April 27, 2025

For today I am writing about one of our recent Sea day’s. Generally we have quite a few sea days on a long cruise. I call them rest days. It is especially nice after having 4 or 5 Port days in a row. There are usually a variety of lectures throughout the day, movie in the afternoon, church services in the morning (Jewish, Christian and Catholic), AA meeting during happy hour, card games, IT tech talk, dance lessons and many more activities. Carol likes to participate in her flower arranging classes. If you don’t like any of the above you can chill around the pool, read a book and sip on a margarita. At night we are entertained by a stage show, dueling pianos and the rock band plays every night. A few days ago We were celebrating Kings Day, celebrating the birthday of king Willem Alexander of the Netherlands. We generally have Orange parties almost one each month celebrating the Dutch heritage of HAL cruise line. Kingsday is a little more special as we all bring out our orange attire for the day. It started with lunch, they served croquettes, with chicken sate,  peanut sauce and Nasi Goreng. For dinner we were served Hutspot with klapstuk and for dessert Bossche bollen and Tompoucen. These are all Dutch and Indonesian favorites. For the night entertainment they planned an orange ball complete with the ship’s dance band playing all the favorite tunes. We were lucky to find a free table as most people showed up early. Most people were clad in orange, and soon as the band started to play, the dance floor filled up quickly. Servers came around with little Dutch treats like bitterballen and oliebollen. We spend a few hours at the party and then called’r the night to prepare ourselves for tomorrow’s stop.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 29, 2025

Today is our last stop on this side of the Atlantic. First of all, I like to go back to yesterday’s power outage in Portugal. We always think what would happen if we got hit by an earthquake or a devastating flood which would likely knock the power out for extended time. What became apparent yesterday that cash is king. Without cash it was impossible to buy anything. Credit and debit cards were useless as all the infrastructure was shut down. No traffic lights, no gas and no water at highrises. It was definitely an eye opener. My advice is to stuff a few bucks under your mattress for desperate times.

We arrived in Tangiers 3 hours late due to the late dep arture yesterday. Luckily we were given a 3 hour extension by the harbour Master. Several tours were canceled  ebecause of these events. As we had done a tour here before (see post April 7 2023) we planned to walk into the City on foot. It was approximately 1 km walk to the city from the ship. When we got to the City we recognized some sites from our previous visit. We walked into the Kasbah, this a labyrinth of narrow streets lined with little shops, basically selling everything you can think of. We sat down at a cafe- restaurant and had pizza for lunch. While we ate our lunch we were entertained by several street performers trying to make a living. After lunch we carried on through the small streets, being careful not getting lost. On our way back to the ship we had to fight off a few vendors who became a little too aggressive with their selling techniques. Eventually we arrived back at the ship. At around 6PM we set sail for our trek back across the Atlantic.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 28, 2025

Early this morning we sailed under the Vasco de Gama bridge into the port of Lisbon , the capital of Portugal. Lisbon is situated on the Tagus river. Here in the city, the river is nearly a mile wide. As we have visited Lisbon before, we scheduled a 4.5 hour tour to a medieval town called Obidos, dating back to 1148 AC.

We left the ship for our 1.5 hour bus ride out of the City through the countryside to Obidos. We arrived in the town just outside the City entrance gate. From here we ventured out on foot through the narrow streets. We made a visit to the old cathedral. There was a second cathedral, which ended up being a bookstore now. We heard about a bakery near the church where we bought a dozen or so pastel de Nata, these are well known small custard tarts. If you see them somewhere on your travels, you should try them. We even saw a sardine store, having sardines cans going back to my birth year. After walking around for a while, Panic!! Carol lost her wallet. We were about to cancel her CC card, then when we arrived back at the bus, someone had found it. Big sigh of relief  when we got on the bus for our ride back to the ship. When we arrived back at the ship, our plan was to walk into Lisbon for a few hours. By that time all the light had gone out all over Portugal and Spain. Businesses were all closing down and Traffic had come to a standstill. At that point we cancelled our plans to go into town. On the ship there was a planned complementary wine and seafood event. The seafood was incredible, Lobster, Crablegs, Mussels and Clams as much as you wanted. Complimented by red or white Vino. Very impressive. By now the ship was supposed to leave, but we were still missing over 10 passengers. The Captain stated that we couldn’t leave them here and have them catch up by plane. The missing guests had likely no passports on them and the airports were in chaos due to the power outage. Eventually all the missing passengers showed up after being stuck in traffic. They must-have been happy, seeing the ship was still there. By now we were ready to leave, but the Pilot had gone elsewhere to assist another incoming ship. At 7 the pilot showed up again, and we ended up leaving 3 hr later then scheduled. I wonder how that is affecting tomorrow’s stop?

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 26, 2025

Around 8:00 AM this morning we were cleared by the Spanish authorities to go on shore. For today we planned to do our own walking tour  into town. We left the ship around 8:30 and walked through the streets, which were not very crowded at thís time. It was very much a Spanish colonial City, like Malaga and Cartagena. Narrow streets with numerous sidewalk cafes. We ended up at a small bakery cafe for a croissant and a laté. We followed this up by a peek in St Nicolas cathedral. They have a beautiful Esplanade along the harbour lined with palm trees. The paving made me think of the sidewalk in Rio, resembling a river pattern. After enjoying a walk along this beautiful walkway, we ended up on the Beach. We hang out here for a bit, watching a few swimmers taking a dip into the cool Mediterranean water. Simultaneously there was a yoga class in progress on the beach . The boulevard is a great  place to go for a jog in the early morning, taking in the clean sea air. Around noon we headed back to the ship.

For the afternoon we were invited for a tour of the bridge. Essentially the control center of the ship. Here we were basically shown how to operate the ship. The ship is controlled (steered) by a tiny joy stick. It was very interesting to be informed how to steer this monster of a boat. After our bridge tour it was basically too late to go into town again. Instead I wrote you guys this story.

I very much recommend visiting this City. From all our stops in Spain in the past, we have never been disappointed. I probably prefer the smaller ports compared to the big City stops.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 25, 2025

Good morning from Barcelona, capital of Catalonia. This looks like a busy cruise port 5 ships in 5 different terminals. We were able to dock behind the HAL ship the Volendam. We parked our ship with our back deck facing the Voledam back deck. This was in anticipation of a drone show scheduled for 9 PM tonight.

For today we booked a City highlight tour. We didn’t dock till 10:30 and soon as we cleared customs, we got on our bus for our 5 hr tour. We drove by the numerous highlights of the City, like the Olympic stadium sites. Near the City Center we got off the bus to do a walk around the well-known church called Sagrada Familia Church built by the famous architect Goudi. They started construction in 1882, and it is still under construction today. It is now scheduled for total completion in 2026. Our Tour guide had his hands full to keep the group together in our walk around the church property. It was extremely busy on the sidewalks with pedestrian traffic. Eventually we all ended up at the bus location. Our next stop was at the Basilica Santa Maria del Mar. This church was build around 1383. Here we were allowed to enter the church. It was very impressive and in excellent condition for its age. After this visit we circled around the City some more, before returning to the port. It would be a better tour if our guide had used head sets on the walking portion of the tour.

After getting back on our ship, there was an opportunity to visit the Volendam ship. We sailed on that ship 5 years ago around South America. After being on the bigger ship now 2 times in a row it felt definitely smaller, but it looked like it was in good shape. It was currently on a 133 day Pole to Pole cruise and will be the ship used for the future Grand Voyages. Because of its smaller size it is able to visit smaller ports.

After our dinner we went onto the back deck where it was already crawling with people and music was being played in anticipation of the drone light show. After a toast from the captain the show started , and it didn’t disappoint. It was viewed by many spectators from both ships.

The following morning we took a taxi to the old harbour in Barcelona and spent a few hours roaming around there. Having a coffee and shooting a few pics. Instead of taking a Cab back, we decided to walk back, which took us a little over an hour.

That was the end of our stop in  Barcelona , off to our next stop tomorrow.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 23, 2025

Today’s stop is the Italian Island of Sardinia. Our Port City today will be Olbia, a city of approximately 60,000. There is a variety of sea ferries leaving from this port to several destinations on the Italian mainland. No tours booked today. We are only here till 2:30 this PM. We are taking a shuttle bus into town. It is only a 10 minutes ride to the drop off point. You would ask, why didn’t you guys walk? The reason we have to use the bus is, because we are not allowed to walk on the port property because of moving container trucks and fork lifts. After we got dropped off we walked up the main street, stopping to check out the inside of the church and peeking in the odd store. After walking for a couple hours we stopped for a cappuccino break accompanied by croissants. After coffee we followed the street down back to the harbour, making one stop for Gelato Ice cream, before we are to leave Italy.

For the afternoon, there is a 3PM announcement by the CEO of HAL cruises, announcing the program for the 2027 Grand World Voyage.  Interested??

This was a very nice smaller City to visit. It was well appreciated after dealing with the crazy crowds in Rome.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 22, 2025

Overnight we moved from Naples to Civitavacchia, which is the port City for Rome. Rome is the Capital of Italy with nearly 3. 8 million citizens.

We had an early morning to catch our bus to take us to the City of Rome for an all day trip. We left the ship at 7:30 this morning. The bus ride to Rome was roughly 1.5 hours. Our first stop would be at the Vatican. Our meeting with the Pope was cancelled, because he died yesterday. JD Vance beat us to it. So we visited the Vatican without Pope . There was a long line up to get into Saint Peter’s Basilica. We decided not to wait for that, but instead take a look around the area.There was a lot of Police around and the Press was busy setting up for the upcoming funeral. I noticed tv crews from all over the world. I wonder how they got there that quick. By the time we were ready to leave, the crowds started coming in steady. After our Vatican City the bus took us to our lunch spot, a restaurant along the Tigre River. Our lunch was not spectacular.(the tiramisu was slightly frozen). After our lunch we got on the bus for a short ride to the City center for a 2.5 hr walking tour. When we got off the bus, there were a lot of people in the streets. We stopped at the Trevi Fountain, The Forum, The Colosseum and the Basilica of Maxentius. All this time we were steady dodging crowd of tourists. We had to be on the look out for pickpockets all the time. There are over 900 churches in Rome, that will take years to visit them all. After our walking tour our feet were getting pretty tired. We were a happy bunch  when we sighted the bus coming down the street to pick us up. On the way out of the City we saw a bunch more historical buildings. A person can easily spend days to take in the history in this City. During our ride back we were fighting to keep our eyes open. Around 6:15 we arrived back on the ship. We were surprised to find that the crew had prepared a fantastic Italian dinner. This time the tiremasu was not frozen.

This was a fantastic day in Rome. I suggest re-reading your history books from high school before you plan to visit.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 21, 2025

Overnight we cruised from Greece to Italy. Last night we cruised through the strait of Messina, with a view of the volcanoes Edna an Stromboli. Apparently Stromboli squirted out some lava later that night. That’s why it is called the lighthouse of the mediterranean.

For today we are anchored in the city of Naples.  There are toomany things to see in Naples to cover in 1 day, so we settled on the ruins of Pompeii. Pompeii got buried in a 20 foot layer of ashes in the year 79AD. At the time of the volcano eruption there were 5000 people living in Pompeii. We got on the bus  for our 1 hour trip to Pompeii. After we got there, things went smoothly getting our tickets and we started our trip up to the ruins. We found the city with its buildings and streets in remarkably good shape. Because the city was covered in ashes instead of lava, it made it relatively easy to excavate. Most people suffocated due to the exposed gasses. The eruption went on for 3 days straight. The city was  located 6 km away from the volcano. We toured the city streets for about three hours before we regrouped at the bottom of the hill and we walked back to the bus. We didn’t leave, till we got our hands on an authentic gelato ice cream cone (they are very good). When we got to Napels we had a late lunch before we went back on board. The remaining part of the City has to wait till our next visit to this City.

I really recommend visiting Pompeii, I could have 

 easily spend several more hours there.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 19, 2025

Good Morning, Overnight we moved from Turkey to Athens in Greece. Athens is the country’s capital. The urban area is home to 3,6 million citizens.

Today was a nice sunny morning, with a predicted high of 22 deg C. For today we were going to be engaged in a city tour with a visit to the Acropolis. First we went on the bus for a tour around the City showing us a variety of historical buildings including the Rebuild Olympic stadium. After our City tour we ended up at the foot of the Acropolis. it was quite a hike to get to the top. There were an enormous amount of tourists out today. Being a long weekend and 3 cruise ships in town, made it very busy everywhere. You had to be extra careful following the pathway and stairs up the hill . Eventually we made it to the top , hung around for a while, took a bunch of pictures from the ancient structures and the views of the City. Carol and I  decided to start our descent down the mountain, meanwhile dodging tourists all the way. When we got to the bottom of the hill, we had an extra half hour for some souvenir shopping and bathroom break before the rest of the group showed up. When we got back on the bus, we proceeded with our city tour till we got back to the ship. After we did our hike up to the Acropolis, we decided not to go out again.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 18, 2025

After a relaxing  day at sea, we had a chance to recover from our exciting day in Egypt. This morning we arrived in a new country, Kusadasi , Turkey. Kusadasi is a beach resort and a major cruise port. The population is approximately 140,000 people. The shores are lined with sandy beaches and numerous hotels and nice restaurants and not to forget carpet stores. The Turkish salesmen are very skilled in selling you a carpet. No we didn’t buy one. The sea water was still a little cool for a dip(20 C) The good news, no jelly fish or sharks to worry about. Kusadasi is also the jump of point to visit the ancient city of Emphasis.

For today we have a trip to the ancient city of Ephasis. It is about a half hour drive along a scenic coastal highway overlooking the Aegean Sea. In the old days Ephasis had a large harbour and had a direct access route to the Sea. Over time the Harbour silted in, to the point that at this time it is 8 km from the shoreline. After arriving at the site, we were given our entree pass into the archaeologic site. We followed our guide into the site, who happened to be very knowledgeable about this area. The site is basically an 2500 to 3000 year old townsite , which at one time was home to 500,000 inhabitants. Through time and having endured multiple regime changes and losing the access to the Meditaranian sea, made the people relocate elsewhere. The rebuilding of 2500 seat theatre is nearing completion now, and is scheduled to be opened in July this year. After wandering through this  enormous site with partly finished buildings, we ended up at the site called the terrace houses. This site is covered by a roof structure while the rebuilding is going on to protect the workers from the elements. Eventually we ended up at the area where our bus was parked. The bus took us back to Kusadasi, and dropped us off at a Carpet shop. Here we were shown how the silk carpets are made by hand. After the show was over , the high pitched sales guys came out from all directions to persuade us to take home one of the carpets for lots of $$$. Slowly we were able to find our way back to the exit . Meanwhile it was well past lunch time. We found ourselves a nice Turkish eatery right on the water, where we had ourselves a nice meal. After our late lunch, Carol and a friend went to the Turkish Bazaar Market and I found my way back to the ship.

Cheers

Cor and Carol