On our Regal Princess transatlantic cruise It had been a while since we had taken a cruise (6 years), so when we began looking for one to take this spring, a transatlantic cruise caught our eye. We left Jacksonville by train to catch the ship in Fort Lauderdale, and returned 2 weeks later with lots of good memories. After only 10 days in Jacksonville, we were headed out again. This trip would literally involve buses, trains, ships and planes to make the full circuit for a month of travel.
7 days at sea - The view kept changing No Land in Sight
While we had been many miles out at sea on Orion, this transatlantic cruise on the Regal Princess would take us thousands of miles further than we would have ever dared to go on our little sailboat. We boarded in Fort Lauderdale in what would be one of Princess Cruises’ less than stellar embarkation days.
While we had been many miles out at sea on Orion, this transatlantic cruise on the Regal Princess would take us thousands of miles further than we would have ever dared to go on our little sailboat. We boarded in Fort Lauderdale in what would be one of Princess Cruises’ less than stellar embarkation days.
| | For the next 6 and 1 /2 days, we would not see land, so we had a lot of time to relax and explore the ship. |
| | On the 7th day, we landed in the Azores, a Portuguese territory 900 miles out into the Atlantic. We spent a day touring one of the islands and enjoyed the views, our tour guide, and some good food. |
| | After 2 more days at sea, we landed in Brest France on the northwestern tip of the European continent in Brittany. We enjoyed short, but rainy visit to this small city. |
| | Our final day at sea brought us to Rotterdam, where we took a trip to see the tulips, which were in full bloom. |
| | And our final port of call was Zeebrugge Belgium, where we took the shuttle to explore the historic town of Brugge. |
| | We pulled into Southampton England on Good Friday morning and braced ourselves for 24 hours of travel to return home to Jacksonville. |
Making the Most of a Short Layover
The next 10 days were a flurry of activity --- for Dave. For Cathy, it was going to be a little different, since she was sick in bed for 3 days and slowly recovering after that.
The next 10 days were a flurry of activity --- for Dave. For Cathy, it was going to be a little different, since she was sick in bed for 3 days and slowly recovering after that.
The computer in the picture wasn't working, as we discovered when we tried to watch the Sunday service. Cathy used her recovery time to publish videos on the cruise – something she couldn’t do while traveling because our computer died the first day out to sea. It was a small travel computer, and we had the data backed up on a removable drive, but we brought it back home in hopes it could be revived. But no such luck. The good news was that Cathy could enjoy the trip and not take time away to work on the computer. The bad news was that on our next trip, we would be carrying one of our much heavier computers.
Dave, however, managed to arrange to have the RV and truck washed and waxed. He then worked with the same individual to do the same for a neighbor’s RV done. He worked with a Nomad volunteer to clean the metal drip edge around the gym roof, helped train the new admin how to maintain the church’s website, and attended a Trustee meeting, just to give a few highlights.
But the busiest day was probably the day we were about to leave on our next train trip north. After checking the A/C in the storage container, he discovered it wasn’t staying on – either due to a faulty breaker or something wrong in the unit. Without any more time to work on it, he made Jose aware of the problem and gave him ideas for solving it. Then he got a call about a printing problem in the office. After working through that, there was an issue with the gym’s A/C which was dripping condensate down the wall. That turned out to be a plugged drain and much too long deferred filter changes. Rushing back to the RV to shower and prepare to head out, he got a call from Jose. B building toilets were overflowing. Running out of time, we headed out to the train station, while he talked through the problem with Jose and Grace from Kim’s Open Door.
Dave, however, managed to arrange to have the RV and truck washed and waxed. He then worked with the same individual to do the same for a neighbor’s RV done. He worked with a Nomad volunteer to clean the metal drip edge around the gym roof, helped train the new admin how to maintain the church’s website, and attended a Trustee meeting, just to give a few highlights.
But the busiest day was probably the day we were about to leave on our next train trip north. After checking the A/C in the storage container, he discovered it wasn’t staying on – either due to a faulty breaker or something wrong in the unit. Without any more time to work on it, he made Jose aware of the problem and gave him ideas for solving it. Then he got a call about a printing problem in the office. After working through that, there was an issue with the gym’s A/C which was dripping condensate down the wall. That turned out to be a plugged drain and much too long deferred filter changes. Rushing back to the RV to shower and prepare to head out, he got a call from Jose. B building toilets were overflowing. Running out of time, we headed out to the train station, while he talked through the problem with Jose and Grace from Kim’s Open Door.
So, it was no surprise that as we boarded our train to head north to Philadelphia to see Dave’s mom and sister, that he was the one that crashed first.
Parting Shots
After taking a day or 2 to regroup from our cruise and get over jet lag, we were up early for Easter sunrise service (which wasn’t too bad given our bodies still thinking we were 6 hours ahead). The cross from the con trails appeared over our sunrise service. We enjoyed Easter services and had a church breakfast and a lovely lunch with friends to celebrate.
After taking a day or 2 to regroup from our cruise and get over jet lag, we were up early for Easter sunrise service (which wasn’t too bad given our bodies still thinking we were 6 hours ahead). The cross from the con trails appeared over our sunrise service. We enjoyed Easter services and had a church breakfast and a lovely lunch with friends to celebrate.
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