Cruise
ATW-1 Days 16 & 17: At sea
On the road again (where the “road” is the Pacific Ocean), headed pretty much due west toward Australia. On Day 16 we had breakfast, then went down to the piano bar to sign up for a free caricature. We will sit for that Monday. We played cards and Marlene kicked my butt, winning all 4 … Continue reading
ATW-1 Day 15: Mo’orea, French Polynesia
Mo’orea is a place I have never been. Never even heard of it. But I have now been there. I can check off an item that never appeared on my bucket list. It is a dramatic island. It looks like the setting for Mutiny on the Bounty – jagged mountain peaks, pristine beaches. I learned … Continue reading
ATW-1 Days 12 & 13: At sea
We don’t get our cabin cleaned every day. In fact, if it were Marlene’s choice we would never get it cleaned at all. The compromise we have reached is cabin cleaning every 6 days, so Day 12 was a cabin cleaning day. We also got our laundry back. One of the perks of our exalted … Continue reading
ATW-1 Days 9-11: At sea
After our day in Honolulu, the Carnival Luminosa headed toward the second port of call: Tahiti. And I learned something about the islands of the Pacific: rather than heading west, as I expected, the ship headed south. Actually a bit southeast as Tahiti is east of Hawaii. And in the same time zone. So for … Continue reading
ATW-1 Days 3 & 4: At sea
The Carnival Luminosa portion of the ATW-1 begins with 5 days at sea. This means we spent a lot of time eating and playing slots in the casino these first 2 days on board. And meeting our fellow cruisers. At breakfast on Day 3 we met Tony, from Cincinatti. At breakfast we noticed the very … Continue reading
ATW-1 Day 2: Carnival Luminosa embarkation
We took an Uber from the hotel in Tukwila to Pier 91 in Seattle, with a brief stop to purchase 2 12-packs of cola. We thought we were going to Pier 66 (because Google told us that was the Carnival pier), but we were mistaken – another ship was docked there. Pier 91 was 2 … Continue reading
Around-the-world (ATW) preview
It looks almost certain now that, come September 15, Marlene and I will be embarking on an epic around-the-world trip. We will be away nearly 10 weeks. It will consist of two cruises – a transpacific and a transatlantic – two flights – from Fort Myers to Seattle and from Sydney Australia to Rome Italy … Continue reading
NCL2 Day 26: Whittier and Anchorage AK
This was the last day of our 25-night cruise. The Norwegian Jade docked in Whittier AK at 7am and we were off the ship by 8am. The “long walk” to the bus was less than a quarter mile (Marlene thinks it was more, I think it was less) and the buses were waiting to take … Continue reading
NCL2 Day 25: At sea
This day was billed as a “glacier transit” day – a slow cruise near the Hubbard Glacier. Like much of this cruise itinerary, the plan changed. Rather than cruising near the glacier – which is 7 miles long where it meets the sea – we stopped several miles away and did a “360 turn” (a … Continue reading
NCL2 wrapup
This was a full month of travel – 26 days on a cruise (Norwegian Jade), almost 4 full days in Anchorage and a long flight home. It was a good trip, overall, but had some bumps. I will review the ship first, followed by an accounting of highlights and lowlights. The Norwegian Jade This is … Continue reading »