Till next time

It's about time to do a wrap up.  The most common question I have gotten is, did I like this trip as much as last year's trip?  Of course, it's not a yes/no answer.  I like some things more and some things less.  When it comes to the transatlantic experience, I don't think you can beat traveling on Cunard and the Queen Mary 2.  It is a ship like no other and Cunard really does the transatlantic well.  And I really prefer going west and gaining hours.  Seems like a minor thing to worry about over a week, but it does make a difference.

Azamara, however, seems to have found a nice niche with more included amenities, casual atmosphere and more overnight stays that would be very nice for say a Mediterranean cruise.  Plus the smaller ships make it much easier to get on and off at ports. So I'm glad I did it and would consider them for that sort of trip.  The take-away here is" there are lots of choices out there, so take the time to find what's right for you.

As I wrap up, I checked stats on my blog.  I had about the same number of blog page views last year and this year, approx 1700.  About 1/2 of the views have come from the US, with the other 1/2 mainly from Canada and the UK.  There were also views from Russia, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Holland, Switzerland, and New Zealand.  So, until next time, thanks everyone for reading!

Final Videos

If you were the captain of a cruise ship, you would probably think that docking it was the difficult part.  Then you could let the terminal crew take over and passengers could quickly disembark right?  We were late getting in to Rouen as I mentioned before, so many passengers were anxious to get off and spend a few hours seeing the city, even if it was raining.  We didn't plan on this.  I wasn't going to make a joke about the French, but,well, they make it so easy!  I don't need to say any more, the video says it all.

http://youtu.be/JwbPN6FOKJM?hd=1

I felt sorry for the crew, they were ready to go well before we docked.  I was speaking with the hotel director as this was going on, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.  He said that because they change schedules every year, they are often going to ports that they have never been to, or haven't been to in a long time. Unfortunately, they really don't know what to expect until they see it in action.  They were coming back to Rouen on the next cruise but he thought this wasn't boding well for returning in future years.

Finally, here is the video of the ship taken over the boyage.  You will see the different weather and sea conditions (though I left out the rough sea footage).  I realized that I didn't take many indoor shots which is too bad.  I would have like to have been able to include the restaurants and cafe.  So this is mainly outdoors, probably because I spent most of the day time there.

http://youtu.be/nmf_2eZjeEU?hd=1

Photos of the trip

I'm sure you have all been waiting for the photos, well here they are!  The nice thing about virtually sharing photos, is you can go as fast as you want through them, or not look at them at all.  I will never know!

I have cut out about 200 from my original set so this is quite reduced.  Still seems to be too many but it was more effort than it was worth to pick and choose which to remove. 

To view the photos, click on the link on the right of the blog page or here: photos of Azamara cruise.

I still have a lot more video to go through and should have a one or two more to put on youtube.  Maybe sometime this week.

Sailing up the Seine

Another day, another video.  This one captures the sights of finally seeing land in France and then sailing up the Seine river to Rouen.  Lousy weather really dulls the beautiful scenery unfortunately.  Still, it was a nice way to spend a day.

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/3N1kgqLgIXQ?hd=1

Video: Sailing out of New York

This was a highlight for me and something I won't forget for a long time.  So lucky to have had good weather to sail out from Manhattan.  As you will hear the Captain say, one of the great harbors of the world. 

One thing I learned: the ship's horn is very loud, best not to be directly under it when it goes off!

Video Sailing Out of New York

First video

Quickly pulled some video together of the day of rough seas.  I took it from 25 mins down to less than 5.  Would suggest you watch it in HD and on the biggest screen you have.  Also, have the sound on as I included part of the Captain's noon update (or 1 pm update after we turned the clocks forward).

More videos will come as I have time to do some editing.   If you like it, please hit the "like" button.

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/QU5-U5ADz88?hd=1

Almost home

Looking forward to going home.  I guess that’s why you go on vacation though isn’t it?   It was back to reality right away.  The shuttle from Rouen was quite disorganized but left around 9 am.  We got to CDG terminal 2E about 2 hours later.  Fine enough except half of the people on the bus needed to go to Terminal 2A, Air Canada.  Luckily the French are so friendly and helpful, when we explained this to the driver he did the classic Parisian shrug and left us to fend.  Lots of time though right?  We get on the shuttle bus that for some bizarre reason cannot get out of the dropoff zone.  1/2 hour later it's complete gridlock so we decide we better try walking.  It's about as far a walk as you can go in that airport, through all kinds of humanity.  When we finally get to 2A, the Army is there blocking everyone.  Someone had left unattended baggage and they cleared out the entire terminal.  Finally they let people in but we have to wait for the Air Canada people to come back.  From then on, things progressed somewhat normally, with the flight only leaving 20 mins late.

Next I will have to post some video of the weather on the trip. Will see if it does justice to it.

I'm in montreal and just a short hop home. Thanks for following along!

Land...Finally!

Woke up this morning around 8 and looked outside for land but no luck.  It wasn’t until 10 that I could finally see land in the distance.  I have to admit, I was happy to see it.

By about noon we were entering the harbor, past Honfleur and under the bridge.  Yesterday, the captain mentioned that we couldn't enter when we would arrive due to the tides - I think it was probably because we needed the tide to be out, not in, so we could get under the bridge.  The river is also very narrow in parts.  I can’t imagine a ship any larger than this one making it through.

It is cloudy, windy and cold and raining on and off.  I’ve been running between the various sides of the ship to try to get some good photos.  Because of the weather, I don’t think they will be very good. It’s beautiful changing scenery.  There will be little farms, then we are in a deep valley then we will come up to some tiny cute towns.  There were a few industrial ports near the entrance but the majority of the river is scenic.  I think it must be a national park of some sort as it is so undeveloped.  I love the classic French homes.

A ship of this size must be rare, there are a lot of people taking pictures and waving to us.

You can see how much of the river this ship fills.

It’s taken about 5 hours to go 17 miles, and it was easy to tell when we got to Rouen.  This was my first clue from my balcony.

So we pull into the "cruise terminal", moor the ship and then the ground crew decide they better figure out how to the gangway up to the ship.  They had to hook up a crane, and you can imagine the speed they went!  And it didn't really seem to fit so the poor crew spent a while trying to make it safe (in the rain too).  It took an hour before they started letting people off.  The port isn't close to the city and they only have 2 buses!  People will only have a couple of hours and probably wait in the rain for the shuttle.   I'm staying on the ship.  Much more relaxing.

Friday evening update

It was a nice day, despite everyone being a bit bitter about losing the day in Rouen.  Sun was out for most of the day and it got interesting as we got to see many ships, especially as we got closer to the channel.  We saw two cruise ships going west, one was very large and one smaller.  I think the larger one was Costa and the smaller was the Olsen line.  Mainly saw tankers but as we got closer to land, smaller fishing ships showed up.  This, I’m quite sure from my frequent watching of "Mighty Ships", is from the line that carries cars over from BMW.

Around 4 or 430 it started to get a bit cloudy so I looked at the jogging track: empty.  Quick change, back up there and isn’t there 4 people on it, including those that I know are going to be on there for a while: “chicken woman” and “texas couple”.  Chicken woman is out there frequently in her “workout” clothes but walks many many laps without swinging her arms.  She just sticks her elbows out like she’s doing the chicken dance.  Texas couple, I named them because she wears her parka and ear muffs while he wears his touque.  I’m wearing shorts, it’s not that cold.  I have no idea if they are from Texas but it reminded me of the time golfing with my buddies in Myrtle Beach and we were wearing shorts when this golf cart pulled up with a woman wearing a parka and the world’s largest mitts.  Yes, she was from Texas. Anyway, I try to jog a bit but these people keep getting in the way and slowing me down.  Finally, the rain starts so everyone leaves.  It’s then when I start jogging and have no reason to stop and realize the effect of that this trip has had.  I’m completely out of breath doing just a slow jog.  Next week the diet and exercise need to kick in.

I was starting to get tired of the dining experience but tonight they had a Pomodoro Risotto that was fantastic.  Again, washed down by the complimentary wine and things were again looking up.  It was around the dessert course when I realized that for the first time in maybe 8 days, the ship wasn’t pitching, it wasn’t rolling, it was just easing its way through calm seas.  What a nice change.  The sun was setting so I quickly excused myself to go and try to catch some photos.  (Besides one of my dining companions was asleep…I kid you not, he had his hands in both hands and was out like a light after his main course).

I went up on to the top deck and met a man from Austria who loved the trip.  I chatted with him for a while, what a nice man.  The sunset didn’t really materialize due to the clouds but it was so nice to have the calm seas at last. That’s him with the cane walking away on the jogging track.

Good night from the English Channel.

Last Full Day at Sea

Another nice day here, partly cloudy but the sun bursts through occasionally and it’s very pleasant.  Seas are calm but we still get plenty of large swells.  I was eating breakfast this morning, looking out to some large windows at the back of the ship.  One moment I’m seeing nothing but sky, then nothing but water.  Surprised the ship is still moving so much.  Yesterday I did go for a run/walk on the jogging track.  It’s quite an interesting experience to jog when the ship is moving like that.  It’s really acting like a big teeter-totter so imagine running on that teeter-totter when one step you are running up and then it shifts and you are running down. 

Looking forward to seeing land tomorrow.  The bad news we just got is that we are running late due to the route we took and the one day of rough weather.  And because Rouen is tidal, we might not be able to enter the Seine River until about noon, and berth some 5 hours later.  It will mean plans for the day are scrapped. I’m not sure if we will have shuttles into town for the evening yet - that would be the only way we would see any of the town.  On the plus side, I can sleep in and still enjoy the trip up river.  And I'm glad he was thinking more about comfort that the on time arrival. 

More good food and wine last night.  I had been up to the Sunset bar before dinner.  It’s outdoors and at the back of the ship, and a great place to be with the evening sun.  To leave you have to walk through the Windows restaurant which is where the nightly buffet is held.  They were just bringing the food out as I left, the theme was Indian and it smelled very good.  I thought about staying for a moment but resisted.  Luckily for me the veggie entre in the main dining room was Indian.  Chick pea with these really nice rice cakes.

As for the complimentary wines, they change them every night and it seems to be a red and white from a particular country.  Last night was Italian, the red being a nice chianti.  And they are quite generous with the refills.  So as you walk out, the wine doesn’t exactly help your sense of balance as the ship moves about.  It’s quite funny to see many people staggering around trying to leave the restaurant!

Sea day number 7

This is the seventh straight sea day and I’m now officially at sea longer than last year’s trip.  We have definitely taken longer due to the southern route but I’m sure if the normal northern route was taken this trip, even on this ship, could have been done in less time.  I’m not sure why it was scheduled to take 9 nights.  I’m now reading a book about the history of oceanic travel, and back in the early 1900s ships were making the crossing in 5 days.  It must come down to cost.  If we had taken the normal route, we probably could have gone slower, used less fuel and arrived on the 28^th.  Going south at close to the ship’s top speed would certainly used more fuel.  Given the good weather we had I’m glad he did.  But I will say that I’m ready for land and a change of pace.  The sea is calmer today, no whitecapped waves, but there are still major swells causing lots of motion. One of the drawers in the closet is now opening and closing as the ship pitches.  That will be very annoying if it keeps up.  It’s colder too, just 14 degrees so doesn’t feel like shorts and t-shirt weather anymore.

We started to head north-east this morning.  In an hour or so we should be more or less near the top edge of Spain and will start crossing the Bay of Biscay.  We should be near the English Channel tomorrow evening.  We just set our clocks ahead for the fifth time so we are now on UK time.

Haven’t heard any more emergency calls so hope that was it yesterday.  People just weren’t cautious enough and many on board are older and look quite frail.  They should get some assistance instead of venturing out on their own.  The Captain yesterday kept telling people to exercise extreme caution with one hand always on the ship.  He also told us to walk “low and wide” which I think you do naturally in this movement (though it looks far from natural seeing people struggling to get from hand rail to hand rail).  And no high heels for women.  He just gave the noon update and said the swells should subside through the day.  I will aim to jog this afternoon when it’s a bit easier.  I could use the exercise, I couldn’t do anything yesterday, including use the gym.  Just too much up and down.

I've been very lucky to have most of the days with great weather.  If it had been cold, rainy or just too miserable to sit out, the entire trip would have changed for me.  There were plenty of activities put on, but very few I was interested in.  Cunard was much more to my liking from that perspective.

Rough seas = End of Days?

Ok, it wasn’t that bad.  Drama drama drama.  We did, however, have another medical emergency around noon.  I think both cases were falls, and actually, I’m surprised there haven’t been more.  The thing is that it can come from different directions.  You think it’s stable but then the ship will list and pitch at the same time, a bit of a corkscrew effect.  The waves are all caused by the wind which has actually been over 30 knots most of the day.  The scenery it creates is stunning.  Quite lucky to have it sunny to enjoy it.  I had seen videos on youtube of rough seas but you just can’t appreciate it until you are right in it, feeling how much power nature has over a 35,000 tonne ship.  Because of all the waves and mist, there is a coating of salt on everything, even up to the railing in my cabin on the 6th deck

This afternoon there was a talk about Rouen with a primary focus to sell the cruise tours.  It took place in the caberet lounge, right at the front of the ship.  t he ship was really moving but, again, seemed manageable until there was a huge shift, and several trays of glasses went flying from the bar and crashed to the floor.  Throughout the ship they have been very careful putting things away, even bar stools because they were all falling over.  They even tied the large coffee thermoses to the cabinets they were on so why there were that many glasses in a location where they could fall I don’t know.  Many of the crew have said this is the roughest they have felt it but they remind me that it happens frequently on the Atlantic.  Well I now have that experience under my belt. 

Back to the talk about Rouen though, apparently there is an open air market Saturday morning.  The line will run shuttles to the Cathedral, right near the market.  So I might start the day there … I still have a car booked but will see how everything goes before deciding where to go that day.  What I did learn though, is that the shuttles take me to a part of town, completely opposite of the Avis location I had booked.  Good thing I checked as there is another Avis location at the Rouen train station, much closer to the part of town we will be going.  I moved the rental, costing be around $6 worth of internet time!  ($%&$%&!!@)

I found a few places where the movement wasn’t as bad and was able to read a bit more:  on now to book three.  The seas have moderated quite a bit, but they still surprise you with a huge shift that you didn’t expect.  One poor fellow at dinner actually crashed into the liqueur cart spilling many glasses, again just due to the unexpected movement.  I’m hoping we are back to more normal tomorrow.

I met Wayne and Joanne again before dinner in the lounge.  He was the retired Colonel from the US Army I went for dinner with a few nights ago.  We chatted for a while before we went to dinner and joined a table for 6.  All Americans but me and it was fun.  Food, as always, was great, including a mushroom risotto as an appetizer and an avocado watermelo, soup.  The wine tonight was a shiraz from Aus which I would never buy but ended up being fine.  Something to be said for wine that’s included.  Tonight I’m writing the daily wrap up outside from my verandah with a single light on the horizon.  In fact it looks very close.  It must be a sign that we are close to land with ships passing much more closely.  Our closest land is now port of Vigo in Spain.  Soon we should be heading north to get into the English channel.