The Rest of the Grand European Sojourn

 This cruise quickly devolved into a disappointment. We, along with many others, had several issues. First, "kids sail free": if we'd known that, we would have canceled because Regent's ships aren't for kids. There's nothing for them to do so they are underfoot, disruptive, and undisciplined. Next, the condition of the ship wasn't the best, it needs new furniture and a general refresh. Regent introduced a new pricing structure about halfway through the cruise and many who planned to book another while onboard ran for the hills instead. Three of our restaurant reservations went missing and we had to go to the Restaurant Manager to get it fixed. That's not fair to him. What held it together was the crew. They were, and always have been, fabulous.

 

So, here are the high points.

 

A short segment ended in Belfast. We shuttled into town even though we learned that on Sunday, nothing opens before 1 p.m. This is the law, and it presupposes that everyone needs family time. Right. Probably dad's mowing the lawn, mom's watching television, and the kids are playing games online, just like in the USA. 

 

There came more bad news: due to a "tendering conflict" we were not going to Dublin. A lot of people were very unhappy because to many, Guinness is Ireland is Dublin is Ireland is Guinness, and there was to be no Guinness visit. We wound up in Holyhead, Wales, instead. Bummer, especially since we could see no obvious problem in Dun Laoghaire where we were supposed to anchor. Makes one wonder.

 

Nothing doing in Waterford, Ireland and a day at sea followed, culminating in dinner with the Staff Captain, Joao, from Lisbon. Staff Captain translates into First Officer, who claimed to not know what happened with Dublin. Right.

 

It appeared that we left Bordeaux without Mr. Hogg and Mrs. Davidson from deck 6. We'll never know what became of them, but can say that the Captain was tearing out what was left of his hair.

 

We have been to the Kasbah!

 

 

Aug 2. Spanish submarine glides into Melilla (we think it was the Galena) and changes out the crew.

 August 4, Palma de Mallorca. A visit to a fine little winery, Jose L. Ferrer. We bought two bottles of some of the most unusual wines we'd ever tasted. We did visit Mallorca again later, but were unable to find any of Ferrer's products in town, much to our disappointment.

Historic Herculaneum that survived the volcano. Well preserved, to say the least.

Taormina.  Mt Etna erupted massively last July 4, and its latest eruption was five days before our arrival. They were beginning to clean up the ashes, which had covered everything. On the roads, it's like a snow removal project...piles of ashes everywhere. It erupted again on August 16, shutting down the nearby airport completely. Approaching the volcano, which steams all the time:

And up on the volcano itself, 2900 feet up to be exact, exploring one of the craters:

 

Twenty-five hairpin turns took us 2600 feet up the hill and to lunch in Njegusi village high above Montenegro. The bus ride is NOT for the faint of heart.

 

We had to laugh, looking off our veranda in Argostoli, Greece. The Captain, Safety Officer, and General Manager were strolling on the dock looking at the yachts. "My boat's bigger than your boat..."

Went to two Mosques in Istanbul but didn't go in. Instead, we hung out with the locals:

We also visited the famous Spice Market. Be careful in that place. It's true, saffron is a good buy in Istanbul. Add that to some baklava, Turkish delight, and currency confusion and you've spent $900. No worries because Regent had just canceled our cruise from Abu Dhabi to Cape Town and refunded us a bunch of money.

Gordon's birthday!

Athens. So it's called a marathon because there was a great battle between the Atheniens and the Persians in 490 BC on the plains of Marathon, a town in the east of Greece. When the battle was won, a soldier ran from Marathon to central Athens (where the Olympic stadium is today) to announce the victory. The distance of a marathon is the distance that he ran, 26.2 miles.

September 3, an event on Malta, in Mdina at the Bacchus Restaurant. It was quite the spread, and a good time was had by all (as they say), especially the Captain, who was finally invited to a party!

Actually, a bunch of the officers got to partake. Left to right, Bruce the Cruise Consultant, Paul the Cruise Director, Captain Melodia, General Manager Gianluca, and two people who were never seen before or since.

More on the day:

 

Sept 4. On way to Civitaveccia, heading out of the heat and into the weather. Ugly storm expected...Captain says we will be on the dock earlier than planned due to traffic. We thought it was due to weather. Captain Melodia's last docking for this run, he started vacation the next day. One of our favorite Captains, Stanislaus Mercier DeLacombe (just call him Stan) was coming.

 

Couldn't get it in the dock in Civitavecchia. Stan on the train to Naples. Melodia on overtime.

 

Arriving in Livorno, passed by a yellow Corsica Ferries ship, one that we used to see regularly in Nice. Hello, old friend! Had a photo but can't find it.

Sept 12, at sea. Stan seems to attract them: a lost little boat in the middle of the Med. In accordance with maritime law, we stop to check it out and call the Coast Guard. It was already "tagged", whatever that means, on Sept 2 when another vessel spotted it. Stan said that it had no registration on it at all so was probably used for something illicit before it was cast so rudely out to sea.

Lastly, our time was made special by crew members. Chrysalio made our Mermaid Gibsons every day at 3 p.m. Justus made our coffees:

And Joaquin C de la Cruz entertained with everything from classical guitar to Purple Rain.

Here are (almost) all of the 61 Happy Assholes who did the whole 79 days.

Pickins were slim, wiener dog wise. In the end, Gordon won with 7 dogs to Pati's 5.

Grand European Sojourn Part 2

 On to Amsterdam. We took the "This is Holland and Gin Tasting" tour, again. Just as much fun as the first time, maybe even better. This is Holland is a 5D presentation of  fast and furious flight around the country on a domed screen with dangling legs, sprays of mist, plenty of sound effects. It's not for the faint of heart! Pati picked up a brochure and looking at it the next day, asked Gordon how long the 5D part lasted. He said, twenty minutes. It was actually nine minutes. This little car was found in the canal and was refurbished:

 

It seems odd, sitting on a ship, doing nothing. You know, read a book, look something up online, have a cup of coffee. Then comes the realization that you're doing nothing in frickin' Amsterdam!

 

In Tilbury, UK, we bussed to Canterbury to see the cathedral. Of course, the location is famous for the murder of Thomas Beckett in 1170. It seems that Henry II didn't really mean for the knights to kill him, but they'd had a bit to drink, you see. We never cease to wonder at how those old buildings remain strong for so many years.

 

 

In Edinburgh, we headed out for supplies: cookies and Percy Pigs from M&S. Next day, we wandered around Inverness on our own, buying dried peas (to make mushy peas...a box costs well over $4 in the States, if one can get them. They're 70p at the Tesco) and cookies. While we waited for the bus, the locals posed for photos.

 

 

Grand European Sojourn Part 1

 

We got off to a good start on this one, having been rebooked onto a direct flight to Lisbon and finding that our luggage, which had been shipped two weeks earlier, was at the ship waiting for us.

 

First stop was Porto and we ran to the Pingo Doce for supplies: toothpaste, mouthwash, port wine. On walking tour in A Coruna, we discovered their sense of humor.

We missed Biarritz again because it was too rough to tender, but we did get to see the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

 

What a building. And outside, of course, The Puppy.

 

We took a walk around the marina in Lorient, France.

 

We anchored at Concorneau in France and lowered the tenders, but the first one in found the mouth of the harbor blocked by eco-protesters in kayaks. They didn't seem to want us there! We are polluters, apparently. Coulda fooled me, what with all the steps that cruise ships take to not pollute. We pulled up the tenders and left in a huff.

 

In Brest, France, we toured the countryside and the beautiful estuaries.

 

Onward to St. Peter Port, Guernsey. It was a tender port, so guess what? Right! Too rough to tender. Both Honfleur, France and Bruges, Belgium greeted us without incident. We went to historic Rouen, where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for not conforming to mob rule.

 

 

In Bruges, we bought chocolates. It was wall-to-wall tourists. Challenging. Last stop on the segment was an overnight in Antwerp. First day, we took an excellent tour that included the cathedral:

 The train station:

 

And the view from the top of the MAS (whatever that stands for) museum is neat, but the ground floor is:

 

Second day, it poured rain as we threw out all but 61 passengers and brought the newbies onboard. 

Occasionally, you get a sunset.