Livin’ my best cruisin’ life

 On Thursday, May 11th the Captain and crew said farewell to the passengers on our last day at sea. The Zuiderdam singers opened the program, followed by the Cruise Director, Ian, with a slide show of various department members and a retrospective of the ports we visited. Then, to the tune of We are Family, the crew took the stage to say farewell. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house -both among the passengers and the crew!

 

 Passing our last lighthouse in the Azores-on our way home!

 

 This is our next-to-last port before Ft Lauderdale! We will be home one week from tomorrow. This island, owned by Portugal, is a great port a quarter of the way across the Atlantic. It is a charming place that is reminiscent of Europe, but with it’s own character. I had a lovely walk through the town.

 May Day-a lovely day to arrive in Cobh! Everyone is in a holiday mood-people are strolling with their babies, small children and dogs. A fair is set up on the waterside and the restaurants, streets, and pubs are crowded. It’s a lovely town with multi-colored houses and shops lining the promenade. John and I visited the Titanic Museum-we are kind of Titanic nerds and this was her last stop before heading to New York. One hundred and twenty three passengers emigrated here. The museum is very well done. Afterwards we had a refreshment at the local!  . 

 Last night we were entertained by some wonderful Irish singers, dancers, and musicians from Dublin. Judging by the audience reaction, this was the most popular entertainment we’ve had on the ship!

 We had a terrific day today! John’s Kings Point classmate , best man, and our long-time friend, Ty, drove from outside Edinburgh to Oban with his beautiful wife, Julie, to spend the day on the ship with us! It was as if no time had passed since our last meeting-conversation was great-we had so much catching up to do! Hopefully, they will visit us in Florida!

 Yesterday was a Dutch holiday-King’s Day-and a great excuse to wear anything orange!

 This morning the mist obscured this lovely island as we sailed in and anchored outside the port. We were here several years ago in the summer and I remember the mystical feeling of this part of Scotland. It is very green from all the rain that threatens-and does- fall every day. Because of today’s cold and bad weather we opted to stay on board. Here are a few pictures from the ship.

 Unfortunately I’ve spent the last few days sick in bed and it’s been so cold in Norway( around 40-45 degrees) that I haven’t posted anything! I managed to take a few pictures as we were going through the fjords and it was really lovely. Fortunately John and I have been here before, so we really didn’t miss too much.

 As I toured the city, I remembered a few places from our visit several years ago- the Vineland Park, the Viking Museum, the Kon Tiki Museum. However, there were many areas of the city that I didn’t remember and I’ve included pictures here-the Opera House, downtown buildings, the yacht basin.

 This morning John was up early and got a picture of the most beautiful sunrise. As we made our way through the Oslo fjord, I took some photos of the lovely islands we passed.

 A few more pictures-cherry trees in bloom, the Queen’s Quay, and some street scenes.

 Another lovely European city! It was in the high fifties today but very sunny. I took the tour bus around town since I’ve been here before. The Danes seemed to think this was a summer day-cafes were crowded and people were in shirtsleeves! I took some pictures-the Little Mermaid statue in the harbor, a statue of Hans Christian Anderson, the Nyhavn section of the city, a sculpire of a baby outside the hospital.

 

 Today we visited these amazing gardens outside of Amsterdam. These are billed as the most beautiful spring gardens in the world and that is probably true! Approximately 7 million flower bulbs are planted in the gardens annually. The flowers are mainly tulips, but many other spring blooms are here too.