Friday, April 4, 2014

The Cruise- an update!

Today is Friday, April 4 and I am posting this from our hotel in Barcelona, Spain. Our Transatlantic Cruise has now come to an end:-(. But this is not about Cartegena, Malaga, Cardiz, or Ponte Delgado. This is about the joy of a transatlantic cruise- you know, the cruise we thought would be so long and boring we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves.
We had an awesome time on the cruise! I must say, Holland America cruises really came through!!!!- They are now my choice of a cruise line. What we thought would be a boring time crossing the Atlantic was incredible! Besides having some of the best possible variety and tasting food on a cruise (with the best portioning one could want- in a good, non-wasteful way), we got shows were very entertaining; current movies; many many.....many activities; happy hours at multiple times in the day; and drink prices reasonable.
The weather has ranged from sunning ourselves on the decks and wearing shorts and t-shirts all day and night to an exterior lock-down for a Poseiden Adventure evening, complete with sliding chairs and crashing glasses! Nothing too scary, though.
But what was the VERY best- the people we met! We celebrated Janice's birthday and Bill and Lisa's anniversary. We had parties in Frazer and Scott's suites, walked the streets of Cadiz with Phillip and Thaddeus, formal and informal dinners with Janice, Terry, AnneMarie, Bobbie, Lisa and Bill, Dick and Donna, and we met so many other people during our dinners, and we were introduced to people our acquaintances met. It soon became a trip of knowing many people, and recognizing many others.  
 The mid-ship pool area

 Celebrating Janice's birthday: rear: Rich, Patrick Lisa, Bill; center: Janice; lower: Anne-Marie, Terry

 example of the decorative towel animals that were left in our rooms every night!

Fun night: Left: Lisa and Bill, center: Phillip and Thaddeus with Rich, left: Donna and Dick

Catalanno's for the best Italian dinner!! Phillip and Thaddeus, Rich and I, Frazier and Scott.
We had daily routines that included trivia contests during happy hour, coffee in the afternoon, breakfast, lunches and dinners that were great fun with people we were lucky enough to run into during the day. We had long, wonderful talks getting to know everyone! We met people we will probably be friends with for life! People that are such a joy to know, joy to talk to, and joy to hang with. Many of them we had regular times of the day where we met, and others we ran into during our daily activities- often with the express purpose of meeting them:-).
Can you tell we liked it? We do! This may only be our third cruise (Mexico and Alaska before this), but definitely not our last! We highly recommend you try it! And watch the prices- there are some GREAT deals out there!

4 comments:

  1. Wonderful! I want to do a trans Atlantic cruise one of these days. So glad you two are having such a great time!

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    1. Addie! You would love a transatlantic cruise! We really thought it would be boring. I loaded my Kindle with books and Rich brought magazines. Got none of it done, we were so busy. We never had a chance really to just sit for more than an hour a day. Plus, you are on the ship with the same people, so you get to know them. People who do these cruises are really friendly! There are people that take 2 transatlantic cruises a year, and just buy 1 round trip ticket. A whole culture out there I knew nothing about! Thank you so much for reading this!

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  2. We had such a great time on the cruise and meeting the two of you! Fuzzy and I are watching your blog to keep track of your progress! :)

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    1. Such a great chance to meet you two also! Truly a great couple! We loved running into you and getting to know you!!!

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