Monthly Archives: November 2025

Bermuda, NOV 27, 2025

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After four days at sea I could sense that people were anxious to get off the ship. We arrived in Bermuda at the Royal Naval Dockyard on Thanksgiving Day. This dockyard was the main base of the Royal Navy in the western Atlantic between the Revolutionary War and the Cold War.

Bermuda, pop 64,000 is an archipelago made up of 181 islands. The most significant islands are connected by bridges that appear to form one landmass. Bermuda is about 650 miles from the United States, with its closest point being off the coast of North Carolina. Close to the pier was a ferry that took passengers to Hamilton, Bermuda for five dollars.

White and Pink Ferry

Hamilton is a self governed territorial capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. With a population of 900, Hamilton is one of the smallest capital cities.

Bench

Lots of Motorcycles and Mopeds

Bermuda has a strong tourism industry and a large international financial base. The U.S. Is a strong trading partner with Bermuda. Bermuda is listed as one of the most expensive places to live in the world.

Sidewalk City Marker

The ferry was very crowded with ship passengers, standing room only. With only six hours in Bermuda, we watched our time carefully to be sure we made it back to the ferry to get back to the ship on time.
We walked uphill to the beautiful Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity church, an Anglican church built in the mid 1800’s. We were very disappointed to learn the church wasn’t going to be open until noon. Since it was only 10:30, it was too long to wait.
We did a little shopping and took pictures of the town. The locals were very friendly and helpful. Since it was a work day for them, we saw many men in suits and ties and women in business attire.
We learned in Bermuda there are no rivers or lakes. Homes have white stepped limestone roofs to collect rainwater into underground tanks. This is a centuries old system that still provides the island’s main drinking water.

Sidewalk City Marker

The next ferry was supposed to leave at noon and we were back on the ferry by 11:35. Good thing because people were piling on the ferry and it left ten minutes early because it was full. Unfortunate for those hoping to take the noon ferry because the next one back toward the ship wasn’t until 1:45.
It was a nice day in Bermuda with sunny skies and pleasant temperatures. Bermuda had long been on our list to visit. Not many cruise ships visit Bermuda.
We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner on the ship with six new friends.
We now have two sea days before reaching Port Canaveral, Florida, our home on Sunday, November 30th.
On one of those days a choir made up of 150+ passengers performed for us. They had been meeting and practicing since early in the voyage. They were great.

Next up: HOME

Vigo, Spain NOV 19, 2025

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After two days at sea, we arrived at the port of Vigo, Spain. Vigo is a city on the northwest coast of Spain. Fortunately we didn’t have any excursions scheduled for this port because Bill was not feeling well from his cold and cough. Since it was a short walk from the ship to the city center, we decided to go into the city for an hour or two depending on how Bill was feeling.

Marina and Our Ship In The Background


We wandered through Casco Vello (the old quarter) and we were pleasantly surprised to see it decorated for Christmas, including a huge Christmas tree. There were musicians playing in the street, giving the area a lively feeling.
We were immediately charmed by the architecture with wrought iron balconies. Many of the buildings are made of granite.
We saw the Mermaid Man or Merman. It is the first European sculpture made of aluminum.
We walked into the beautiful Basilica Santa Maria, a Roman Catholic Church dating back to the 12th century. It was burned down by Sir Francis Drake’s soldiers in 1585 and rebuilt in the early 19th century.

Church Bell Tower


We certainly enjoyed our short time in Vigo, Spain.

Our cruise ship is registered in Hamilton Bermuda and this it their flag.

Next up: Ponte Delgada, Portugal

Ponta Delgada, Portugal NOV 22, 2025

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Today is Bill’s birthday!! He enjoyed a big sundae called “The Godfather” in the afternoon and later at dinner a piece of chocolate cake and a chorus of Happy Birthday by the waiters. He wasn’t too worried about the calories. The ship is three football fields long and our cabin is located in the front of the ship. Lots of walking to get anywhere.
After two days at sea. We have started the process of turning our clocks back an hour at a time so we will be on Eastern time when we reach Florida on November 30th. We will have to do this six times before we reach home. Nobody’s complaining because each time we turn the clocks back, we get an extra hour of sleep.
Today we are in Ponta Delgada, Portugal in the Azores. The rugged, volcanic Azores lie 800 miles off the coast of Portugal. The Azores were colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th century and consist of nine islands. Ponta Delgada, the capital of the Azores, is located on Sao Miguel, the largest of the nine islands. The island’s rich volcanic soil supports fields of tobacco and tea, vineyards and pineapple greenhouses.
Bill still had a cough and was not feeling great, so we took a short visit onshore. We took the short walk into town along the marina.
We noticed two other cruise ships in port, including a Holland America ship. We sure miss Holland America!!

Also we spotted this warship in the port.
The Catholic church was holding mass so unfortunately not open to the public.
The City Gates were constructed in 1783 as a gateway to the city from the sea. It is a construction with three arches of stone, having the center one some baroque elements, the royal coat of arms of Portugal and of the Municipality of Ponta Delgada.
The streets of mosaic tile reminded us of Lisbon. Very pretty but also dangerously slick when wet.
Bill managed to find two geocache during our short time in the area.

Next up: Bermuda

Normandy, France NOV 16, 2025

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Our next port was Cherbourg, France. From this port we took a full day excursion to Normandy. One of our main reasons for taking this cruise was to see Normandy, site of the D-day landings on the beaches of Normandy. We have seen movies about this historic event such as The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, Where Eagles Dare, Patton and Churchill.  Bill’s Uncle Jesse was a sailor on one of the ships that delivered soldiers to Omaha Beach.

Our excursion began at 7:00 A.M. It was dark, cold, windy and pouring rain when we left the ship to meet our bus. By the time we got on the bus our pant legs were wet.

Our first stop was at the small town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise where fortunately it was not raining. Before dawn on June 6th, American and British airborne divisions landed by parachute and glider behind enemy lines near the beaches. An American paratrooper by the name of John Steele, of the 82nd Airborne division, landed on the church steeple.  His parachute got snagged on the church steeple, leaving him hanging for two hours. He pretended he was dead, but German soldiers knew he was alive. They went to the steeple, cut the parachute cords, and dragged him inside through a window. He was kept as a prisoner until he escaped four hours later and rejoined the American troops when they invaded the small village, liberating the villagers from the Germans. He received the Medal of Valor and a Purple Heart. Years later he returned to visit the village and received a hero’s welcome. On the roof of the church today is a dummy replica of the paratrooper. His story is documented in the movie The Longest Day.

Bill and I went inside the church and walked around the small village square. We noticed many American flags displayed here and throughout Normandy. The French in this part of France have not forgotten what the Americans did for them in the liberation of France.

General Eisenhower

While paratroopers landed, Allied naval forces began an assault across the English Channel. At 6:30 A.M., six American, British and Canadian divisions began an assault on the five beaches named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches.

The American Allies fought at Utah and Omaha while the British and Canadians battled the Germans at the other three. Our bus stopped at Utah and then Omaha beaches. Here the Allies had to cross open areas while under gunfire from the Germans entrenched on the high cliffs above. As we visited Utah beach we saw where the American 101st Airborne Division paratroopers fought several days until reinforcements arrived. The Germans had reinforcement protection on two of their guns seen here.

German Barracks

The lookout on the cliff was used to direct the guns.

As you can see here the cliffs are high and bomb blast holes are everywhere.

Omaha Beach was the site where the  highest Allied casualties occurred and it is referred to as “Bloody Omaha”. The Allies eventually secured the area but at a significant cost in casualties. We spent some time at Omaha Beach. We gathered at the plaza where our guide talked for some time about the fighting that occurred here. It wasn’t raining but it was very cold and windy.

National Guard Memorial

German Machine Gun Post (lower right)

Bill’s 94 year old scout leader asked Bill to bring him back some sand from Omaha Beach. We had some free time and Bill walked down to the beach and gathered some sand in a couple baggies to take home. I couldn’t manage the steps so I stayed on the plaza and took pictures. This time of year is out of season so all the restaurants and shops were closed.

We passed the site of the “first US cemetery”. It was quickly removed to another location because it was not psychologically good for soldiers to come ashore and immediately see a graveyard.

One of the Many Museums

We then continued on to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial where 9,400 Americans are buried.

Two American flags solemnly flew at half mast. Approximately 29,000 Americans died during the Normandy campaign with 2,500 dying on D-Day. Approximately 135,000 Americans were killed, wounded or missing.

The families of the deceased were given the option of having the deceased flown home for burial or being buried at Normandy. Sixty percent chose to have their loved ones returned home and forty percent chose burial in Normandy. The soldiers were buried facing west toward home.

There were 45 sets of brothers buried side by side and one father and son buried together. Four women are buried at the Normandy cemetery they had died in a jeep accident delivering mail. In the cemetery are white marble crosses and Stars of David.

By the walkway was this time capsule to be open in June 6, 2044.

We boarded the bus for the trip back to the port. It was a long eight hour day where we had occasional rain and it was bitter cold and windy. There was lots of walking over uneven surfaces which was very hard for me. That evening Bill started coming down with a bad cold and cough that plagued him the rest of the cruise. I woke up about 3:00 the next morning and felt like every muscle in my body hurt and I could hardly move. But in spite of this, we are so very glad we had the opportunity to see this historic place where so many Americans sacrificed their lives for freedom. We feel honored to have been able to visit.

“Time will not dim the glory of their deeds”.   General of the Armies John J. Pershing

Next up: Vigo, Spain
Interesting fact the British named the beaches after fish goldfish, jelly fish and sword fish. Churchill changed the jelly to juno.

Weymouth, England NOV 15, 2025

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Leaving the Canary Islands, we turned north back towards England. Three sea days was spent relaxing and enjoying the ship. November 11th was Veterans Day in the United States and Rememberance Day in England. There was a patriotic service on the ship. Many English people dressed up for the service with men in coats and ties. For several days leading up to Nov 11th, most of the English wore poppies. At 11:00 AM on the 11th day of the eleventh month, there was a moment of silence with bells on the ship.
The night before reaching Southampton, there was a special performer on the ship by the name of Michael Ball. Evidently he is a big deal in England. Many British had taken this cruise just because he was performing live on the ship. We heard some Australians also booked the cruise just because of him. The English were amazed when we told them we had never heard of Michael Ball. Every American we asked on the ship had never heard of him. He performed four shows and they handed out time stamped tickets to control the crowds. The English dressed up for his concert like they were going to the opera or a ball. We attended the concert, not knowing what to expect. Michael Ball was a good singer but not that impressive to us. As a fellow American said, we enjoyed his concert but we wouldn’t pay to go to his concert or buy his CD. Surprisingly, he sang two Elvis songs, a Kenny Rogers song (The Gambler), a Tom Jones song and then several songs we had never heard before. Listening to the crowd, you would think Elvis was performing.
We reached Southampton on Nov 14th, ending the first half of the cruise. Most of the British left the ship at this point while 472 of us were continuing on for the second half to Florida. If you remember, on the first leg there were 80% British. We learned that on the second leg of the trip there would be 3,463 passengers of which 60% are Americans, 16% British and 15% Canadians.
We had three hours of blissful peace and quiet from the time people left the ship until all the new people came stampeding onboard. It was very nice. No problem finding a place to sit, no crowded elevators. We enjoyed every minute.
After everyone was onboard, we headed for the next port of Portland, England. This port does not get many cruise ships and we were one of the last ships of the season. The weather was chilly and overcast. The nearby town of Weymouth provided free shuttle buses from the port in Portand to the village of Weymouth, population 54,000, about a 15 minute ride. In my mind it was very smart of the town to provide the free shuttles. In exchange for their cost of running the shuttles, they had about 4,000 passengers and crew spending money in all the stores and restaurants.
Bill and I took the shuttle and enjoyed walking around the town. Located on a sheltered bay, it was such a pretty, charming English village. Weymouth played a major role as a departure point for the Normandy Landings in World War Two.
We found a geocache and went in the Holy Trinity Church, built in the 1830’s. The church was decorated with poppies from Rememberance Day.

We Found a Geocache Near the Royal Mail Truck

We crossed The Town Bridge.

Weymouth played a major role as a departure point for the Normandy Landings in World War II.
We went into a local supermarket to get some snacks for our long excursion in a couple days in France. I remembered loving the English shortbread cookies from previous trips to England so I had to pick up a box of those.
The shuttle buses ran efficiently and it was easy to take one quickly back to the port.

Next up: An excursion in France that is one reason we took this trip. Can you guess where? There is a hint in the blog above.

The Canary Islands NOV 8-10, 2025

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The Canary Islands are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. On November 8th we arrived at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the first of three ports we visited in the Canary Islands. This island is one of two capitals of the Canary Islands which are owned by Spain. It is located 130 miles off the northwest coast of Africa and 810 miles from mainland Spain. Tenerife is the largest, most visited and most populous of the Canary Islands with a population of 968,000.

Auditorio de Tenerife Adán Martín: Seafront arts complex & auditorium housed in a landmark building with futuristic, curving design.

We booked an excursion to Teide National Park, with Mt Teide being the highest point in Spain at 12,198 feet. The volcano activity that formed the island is evident throughout the park. In the park are volcanic formations, craters, previous lava flows and unique flora. The volcano here is the third largest volcano in the world.
We were amazed how people have built homes and communities up against the mountains of lava fields. It was a very interesting day but it is very hard for me to get up and down the stairs on these big buses with my back brace. The steps are usually steep and curve as they go up and they scare me. So often I would sit on the bus while Bill got off at different viewpoints to take the pictures.

The roads in the park were curvy and narrow.  When two buses passed each other they were so close the sides of the buses almost touched. At least one time the buses had to adjust forward and backward to miss a high jagged rock formation. In popular viewpoints people visiting the park would park their cars along the side of the roads making the roads even more narrow. Some local musicians and dancers entertained us on the ship.

The next day we visited the island of La Palma where the volcanic landscape was very similar to Tenerife. We walked into town but since it was Sunday, very few stores were open.José Francisco de Arce y Rojas was born in Santa Cruz de La Palma and savagely killed in Brazil by the Payaguás Indians of the Mato Grosso (Brazil) on December 15, 1715 (film The Mission 1986).

Mcdonalds had Beer and No Milkshakes

In the Cruise Terminal was this Mermaid and her Cat

Our last stop was the island of Arrecife, Lanzarote. No shuttle was provided and it was too far for me to walk into town. People who had walked into town earlier said there wasn’t much to see so we didn’t think it was worth the price of a taxi there and back. We did walk along the pier to Harbor Rock where we logged a geocache. The huge Harbor Rock is an example of the volcanic rock found in the Canary Islands.
Fun fact: The Canary Islands are for the Latin word for dog, “canaria,” meaning “of the dogs”. This name was first given by ancient Roman expeditions who found the islands inhabited by large, fierce dogs or possibly seals that the Romans called “sea dogs”. Canary birds, native to the islands, were named after the islands themselves, not the other way around.

Madeira, Portugal NOV 6, 2025

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We mentioned in an earlier blog that we skipped the first two ports due to bad weather which made for dangerous docking. The good news was the Captain announced we would now be staying overnight in the port of Funchal, Madeira. Madeira is an island off the coast of Portugal and a Portuguese territory. This gave us two full days to visit the beautiful island.

We traveled 1,486 miles with rough seas from Southampton, England where we boarded the ship to Madeira. The island of Madeira is approximately 400 miles off the coast of South Africa.

The two days we were there the weather was partly cloudy and hot. The first day we took the Hop on Hop Off bus around the island. It is such a beautiful, picturesque place. The kind of place we would perhaps think about spending an extended length of time except for the fact it is extremely hilly. Wherever you would walk would involve lots of hills. If only we were younger!

We wanted to visit the highest cliff in Europe and the second highest in the world, Cape Girao. At one point we had to get off the bus and take a smaller bus up the mountain over narrow, winding roads. I don’t know how even a small bus managed the steep, twisty roads. Along the way we saw many banana trees.

The Madeira Flag

At the top we paid three Euro each to walk out onto a skywalk or suspended glass platform where you could look down and see the cliffs and ocean 1,902 feet below. Several people could not get themselves to take that first step onto the platform. You have to convince your brain it is okay to take that step. I didn’t think the experience was nearly as scary as the glass platform at Willis Tower in Chicago where you look down and see all the skyscrapers beneath your feet. The bus driver gave us 25 minutes there which was enough time to enjoy the views. We then got back on the bus and made our way back down the twisty mountain.

Hanging Angel Street Art

We then re-boarded the larger bus as it continued around Funchal and eventually dropped us off at the cruise terminal.

The next day we took the ship’s shuttle bus to the cable car, a very popular tourist attraction in Funchal. When we arrived at the cable car station there appeared to be at least 200 people in line in front of us. Fortunately they have a separate handicap accessible entrance we were able to use that put us right at the entrance where you get on the next cable car. A man there with his wife in a wheelchair said he felt so guilty going in front of all those people. I told him I would gladly wait in line if I was physically able but I am not so I don’t feel bad about bypassing the line. My past experiences with cable cars is it is hard to get on a cable car because it never completely stops. I was really worried about possibly falling getting on or off. But when the operators saw us standing there they slowed the car down as much as possible and with Bill’s help I was able to get on and off safely. The ride up the mountain took about 15 minutes and had lovely views of Madeira.

At the top we walked to the 18th century “Sanctuary of the Lady of Monte”. There is 52 steps in front of the church and an additional 68 steep steps going up the hill to reach it. I wasn’t able to do the hill or the steps so I waited below while Bill went in.

Emperor Charles I of Austria died in exile and is buried there.

There are two ways to get back down to the city below. One was by cable car. The other choice was by the popular tobaggan wicker sleds. You sit in a tobaggan for two people. Two men climb on the back and push you down the mountain for a fast, curvy, exhilarating ride.

There was a very long line of people waiting to ride. I would have done that in a heartbeat if it hadn’t been for my back. I don’t think my spine surgeon would approve. Maybe we will return someday and we can do it.

We took the cable car down.

We had a great time in Madeira and would love to return again someday.

Next up: Santa Cruz, Tenerife in the Canary Islands part of Spain

Sky Princess, Life on the Ship NOV 2, 2025

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A bus took us to the port in Southampton, England to board the Sky Princess for our 28 day cruise. I will confess I had worried quite a bit about standing in a long line to check in and go through security before embarking the ship. My back cannot yet tolerate standing for any length of time.
When we arrived we saw a very long line, probably a 2+ hour wait. But no worries, Princess had a special area for those with mobility issues and we were taken to a special line where we checked in and went through security in a matter of minutes. Praise God! We were able to quickly leave our things in our cabin and go have lunch at the buffet.
This was our first time on a Princess ship and we had a bit of a learning curve. We are so used to Holland America where the ships are smaller and the passenger capacity is half. Suddenly we found ourselves on a large ship crowded with people. Elevators were full, lines for dinner were long, public seating areas were crowded with no place to sit and it seemed to take forever to get anywhere, especially when walking with a heavy brace and walking poles/sticks. We were missing Holland America. We also found that of the over 3,600 passengers, at least 80% were British and the rest American or Canadian.
Before we left port, the Captain made an announcement that there was very bad weather ahead. As a result we were going to miss our first two ports in Spain because it was too dangerous to dock. As we left England and headed south, the seas became very rough and we watched the wind speed shown on our TV get stronger and stronger.
The next morning we woke up to continued rough seas. Bill, who never gets sea sick, was feeling out of sorts with a vertigo like condition. A sea sick pill and nice breakfast had him feeling better and he had no more problems. I was doing fine as long as I took seasick medicine. We just needed time to get our sea legs back.
They had many activities around the ship. We went to a talk by officers responsible for the hotel management area of the ship.

The next day the officers responsible for food and beverage were on stage. It was interesting to hear how they planned the menus and stocked the ship for British vs American passengers. The British drink more liquor than Americans, including beer, gin and of course hot tea. The Americans drink more bourbon and whiskey. The menu favors the British who eat more beef, lamb and chicken. The Americans eat more seafood. It is common to see beef and lamb pies, stews, shepherds pie, fish and chips and yorkshire pudding on the menus and in the buffet.

After several days onboard we have adjusted to the new ship. We are walking a lot more. Our cabin is at the front (forward) of the ship and the dining room and buffet area is at the very back of the ship (aft). I would say the variety of food at the buffet is larger with lots more choices than Holland America though the quality is about the same. Getting laundry done here is expensive compared to Holland America but on Princess each deck has a laundromat where you can do your own laundry. Holland America does not have a self service laundromat.
Princess definitely has better quality of shows in the Princess theater. We have seen two great Motown shows and a great show with music from the Eagles, one of Bill’s favorites. We are showing the Brits what good music sounds like!!
Bill and I both feel that this ship is understaffed. There is definitely not enough wait staff in the buffet with sometimes long waits for coffee, beverages and eating utensils.

Princess Love Boat Dessert

“Godfather” is a Specialty Dessert

Chai Tea

It will be interesting to see how full the ship is as we cross the Atlantic and whether Americans will out number the British.

Next up: I promise we will have lots of pictures of our first port, the island of Madeira off the coast of Portugal.

London 2025 part 2

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At the end of the last blog I left you with a cliffhanger. We were in London and our luggage was still in Newark and had not been sent on a midnight flight to Heathrow as promised. Another call to the United baggage department resulted in them giving us an actual flight number and departure and arrival time for our luggage. We were encouraged to have real information. We had breakfast and left on a bus tour of London. Throughout the tour Bill kept an eye on our luggage trackers and we were encouraged to see the trackers move and disappear which meant they were on a flight.

The London tour was mainly a bus tour with few stops. We have been to London before and had better tours, but I was content to sit on the bus and not have to go up and down the bus steps. Here are some old and new pictures of London.

They Call This Building The Cheese Grater

London Subway

Parliament Building and Big Ben.

Back at the hotel we saw our trackers showed our luggage at a warehouse in north London. We called the company United hired to deliver our luggage and were promised a delivery between 5 and 7 P.M. in the evening. We notified the hotel concierge to be on the lookout for two pieces of luggage. We watched throughout the afternoon as our luggage toured London. It was getting a better tour of London than we did! These photos are interesting statues in London.

President Lincoln

The George Washington statue in London’s Trafalgar Square has American soil, imported from his home at Mount Vernon, Virginia. This was done to honor his legendary wish that he would “never set foot on British soil again”.

Our travel agent had arranged a bon voyage dinner for the 320 of us in our group. We went to dinner at 7:00 P.M. with Bill keeping an eye on the trackers. Finally at 8:30 the trackers notified Bill they had arrived at the hotel. He left the dinner long enough to check to be sure both bags were there and were the correct two bags. We were immensely relieved!!

The next morning after breakfast, all 320 of us boarded buses for the two hour drive to the cruise port in Southampton, England. We noticed the drivers and guides huddled together in deep discussion. Turns out a bad accident on the M3 had closed the major highway and they were discussing alternate routes. Ultimately by the time we reached the scene of the accident, everything had been cleaned up except for sand spread across the road. We safely reached Southampton and boarded the ship for a 28 day cruise.

By the way, my back is doing okay. I am wearing the back brace and trying to be very careful not to fall. My physical therapy is walking and I am doing plenty of that!