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Posts tagged ‘adventure’

Venice to Turkey 06

Day 06, May 09, Zadar, Croatia

This morning we wake up in Zadar, Croatia with clear skies. We feared rain for during the night we went through a fairly wet storm.

It’s going to be a short day in port as we hear the All Aboard will be 1:30 PM.

Breakfast at 7 AM, then to our room to gear up to get off the ship. Another couple that speculated traveling with us didn’t respond so we go off the ship around 8:30. It costs us €20 to get to Old Town via taxi and off we go.

Old Town is an interesting walk among buildings several thousand years old and streets, some in amazingly good condition.

We come across a tower, that for €5, you can climb! So up we go. Very interesting views from the top after 203 steps up one way steps. We take several breaks, primarily to let other tourists go the opposite direction.

Once back down, we head to the end of Old Town where we find Pozdrav Suncu, or the “Greeting to the Sun”, a modern circle of solar panels where we find young people doing cartwheels and headstands, for what purpose is not clear.

Then, next to that, we visit another modern structure, “Morske Ordulje”, the “Sea Organ”. These simple looking concrete steps at the sea’s edge are built such that when the waves crash against them, they produce deep notes that reverberate into tunes. Quite the unique place where we sit for a while and enjoy the different melodies as ships go by and create different rhythms.

After a while here, we stroll back into Old Town and meander back through the ancient streets. There are festive parties preparing for a marathon type street race to occur tomorrow. We stop at an outdoor cafe and enjoy some cold water and a couple glasses of local wines that we have never tasted before.

As we stroll again towards the gathering of taxis, we indulge our cameras a few more random photos. For some that have asked, we are traveling with cell phones only this trip after our successes a few months ago! Elee is using the Samsung Galaxy S23 Pro and I am using the newest iPhone 17 Pro. My images are better than hers but they are all good! We step inside a small church for a moment but don’t choose to pay the tithing to go all the way in. As I arrive at the taxi spot, I pull out the card our taxi driver, Tomaslav Toric, gave us, he is there and spots us just as I spot his car! So with no waiting, Tomas takes us back to the ship. He earns himself a tip for that!

We walk the final half mile to get on the ship and go to our stateroom. A bit of rest and we head out to find a bite to eat. We go to the “Local Bar” and have chili and salad. Then it’s off to explore more of the ship. Watching the cart racing, taking a stroll around the decks, the “Galaxy Pavilion”, a glowing arcade, the “Observation Deck”, and many other things on the ship. I even spot a set of umbrellas that you only get to use by paying approximately €400 Euros per day!

Then to kick back and relax in the “Penrose Atrium”, watching trivia shows. Before we know it, it’s time for dinner. Tonight we dine in the “Commodore Room”, another main restaurant. The food was just okay.

After dinner we secure seats for some music and a silly game show that Elee enters. She doesn’t win but everyone has fun!

Time to call it a night.

Florida 2026, Days 09-18

Touring Florida and visiting people!

After disembarking the ship, we pick up a rental car and visit a shipmate friend from our 2 Round The World Cruises! Hey ‘E-Less Ann’!

Then it’s off towards Naples to visit Elee’s college roommate and her husband! Hey Ellen & Bob! They gave us a tour of the area!

After a couple days we head north to visit with Elee’s cousin on Anna Maria Island near Sarasota. Unfortunately, Karen was marooned up north due to the heavy snowstorms up north so John was a fantastic host who showed us around for a couple days! We also visited Brother in Law John and his partner Andrea who were both gracious enough to let us use their house! Thanks!

Then we were off to Orlando where we stayed at a Hilton (That we would never stay at again!) in the Disney World area. We did get a great deal on the room in exchange for attending a 2 hour Vacation Presentation (thinkTimeshare). Of course we were told there would be no pressure, LOL. But the presenters, sales persons, closers & check-out people were all clearly angry when we turned them down!

Our room in the hotel was next to a vertical shaft that went all the way to the very noisy Lobby where the sound carried to every room! We did have a view overlooking parts of Disney World and the Lazy River that belonged to the hotel. We did spend a couple hours prior to the presentation relaxing in the Lazy River!

Next, we were off to “The Villages” to visit another shipmate friend from our Round The World Cruises, Ron and his girlfriend Linda! It was fun catching up Guys! They took us to an outdoor Country Concert. It seems that The Villages has entertainment happening somewhere almost every night so it doesn’t matter which night you want to go out! There is always something happening!

On our way back to Orlando that evening, we even were able to pull over to watch a launch from Cape Canaveral! This was probably the most disappointing shot with the new iPhone 17 as the phone wouldn’t focus well on the rocket flames!

The next morning we check out of our hotel at 11 AM. Our flight doesn’t take off until 9 PM so we take a leisurely drive back to Fort Lauderdale. We find the Riverwalk and spend a couple hours there.

There will be an upcoming post for something we also did in Sarasota, but was a separate side trip. See you again soon!

Florida 2026, Day 06

San Juan, Puerto Rico (Day 4 on the ship)

We get up and actually have a leisurely breakfast in the buffet (the main restaurant was packed). The gangplank opens a few minutes before 10 AM. We manage to make it off the ship around 10:15.

It’s already quite warm but not unbearable. We’re in the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico. We head through the streets of Old Town and work our way up the hill to the Old Fort. The buildings are colorful as we walk. The Fort as we approach, reminds us of the Old Fort in Cartagena, Columbia. Stone and mortar with similar design elements. We even poke our heads into a church on the way up!

Great views from the top of San Juan. The Fort is similar to many South American Forts. Stone, brick and mortar.

We continue through the quaint streets and come across a couple churches which even the local police don’t know the names of! We look inside but don’t opt to actually go in and pay the tithe.

We bump into Austin and Olivia from our ship (lovers in the Pub!) at Las Palomas Park (Pigeon Park) where a pigeon lands on my shoulder and it takes quite a bit of shaking to convince it to fly away!

It is very warm today so, on the way back to the ship, we stop at a local restaurant and imbibe in a cold margarita. Back on the ship, we change and head for a cool water pool. The ships horn informs us that we are departing and I grab my cell phone (the only camera I am traveling with) and get some shots of San Juan as we depart. Back to our cabin to relax before dinner. A new folded towel animal greets us!

Dinner in the main restaurant tonight is very good. After dinner we go to a “Name that Lyric” game show, lots of laughs. Then to an Elton John tribute. We watch the “Rising Tide Bar descend and later rise.

Heading back to our cabin, I take a stroll through Central Park. I come across the Rising Tide Bar ready to descend and I ride it down.

Goodnight All! See you tomorrow!

Florida 2026, Day 04

Nassau, The Bahamas

Day 4 (day 2 on the ship). We need to meet our tour in the ‘terminal’ by 9 AM. We have breakfast at a Cafe on the ship, it turns out to be Starbucks! (yuk!) Then it’s off the ship and the usual walk into the terminal.

We take some fun shots in and around the terminal area while we look for where to meet our tour guide. It turns out the meeting place is back near the ship!

Our guide walks us to a ferry boat and it’s a 30 minutes boat ride to Rose Island. We ride by what appears to be mansions (probably only summer homes of the rich and famous!) Mega yachts everywhere we look! The water is a fantastic aqua blue-green and there are tourist boats galore! Today we are going to swim with pigs!

The island is tropical and scenic. We are pointed towards a lookout tower on top of the island and we walk the short 50 yards and up about 30 steps to the top of this narrow strip of land. We are told the Pig Adventure will start soon so we head down to the beach, a short 3 minute walk from the top! We are told to walk out into the surf and are each given a plastic cup full of sliced carrots. “Release The Pigs!” We hear a guide shout and sure enough, about 50 pigs come running towards us in the water. We have been given a skewer along with the carrots and told to feed them using the skewer as the pigs have teeth! The Pig Adventure lasts about 15-20 minutes, LOL, after which everyone gets to hold a baby pig. Elee gets in line to hold a pig whereas I, having grown up in farm country, don’t see the alure of holding a pig! A pretty island guide, Lauren, spots us and comes over to chat. She offers to get us some rum drinks but Elee misinterprets her offer and tells her we are heading to lunch.

The beaches are beautiful and the people are friendly. Lots of American, UK and Caribbean music play over not too loud speakers. The day is very pleasant and not hot. The ocean is warm and comfortable. Lunch is rice, fried plantains, fish fingers and Mac & cheese. Throw in a couple Bahama Mama’s to sip on and we are on Island Time as birds and chickens visit us hoping for a dropped morsel or three!

Looking out over the ocean, a sandbar off the beach glows in the sun!

I bump into Lauren and she tells me to wait here and she snags me a strong rum punch! She is probably hoping for a nice cash tip but, alas, I have no cash on me to give! A service lady from the restaurant stops by and chats, Samara. Probably hoping for the same thing as Lauren. I take note to have a little cash on me from now on! Back to the dock and onto the ferry for the ride back.

On the boat ride back I found my first pair of lovers. Those of you who read my blog might know that I always look for lovers all over the world!

We arrive back at 2:30 PM. We know we need to be back on the ship by 3:30. John’s Rum Distillery is a 10-12 minute walk. I researched this place at home and you can bottle your own rum for $20 per bottle. So we walk there, wearing Elee out. But we each fill and seal a bottle. We ask for a taxi ride to the ship. A taxi picks us up in 5 minutes. He only takes cash which we don’t have. He takes me to an ATM and I manage to get money. We get to the Port with 12 minutes to spare. But ours is the furthest ship. Luckily for us, several other passengers are walking with us to the ship. We get there just in time and all is good. We are not the only Mega Ship in port today!

Back on the ship we soak our feet in a pool. The ship’s horn makes us jump as it begins to leave port. I climb out and get some photos of the port as we leave. As the ship leaves port, we see a peninsula island that is one that Royal Caribbean owns and their own resort! We chose not to go there as RC charges in the vicinity of $175 per person to spend the day on their private resort!

Then it is back to our cabin to nap and shower and get ready for dinner. We find our first folded ‘animal’ towel that our Room Steward left for us!

We eat in the Solarium Bistro where we made reservations. It’s served buffet style. Some of the food is fabulous but some falls short. For some reason we don’t understand, the manager approaches us and asks us how everything is. We had not even said much except between ourselves. So we gave him an honest critique of the food, both good and bad. The manager sends the chef out to talk with us. We are mildly surprised but we give the chef the same critique we gave the manager. The chef claims to take our suggestions. Also, the chef insists we return for dinner tomorrow and promises to cook us a premium meal! I think I know where we’ll eat tomorrow!

We order wine to take to the show in the big theater and they give it to us in theater ready glasses (acrylic). We readily find seats in the theater and settle in for a great song and dance performance. We are extremely impressed with the caliber of the show and especially with the stage animatronics. Best we’ve seen on a cruise ship. I am uncertain of the ship’s policy on taking photos during the show, so I hold off for now.

We retire to our cabin but the night is not over. There is a Caribbean Party in the Royal Promenade which is like a city street in the middle of this huge ship! Here I find my second pair of lovers, Austin and Olivia, lovers in the pub! Austin from Minnesota and Olivia from North Dakota. They met in Ashley, ND in college!

I go down and find a great spot in the Globe and Atlas Pub, an Irish Pub in the middle of the party! The atmosphere is electric and not one person is unhappy. Considering there are at least 1000 people in the vicinity, I cannot see an unhappy face.

This Pub has its own entertainment with a guitar player starting soon so I relax and have a glass of wine as I listen to the show all around me. Then it’s back to the cabin for the night!

Florida, 2026 Day 01, 02

A day of travel…

Day 1: Our good friend Tony once again gives us a ride to the airport. We get to the airport around 8:00 PM for a 10:00 PM Red Eye flight. I hope we can get some sleep. The flight is uneventful but we get no sleep. Elee has the aisle seat and I have the window. The flight is full and the “Monkey in the Middle” between us is a 6’9” basketball player type. We felt sorry for him. We paid for extra legroom and this poor guy’s knees pushed on the seat in front of us. We change planes in Atlanta and our new “Monkey in the Middle” is a smaller guy. But the flight is barely over and hour and again we get no sleep.

We arrive tired at 9:00 AM in Fort Lauderdale. We hail a cab and get to our hotel around 10:00 AM. After putting our luggage in the hotel, we take a walk around the neighborhood of North Fort Lauderdale. We are only 2 blocks to the beach. We have at least 4 plus hours to kill before we can check in to the hotel. We find a breakfast sandwich food truck that isn’t serving lunch yet so we have a glass of wine. Because why not? We go back to the hotel and they let us check in early. We take a much needed 3 hour nap. We are now in Day 2. We walk to the beach 2 blocks away. I see a ship on the horizon and I get a shot, framing it between 2 trees. Turns out it is our ship!

We find a liquor store and buy wine to take on to the ship. Next door is a fun looking Irish Pub where we have drinks and dinner. We meet Chris and Charlotte and join them at their table. Fun night even when a drunk patron dumps my water glass on me. Then the waitress dumps water on me. We also meet Stefan, a runner from Quebec getting ready to compete in a Marathon occurring tomorrow. We are forewarned that traffic will be difficult even though we are only a few miles from the ship we plan to board. We have Shepherd’s Pie and Mahi Mahi. The fish is severely overcooked. Shepard’s Pie is great. At the end of the night, Chris and Charlotte leave. When we try to pay the bill, our bar tab is missing. It was either the spilled water or Chris and Charlotte paid it. Thanks C & C!!!