An early morning wake up in Cherbourg. The ship is docked, the sun is out, a light breeze is blowing and we are ready to go. We meet Dannielle in the terminal. She will be our private tour guide for the day in Normandy. The pictures below start with the sunrise entering Cherbourg Harbour, continue through St. Mere Anglicize and Utah beach, Pont Du Lac, Omaha beach and finally the American Cemetery.

May 1st is a holiday in France, equivalent to our Labor Day and the cruise line was unable to secure enough busses to accommodate all the guests that wanted tours that day. We had learned this a number of weeks ago when we were booking the excursions and arranged our own via the internet. Dannielle has been guiding tourists around the Normandy beaches for decades as she was born in the region in 1944. She brings a plethora of knowledge to the tour and has a riveting personality to insure you have a great time.

She had a small car, called a Skoda, made in the Czech Republic, which comfortably sat 4 but was tight with 5. Fortunately, we are not big people (which was the first question she asked us when we spoke with her on the phone at the time of the booking) and we rotated the middle seat in the back. We drove for about a half an hour to St. Mere Anglicize where the famous parachute landing of the 101st Airborne was memorialized. A dummy parachutist hangs from the church steeple still today!

The town is just as it was portrayed in the movie and the shops, church and streets are just magnificent. They were about ready to celebrate Sunday Mass and the priest was greeting his parishioners (and me) as we stepped back into history. We picked up a picnic lunch at a small pastry shop in town and headed off for Utah Beach.

It is hard to describe the emotions I felt seeing and walking on a place where so many soldiers, sailors and marines died. As a veteran I was very moved by the experience here and further on as we visited Pont Du Lac, where the Rangers assaulted the cliffs, only to find the gun battery's moved further back and then to Omaha Beach and the bloodiest fighting locations, nicknamed "Red or Blood Beach". We visited the American Cemetery last. It is on land that was deeded to the U.S. from France in perpetuity and is maintained by the American taxpayer and beautifully and reverently so.

Danielle was well read and capable of answering any and all questions about Normandy and WW2 and showed us the real, rural areas where she and the average person live a quiet and peaceful existence. We returned to the ship just before sailing, exhausted and tired but filled with wonderment from a fabulous experience. A simple and quiet meal up on the Lido deck and early to bed. Tomorrow with arrive in Belgium.

Generally, northern Spain is cool, wet and windy. Well as they say, 2 out of 3 isn't bad.... we had cool, windy and sunny! An unusual weather day. It is a beautiful coast line and A Coruna is a vibrant, crowded and busy city with a spectacular mix of ancient and new architecture, high vistas, magnificent coves and fishing harbors and a huge sandy beach in the downtown area. The city boasts the oldest working lighthouse, the Tower of Hercules built by the Romans which has been refinished and restored to preserve it. There is a 6 story paved hill to climb to get to the base, then another 300 steps to the top. We made it to the base and quit! But even there a spectacular panorama of the city was ours to enjoy.

We were on an overview bus tour, 15 euros each for just over 2 hours with a guide who spoke English and shared here internet connection with us. We had not booked with the ship and saved quite a bit and saw the same sights. The downtown beach which is a cove open directly to the Atlantic is about a mile in length, and although it looks inviting is considered quite dangerous because of the currents and rocks and cold water temperatures. A number of people die every year. In the winter, the road we were on is actually flooded over and not useable even though the city spends millions to build sand barriers to protect it.

We returned to the ship, played cards and enjoyed a ships bar-b-que poolside for dinner including suckling pig, short ribs, steaks and plenty of different salads and sides. We skipped the entertainment and played dominoes listening to the wind. A restful night and we slept in on Saturday morning!

A quiet Saturday at sea yet cold and windy but the waves were low and we took a 1.6k walk (3 laps around the ship before a light lunch in the Lido. Captain Nixon gave a provocative yet highly informative on the sensitive subject of slavery going back over 2000 years. Some of his power point was a bit salacious but necessary to get the message through. A thought to ponder: more African slaves went to Brazil, over 5 million than any other area in the Western Hemisphere including America which only received about 500,000 during the 17 & 18 hundreds.

An afternoon concert by the ships singers was followed by another formal night and the obligatory surf & turf offerings in the dining room. I opted for a veal chop. The evening entertainment (we went to the early show at 8 pm) was a piano showman from Manchester, England who was quite good and did a nice impression of Liberace. Early to bed tonight for a 6am wake up. The ship docks at 8am in Cherbourg and we meet our guide on the pier at 8:30am. And we will be off to the Normandy Beaches. Let's hope the winds die down as the forecast temperature is 55 degrees.

Land Ho! We dropped anchor early this morning. The port is not deep enough for the ship so they set up tender operations. For those who have never cruised, that means using the ships lifeboats to shuttle people ashore. Each boat holds about 120 passengers and a crew of 3. A little uncomfortable with winds and 4 foot seas but only a 15-minute ride.

We found a taxi driver for a tour of the island. 65 euros for the 4 of us as compared to the ships bus tour of $70 p/p. She said she spoke “a little” English, turns out she spoke little English. "Beach, school, church flower, WC....one word answers to our questions but we rode the island for 2 hours, saw everything the tour bus people experienced and saved money. We had been here before so it was a refresher for us.

She dropped us off in town at a small pub and we had a wonderful lite lunch while chatting with two wonderful and entertaining British chaps from the Channel Islands of the U.K. who had just returned that morning from a 17-day crossing of the Atlantic from the Caribbean Sea in a 40' single masted sail boat. Wow! Talk about "cohunes”, it takes real courage to cross the pond with 15 to 20 foot seas in a small boat with just the two of them. They had some funny stories while they decompressed over tall glasses of local beer. They had spent the winter in the Caribbean staying warm and having fun. A thoroughly enjoyable lunchtime encounter.

We took a slow walk back to the ship and enjoyed the pleasant weather. We opted for a nap and then a casual dinner on the Lido deck as the ship weighed anchor and set sail for Ponta Delgada.  We opted for an evening movie titled "In the Heart of the Sea" a Ron Howard produced epic about a rogue whale that attacked a ship, killing many of the crew and how the rest were stranded for 90+ days in the doldrums of the Pacific. It was told through the eyes and words of the last living survivor to Herman Melville who used it as the basis for the infamous "Moby Dick" novel. Two hours of good entertainment.

We woke up Tuesday morning docked in Ponta Delgada. Interestingly enough, the Norwegian Star was tied up on the adjacent pier. We had sailed on her in the western Caribbean in January with 20+ couples from our community. A fun time then, but the quality of NCL is way below HAL.

We were again independent guests to go ashore. Jack and Gail had booked an excursion that gave them the highlights of the port. Since this was our second visit here we opted to just stroll around the downtown area which is a vibrant seaport town with plenty of shops, restaurants, churches and attractions.

In 2012, just prior to my transplant we had taken a repositioning voyage and stopped here. I never expected to return. We visited several churches and said thank you for allowing us to make this journey again. A little window shopping, a lite lunch in a small, local downtown cafe with local working folk and enjoyment of the sun and pleasant temperatures completed the day. We watched our departure from the dock as we sailed northeast toward Spain.

The ship's company of singers and dancers entertained us after our dinner with an interesting couple from nowhere! Yep, they were full time travelers having retired early from their jobs in Dallas. Between cruises, time share off season cash rentals and visiting with friends, Steve and Suzanne wander the world with no particular itinerary. We are at sea now for two days enroute to Spain.

 

Another day at sea and today is Jack & Gail's 59th wedding anniversary. Lazy morning and mid- day. Gail was off for a pedicure and manicure, we 3 played cards and did some sidewalk sale shopping by the pool. Another great lecture on Lord Captain Cochrane. We arranged for 2 other couples we have met to join us for dinner and celebrate the anniversary. I had a table for 8, champagne and we gave Gail flowers and some small gifts. Each of the other couples bought small gifts as well. We had a great time.

All of us have slight colds. Stuffy nose, cough, congestion, etc. nothing serious, just annoying. We had breakfast upstairs and enjoyed a fascinating lecture on pirates from Capt. Nixon. Laurie and Gail took long afternoon naps, while we read and then dressed for a wonderful dinner at their specialty restaurant called the Pinnacle Grill. Filet Mignon and lobster tail with more champagne to celebrate the 59 years. A show of 3 gal singers was the evening’s entertainment. Seas have picked up again and the temps are dropping. We dock in A Coruna, Spain in the morning.

Some facts and pics about the ship and our full schedule. We were on Deck 5, Cabin 5028.

Window to the World - 2016 European / Baltic Sea Voyage

We are off on another world adventure. This is day 1 at sea. We left Port Everglades, Pier 26 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida around 6:00 PM on April 18, 2016 headed for the Azores. For the next 29 days, the MS Zuiderdam of the Holland America Line is our home; a balcony stateroom number 5028, port side, deck 5 forward.

We are joined on our adventure by longtime friends (over 40 years), Jack and Gail McGinn who are also retired and live in Viera, on the east coast of Florida. We first met them in the fall of 1975 as part of the Mallard Camping Club of East Northport, Long Island. We travelled to many camp outs with them but this is the first vacation adventure to other parts of the world.

Jack & Gail are in their early 80's and are our "heroes". They are both still physically fit, play golf and travel the world on an adventure every year. They full-timed in a motor coach for 5 years and then did it part time for another 5. It's challenging to keep up with them!

So here we are with 1,800 other souls and a crew of 800 off to see the west coast of the European continent and up into the Baltic Sea. Our first stop will be over 2500 nautical miles east of the US mainland. The Azores belong to Portugal and are a chain of islands. Our first port of call will be Horta in 7 days.

We left over an hour late we suspect due to either weather or late arriving passengers. We've not yet been told exactly why. The captain announced we were being held in port by direction of the "home office". The gangway had been rolled back and we just sat in port.

There are several low pressure systems in the Atlantic that we will have to avoid. Our route has been altered already a bit further south to hopefully miss reported 20'+ seas and very strong winds. Our first night gave us mild seas of about 6-8' in height with an occasional bigger swell but the ship is an ocean liner, not just a cruise ship and we fared well.

The accommodations are more than adequate with a king bed, plenty of closet space and a roomy ensuite. There is a couch which could double as a pull out bed, chair and desk. Clean, comfortable and well appointed. Two recliners on the balcony which unfortunately it has been too windy to use very much.

The food and menu selection has been superior both in the Lido Buffett and the Vista dining room. Our preference has been for breakfast and lunch on the Lido deck and dinner, around 7:00 PM in the dining room. We generally ask for a table of 6 which gets us another couple to meet and talk with.

First day highlights besides unpacking included some exploring, a welcome aboard champagne party (Jack and Gail are 3 star Mariners, we are only 2 stars and they snuck us in) a good lunch, a personal indulgence in a hand, wrist and forearm massage with a manicure. The massage of hot stones did wonders for my arthritic wrists! A dinner of grilled snapper for me, an introductory show and a great night’s sleep in a very comfortable bed completed a long but fun day.

Day 2 has us again sailing east but we've picked up speed to 18.5 knots, still on a lower southern path than planned and rolling with 6-8' seas. The weather has been warm, in the mid 70's, sunny but windy. We slept late and barely made breakfast. A 2 pm lecture on the salvage of the Soviet submarine Kursk from the Barents Sea topped of a lite lunch poolside. We strolled around the deck later that afternoon and joined the other guests for an Edwardian Tea in the dining room. Our table mates turned out to be Beverly and Ed who was retired 30-year Navy and sub-mariner. They came from the Oregon coast and had just settled down after 13 years full time on the water in a 55' Carver converted commercial dive boat. Fascinating folks.

The first formal dress-up night was today and since we were still in sub-tropical waters a white dinner jacket was appropriate. My bride was dressed elegantly as usual and we enjoyed the company of Jerry, a retired IBM executive and former USAF radio technician. His wife Sharon was a bubbly, talkative gal who ran a doctor’s office in Cary, NC. A very tasty steak and shrimp combo was my entree of choice.

A fun show of song and dance rounded out the evening. The waves lulled us to sleep again!

Day 3 saw the dawn (well we never really see the dawn ourselves) of the same sea heights and pleasant temperatures although the Captain has warned us that it is going to be a bit rougher.

A morning lecture on the Vikings was interesting subject matter, but the speaker an academic was monotone and boring. There were more than a few snoring folks in the auditorium, lunch poolside was buffet of Caribbean foods. The wings were outstanding as well as the Mahi-Mahi in a vegetable laced broth.

During breakfast in the morning we met a couple from Fairfax, Virginia and Ray was retired from the Senior Executive Service (SES) and did a lot of work with the company my brother worked for, MITRE. We swapped stories and Ray doesn't quite remember my brother but his memory is fading at 86 years young!

My entree for dinner was a delicious linguine carbonara and Laurie enjoyed chicken cordon blu. A very well brewed espresso complimented a blueberry crisp. Yes, I know, I talk about food a lot. Our dinner companion was a retired lady from San Diego who was traveling alone.

We moved the clocks ahead an hour at 3pm this afternoon. I extracted 163.50 from a slot machine while Laurie and the McGinn's had their afternoon ice cream treat.

The evening show was a talented sleight of hand magician who did amazing playing card "tricks" that kept you paying attention. Again the sea lulled us to a pleasant night’s sleep.

This morning, day 4 we awoke to a bit angrier sea and 12-15' swells and a force 7 or 30+ knot wind! We are "rocking and rolling". A morning tour of the kitchen proved a fascinating behind the scenes look at how they make it all look easy to feed almost 3000 people (crew and guests) 3+ meals a day!

Laurie is enjoying an indulgence of a "top to toe" massage for 75 minutes. A short visit to the casino, returned $10 back to the slot machine! Our afternoon lecture followed a lunch poolside. Capt. Nixon, MS (Ret) provided a fun and learned account of the Mutiny on the Bounty from the vantage point of Capt. Bligh and his life story. Fascinating.

Our evening dinner of roast turkey provided a nice change of pace before an outstanding performance by the Barricade Boys. A quartet of young men who all had starring roles in either the West End or movie production of Les Miserables as well as the West End production of Jersey Boys. Their name of course refers to the "barricade" so prominent in Les Mis!

A soft slumber with the crashing waves will rock us to sleep.

On day 5 we slept in and had breakfast delivered, a nice treat. The seas are getting bigger, averaging 15' with a force 6 wind but the ship is handling it well and so are we. The temps are still warm in the high 60's and with the roof closed over the pool and the bright sun it is quite comfortable.

Our favorite lecturer, Captain Nixon led us on the life and adventures of Sir Frances Drake. Navigator, pirate, slave trader and expert seaman. The room again was filled to overflowing in to the halls. He's become a main attraction onboard.

We spent the afternoon playing cards with Jack & Gail in the forward lounge overlooking the bow and the whitecaps.

An excellent dinner of Coq au Vin topped off with cherries jubilee sundae for dessert. Our evening performance was by Synergy, twin brothers who were classically trained violinists and now mix that with pop music in an energy charged performance.

A little reading after I finish this and then a gentle sway of the ship to lull us to sleep.

Good morning and welcome to Saturday. The skies are grey, the waves are still up in the 15' range and we are having rain squalls. Not a pleasant morning. We had breakfast in again at a relatively (for us) early hour since we've been invited to a Mariner Society luncheon beginning at 11:30 am. This society is based on how many days you have travelled on board a HAL ship. We are at the 2-star level, which is 30+ days. Jack and Gail did a 39-day trip to Australia several years ago and are at 3-star level. Discounts, better cabins and other perks become available as your star numbers increase.

Following our bigger than usual lunch on Saturday, the afternoon featured another lecture by our favorite Captain. This was part 1 of 2 on Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson. His life, his loves and his famous battles. Thoroughly enjoyable. Dinner was a wonderfully grilled steak with risotto and veggies. One of our dinner companions was a pair of educators from suburban Chicago who were 5 Star Mariners, having amassed more than 500 sailing days/credits.  Our evening entertainment was the card magician who did a lot of great tricks but was somewhat boring and predictable. The seas are still quite rough with winds approaching gale force, but mainly from the west and the roll is not too bad, or we are getting real used to it.

We arose on Sunday morning to grey & threatening skies, gale force winds and impending rain showers. Breakfast on the Lido deck then our part 2 lecture at 11:00 am. We took a dispensation from church this morning and skipped the 8:00am Roman Catholic mass.

Our lunch companions were from Selden, LI and we talked about mutual love/ hate reasons to be on Long Island. Our after lunch walk was preempted by a rain squall and we opted for cards with Jack & Gail.

Tonight was a Gala dress night and full tux was appropriate. I enjoyed duck pate, quail on a bed of Portobello mushrooms and spinach with risotto. Laurie feasted on jumbo prawns with fillet mignon and potatoes. Our entertainment was again by the Barricade Boys with a whole new production of songs. Alas they leave the ship in Portugal which is where we drop anchor tomorrow morning on the Lee side of the Island and tender in. We have been warned that the seas, even on the leeward side will be rough and the 10-15-minute ride will be "uncomfortable". Since we have been to Horta before we have not scheduled an excursion but will wander around independently with the McGinn's

We are back, lots to say!

We are back. Alas we no longer have our motor coach but we are now well and I have lots to tell you about. I am going to briefly recap the last few years, yeah OK, it's been 5 years and there would be so much to tell that I would bore you but I believe to make this correct I will update everything.

So, we were on Long Island in May, 2011 with the Coach parked and we moved into an apartment while Laurie underwent treatment for breast cancer. Two small surgeries and radiation got it all and she is now 5 years out and fully recovered. The prognosis is excellent.

Of course I was not to be left out of a medical problem and shortly after she finished radiation (2 days) I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. We packed up the motor coach, cleaned out the apartment got on a plane and headed for Tampa, FL and the Moffitt Cancer Center on 8/16/11 our 42nd wedding anniversary!

As a side note, we knew back in May that our full time travel had come to an end. There would be too many medical follow-ups that would be problematic with wandering the country. We purchased a house in a gated, golf course community in Bradenton, FL and modified our "Dream" to part time travel.

So we arrived at Moffitt that Tuesday and I was admitted the next day and spent the next 33 days as an in-patient getting chemo and getting better. We had dear friends fly up from Florida and drive the coach back to our lot in Zephyrhills, FL where Laurie lived while I dealt with the effects of chemo.

It was a struggle but the docs said they caught it early and I was a perfect candidate for a bone marrow stem cell transplant. Wow ! Between mid September and the following May we lived in our new home and I underwent a series of maintenance chemo treatments, some hospitalizations for infections and a lot of soul searching and conversations with God and the docs.

I was told that I had a 70% chance that the leukemia would return if I did not get the transplant but that there was a 35-40% chance that the transplant could kill me. Interesting odds. We gave them the go ahead and they searched for a suitable donor. we took a 19 day cruise across the Atlantic to the Azores, mainland Portugal and Barcelona, Spain.

When we got back I underwent a battery of tests, they had found a donor and I was back in Moffitt for the next 30 days. Some really bad days and nights but it worked. We spent the next 90 days living in the coach full time (Deja vu) to be nearer to Moffitt as I slowly regained my strength.

More to come in the next post, stay tuned as we "Hold on tight to our dreams".