Arrival and first day at sea

My flights were on time and I arrived at Miami airport at 12:20.  The priority sticker on my luggage actually worked too and I was off in the taxi in no time.  Just my luck, I thought to myself, the one time everything is on time or early is the time that I can’t board until 2 pm.  But I got to the port and walked straight on the ship.  I was told that the rooms wouldn’t be ready until 3 so that would give me time to have some lunch.   

The plan was to go to the gym after lunch but as I was sitting having some lunch, a fellow came around offering Champagne.  Who was I to refuse?  And the strange thing was that even though I was drinking it,  it didn’t seem to go down!  

Just before 3 I went to my room.  It was ready and my bags were there.  I unpacked and feeling like I really should try to get a work out in, I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the treadmill.  The lunch of Grilled Cheese and champagne did the trick as it was actually a decent workout.  Who knew?

The muster drill was scheduled for 8pm, in between the two sittings for dinner.  While I waited, I wandered around the  ship and out on to the promenade deck where I saw 4 dolphins swimming leisurely  next to the ship!  That was a nice treat.

The muster drill went as scheduled at 8.  We assembled and listened to the thorough instructions for passenger safety.  I found it to be quite well organized despite having it late in the evening after people have been drinking which caused a few more jokes and laughs than you would normally get. From there I joined my table for dinner in the main dining room.  I’m at a table for 8, and there were 7 of us there last night.  Three people have been on for several weeks taking part in some segments of the world cruise.  It was a nice group, though it can be hard to hear everyone at a larger table in a busy restaurant.

Food was excellent I have to say.  One dish was a mushroom tart on a puff pastry crust.  Fantastic.  Nice wine part of the complementary list washed it down nicely.

I was up at 8 this morning and went for breakfast at the lido restaurant.  I went outside to eat and had the place to myself. 

 It’s a nice morning though windy.  The Captain gave his morning update at 9am and said it was 23 degrees out.  He didn’t give a long term forecast but today looks nice.  There are small waves in the 4-6 foot range so there is some motion on the ship though nothing severe. 

Storm in the North Atlantic

Currently there is a huge storm system covering most of the northern Atlantic.  It is powerful, apparently producing some serious waves into the 25+ foot range.  Luckily taking a southerly route from Miami to Lisbon I'm hoping that we can avoid most of it.  Here is a site with a wave forecast, very interesting.

Atlantic Waves

Will be listening carefully for the Captain's forecast later today.

Just got to Toronto and proceeded through the US customs pre-clearance.  It's been a few months since I've been through so it was my first time using the new process.  No need to wait for checked bags anymore which is nice.  Though there a strange step where you wait, looking up for your name to appear on a TV screen.  It didn't take too long before mine showed up and could proceed through.  It seems to be based on my bags making it through so it should mean by bags are guaranteed to show up in Miami.  I hope so anyway!

My 9:15am flight to Miami looks like it is on time so should be landing around 12:30.  Embarkation for the ship isn't scheduled to start until 2pm but I will go straight to the port from the airport.  Departure from Miami is late as well, at 9pm.  Not sure why exactly but it makes for a pretty low stress travel day.  As I look at the Miami webcam at 7:30 am, the ship is there waiting for me.   

Miami Webcam

These webcams are great for watching ships sail out of the harbour, but given that it will be dark when we leave, not sure how great the views will be.

3rd Annual Crossing

Ah spring. Temperatures get warmer, snow starts to melt, soon flowers will be sprouting.  It's great time of year.  For me, it also a great time of year to spend a few days at sea!   Yes it's time for another transatlantic crossing.  This year I've selected another eastbound crossing, this time from Miami to Lisbon on Crystal Serenity.

Crystal is a small cruise line, sailing only two ships, Serenity and Symphony.  They are regarded as a luxury line and have consistently won awards as the top cruise line in the world.  The ships are mid to small size, especially when compared to the modern ships.  Serenity carries approximately 1000 passengers and approximately 68,000 gross tonnes.  It was recently featured on the show "Mighty Ships".  You can see the video here:
http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/mighty-ships-/season-6/mighty-ships-6-crystal-serenity/

Because the video in on Discovery Channel Canada, I'm guessing that you have to be in Canada to see it.  Sorry for those of you trying to view it from elsewhere.  The show has some great views of the ship, as well as some of the locations it sailed to on its 2012 world cruise.  Personally I think they played up the wealth of the passengers a bit much.  I know I sure don't fall into the ultra-rich category the show depicts as traveling on Crystal.  Crystal prices will be higher than the mainstream lines for sure, but there are deals to be had, such as this repositioning cruise.  They have also changed to be all inclusive as of last year so I won't have much else to buy on board, aside from the internet which sadly is still expensive. This crossing will have one stop on the way to Lisbon, in Funchal, Madiera.  Looks like a beautiful island that will be nice to explore.  Hoping for nice spring weather.

If you that want to get a glimpse of what the weather and seas are like during the crossing, Crystal has a great set of live webcams.  I added a permanent link on the top of the blog, or you can access it here.

http://www.crystalcruises.com/home.aspx?REDIR=1&LVID=3.

You can see port, starboard views as well as the bridge cam.  You can also view the computer room where I might be from time to time.

Departure is March 31st...the countdown is on. 

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