Post Cruise Update

 Once we arrived home to Alaska we were greeted by a very overgrown lawn.  It's taken me a couple of days now to clean things up.  All of our luggage arrived via Luggage Forward yesterday Saturday June 8th.  Cathy is nearly completely unpacked but I still have that to do.  

I did take the time yesterday to review, process the video I took on June 1st.  Now that I can produce videos on my more powerful PC workstation, I really had fun producing this video.  The video starts as we enter the shipping lane far outside New York harbor approaching and sailing under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge entering the harbor.   We sailed pass the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration.  Further into the harbor sail pass USS Intrepid Museum ship just before our berthing Pier 90.

Click Here --> Arrival in New York by sea video (SD quality)

Click Here --> Arrival in New York by sea video (4K UHD)

Day 148 - NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Date: 6/01/2024   Day 148  Port: NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Description: The ‘City that Never Sleeps’ beckons — renowned museums and sites galore by day; the glittering sophistication of clubs, theaters and restaurants by night. Explore Chinatown, Greenwich Village, the United Nations, Central Park’s Museum Mile and Wall Street’s towering steel and glass monuments to commerce, then hop into a cab for an afternoon of world-class shopping along Park and Fifth Avenues.

Planned Excursion: Exit the ship and head home – Flight JFK to Phoenix, Arizona @ 4:59 PM

Delayed Update:  It was late morning as we made our way into New York harbor passing by the Statue of Liberty.  I have captured some great video.  Once I get back home to Alaska where I can process this video on my home workstation and where I have better computing and Internet speeds.  I am excited to be able to upload higher quality video.  The ship's Internet speeds limited my ability to upload large video files that would be required for HD video.  The video's I did upload where scaled back to SD quality.   So if anyone has any favorite video(s) I have previously uploaded during the cruise, please leave me an anonymous comment.  I have all the original HD video and can re-upload higher quality replacement videos.

After our arrival in New York, we disembarked the ship as soon as we were able.  We made our way to JFK airport in plenty of time to make our flight to Arizona.  As I write this update we are here in Surprise Arizona until we fly home to Alaska June 5th.  We needed to stop by here first to close up our winter vacation home for the summer.  

Video

Click Here --> Arrival in New York by sea (SD Quality)

Click Here --> Arrival in New York by sea video (4K UHD)

Day 146 of 148 - HAMILTON, BERMUDA

 Date: 5/30/2024   Day 146   Port: HAMILTON, BERMUDA

Description: The island has been continuously inhabited by the British since the Sea Venture, captained by George Somers, was shipwrecked here in 1609, the inspiration for Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. Hamilton is the capital and heart of the island. Excellent shopping and dining venues can be found right on Front Street, opposite the pier. Among the attractions not to miss are: Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo (BAMZ), all conveniently located in a complex on North Shore Road; St. Peter’s Church, believed to be the oldest Anglican church in the Western hemisphere, and stunning in its simplicity with its rough-hewn pillars, exposed cedar beams and candlelit chandeliers; and St. Catherine Fort, well-preserved and a great vantage point for photos.

Planned Excursion: E-BIKE RAIL TRAIL COASTAL CYCLE

3.5 Hours   Moderate Activity   #BDA-014: $49.00

Bike the easy way, using an electric-enhanced bicycle that boosts your pedaling power.  Follow a former railway route that has been converted into a biking and hiking trail.  Admire the ever-changing scenery that often follows the beautiful coastline.

Afternoon Update:  We had nearly prefect weather mostly sunny and temps in the upper 70's.  The humidity was a bit high making it feel much warmer.  Our E-Bike ride was really lovely riding on an old converted railroad bed and along the coast road.  We stopped at a local park and beach for about 20 minutes.   Then we rode back to where we started riding on the coast road.  I have video of our ride that I hope to be uploading tomorrow on our last sea day before arriving in New York.  We'll be working our final packing our last sea day.  Once that is done I hope to be able to process and upload my video.  

We had a fantastic parking spot for our ship right downtown.  We past two much larger cruise ships on our way in this morning.  They were huge and were parked far out of town.  We have really love that our ship was smaller than most cruise ships allowing us to enter ports where the larger one are not.  

Videos

Click Here --> E-BIKE TRAIL COASTAL CYCLE Part 1

Click Here --> E-BIKE TRAIL COASTAL CYCLE Part 2

Click Here --> E-BIKE TRAIL COASTAL CYCLE Part 3

Day 144 of 148 - CRUISING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN (Good News)

 Date: 5/28/2024   Day 144   Sea Day: CRUISING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

Afternoon Update:  Today is our third sea day with one more remaining before our last port-of-call HAMILTON, BERMUDA.  We emerged this morning out of the stormy low pressure system we had been sailing through yesterday.   It's a beautiful day, mostly sunny in the low 70's.   

Those of you that have been regular reader's of this blog may recall back on day 142, I described some concerns I had with disembarkation on June 1st.   This afternoon I received good news.  The ship will help us off the ship with our luggage to the end of the gain way.  Once on the pier there will be porters to help us from there on through Immigration and Customs.  Once through Customs a Luggage Forwarding  representative will be available to receive our four 50lb bags.  In addition, we will be among the first to disembark at 11 AM as soon as the ship has been cleared.  With this assistance we stand a good chance to be hailing a cab to the airport by 12 noon.  It can take up to an hour and half to go the 23 miles to JFK from Pier 90.  So we stand a good chance to be arriving at the airport between 1:00 - 1:30 PM. That's plenty of time to make our 5 PM non-stop flight to Arizona.  To be honest I have been stressing out a bit about this.  Hopefully tonight I will get a much better night's sleep.    

Day 143 of 148 - CRUISING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

 Date: 5/27/2024  Day 143  Sea Day: CRUISING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

Description: The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about 85,133,000 km2 (32,870,000 sq mi). It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for separating the Old World of Africa, Europe, and Asia from the New World of the Americas.

Afternoon Update: Today it's been a cool and rainy day as we pass through off and on rain showers.  It's been a relaxing day as Cathy is working on her needle point project and I have been busy reviewing, processing and uploading videos from our stop in PONTA DELGADA (AZORES), PORTUGAL.  Here is a link to that post where you will find links to those videos.

Click Here --> Day 141

This being a holiday in the states, the ship will not know more about what to expect in New York on June 1st until tomorrow.   

Day 142 of 148 - CRUISING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN (issues ?)

 Date: 5/26/2024  Day 142  Sea Day: CRUISING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

Description: The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about 85,133,000 km2 (32,870,000 sq mi). It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for separating the Old World of Africa, Europe, and Asia from the New World of the Americas.

Afternoon Update: We rolled our clocks back another hour overnight.  We are now only two hours ahead of New York and six hours from our home in Alaska.  This is the first of 4 sea days to our last port-of-call Hamilton, Bermuda.  We have begun packing our bags.  

We learned a couple of weeks ago that we have chosen the wrong day to disembark the ship.   And now it's to late to change our travel plans from the 1st to the 2nd.  That same flight on June 2nd is booked up in first class.  

The ship is arriving in New York on June 1st.  However, June 2nd is the official disembarkation day.  Months ago when we were told of the change in itinerary, changing our arrival in the USA from May 17th Miami to June 1st New York.   I was told that disembarking on June 1st should not be a problem from the ship concierge.  Not true at all.  

We have now been told that we will receive no assistance getting our luggage off the ship.   Apparently the dock worker's union does not permit any ship personnel giving guests help beyond the ship gangway.   We have 4 - 50lb bags that is scheduled to be shipped home via Luggage Forward service.  In addition to these we have our carry on luggage and 2 up to 50lb checked bags for our flight home.   Today we were told that we need to carry all this through customs in New York before hopefully handing our 4 - 50lb bags to Luggage Forward on our exit from customs.  We are still waiting to see if this is possible.  I really hope so.  It's going to be hard enough with getting all our luggage off the ship and through customs.   It would be a real hardship if we had to fly home with all of it at extra expense.  Joe and Pat have offered to help us with our luggage, mostly Joe.  Hopefully we can find a couple of others to help as well.  

On a brighter note, the ship gave all of us their famous Sunday Brunch.  We have a few of these now on this world cruise and this one was the best.  I took a short video to give you a  look at this awesome spread.  

Click Here --> Regent Seven Seas Mariner Sunday Brunch video

Day 141 of 148 - PONTA DELGADA (AZORES), PORTUGAL

 Date: 5/25/2024  Day 141  Port: PONTA DELGADA (AZORES), PORTUGAL

Description: Savor the unparalleled natural wonders of this splendid volcanic island located at a crossroads in the Atlantic. See its stunning landscape, thermal pools, natural steam vents, volcanic lakes, subtropical flora, plantations and picturesque towns filled with perfectly preserved 17th and 18th century buildings.

Planned Excursion: HOTSPRINGS & BOTANICAL GARDEN

4.75 Hours   Strenuous Activity   #PDL-003

Get a bird’s eye view of Furnas Valley, a volcanic crater that is one of Europe’s richest hydrologic sites.  Stroll past centuries-old Baroque architecture in Ribeira Grande, one of the Azores’ oldest settlements.  Meander through an English-style botanical garden of lush greenery, brilliant flowers and thermal baths.  Walk among Caldeiras’ thermal fumaroles and hot springs, known for their medicinal mud.

Evening Update: Another beautiful place for which we were here far to short a time.  We arrived in the Azores at 8 AM and needed to be back onboard by 3:30 PM.  We didn't get back from out excursion until 1:45 PM which left little time to go into town.   We now have 4 days at sea until we reach our last port-of-call in Hamilton.  We had a lovely excursion today and really liked each stop we made.  I took a lot of pictures and video that I will be reviewing, processing and uploading over the next couple of sea days.  

Videos

Click Here --> Cha Gorreana Tea Factory 

Click Here --> Furnas Valley 

Click Here --> English-style botanical garden Part 1

Click Here --> English-style botanical garden Part 2

Click Here --> Caldeiras’ thermal fumaroles