few minutes late departing but we learned that Terminal 5 would be the first airport stop so easy peazy for us

We were dropped at British Airways massive terminal complex and checked with the agent but,as our flight didn't depart until 17:15 we had lots of time to kill. Not enough for a trip into town though :-)

Once we received our boarding passes we headed through security, down the elevator to the train and finally to the gate. It was running 15 late but we didn't care at this point. A 9 hour flt to Vancouver and as I turned on my cell phone, a message arrive from the airline informing us that our bags (along with many others) did not make the flight. This was actually a good thing as we quickly got organized after clearing customs with the baggage people and bolted for the 20:00 flight to Victoria. (If we had our bags we would have had to wait until 22:30 to catch the next plane!

We made it and after a short 15 minute flight we arrived at CYYJ (Victoria Airport) Kris picked us up and we walked in our door at 20:40.   So if you do the math we were 22 hours and ten minutes from alarm to our walking in the house.

It was great to visit these places and scout out possible return venues. Best of all was the great people we got to meet and know over the course of the trip. We did manage to say goodbye to everyone and look forward to our next adventure.

Hope you all enjoyed the blog.

Dave & Kelly

Final at Sea Day :-(

Day 20

Cruise Day #16 -  At Sea (Off the coastline of France)

Another lazy day... see a trend here? :-)

After breakfast we headed to the Lyric Theater and took in the Q & A of the Captain, Cruise Director and Hotel Manager. It was fun and an informative look into the lives of these people and the ship, company and staff of Royal Caribbean.

We decided to get a jump on things and got our suitcases packed for the trip home. We will be using the self embarkation method and just rolling all our bags off the ship ourselves. (We did this on Carnival and it worked great!)

Blackjack tournament at three today in the casino. Best $20 I have spent and a great deal of fun.

Our last official "Dinner" in the Vivaldi room and a Show then we will relax for one last time before reality sets in and we leave the ship tomorrow morning :-(

Our internet will end soon so you will be updated when we get to London's Heathrow Airport tomorrow. We will be busing in from Southampton to Terminal 5 and catch a British Airways flight to Vancouver. Hope to be on the 8 PM flight to Victoria where Kris will pick us up and take us home.... that's the plan anyway.

It's been an amazing trip and a great experience to see these cities although it's really just a taste for us:-) That was the intent when we booked... a little sample to see what interested us and if we wanted to visit again.... and we definitely will!

 I'll update our trip progress when possible.

At Sea

Day 19

Cruise Day #15 -  At Sea (Off of Portugal, Spain and into the Bay of Biscay)

A lazy day as we only have a few things planned... First off was to sleep in and rest those weary legs!

We had lunch in the dinning room for the first time this cruise then we attended the Blackjack tournament at 3 this afternoon..... but we didn't do to well this time around. Kelly came 5th on the final table :-(  Returned to the room to finish the blog for yesterday.

We then got dressed early for dinner as it's the last formal night of the cruise.  Up to the top of the ship in the Viking lounge for a pre-dinner drink as we had dinner reservations in the specialty restaurant tonight to celebrate the end of our great vacation. We even managed to spot a whale blowing as we cruised by... nature is awesome!

Checked the loads to Vancouver out of Heathrow and it looks like British Airways will be our best bet on Sunday.

Tomorrow is our last Sea day as we pass by the French coastline.

Lisbon

Day 18

Cruise Day #14 -  Lisbon, Portugal

We got up early, grabbed a coffee and headed to the top deck to witness our passing underneath of the April 25th Bridge that crosses the Tagus River.  Five meters to spare! You also had great views of the Christ the King Monument on the south shore.

Our morning view!

Another coffee and a quick croissant in the Cafe Promenade this morning as we prepared for our day in Lisbon, Portugal.  Our friends David and Janet from our previous excursions had booked a private tour and had asked us if we wanted to come along this morning. Of course we said yes and joined them on the dock at 9:30. Our tour guide Alexander arrived with a Mercedes van and took us on the start of our tour around the city. We did not really know what to expect or where exactly we would be going but that just added to the excitement.

Alexander gave us a running commentary on the local history and the plans for the day. We headed west under the famous April 25th Bridge that commemorated Portugal's return to democracy in 1974. First stop was the park that has two major items of interest. First is a reconstructed full scale model commemorating the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic by the Portuguese Navy to Brazil in 1922 (sort of their Lindberg ) and second, the UNESCO World Heritage site the Belém Tower

 Fairey III-D MkII seaplane

Kelly at the Belem Tower

 This fortress guarded the approach to the inner harbor and is celebrating it's 500th year since being built!

Our next stop was the incredible Discoveries Monument monument that commemorates the period of amazing exploratory voyages that open up the world. The Portuguese had it down when it came to charting the world and discovering new frontiers to open trade and commerce. If you have lots of time you can read all about at Age of Discoveries 

Incredible.. the pictures don't do it justice.

Another angle of the great artwork.

The monument's focus was on Henry the Navigator who lead these explorers along with the people who supported the missions financially and the map makers etc that made it all happen.

The pavement in front of the Discoveries Monument has an attractive mosaic that depicts a compass, alongside a map of the world that shows the routes and dates that were taken by Portugal’s explorers. The sweeping stones of the plaza make the ground look and feel like ocean waves and are found throughout Portugal. 

Kelly hunts down our west coast :-)

The cobble stones look like waves... although perfectly flat.

We walked via a tunnel under the Avenue De India to the Jerónimos Monastery and the main Church entrance. It was an amazing piece of architecture (as is everything it seems!) and contained the tomb of Henry the Navigator.

Monastery

Church Chapel

Stunning architecture!

Simply stunning displays.

Pictures just don't do it justice.

Tomb of Henry The Navigator

I had mentioned to our guide that a coworker Marie Harris told me be sure and have the Pastel de nata's if we had a chance. Turns out the birthplace of these was within walking distance so off we went to try them at Pastéis de Belém. This place has been going since 1837 and produces 10,000 a day with as much as 50,000 on a weekend! (Kelly also managed to get some Starbucks mugs next door:-)

Pasteis de Belem

We headed back towards the city center and viewed the city from the Jardim Amalias Rodrigues. This is a huge tree lined park with stylized shrubbery that travels down towards the sea and the entrance to Lisbon.

Next stop was a visit to the downtown core and some shopping time for the gals. We were dropped off and had 40 minutes of free time to explore the area.

This is Rossio Square and the Statue of Pedro IV King of Portugal. Note the wavy cobblestone once again.

Kelly getting some shopping time in.

This area is close to the main shopping/tourist district with it's many shops, stalls and restaurants.  We headed up to a viewpoint above the city and got some great pictures overlooking the city.

A great view with David & Janet taking pictures.

City views

Church of Santa Engracia

The Alfama district with it's narrow streets and tiny restaurants.

This tiles depict a map of the area.

Tiles depicting events are attached to the sides of buildings.

A view from our ship towards the Alfama District and the Church of Santa Engracia. 

After the 6 hour tour, our guide Alexander returned us to the ship and we thanked him for the incredible day. It was time once again for some R & R on the pool deck and a cold beverage.

Dinner with our usual group and then we watched the show in the Lyric Theater. It was a 4 man group called String Fever and they were fantastic as they played their electric violins and bass. Check them out here

After the show we headed up to the lounge above and watched the Quest Game. It was hilarious as adults did the most silly things to get a key chain! Always fun to watch and participate in.

Off to bed.....  have a Sail day tomorrow as we head back towards Southampton.

Cadiz

Day 17

Cruise Day #13 -  Cadiz, Spain

Up at 8 am and ready for our exploration of Cadiz.  As the ship docks right next to the downtown area we decided to walk around and just enjoy the ambiance that the city has to offer.

The entrance to the shopping district had a statue marking the start of the "Selling Period" which of course continues to this day :-)

Kelly at the shopping district.

City Hall

We made our way to the Cathedral and took a few pictures of the area and surrounding markets. Lots of small shops and eateries lined the narrow streets that crisscrossed the city. 

The Cathedral of Cadiz

Just to give you an idea of door size!

In the main part of town we stumbled onto the huge market that housed many meat shops, food vendors and a huge fish market in the center. Now after a while all these small stall sort of blend in but then it happened. I finally found a stall just for me!

The first Beer Stall I have ever seen in a market! Brilliant I say!

We shopped for some gifts and souvenirs and then headed over to a geocache by a church square near by. A quick and easy find as we looked at the giant facade that marked the entrance to the church.

The Church at the Plaza De Sanantonio. It was built in 1669.

The church entrance about to be restored... again.

We went for a nice lunch at the Cerveceria Heladeria and enjoyed the constant human parade walking by our table. We decided to head back early and lounged poolside for a couple hours. This allowed me time to catch up on the blog for our day in Malaga and enjoy some more sun.

Returning to our ship... moored in the background.

Dinner and a show followed and then we met up with David to firm up plans for tomorrow. (We are taking a private tour of Lisbon with them and will meet dockside at 9:15 am)  We watched the British Invasion dance party on the promenade deck and then retired for the evening.  Our clocks go back tonight as we switch back to London time.

Lisbon and a private Tour next on the agenda..... and it's our final port before heading home to Southampton :-(

Malaga

Day 16

Cruise Day #12 -  Malaga, Spain

Ok here we go...sorry about the delay but the days are getting busier all the time and finding the time to blog is usually limited to the evenings.... when the evening goes late the blogging suffers :-)

The ship docked within a 15 minute walk of the waterfront and it's many restaurants, bars and shops that lined the inner harbor. It was beautiful, clean and very modern compared to most ports that we entered. The port was also expanded over the years by reclaiming land from the ocean and this was a fairly commom theme from what we observed.  The lighthouse below use to be at the tip of the breakwater but now was the centerpiece to a roundabout for cars heading to the cruise ship dock.

We walked the tree lined Paseo Del Parque that stretched down the main avenue and bordered the inner harbor. Our initial goal was to head up the top of the hill to the Gibralfaro Castle and check out the views but we opted to walk along the parkway and past city hall and other buildings.

City Hall

La Alcazaba on the left and the Castle to the upper right.

 With our original destination in view we had some trouble finding the entrance as we wanted to start at the bottom and work our way up. Sounded like a good idea but it turns out the bottom section called La Alcazaba was a separate section that required a small fee (2 Euro) to enter. It was well worth it and we enjoyed the beutiful gardens and terraces. Unfortunately we had to retrace our path down in order to exit. At one time you could exit up to the Castle section but it was closed due to erosion.

Kelly gets ready to enter La Alcazaba.

 We managed to work our way through the streets to the tunnel that crossed under the former access point to the upper reaches. (Love saved Google Maps!) Just past the tunnel exit we found the path upwards and started our trek. Best to get the hard hiking done early in our day! We walked the steep incline up to the Gibralfaro Castle and after paying another 2 euro we entered the castle grounds. We enjoyed the panoramic views that lay before us while the energy slowly returned to our legs!

Kelly photobombs my pano :-)

Great view!

Looking north from the castle walls.

Going down was much easier as we headed back down and through the tunnel to the Plaza De La Merced. This nice little square was home to an obelisk which was placed here by the town hall in 1842. The main attraction is the small restaurants and drinking establishments that line the square. The one we had hoped to go to was suggested by our son Kris who was in Malaga three months earlier who found a kraft beer outlet that had an amazing selection. It's called Cerverseria Arti & Sana and tragically it was closed when we arrived! We settled on a neighboring establishment to quench our thirst from the hike up the hill! We also grabbed a geocache that was located in the square... how convenient:-)

 We continued our trek around the city and found numerous points of interest. The Cathedral Museum was spectacular to see with it's amazing architecture.

Cathedral Museum

 Our walk took us down the main shopping thoroughfare of Marques De Larios with it's polished walkways. Many shops beckoned and Kelly finally unloaded the poor credit card on some new boots:-)

We returned to the ship via the waterfront with it's fountains and beautiful walkway along and around the inner harbor.

Marina Fountain

Walkway and cover along the edge of the harbor.

A quick dip in the pool before dinner with our fellow cruiser then some blackjack to practice up for our next tournament :-)

Both Kelly and I agree that this city was very nice, clean and easy to get around even if your walking. We would not hesitate to come back and explore it again.

We are in Cadiz, Spain tomorrow.

Sea Day

Day 15

Cruise Day #11 -  Sea Day

Yet another big sleep in this morning as we burned the midnight oil :-)

We had coffee in our room and decided to skip breakfast.... well actually breakfast was over when we left the cabin! Ok then.... off for lunch in the Windjammer. After we finished we went up to deck 11 to see what was going on at the pool deck. Low an behold a huge BBQ Rib fest was underway!! Sheesh and we just ate! Turns out that on Sea Days they do special meals on the pool deck area.... we will know next time!

We found a couple chairs in the solarium right  beside our dinner friends Kieth and Marjorie and relaxed away the afternoon. Luckily the pool bartender arrived with his ice filled kart full of drinks to help us maintain proper fluid levels in the heat.

Drink trolley :-)

At 3 pm the Casino ran another Blackjack Tournament so both Kelly and I each bought in and played. Luckily both of us made the final table with our chip counts. We had a total of seven players battling it out for seven rounds of cards. In the end Kelly came out on top and I managed to come in second! Wish my friends could have seen it :-) We pocketed $200 between the two of us and left with big smiles.

Back to the room to get ready for our "Crown & Anchor Exclusive Top Tier Event".... hey free drinks for being a frequent cruiser! After the reception it was off to dinner in the Vivaldi Room. We got caught up on all the goings on with our dinner friends as we missed the last two nights together.

We looked through the ship's photo gallery and spotted some familiar faces amongst the huge wall displays. A little casino action and it was time to hit the rack.

We are in Malaga, Spain tomorrow and hope to follow our son Kris's footsteps to a neat pub offering beers from around the world.... oh and some shopping of course:-)