Day 21 - Fort Lauderdale, FL

Our ship pulled into the port at Fort Lauderdale, Florida this morning. We did the usual ship departure stuff and boarded a bus that took us back to The Villages where we said goodbye to our friends and shipmates for the past three weeks. One thing of note - we were all excited that we wouldn't have jet lag returning from Europe. Instead, almost every day of the crossing, the ship turned their clocks back 1 hour at 3:00 in the afternoon. This way, the time change would be gradual. The night we got home was the end of Daylight Savings Time, so we lost yet another hour! Yawn... Our trip was awesome and we saw some of the most fantastic sights we've ever seen. For now, it's back to getting settled into our new life in The Villages. That's an easy job. . .

Days 14-20 - Crossing the Atlantic Ocean

With solid land now a thing of the past, we settled into enjoying some of the many activities on board ship as it crossed the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands back to Florida. We were fortunate to have very calm seas and moderate temperatures for the entire crossing.

Royal Caribbean sponsored a "Walk Across the Atlantic" event where guests would sign up to walk on treadmills so they were in continuous movement during the entire crossing. The money raised went to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Here are Susan and Joanne having a little refreshment while watching our friends Frank and Tom do their bit for the event.

We went to several performances at the Theater including a few dance shows, a comedic pianist, and a comedian.

We also took some ship tours, spent time at the pool, ate too much, and basically had a good time with our friends.

Day 13 - Tenerife, Canary Islands

Our last stop before heading back to Florida was the Canary Islands. They are very mountainous which made our journey across to the other side very scenic. The coastal areas have large black volcanic sand beaches surrounded by fancy resorts as this is a popular European vacation destination.

 Our bus took us to Loro Parque. Built in 1972, it is an interesting combination of an aviary, a zoo, an aquarium, and a botanical garden all rolled together into one.

Shortly after entering the park, we were greeted by the "King of the Villa Gorilla" (just ask him). He would hold a pose for a while then change to another intimidating pose.

The next interesting animal we saw was a white Bengal tiger named Prince who was donated to the park by an illusionist.

Then we went to a dolphin show where we enjoyed watching their antics.

After that, we went to see the Orca show. As we waited for the show to begin, a camera was scanning the audience and it would suddenly zoom in on someone and add a funny caption. We wound up being chosen just as I was trying to take a picture of the screen. I hesitated for a moment and the audience yelled out "Well kiss her!", so I snapped the picture and kissed Susan. The applause was fun.

Then the Orca show began with four of these large creatures jumping, splashing and doing the usual stuff.

We walked through a nice cactus garden on the way to get some lunch.

There were a large variety of birds both in cages and walking free around the park. This one was watching us have lunch (or maybe looking for his mate?).

The next interesting place we visited was the Penguinarium - the largest in the world with over 200 penguins living in a recreation of the Antarctic with real snow and ice in an air temperature of 0 degrees. A pretty cool place...

Our last stop of the day (other than the gift shop) was at the California Sea Lion show where 15 of them performed a variety of feats.

All in all, it was a most entertaining day. We returned to the ship and watched as the last land we would see for a while disappeared from view.

Day 12 - At Sea

We spent a long day at sea cruising from Spain to the Canary Islands. We did get to see the Rock of Gibraltar but, being after dark, you can't see very much of it except for the town lights on the mainland. ;-)

Day 11 - Malaga, Spain

Today, we're off to Granada, Spain to see the Alhambra Palace that started construction way back in the mid-1200's. Its awesome Moorish architecture was declared a National Monument in 1870. Washington Irving lived there in 1829.

We began our tour in the expansive garden area where we saw a wide variety of gigantic hedges, exotic plants, fountains and water features.

The buildings adjoining the gardens had ornate carved plaster walls and ceilings.

Another nice garden is the Court of the Cypress.

From the gardens, we could see what lies ahead - the Palace itself overlooking the town below.

When we arrived at the Palace itself, we were awed by its beauty. Here is one of the entrances to the Palace on the other side of a reflective pool.

Inside, the walls had the most intricate carved plaster with a recurring theme that says "Only God is Victorious" in Arabic or Moorish script (and it is repeated over 9,000 times!) plus some of the most ornate courtyards we've ever seen..

 This was one of the most amazing places we've seen so far.

Day 10 - Cartagena, Spain

After docking in Cartagena, we walked across the street and boarded Segway I-2s for a tour of the city. Here Susan is following our friend, Tom, as we began our ride to the top of the hill.

When we got to the top of the oh-so-steep hill, we arrived at the Castle of "la Concepcion" where we enjoyed a wonderful view of the city and its surroundings including an ancient Roman theater that we would visit later in the day.

We then rode our Segways to the harbor area where we viewed a variety of bronze statues and monuments including this powerful one dedicated to the victims of terrorism.

After getting off the Segways, we walked to the Museum of the Roman Theater of Cartagena. This is an ancient Roman theater built in the first century B.C. that had been recently discovered and is currently under excavation and restoration.

Our final stop of the day was at the Calle Gisbert that was a large excavation built in the hill beneath the Castle of la Concepcion in 1878. It was used by up to 5,500 people as an air-raid shelter during their Civil War in the late 1930's and into WWII.

Day 9 - Barcelona, Spain

Our next stop was in Barcelona, Spain. Since we were here before, we decided to take a walking tour of the famous Barcelona Markets. We started by walking down scenic La Rambla street with street performers and vendor stalls.

Then we entered Mercat de Sant Josep - probably Barcelona’s best-known market. It is a must-see whether sourcing ingredients for a fine meal or just wandering through.

It´s an assault on the senses with smells coming from the fish to the fruit. The food sold ranges from a wide variety of meats (including sheep's heads - yecch!),  mushrooms of every kind, delicious looking vegetables to literally fresh, out of the sea, still-moving crabs and lobsters

After visiting another market, we strolled down some very narrow streets (so narrow that not even a Smart Car could fit) and enjoyed lunch in a Tapas bar. Across the street was an interesting store called "happy pills."  The only shoppers in there were young women. It wasn't until we got home that we found out that "happy pills" are just candy - not what we thought it was.

Day 8 - Provence, France

We docked this morning at our first stop of the cruise in Toulon, France after a somewhat breezy night (up to 110 mph winds according to our Captain). Fortunately, the ship was as stable as a rock so it didn't bother us at all. We were first taken to the village of Aix-en-Provence where we spent a few hours exploring their downtown marketplace and walking through the historic areas of town.

Then we were off to Marseille where we drove past their bustling harbor and went to visit the amazing Basilica Notre-Dame de la Garde (at top of the hill in this photo) that was dedicated to the seafarers.

On the winding road leading to the Basilica we could see the islands in the harbor including the Chateau d'if on a tiny island in the middle. It is famous for being one of the settings of Alexandre Dumas' adventure novel The Count of Monte Cristo.

The inside of the Basilica Notre-Dame de la Garde was jaw-droppingly beautiful.

The view of Marseille from the Basilica grounds showed the sprawling city that surrounds it.

Before we leave the city, I must note how obvious it was that the garbage collectors were on strike protesting a legal issue in France and some other protesters were setting the piles of garbage on fire.

Day 7 - Navigator Of The Seas

After a long bus ride from Venice, we finally arrived at the port of Civitavecchia, Italy and boarded the Navigator Of The Seas. This ship holds over 3100 passengers - the largest ship we've ever been on.

The entrance to the Royal Promenade features a statue that depicts a man measuring the clouds with a yardstick.

A large number of interior rooms have a view of the Royal Promenade and all of its shops and bars.

At one end of the Royal Promenade is a piece of art that rises about 7 stories. It was inspired when the artist was scuba diving and looked down at the bubbles rising from other divers below him.

Vintages, a wine bar on the Royal Promenade, has a vintage car sitting outside.

The other end of the Royal Promenade with entrances to the library, dining and meeting rooms.

The main dining hall where we enjoyed a lot of good meals.

This is the main swimming pool and lounge area with the Canary Islands in the background.

Here is the more private adults-only pool area.

All in all, this looks like a fun ship to spend the next two weeks on.