We sailed into the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda early Tuesday morning and will depart shortly at 4:00 PM on Wednesday.  This post will summarize our stay in Bermuda.  Tomorrow is a sea day before arriving in Nassau (Bahamas) on Friday.  I will post again from there.

We’ve never been to Bermuda.  That’s odd in that it is less than two hours by air from Boston.  But we never made it here, so we were looking forward to it.  From the King’s Dock at the Royal Naval Shipyard, we took the commuter ferry to Hamilton on Tuesday for a short walkabout before boarding a bus to take us to St. George at the far end of the island.  St. George is a delightful town.  We saw all the important sites, the most impressive of which was St. Peter’s, Their Majesties Chappell (sic).  We had a wonderful lunch where we shared conch fritters for an appetizer.  Yum.  Elaine had a grouper sandwich and I had fish and chips.  Finally we bussed back to Hamilton, did a little shopping, and ferried back to the ship.  I’ll let the photos show the beauty of the St. George:

 

On Wednesday it was back to Hamilton again to see more of it.  We visited the very picturesque old Perot Post Office, the Anglican Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, and Fort Hamilton.  Then we wandered back to the sea front for pints of Harp in Flanagan’s Irish Pub.  Then it was the ferry back to the Royal Naval Dockyard for lunch on the ship, a shower, and a nap.

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Here’s a final picture from Tenerife as we now sail westward toward Bermuda.  The tag art in Spain is very good.  Here’s an example:

Thursday – Sea Day 1

There was a lot of ocean rock and roll as we slept, and it continued into the morning as we headed westward across the Atlantic from the Canary Islands (Tenerife) to Bermuda.  Weather was a mixture of sun, clouds, rain, and especially wind.  The swells were quite high and walking was a bit difficult at times.  We gained an hour between mainland Spain and the Canaries, and we gained another hour last night.  It’s 6:15 AM right now, and Elaine is off to the gym.  It’s a very well equipped gym with all the machines that we are used to at 24-Hour Fitness.  I’ll be heading up there at about 7:30 for my 40 minute treadmill experience.  Then it will be breakfast in the Terrace Café.

There is table tennis, bridge, shuffleboard, and croquet all day with tournaments schedules at various times.  I generally stay away from the Casino, but I thought about entering the blackjack tournament this afternoon.  Unfortunately that conflicted with a lecture on “The Depths of the Atlantic, the First Adventures of the Europeans with the Atlantic Ocean”.  I solved the dilemma by skipping both and taking a nap.  Elaine attended the lecture and a cooking discussion by Oceania’s senior executive chef from France.  We both opted out of the Scarf Tying demonstration.  Oceania also has a test kitchen where they have presentations and cooking classes.   We missed the 5:30 lecture, “Royal Banquets, State Occasions, and Other Near Disasters” – conflicts with cocktail hour.  We skipped the Friends of Bill W. meeting as well as we were busy drinking.

Lunch was in the Terrace Café:  I had an eclectic mixture of pizza, calamari rings, and spring rolls.  The choices are endless.  And everything is good.  First time Oceania cruisers all comment on how good the food is compared to other cruise lines.  (Thanks, Jacques Pepin, Oceania’s culinary advisor and planner.)

Dinner tonight was in the specialty restaurant, Red Ginger, which serves Asian style food:

Appetizers

Elaine: Crispy Giner Calamari (cilantro, garlic chips, shallots, & sweet chili sauce)

Joe:  Tuna Tataki (seared tuna filet, shiso, sesame crust, & wasabi cream

Soup/Salad

Elaine: Spicy Duck & Watermelon Salad (crispy duck, watermelon, cashews, mint, basil, & sweet fish sauce)

Joe: Tom Kha Gai soup (lemongrass, coconut milk & chicken)

Mains

Elaine: Claypot Caramelized Chicken (with caramel sauce, chilies & fresh ginger)

Joe: Crispy Duck Asian Style (with raspberry sauce, snow peas, and coconut)

Dessert:

Elaine: Steamed Ginger Cake with Apple Cardamom Ice Cream

Joe: Bounty Cake with Coconut, Chocolate Chips, & Vanilla Bean

Friday – Sea Day 2

The weather was similar to yesterday but as we progressed westward, the swells began to decrease and it got noticeably warmer.

The highlight of the day was being invited by Peter Langley, the pilot I mentioned previously, and his travel mate, Jack, to cocktails in their stateroom at 7:00 PM.  There was another couple from California invited as well.  We had a grand time discussing the adventures of Peter and Jack over their colorful careers.  The other couple had reservations in a specialty restaurant, so we accompanied Peter and Jack to dinner in the Main Dining Room.  We four were the last to leave the place.  (As an aside, my rack of lamb was delicious and cooked perfectly rare.)  I also drank too much.

Saturday – Sea Day 3

As we arose, me with a hangover, the swells had decreased to a minimal level and we pushed on westward in calm seas.  The mighty Atlantic was almost like a lake.  And it turned out to be a beautiful sunny and warm day.

We did our gym thing and had breakfast.  Then we did ship stuff, had cocktails, enjoyed lunch on the open deck, took naps, read, and generally enjoyed life.  We have seen one ship in three days, a freighter.  No sign of land, of course.

Dinner tonight was in the specialty restaurant, Polo Grill, the ship steak house.  Elaine had a great foie gras en croute appetizer while I enjoyed an excellent shrimp cocktail.  We both had salads, Caesar for me with extra anchovies.  Then Elaine had a nice filet mignon and I had a beautiful rib-eye.  Desserts: key lime pie and crème brulee.

Sunday – Sea Day 4

It was cloudy when we got up and the swells were up again.  Some people won’t be happy.  We, however, don’t mind and even enjoy rough seas.  We are both lucky in that we never get seasick.  It was a gym free day today.

Today was Country Fair day on Riviera.  All of the departments (housekeeping, bar staff, galley, casino, waiters, etc) have booths on the main deck with various games that passengers play to win raffle tickets.  After the 45-minute fair, numbers are called out to award prizes like bottles of wine, casino chips, massages, and so on.  We won lots of raffle tickets but, of course, no prizes.  At 4:00 we were invited to Scottie and Mickey’s stateroom for champagne.  They brought a case of their favorite bubbly on board in Barcelona.  Oceania allows you to bring your own alcohol so long as it is consumed in your cabin.  We have done that in the past, but on this trip we bought the unlimited booze package – all the liquor and wine you can consume.  We’ve been getting our money’s worth!  Dinner was in the Main Dining Room.

Monday – Sea Day 6

Swells down, temperatures up.  A beautiful sunny day.  We lolled about, attending the Q&A with the Captain and Chief Engineer in the morning.  Pina coladas (as usual) at noon.  We each did a load of wash in the self service guest laundry.

In the afternoon I decided to enter the blackjack tournament in the casino.  There were ten entrants, $35 buy-in.  Five players at each of two tables playing ten hands with $100 worth of house chips.  Top three moved on to the final table.  I was out of it until the final hand when I bet my remaining $50, hit, and ended up in a tie for third.  We played three hands to break the tie, and I won and moved on to the final table.  Six people, twelve hands, $100 in house chips each to start.  I went up and down but had a shot going into the last hand.  I bet $40, got a six and a five, doubled down and got a ten for 21.  I won the hand but only managed second place.  The payout was $180 to first and $120 to second, so I ended up winning $85, the $120 less my buy-in fee.  Not bad.  I can’t remember the last time I played Blackjack.

After the usual cocktails and canapés at 5:30, we had dinner in our third specialty restaurant, Toscana.  It was lovely.  I’m sparing you the details.

As I post this we are docked at the Royal Naval Shipyard (King’s Dock) in Bermuda.  The whole shipyard is wired for very reasonably priced high speed internet.  We are here all day today (Tuesday) and tonight before embarking late on Wednesday afternoon for Nassau.  Hopefully I will get a post in tomorrow (Wednesday) before we leave port.  Then we have our last sea day before reaching Nassau.  We are winding down.

OH, and go Pats.  Crushed a good Indy team in their house much to the chagrin of most of our Louisville friends (although Dee is actually a Patriot fan).  And crushed Detroit who ain’t half bad.  The Pack is next. We will be watching from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

Last minute news flash:  today we had a late lunch on board and met Peter, a pilot born in Shanghai who now lives in Spain.  He is 90 years old and looks 75.  He flew in the RAF and was pilot for the queen.  Then he became a commercial pilot and was the pilot on the World Airlines DC-10 that ran off the ice-slicked runway at Logan in Boston in 1982.  Remember that, Boston people?  I do.  I think only two lives were lost.

Well, shipboard internet truly sucks, especially when not in port.  While in Malaga, I managed to upload some photos at an Internet Cafe, but I never got a chance to post them.  Now it is Wednesday, and we are approaching Santa Cruz de Tenerife.  We should dock at 9:00 AM and leave at 6:00 PM.  While ashore I will try to find another internet café and make this post.  So here’s the update:

SATURDAY

Saturday in Barcelona was sunny and bright.  We had time to kill before boarding Riviera at noon, so we did a walkabout.  Theses pictures were taken on that walk:

At noon we checked out of our hotel and took a cab to the designated cruise terminal (there are three in Barcelona).  No Oceania ship there!  So another cab was required to get us to the right terminal.  Boarding was a breeze and after two drinks at the pool bar, our stateroom suite was ready.  We left Barcelona at 5:00 PM, passing by other cruise ships docked in town and also saw the sailing ship Windsong under sail as it left Barcelona at the same time we did.

SUNDAY

On Sunday morning we docked in Cartagena at 9:00 AM with sunny skies and warm temperatures.  Cartagena is a delightful seaside town famous now for its Roman Theater and Roman Forum.  We saw them both in our walk through the downtown area.  Some of these archaeological finds have been made as recently as in the last ten years.  We took an outside elevator to the castle above the town where we saw peacocks roaming about and beautiful views of the town.  After about four hours of walking we went back to the ship for BBQ burgers on deck for lunch.

Sunday night was our splurge night for dinner on Riviera.  There are four specialty restaurants that have no extra charge; we are booked into those later in the trip.  The ship also has La Reserve which offers a single-seating seven-course meal with different premier wines accompanying each course.  There are three tables of eight people at this feast.  We made good friends with Scottie and Mickey, a lovely couple from Los Angeles.  We will probably share a table with them again.  Dinner was fantastic.  I won’t list the seven different wines, but here are the courses:

Lobster and Mascarone Pancake with Baby Carrot Emulsion and Rock Chive Cress

Cream of Porcini with Sauteed Duck Foie Gras Bites and Croutons

Pumpkin Ravioli with Crushed Amaretto Biscotti

Bay Scallops and Jamon Iberico “Pata Negra” Ham over Tarbais Bean Cream

72-Hour Slow Braised Short Rib with “Gnocchi au Jus”

A.O.C Brie de Meaux on Toast with Raisin-Onion Compote and Quince Jelly

Raspberry Caramelized Mille Feuille with Madagascan Vanilla Cream

MONDAY

We sailed overnight and docked in Malaga, Spain at 8:00 AM on Monday.  When I first got on board on Saturday I discovered in unpacking that my dress pants for shipboard dining were not in my suitcase.  Blah! What’s a trip without a crisis?  I got by with casual black semi-jeans for two nights, but I needed some good pants.  So our first stop in Malaga was a large department store, El Corte Ingles.  Sizes are totally different over here, but with the gracious help of a wonderful clerk in the store and Elaine, I found a perfect pair of Hugo Boss gray slacks (which are now easily the most expensive pair of pants that I have ever owned).  Pack better next time!!

Then we boarded the HOHO (hop on, hop off) bus for a tour of Malaga.  We got off at the huge Gibralfaro Castle for a long walk on the castle walls and then again at the magnificent Malaga Cathedral.  For lunch we had authentic seafood paella with shellfish accompanied by delicious Spanish sangria at a nice seaside restaurant.  We sat outside under beautiful 70+ degrees sunny skies.  We worked off our lunch by walking back to the ship (25 minutes or so).

 

TUESDAY

Tuesday was a sea day.  We lounged about the ship and attended a lecture on Pirates of the Mediterranean.  We napped.  We read.  We sat in the sun.  We drank (of course) – the Pina Coladas are excellent.  We shared a table for dinner in the Main Dining Room with a woman from Toronto traveling alone and an older couple from Los Angeles.

WEDNESDAY

We are docking in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands on schedule at 9:00 AM.  The Canary Islands are part of Spain but located just off the coast of Africa.  It looks like our spectacular run of good vacation weather that began in late July might be over.  The good spell held from our arrival in London in late July and was steady through all of September throughout England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Wales.  And we had perfect weather this trip in London, Paris, Barcelona, and on the first four days of the cruise.  Alas, it is raining as we dock and the rain is predicted to be an all day thing.  So we will probably have a brief wet look at Santa Cruz and hopefully find a comfortable Internet Café to get this posting done.

Info and pictures from Santa Cruz de Tenerife will be in my next post.  That will likely not happen until we reach Bermuda next Tuesday, so patience will be required <smiley face>.  Our next five days will be at sea.  Hhhmm, the Bermuda Triangle?  I’ll try to do a text-only update before then, but the internet on board being what it is, it’s unlikely.

Ciao for now!

UPDATE

We spent the morning walking around in Santa Cruz.  We saw Bill Murphy’s relative Jose (see pictures), the San Francsico  church, the Fine Arts Museum, the Tenerife National Museum, and various other sites.  We had a few drops of rain but nothing serious.  Here are some pictures. Be back again next Tuesday from Bermuda!

We are on board Riviera and the internet is working (slowly).  Posting pictures will be impossible.  Way too slow!   I’ll post a host of pics once we get to Miami or I get to an internet cafe on shore somewhere.  Until then, text only.

Saturday morning we arose at the hotel in Barcelona to a beautiful sunny day.  The morning was free, so we did a walkabout.  Barcelona is truly a beautiful city.

At noon we checked out and took a taxi to the designated cruise terminal (there are three in Barcelona).  No Oceania ship to be found.  So we took another cab and found the right terminal.  Boarding was a breeze, and we settled in at the pool bar while we waited the 30 minutes or so until our room was ready.  Gregory from Jamaica will quickly become our go-to bartender!  The ship is gorgeous.  Some pictures will be forthcoming in future blog posts.

We had champagne in the room for sailing time (5:00 PM).  We passed by many other cruise ships docked here and watched Windsong under sail as it left at the same time we did.  Nice picture if I could upload it.  Darn.

Then we adjourned to the Martini Bar for cocktails before dinner.  Lo and behold, Gregory was on duty here now.  Dinner was in the main dining room, and it was delicious.  I’ll spare the details this time as there will be plenty of shipboard meals to describe in more detail.

It’s 7:00 AM now and we arrive shortly in Catagena for the day.  More tomorrow.

Thursday night we ventured out to find a place for dinner.  Our first try was the Gamma Brasserie right across from the hotel.  We got seated, but they were clearly more interested in closing for the night than serving us. So we up and left.  We wandered down Boulevard Diderot toward the place we ate at last night because we had noted a possibility for tonight, L’Arrosoir.  Again we were seated and this time stayed on for a wonderful meal.  Elaine enjoyed Red Kuri Squash Soup served in the squash shell for a starter while I had scrumptious roasted bone marrow served on the bone.  Elaine’s main was salmon carpaccio and mine was goose breast with potatoes au gratin.  We finished up with crème brulee for me and chocolate cake with Berthillion’s ice cream for Elaine.  Naturally dinner was accompanied by an excellent bottle of French red wine.

Friday we were up at 5:00 AM to pack and walk down to the Gare de Lyon for our 7:15 AM TGV to Barcelona.  We boarded and left dead on time.  I started writing this entry as we left the station.  It’s 7:35 AM now and still dark outside.  We can just see the sun starting to rise in the east as we head southwest.  Beautiful sunrise indeed!

After enjoying the bottle of wine we brought on board with some sandwiches purchased in the buffet car, we arrived in Barcelona Sants Station right on schedule at 1:47 PM, walked out the door of the station, and checked in 100 yards away at the Marriot AC Sants Hotel.  AC is a European chain that Marriott bought.  Great room.  After settling in we went across the street and hopped on the hop-on hop-off (HOHO) bus.  We picked the west route as we had the done the east on a previous trip.  We didn’t do any hopping off-and-on, but just did the two-hour circuit.  This trip isn’t about doing Barcelona in depth.

Pictures From the Top of the HOHO Bus.  Click to Enlanrge!

After disembarking the bus at Sants Station, we went into the station to find an ATM as I needed a Euro infusion.  Mission accomplished.  I also found an FC Barcelona Football Club store and bought a hat to replace my aging and dirty Barcelona cap purchased years ago.  And we decided to eat in tonight, so at various stores we purchased water, wine, diet coke, nuts, ham and brie sandwiches, cookies, and chips.  So, sorry, no tales of fine dining tonight.

Tomorrow at noon we board the good ship Riviera (Oceania Cruise Lines).  Only time will tell if shipboard satellite internet is good enough for more postings.  Until I can get on again, I will sign off for now.

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First off, dinner at L’Aubergeade last night was a triumph.  Elaine had foie gras salade, followed by coquilles st jacques (scallops) with creamy cheesy risotto, followed by a molten chocolate cake.  I had fried whole anchovies with aioli, followed by delicious steak tartare (for you raw beef fans) and frites, followed by French brie de melun.  A total treat in a neighborhood bistro filled with locals, most of them regulars.  The staff and ambiance were great, and a good time was had by all.

Thursday weather was predicted to be like Wednesday – cloudy morning followed by a sunny afternoon.  The meteorologists were on target again.

DOWNER:  We walked to Gare d’Austerlitz and took the RER to the Eiffel Tower.  Elaine had never been up due to her fear of heights.  Having worked to combat the fear with some success, she was determined to go the top on this trip.  We had pre-booked entry tickets for 10:30.  At 10:30, no elevator.  At 10:45, no elevator.  At 11:00 no elevator as the line grew longer and longer.  No info provided.  Finally I asked.  “Ah, it is broken”.  When will it be fixed?  “No idea”.  We waited a few more minutes as people started abandoning the line.  We gave up at 11:15.  (Getting a refund on my on-line purchase will be possible only by sending an official form to the company and wait for a response.  Hah!)  So basically, c’est La France; c’est normale!

UPPER:  We trekked by foot to the Arc de Triomphe and then decided to head to the Grand Palais where there a three day exhibition of photography (Paris Photo) from famous photographers all over the world. 30 euro to get in and a long line.  Ugh.  We braved the line (which moved quickly) and paid our fees.  The exhibition was HUGE.  It was worth the money and the wait.  There were exhibits by photographers from everywhere including Robert Mapplethorpe and Annie Leibovitz.  We wandered around for quite awhile enjoying the exhibits and stopped for a quick lunch inside:  ham & cheese sandwich (on delicious French bread!) and chips .

Then it was back on the metro back to our hotel for a well deserved nap.  Dinner tonight will be on the fly in the neighborhood with a report tomorrow.  Our train to Barcelona leaves at 7:15 AM, so we’ll be early risers.

Dinner last night at the Parcel Yard Pub was just fine.  Elaine had Artichoke Soup followed by Chicken, Ham, & Leek Pie..  For me, Pork Terrine with Rhubarb Compote followed by Steak and London Pride Pie.  All yummy.  We tucked in quickly after dinner.

Just minutes after checking out of the Great Northern Hotel we were across the street in St Pancras International Station to board the 10:25 AM Eurostar for the trip to Paris.  Back in 2008 we took the Eurostar, now celebrating its 25^th birthday, through the Channel Tunnel (Chunnel) from St Pancras to Brussels.  The train is ultra modern and very nice.  The trip through the tunnel sounds exciting but is, in fact, pretty boring —  for twenty minutes or so you can’t see anything while in the tunnel..  On Eurostar, so they say, everything is first class, so the various seating options are standard, standard premier, and business premier.  With our standard premier tickets, we were served a continental breakfast that was pretty mundane but tasty none the less.  The ride was nice, and the train was spot on time arriving at Gare du Nord at 1:47.  With the hour time change, it’s only two hours and twenty minutes to Paris.

It was cloudy and rainy when we left London, but it was a beautiful sunny afternoon in Paris.  On arrival we used our pre-purchased Paris Visite Metro passes to ride the two stops on the RER train from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon, the station where will board the TGV to Barcelona on Friday morning. We checked in at the Mercure Hotel Gare de Lyon located right at the station.

Once settled in the room, we went for a walkabout along the Seine and then stopped at La Verre a Vin for glasses of French red from the Rhone.  Delicious.  Back at the hotel I called l’Aubergeade to reserve a table at 7:30 PM.  It’s about a 20 minute walk and gets rave reviews on TripAdvisior.  Reports on the restaurant in tomorrow’s blog.

We arrived at London Heathrow aboard Virgin Atlantic on-time at 9:25 AM.  Since we just here in July, it seems a bit of deja vu.  After clearing immigration and collecting our luggage, we searched for and quickly located our driver for the ride into town.  He took us directly to our hotel, the Great Northern Hotel which is located directly across the street from St Pancras (and Kings Cross) Station.  Despite being early, our room was ready, so we freshened up before heading out on the town.

We first went to see Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red by ceramic artist Paul Cummins at the Tower of London.  One ceramic poppy has been “planted” for each British war death during World War I – a total of 888,246 poppies in all.  We visited the sight in progress back in late July when we were here for our last trip.  It was quite impressive then and even more so now.  The first ceramic poppy was planted on July 17^th.  The last day to view the completed site is today, November 11^th, variously noted as Armistice Day and Remembrance Day in the UK and as Veteran’s Day in the USA.  Tomorrow the dismantling of the display will begin.  Each of the poppies will then be delivered to its buyer.  All the poppies have been sold to raise money for six charities providing support to service personnel, veterans and their families.  The British government has waived collection of VAT on the sales, a gesture that will increase the amount to be received by the charities by more than £1.1 million.

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One of the best web sites for other pictures of the exhibition is here.

Then it was lunch at the nearby Hung, Drawn and Quartered Pub.  Nothing like a good pie and a pint of beer for lunch for weary travelers.  And we had a nice chat with a Brit who was enjoyed a glass of wine (or two).

Then we returned to our room at the Great Northern.  Dinner tonight will be at nearby Kings Cross Railway Station in the Parcel Yard Pub located right within the station.  It gets good reviews.  See our review tomorrow.

In no time we will be in London for one night en route to Paris, Barcelona, a cruise to Miami, and some time in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. We may go see the Poppies again in London on their last day. Read story here. But maybe not if the crowds are going to be as huge as expected.

The blog will kick off on Tuesday, November 11th. That’s our only night in London before boarding the Eurostar for the train journey through the Chunnel to Paris. Check back starting Tuesday.

A word of warning. Blog posts may be short to non-existent (and with few if any pictures) while we are aboard ship. Maritime internet (provided via satellite) is notoriously expensive and unreliable (even to the point of not working at all).

Be back at ya on Tuesday.