Transatlantic 2021 - Trip Report

Well here are the first couple blog entries from our trip.
Since we have been home it has been a whirlwind trying to get ready for Christmas and houseful of family.
Hang in there - I promise they will keep coming - maybe not daily, but will try.

Link 1: Time to Go!

Link 2: Embarkation!

BTW - The rainbow in the picture above appeared outside our cabin one day in the middle of the ocean.

Well here is a couple more entries!

Sunday we were stuck on the ship: Got Lemons?
Monday we pulled into Cannes: This must be Cannes

Enjoy

Thanks for the initial installments! That really is a PITA, to have only ship shore excursions. Was there some specific reason why basically everything was closed in Cannes?

I was having a hard time figuring out the picture of the room. Was there just a curtain between the bathroom and the room?

yep... there was only a curtain that closed off the bathroom. However, the WC and the Shower had heavily frosted closures. If one is a real privacy freak the bathroom situation would freak them out. Not so much for us. There are lots of chatter on cruise pages about the quirky bathrooms on the ship.
The design of the room with curved walls afford all sorts of space. The bed is high enough to hide suitcases underneath, the sofa cushions can be removed to uncover a large storage spaces, and cabinets/closets are everywhere.

Here is a pretty good tour of the room: Link: Epic Balcony Room
Our room was much like this with the major difference that our balcony was twice the size. Half of it being covered and half exposed to the sun.

Our Complaints about the room -
Lighting could be much better, especially over the sink.
Minimum power receptacles, but we always travel with a power strip so the issue minimized.

The thought between the cruise company and the Italian government was to minimize the flood of humanity off one of these ships on a small town.
So if you go to Italy on your own you have free pass anywhere with your COVID Vaccination Card, but they limited 2000 folks just showing up one morning. Understand... but a little disappointing.

As for France, most of the retail is closed on Monday's. They work on Saturday and deserve a two day weekend. The souvenir shops, some restaurants/bars, and grocery stores are open (sometimes reduced hours), but for the most part it is a quiet day.

Hope to get next day up soon.

I am sure, there is quite a bit of chatter about that bathroom situation. I'm not a prude, but I would hate that.

Is that a long term situation, that most places in France are closed on Monday? I guess I just never knew that.

On the All About France Page they say this about Mondays

"Particularly in small provincial towns, many shops are closed on Monday morning - so don't plan a big shopping trip on a Monday morning if you are on holiday in rural France. A lot of French provincial museums and monuments are also closed on Mondays. However supermarkets tend to be open as normal on Mondays, even in small towns."

Ok, well, not for nothin', but why did your cruise ship schedule place you in port on a day when nothing would be open??

Good question, and one that I ponder...

However, then I remembered this Transatlantic crossing is a repositioning cruise. The purpose is to get the ship from the Med to Caribbean for the season.

It was ridiculously inexpensive I thought for a 15 day cruise. Less than $900 for a inside cabin, with free alc, wifi (500 mins) and discounted excursions. Balcony rooms were going for $1200. The ship was 43% booked and had little to no children due to the vaccination requirements.

My goal was to cross the Atlantic, so anything after that was gravy.

But to your point... Anyone traveling should spend sometime researching customs, festivals, and quirks of the places they will visit so they will not be disappointed. We knew Monday was going to be iffy from our trip to Nice in 2019, but hoped for the best.

Leaving France, we arrived at our first of four ports in Spain.

Link: Blustery Barcelona

Oh how I wish the weather would have been better, but it did not slow us down.

Enjoy!

Yes, that is true, the purpose really was to get the ship across the pond. I hear that repositioning cruises in general are very cheap, compared to others of similar length.

Oh MY, my fear of heights would have been full on to "terrified", looking at some of those vistas! Thanks for taking me along, from the comfort of my computer chair!!

Great reports and pics Tom! We don't cruise for reasons you describe, but at the same time your trip looks very enjoyable, you were traveling!!!

Yep we have always been independent travelers, but to fill my bucket list item, to cross the Atlantic, this was the most practical.
Janet was not getting on a sailboat to do it.
I can honestly say we had a blast! Am I cruiser now.... probably not, but I am not totally against this mode of transportation for vacations.

Here is our plan as we ease into retirement:

a) Continue with Independent Travel
b) Cruising
c) Planned bus trips in Europe where they pick up your bags and everything is done.
d) Get a dog, look at pictures, and do not travel anymore
e) Call it life

We are still in a) section of our life, but b) is on the horizon

Honestly, I could have sat on the balcony and never gotten off the ship.

Follow along and I will describe days at sea in coming post.

Tom--I have been on "Honestly, I could have sat on the balcony and never gotten off the ship." for a long time. There are a lot of great things about crusing, which don't have anything to do with the ports..

Totally agree Carol.

Thanks Tom. Enjoying following along.

I totally agree, and I think that is what we discovered. More on that topic in the blog as we head across the Atlantic Ocean.
May even convince Beerman to get on a big boat with no sails

Beerman and NDFan - Thanks for joining in!

Tom--You did discover one of the WORST things about cruises though--TENDERS. Way back when we started cruising, it was tenders or nothing almost everywhere. I remember being SO excited when SXM got a pier! EXCEPT ships back then held maybe 2,000 passengers.

Sorry it was a Christmas shopping day... No update

I did not find the Tenders so bad. They were covered and comfortable seating and they allowed us to walkaround and take pictures.
So it was ok.
Some of the bigger ports you had to walk a 1/2 mile to get off the ship through a series of ramps and escalators.

I do remember the tenders in SXM in the 90s - That may be a different story

Tom--It's not the tenders per se, but waiting interminably to board them.

Well it is time to visit the next port - Cartagena, Spain.
Today was a Tom day of wine tasting one of his favorite grapes!

Follow the link to Jumilla and enjoy : A Day on the Altiplano

I am enjoying the trip. I like the small family vineyards. Is the dinner in the last picture an upgrade on the ship or is that the included experience?

Yes, it was one of the six specialty dining options on the Epic, but our package gave us 5 free nights of specialty dining. So it was free.
There were a total of 15 dining options on the ship, and all were good. More on dining and ship stuff later in the blog.

Thanks for joining in on the journey.

Tom--I had to laugh at the picture of the "soil". You and I had a discussion before about soil that is appropriate for wine growing. So different than the rich brown stuff I grew up with in Indiana!!

Boy, am I enjoying your trip!! Carry on!!

Carol - Looking at the shot of me in the vineyard it is quite easy to tell it was not taken in America's Midwest. No dirt just rocks

Grapevines are wild... the more they struggle for water, usually the better wine is produced. The second picture is of a 10 or 15 year old plant that they put on the roof of Viña Elena. Look how deep the root had to go looking for water. They have 75 year old plus vines. Can you imagine how deep they go!

Thanks for being patient with the updates - lots going on preparing for the holidays

Growing up as a midwesterner, I would take one look at that picture and say those plants are DEAD..

It is late fall on the altiplano and leaves have turned color and falling. Soon the vines will be trimmed all the way back to the root for spring growth.

OK

Just loving all the blogs, thanks for posting.

Thanks Toast for following along and I am glad you are enjoying.

Sorry for the delay, but we made a Santa run to NC to see my sister, and then to my daughter's house where we snagged grandchild #2 and brought with home with us. His parents and cousins will be joining him on Wednesday. First time in 2 1/2 years the whole family will be under the farm house roof at the same time. Soooooooooooooo looking forward to it.

Today's blog takes you on an excursion to the mountains north of Malaga. It was hands down the best excursion and just an AMAZING day!

Hope you enjoy! Link: Malaga with Momma

I will try to get one more day up by Christmas, but as grandchildren arrive it may be difficult.

Ha!! Paybacks are hell, huh Tom??

es verdad

Happy holidays!

Great reports. I am enjoying the adventure.
Scott

Scott,

Thanks for joining in!
I hope to load up one more blogging day before Christmas, but no promises.

I really liked that one. The personal lunch must have been a highlight

Absolutely! The whole day was amazing!!
A day we will always remember. Thanks for hanging in there.

Enjoying the reports Tom!

Well the holidays are over and it was great to see family.
However, it is time to get back on the boat and continue the journey.
Thanks for your patience and Happy New Year.
2022 hopefully the year the germ dies!

Today we explore Cádiz and the Sherry country of Jerez.
Link: Cádiz is Calling

Tom... Just found your report. I don't usually venture into the Afloat section of TTOL. You were very unlucky with the weather you had during your time in Spain. My wife and I were at our house on the bit of mainland Spain that sticks out towards the Balearics as you went from Barcelona to Cartagena. You probably passed within 10 miles of us! It was the worst November weather we have ever experienced at the house. Normally the weather is lovely at that time of year.

Looking forward to the rest of your reports.

Mike,

Glad you found the blog at the bottom of the page
It is always hard to get folks down past the first three categories.
We had them coming down for a while when the picture game was in full swing on World Wide Travel.

The weather in Barcelona really was awful, but that was the only bad day that got in the way. I so wanted to visit Montserrat when there was Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds.

I am so jealous of you winter home location. It would be very easy to for me to call it home for 6 months a year. Was that you I saw you waving from the balcony as we passed by

Once again thanks for following along. More to come.

Sadly, due to the UK leaving the European Union, I'm now limited to a maximum stay in the Schengen Area of 90 days out of 180. So had to head back to the UK just after you reached Cadiz and can't go back until the middle of February. The head of the Valencia region is trying to have a new class of visa created for homeowners and other people who want to take long-term rentals, but I'm not holding my breath.

Mike,

Is the 90/180 just for citizens of the UK?
I had always thought you 180 days as a tourist before having to exit.

With the 90/180 rule, planning must become extremely important on where are you going to be when.

Are you eligible for a D Visa. Just googled and from a 10,000 foot view is would appear you would be eligible.

Tom... There are a number of visas I could apply for but they all mean I'd become resident in Spain, which I don't want, because of tax and inheritance implications. Hopefully Spain will come up with a new class of visa that gets around the issues. It is in their interest as there are loads of Brits like me who are spending less money in Spain because we can't be there as long as in the past. For now I'll just have to work within the limitations.

got you!
But here is why you winter there!
8 inches still falling - no power
welcome to Virginia

Tom--we were just reading about the snow on the net! You can have that snow!!!

Tom--I finally made the time to sit down to read this installment. What amazing photos!! ...and what can one say about people that refuse to read the description of the shore excursions?

Mike,
My wife and I were in Valencia a few years ago for Las Fallas. What an experience. Have you ever been ?

Not yet Roger. We stayed in Valencia in the magnificent Palacio Vallier Hotel just before covid and planned to go back for Las Fallas the following year. That was postponed so is still on the to-do list.

just finished making spaghetti on camp stove, great salad, and of course wine 🍷

No power but life is good on the farm. Still have about 500 more bottles before I will get concerned 😉

I'd be more worried about some heat!! Take care!

And I thought we had it bad here in the UK. Least hours of sunshine in a month since 1956, 26.6, during December. Mind you, New Year's Eve was also the warmest ever recorded in the UK at 60.4F.

Hope you get your power back soon. Do you have a generator?

6 am EST
No power but have water
Coffee made and sitting by gas logs
the simple life....

Crazy thing when we went to bed Sunday night it was 61F
Woke Monday to snow and more snow.

Looking forward to sunrise 🌅
Forgot to add it is 19F this morning

Yikes!! Good luck Tom!! I guess I'd rather be stuck where you are than on I 95!!!

Link

Power restored 1430 EST
back to blog writing ✍

spoke too soon
power 1435 EST

Sorry, power back OFF? Best wishes!!

95 is still a dead stop from Fredericksburg to Quantico, but we have power! House warming up.

Glad you have power. That I 95 situation is crazy.

Sorry for hijacking your thread. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip, once your teeth stop chattering!!!!

No problem Carol! What a mess the last 48 hours have been, but now it is time to head back to sea.

Today's blog entry is our first full day a sea, which was what what this trip was all about for me - Crossing the Atlantic.

Enjoy! More snow here tonight - fingers crossed it does not repeat itself.

Link: A Day at Sea!

Holy crap! More snow??

Thanks for the next installment!

You can't beat just spending the day looking at the ocean and listening to good music

off ramp... if you have not seen the David Gilmour DVD Live at Albert Hall or heard the concert it is a must! David Crosby and Graham Nash background vocals. David Bowie guest performance and one of Richard Wright's last live performances. Amazon it - it will be there in 48 hours.

Back on the highway... the open ocean is amazing!

Tom--Something tells me this will not be your last transatlantic voyage!! So enjoying reading along!!

Just catching up Tom, great reports! We fortunately did not experience a power outage, but instead had our flight to Nashville cancelled Monday...decided to drive at 0500...at the start of the storm!, route 81 closed near Lexington, so we drove side roads until we could access 81 again ...12 hours later arrived in Nashville! My sister's family also drove a little further from Maryland. Great 3 nights in Nashville with family then departed Thursday in a historic snow event for Nashville. Took 7 hours to simply reach Knoxville where we found a hotel. It was the craziest mess I've ever driven in, 3 tractor trailers and one car overturned on route 40 which shut it down until 8pm. Probably drove 4 out of 7 hours in 4 wheel drive! Our house is fine, but a lot of trees down in our neck of the woods, heading to check the cabin in the morning.

Carol - Not sure if I will or will not do another transatlantic, but before the trip I would have said this is a one in done. So maybe.

Beerman - hope the cabin is in ok shape. I am afraid, I would have cx'd the Nashville trip. Glad you made it safely and were able to spend time with family. There is a funny thing going around. It is a short video of somebody's GPS on I95 and you hear the computer voice say something to the effect - In 1 mile turn right at the first exit to reach your destination in 2 days" What a mess you must have been in.

Stay safe and update us on the cabin.

Today, the blog will take us to Magical Madeira!
What a special place and we wish we could have had much more time on island.
It definitely deserves the Douglas MacArthur quote - I shall.....

Link: Magical Madeira

Beautiful pictures. I'm not afraid of heights, but I don't really have any desire to hang over that railing.
Scott

The crazy thing is I use to fly for living and had no problem standing in helicopter door, but there is something about tall buildings and sheer cliffs that rattle me.
Thanks for following along

Tom, cabin furnace was not working, but had a new igniter installed this morning. Luckily no liquids froze, caught it in time! A frozen toilet would have been a real “head” ache !! Awesome reports!!

Glad you are enjoying them.
I am surprised that your pond is not frozen over.
Looks great for ice skating.
Stay warm.

The stream is flowing in to the left of the dock, dropping to 10 tonight, and next 3 nights… should freeze nicely! But we went out onto it a few years ago thinking it was good, heard a large craaack!! and ran off, NEVER AGAIN HA!

I thought the same thing at Mass in Italy, just say the everything in English and keep up. Great stop.. how far from the port were the Madeira production facilities. Was it doable from the port? Not disappointed but I was looking for something similar to your Port report but the cliff view was great..

TravelHat,

We chose the excursion we did based on that I really do not care for Madeira. It has a black walnut flavor that I do not like. In your question, you said Port, but I am thinking you meant Sherry in Jerez. Here again, not one of my favorite libations, but it is growing on me. Maybe Madeira will one day . Sherry, Madeira, and for that matter Port are all an acquired taste.

From the port to Blandy's and other Madeira wineries is walkable. The vineyards are another story.
The island is so beautiful that it is truly worth getting out of Funchal, albeit I am ready to explore Funchal - Just not on a Sunday.

Still a great day with or without the Madeira I’m sure. I am trying to convince my daughter to return from Italy this summer by this method.

There is an easy solution to that problem!
Dad is paying! Meet me in Civitavecchia on this date!

I would have loved for my children to have been with us.

What do they say.... Follow the money

You got that right. That was the balloon i floated. Not sure but I think the Army might give a lump sum and how they use it is up to them. This would be a great option and great way to extend there European travels.

The big advantage is there are no real luggage restrictions.
There was a young couple in the USAF coming back from Germany on our trip.

Ok, I know it was a long interlude, but the next installment of the blog has been published.
It covers the 5 days at sea during the crossing.
Really it is more of the Trip Report covering the Ship and the Services.
Lots of Pictures

Link: 5 Days at Sea

Thanks for the continuation of the report. Cruising surely has changed since our first cruise on the NCL Seaward, back in 1987! Back then, there was the main restaurant and the buffet, and I think that was it! I would be interested to know what percentage the cruise lines make off of food these days. We haven't cruised a lot lately, but the food in the main dining room isn't that attractive to us anymore. And I have zero desire to eat at a buffet, even here at home. So we have been eating in the specialty restaurants a lot, but I consider them to be somewhat pricy, running perhaps $50 per person? Not sure what they run now. It was good that you did get free specialty meals included. Of course back when we started cruising, I think you could carry on liquor also, and definitely could carry on wine, I think as much as you wanted! But, there was no such thing as a drinks package back then. You said that you didn't go past the $15 package? Sorry, you got a package that only covered $15 a day worth of drinks? That is only like two drinks, maybe.

Carol,

Do not remember the upcharge for each restaurant. I did find this on the web, but not sure if it is 2022 pricing but it is in the ball park.

Cagney’s Steakhouse: $30 per person
French Bistro: $20 per person
Brazilian Moderno Churrascaria: $20 per person
La Cucina: $15 per person
Teppanyaki: $25 per person


They also have specialty dinner packages where you can buy by the night. For example if you are on a 7 day cruise and want to eat 4 nights in specialty restaurants there is a package for you... I think it gives you a slight break also the more nights you get. I think...

As for the drink package, it was unlimited beer, wine, spirits, and soda drinks... Not water... Not bottles of wine.
The $15 limit was per drink. So if you wanted a Martini it was like $12 so it was free. If you wanted a Chocolate Martini it may have been $17, so you would be charged $2. The drink package took care of the first $15. 99% of the drinks we consumed were less than $15. As for the wine, If it was on the wine list for $75 a bottle and a glass was $18, we bought the bottle by the glass. In that example... it was $3 a glass.

The premium drink package covered a bunch of the high end scotches, cognacs, and other digestifs. It also covered water and most bottles of wine. If you only drink 30 year old scotch I would suggest the premium package.

Best wine buy on the ship was 2015 Opus One. It was only $350 a bottle. Total wine near me carries it for $365. Cheaper to drink underway

NCL policy allows you to bring wine/champagne onboard also, but only at your port of embarkation. No limit, but they charge a $15 corkage fee per bottle. It does not allow for spirits to be brought onboard. If you buy wine at a port, when you board they will take it and store it and give it back the night before you disembark. Our group had cases. But that is tomorrow's blog

Tom--When we were on Princess last, which was maybe 5 years ago, I'm pretty sure their prices were more than that for the specialty restaurants. Oh, $15 per drink?? I thought you meant $15 per day.

The two main (free) restaurants were very good! With food and wine being my passion, the food available surprised me in the quality and the number options.

Ok thanks.

So at long last... the blog and our journey is finished.
The last installment is always bittersweet.
Thank you for having patience with the author

Link: Land-Ho!

Thanks for taking us along!! Bravo!!

Very good Tom. Thank you.

Great reports. Thanks for all your effort. Much appreciated.
Scott

Thanks for another great read.