21st November- It’s a bit chilly out there

It is expected to be cold today, around one degree centigrade the weather channel says and so we dressed up nice and warm and went for a warming breakfast in a Diner opposite Boston Common.

It wasn’t the best breakfast in the world and most New Yorkers would not have accepted it but it’s Sunday morning in Boston and hardly any shops or restaurants are open.

The sun was great this morning so we went back to the park and walked down to Back Bay where there are some expensive and big houses which are also quite old. Then on down to the river and along the side for a couple of miles until we reached the Railway Station for a necessary comfort break, as they call them here.

We ended up back in the market place and this time there was hardly anybody there and the restaurants were extremely quiet compared to yesterday.

We had lunch in a nice place which was also very quiet. We appreciated this whilst testing a bottle of Chardonnay from Argentina which was very good. We already knew that by mid afternoon when the sun is going down it will be much colder and so we went to another cinema and watched a rather silly movie called ‘Unstoppable’ which was about a runaway train going down the track (with some dodgy chemicals on board), Who Who!! and Denzyl Washington saving hundreds of lives. Of course it all ended happily ever after. Apparently it was based on a real life incident, so be warned do not travel on American Railways. 

George Washington out for a ride in the Park

Then back to the Hotel to print boarding passes for tomorrow. The BA online check-in is a B……y nightmare and I will complain when I get back to the UK, it took almost 35 minutes to check in, Virgin make it so easy by comparison.

Tonight we must pack up for our early departure tomorrow morning. The flight leaves around 0815 and so it will be an alarm call around 05.15, and a taxi around 0600.

We are hoping that 7 hours later we shall touch down in London and be home local time around 9pm in time for a cuppa, a good shower and a good nights sleep in our own bed.

That ends this trips report and the next one will start in a weeks time when we head off to France for three days.

20th November- A walk around Boston Town

We looked out of the Hotel window when it was light and we have great views of the office air conditioning plant for next door.  Also the sun was shining on the golden roof  of the nearby State House.

We left the Hotel for a walk through the streets of Boston and initially went through Boston Common which is quite a large park in the middle of the town. We were immediately struck by the number of vagrants around the streets, sleeping in doorways, and standing around in groups and one large group waiting for the soup kitchen to open. No good compared to New York where just about all the vagrants have left town, and no doubt took the United shuttle to Boston.

We continued walking around and arrived in Quincy Market Place which has been extensively rebuilt over the years with new shops.  The inside was full of food shops selling everything from burgers to lobster rolls but the smell of food everywhere was not good at all so we left pretty quickly after walking around. We were intending to do a Harbour Cruise and headed off in that direction and arrived just in time to board a small boat along with 50 or 60 other folks for a fifty minute tour of the harbour which could have easily been accomplished in half the time had they not dwelt on so many facts. They talked a lot about beating the Brits, and then mentioned the useless fact about Boston being level with Lisbon, well that explains the vagrants we thought, see earlier report on Lisbon.

Falun Gung doing Tai Chi in the Park

We noticed that there was an IMAX Cinema so we went there and watched a 3D film of undersea wildlife in Indonesia and Australia.  It was very good indeed and would have been better if a baby had not cried pretty much all the time during the performance.  Misery guts Noel complained but it seemed to go over their heads.

We then walked back to the Quincy Market where they were planning to light up the Christmas tree, we watched that for a while and had previously decided to go back later to the Imax to watch a film called Inception with Leonardo De Caprio and also Michael Cain in a bit part.

This film was the most imaginative, clever, confusing, unbelievable,

exciting, fast moving film we have seen for a long time that we did not fully understand.  Its all about ‘Dreams’ and how they can be made to work for you but boy is it difficult to understand but well worth watching.

And then back to bed

19th November- Heading to Boston, Mass. .

Mayflower 11-The sequel!

We left the Hotel and did a tour of the local area which is interesting but nothing to write home about and then left Weymouth in the direction of Boston but using the lesser road for more interest.

There have been a lot of houses built along this coast either for weekend use or for rent as most of them seemed empty. After trolling along for a couple of hours we arrived in Plymouth where the pilgrims landed all those years ago. There is also a full size replica of the ‘Mayflower’ called ‘Mayflower II’ which in about 1957 (I think it was) made the same trip as the original but when you see the size of this boat it would be frightening to travel on and it also seems top heavy. The town was gearing up for ‘Thanksgiving’ as there were several large tents set up with a bandstand and so no doubt they have fun and games in store. This US Plymouth compared to the UK Plymouth is much smaller and not surrounded by Navy as this is primarily a fishing port and we would think the population is quite small. Shortly after we arrived about eight coaches turned up and kids were everywhere and so we took our photos and left as it was getting very cold, the coldest we had experienced so far on this trip.

Its a stone I tell you!-Its called Plymouth Rock

As we got nearer to Boston the quality of housing improved and then we stopped for lunch at a Panera Bread outlet for a nice bowl of soup and then were ready to head over to the south west side of Boston to find a Best Buy where Noel could buy a charger for the I-Pod which seems to have gone missing. Noel could not stand seven hours on the London flight without his I-Pod for comfort.

We are also a little concerned about the car which has a constant reminder that it needs a service whist the battery is really struggling to start the car so lets hope that it holds up for the day.

From Best Buy to downtown Boston took a little longer than expected mainly due to this annoying American habit for when dropping off kids from school. As soon as the bus stops and puts its flashing lights on every vehicle within sight must stop and wait for the kids to get off before all can continue. So as this bus stops every few hundred yards or so and other school buses doing the same it causes severe traffic jams and thats what we got involved with and this made us about 45 minutes later at the Hotel than planned.

Anyway we reached the Hyatt and dropped off our stuff in the room and then back down to the lobby to collect the car and take it back to Hertz which was about half a mile away.

On the way back we got a little lost due to the signposting not being great but eventually we arrived back at about 6.40 and decided that a snack in the Hotel would be the plan for the evening, followed by some severe relaxation before we hit the streets tomorrow.

  

18th November- Coventry, Richmond, Harwich, Yarmouth et al

We left the Hotel and unfortunately at the first turn the Sat Nav let us down as it took us down a dead end road instead of the slip road on to the I-95, Ah! modern technology.

A few minutes later we were on the correct road with our plan to drive to the far end of Cape Cod and stop for lunch and then take a slow drive back to our Hotel in West Yarmouth.

Motorway driving can be a little boring and so after a while we stopped to pick up some ‘gas’ where the 50 year old slightly plump-ish lady on the till said, gee I love your accent, can you say some more and what about staying here for a couple of hours as I just luv that accent.  Perhaps if she had been in the early twenties then maybe but not this time. We had a coffee and biscuit and then headed back up the various roads with ever reducing sizes, three lanes each side , then down to two and finally two way traffic and so we think we are almost there.

Provincetown is right at the end of Cape Cod and this town was incorporated by the Brit’s in 1727 and then some years later the Portuguese started arriving and now it is still known as a Gay Town, although we did not realise this until after our visit. Still we had a light lunch in the ex “Post Office and Cabaret” before taking a slow drive back down the coast via towns which are well known in the UK until we reached West Yarmouth and the Hampton Inn and Suites, our home for the night.

We decided to head off to a recommended restaurant to test the Lobster and we were not disappointed at all.  Jennifer had their Lobster served with pasta in a cream sauce and Noel had the steamed lobster with shrimp and scallops with a nice baked potato and a good size glass of Chardonnay, absolutely brilliant . We have tried Lobster in several places but none could equal those we had in Thailand but this was very good indeed, not tough but also tasty and soft. The restaurant was very good indeed with a waiter who knew what he was doing for a change.

Tomorrow is unplanned but we need to be in Boston by about 5pm so as to beat the traffic and also drop off the hire car.

Anyway looking forward to a good nights sleep.

17th November- Time to leave New York

We arose round 0700 and finished packing and checked out of the Hotel with Noel having a go at them about their terribly slow internet which you have to pay for. When arranging Hotels for the next few days last Monday, it ended up with the same Hotel booked twice, brilliant and it cost USD 18.00 telephone call to correct this and so after a quick complaint the money was refunded.

We had a quick breakfast and picked up the Hertz Rent a car from a nearby building and whilst walking there we almost got blown over with the strong winds. We picked up the Honda Accord and then entered the details in to the Garmin Sat Nav we had purchased prior to leaving UK and headed off to Long Island. En-route we went through Brooklyn (named we think after David Beckham’s son) and Queens ( named after George Michael and Freddie Mercury we believe) and then found our way East on Long Island and eventually stopped at a Costco store for some quick shopping, lunch and to purchase a chicken Caesar salad for tonight.

We then drove along the scenic route to the very end of Long Island to find the ferry which leaves from Orient Point for a place called New London in Connecticut. This area seems very quiet but we were very surprised to see that there were so many vineyards for miles and miles. We arrived at what you might laughingly call a port, one man in a small wooden shed, and he was able to get us on the ferry one hour earlier that we had booked. The vessel was quite old but overall reasonably comfortable but a lot smaller than the UK Cross Channel ferries. Although it was still windy the crossing was not too rough except for one moment when a largish wave hit the ferry and knocked Noel’s tea over the floor, but nothing like the Atlantic crossing.

Our Sat Nav guided us off the ship and down on to the famous motorway called the I-95 and shortly afterwards we arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn in Groton which is not far from Hyannis. There is quite a naval population around this area as we had noticed submarine pens when arriving in to New London port.

We are planning a quiet night tonight as we are both a little tired after our very long walk yesterday and the early morning today. So we spent the evening watching a specialist film channel showing Charlie Chaplin films with the first one being ‘The Kid’ with Jimmy Coogan playing the kid.

Tomorrow we drive up to the top of Cape Cod and we sincerely hope they have some chips there as well.  

Note- No time for photos today

16th November- Put those walking boots back on!

We awoke to grey skies and the strong chance of rain and in fact when we left the Hotel there was rain in the air. We had a quick breakfast in the Au Bon Pan Café nearby and then went on the PATH train uptown to 33rd Street. From there we walked and walked up to Central Park by which time it was getting to lunchtime. We had noticed, back a few hundred yards, a Deli called The Stage Deli where Noel used to eat occasionally when visiting New York in the late 70’s and 80’. So in we trooped and ordered the Turkey on Rye with gravy and chips, brilliant it was but far too much food as their must have been almost half a turkey on each plate and so we had no space for the amazing cheesecake they serve.

We went back via 8^th Street and walked down to 42^nd Street, which was infamous in the late 70’s and 80’s for just about everything. In fact as soon as the lights went down it was not safe to be on the streets. Today it is so different and it is clean, there is a lot of new building and Times Square is now a pedestrian area as against a large traffic island.

We continued along 42^nd until we reached Grand Central Station where another amazing job has been done to bring what was almost a dilapidated station in to the 21^st century and there are restaurants galore, all the old furniture has been restored and it is now a hive of activity. After a short and necessary break we walked all the way down Park Avenue to East Houston street via the area called The Bowery where there are still a lot of tramps although strong efforts are being made to improve it. We found a Whole Foods store, they are great, and went inside for some rather powerful broccoli soup to attend our upcoming hunger needs.

The whole day the sky had been grey (not good for photos) and with odd spots of rain and even at 4pm it was dark and now by 6pm it looked like heavy rain might be on the way and so we found a subway station back to the WTC station and then took the PATH back to Exchange Place and the Hotel.

We have walked miles and miles today, far more than last Sunday and we were both exhausted and need baths and shower and then went to bed around 1030 as we have an early start tomorrow.

15th November- A pleasant day and taking it easy

Another nice sunrise over the Hudson River greeted us this morning and we took a late breakfast in a little café not far from the Hotel. The buffet breakfast in the Hyatt on a nice day overlooking the river is really great but to do this evry day would impact significantly against our pension plans and so the little café it is.

Noel then went to his ex office in Jersey City and met up with some ex business colleges for about two and a half hours which he enjoyed and then met up with Jen and we had a snack in another local fast food joint.

Jen, Francis and John

Our plans for the remainder of the week are to leave New York on Wednesday morning and then drive along Long Island avoiding freeways and generally visiting some of the nice towns and then up at the far end of Long Island where we can take a ferry across to Connecticut. However we also need to book ferries and Hotels in Connecticut and also Massachusetts and so the afternoon was  spent planning this aspect of the tour. So with Hotels and Ferries arranged we went to the bar of the Hotel to meet up with some old friends/colleagues at around six pm and spent a great couple of hours and having a good laugh. The two friends were Francis Blackmore who worked with Noel in London in the late 1990’s and John O’Sullivan an ex Lufthansa man who joined K+N in London some time ago and was posted to New York for three years. John’s sister is married to Ray Lake another of our good friends. It’s a small world.

Jens cold is not really improving as much as she hoped for but with some extra medication we hope it will improve soon. Tomorrow we are off to up town New York and hope the rain keeps off.

Sunday 14th-November- A Grand walking tour of downtown New York

 Before starting with today, we forgot to mention an interesting matter happening in Hoboken when we were there on Saturday evening. We were walking along the main road and there was this huge queue of people which went on for over 200 yards and finished outside a cake shop which was jammed with people and a security guard on the main door?. After dinner about 90 minutes later we came back and the queue was even longer, Umm better find out why. We spoke to a Salvation Army collector who said that it was due to a shop called Cake Boss where the owner had been sued by a Seattle Based software company who make a Bakers software called Cake Boss, This law suit which has just been settled has resulted in massive publicity for this little shop in Hoboken and hence the queues for their well know canola’s. People come from all over the place to this little shop and queue for hours, Wow can’t see this happening in Weybridge.

Anyway, back to today. We left the Hotel after watching the Abu Dhabi GP then had a late brunch and got on board the PATH train which runs under the Hudson River where the first stop is WTC. The WTC re-development is well under way with some buildings growing well but still a huge amount to do. The main building which will also be an epitaph for those people who died at 9/11 is now just starting after years of discussion how it will look. We also visited the 9/11 remembrance store and watched a couple of videos on the subject. Leaving downtown we headed North till we came to Chinatown and its like being back in Hong Kong again with the bustle and Cantonese speaking people with shops overloaded with fish of all types and vegetable and fruit, One fish shop was also selling large dark green frogs, see photos.

Leaving Chinatown we entered Little Italy and stopped for a coffee and tried a canola, which is a like a brandy snap but larger, and then filled with ricotta cheese and cream, but its is a bit sweet for our taste. Little Italy is of course crowded with Chinese as well as they are spilling over the border but there are a lot of Italian Restaurants as well. Then on to SOHO (which is not what you think) but stands for South Of HOuston Street but is now a conglomeration of up-market shops, Vendi et al. Then leaving Soho and on to Greenwich Village and the mass of restaurants and bars and shops which were all pretty busy. By this time it was reaching about 5pm and as we had walked a fair old way and so we headed back to Little Italy and found a nice restaurant called Angelo’s which seemed to be busy without having to recourse to waiters walking the streets offering menus and tables. This place has its own existing customers as many people who arrived were met by the owner and made to feel welcome. We didn’t meet the owner as we didn’t know him of course.

Frogs with Legs

We enjoyed a great meal of home made lasagne which neither of could finish as each plate would feed a family of four, this is America.

We arrived back at the Hotel having walked, we guess, about 8 or 9 miles and were a little tired whilst Jennifer’s cold is not helping.

We had a nice evening catching up with photos and Blog and then to bed, a nice day and its great to be free. 

13th November- Things were going so well before we docked

We awoke early, around 0600 as we wished to go upstairs and watch the morning sunrise over New York and then watch our approach to The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island next door.

The sun was very bright with the sky wall to wall blue and just right for photographs, We slowly made our way up the Hudson River and finally went around a couple of bends and tied up alongside the Museum where there is the ‘Intrepid’ Aircraft carrier and also an ex British Airways Concord parked. As we were watching a lady behind us said “I don’t know how they get that aircraft to fly with so little space????”

We docked and the ship was about 10 feet away from the quay side against large rubber balls to protect the side of the ship, however the ramps for the bags and suitcases were too short and would not reach the land. Brilliant, so after 45 minutes when no doubt the Unions were discussing money they brought in a fork lift to take one small cage containing about 20 bags per time from the ship and drop it on the quay where another fork lift took it in to the terminal. Our disembarkation time should have been around 1020 which suited us but finally we got off around midday, four bloody hours to unload some suitcases.

We finally located our driver whose English was appalling, I suppose with a name like Mohamed … you would expect it and he was waiting upstairs at the drop off zone and not the pick up zone although the Port staff told us we have to cross the main road to find a hired car. This Terminal is a complete and utter nightmare and is not capable of handling ships of this size. They can fly men to the moon but to unload a ship they haven’t a clue.

We arrived at the Hyatt Jersey City and after a short while went down to the local mall using the light railway and then on to Hoboken (the birthplace of Frank Sinatra) for dinner at Arthur’s Steak House, the food was excellent as usual, it is not the most salubrious place in the world but it is good food and a good price.

Then we picked up some bits and pieces of shopping and then back to the Hotel for a nice nights sleep. We hope they have the Abu Dhabi Formula One GP on tomorrow morning as it the final race when the Championship will be finally decided.

12th November- The waves are down but the wind is strong

The wind is blowing at around 50 knots this morning although the waves are down from their 45 feet down to about 25 feet but at least they opened the Garden Café for breakfast.

After a light fruity breakfast we went to the Theatre to see a presentation about disembarkation in New York. Noel was intrigued that you need a 30 minute presentation on this subject and went along just see what it was about. Bearing in mind that a four page leaflet fully detailing the “what’s and how’s” of disembarkation has already been put in the cabin they found it necessary to now have a 30 minute presentation on it, can’t people read anymore.

On the way back we met our ‘New Yorker’ we had met several times before and started talking about the cruise and he said that he did not enjoy the NCL approach at all and much preferred Princess Line ships and crew. We thought the crew were fine but I suppose that as this is my first experience I will bow to his greater knowledge.

The crew that we met were very friendly and very efficient, perhaps too efficient as, if you leave your table for another glass of water, everything is cleared away and the table is cleaned and so we had to take it in turns to shop for food. This does not happen in the main silver service dining rooms of course.

Our other gripe, perhaps there are too many already, is that smoking is allowed in cabins, on deck and also in the casino area and certain other areas as well and it does start to permeate the ship eventually. The people in the cabin next door smoke cigars and cigarettes quite often and initially, prior to the bad weather, would sit on their balcony and puff away with the smoke pouring in to our cabin and balcony and so on a few occasions we had to leave the balcony to escape and shut the door. Whilst typing this at midday this couple , well the wife actually is having a strong coughing fit which lasted two minutes, oh the joys of smoking. Shame really. We guess that in a couple of years this boat will smell of cigarette smoke no matter where you are.

At this time we are heading along the coast and close to Nantucket Island, New York’s expensive playground although we cannot see much but at least the sun is out and there is blue sky. Apparently later today we will get closer to the edge of Long Island for less rough water before entering the outskirts of the harbour around 0600 tomorrow.

After dinner we went to the show which was primarily the singers and dancers carrying out routines from around the world but when the show was over the Miss Cruise director came on and introduced a video shot around the ship at several events and basically showing people in their silly moments. Wonderful and then, you won’t believe it… One by one the personnel from various departments around the ship came on stage all singing a Norwegian Cruise Line song and suggesting the audience ie customers join in. No way Jose! So there were Chefs, waiters, house maids, Engineering Staff and even the Safety Officer as the Captain was no doubt getting pi**ed in his cabin or perhaps even driving the ship alongside Long Island. Jennifer tells me that this is not the norm on ships that she has been on however much of the audience did appreciate it, maybe it’s just us old foggies.

10th November- It’s getting a little choppy out there

It was a little bumpy in the night but seemed to have improved once we finally awoke for our morning cuppa. Whenever we travel we take our own tea making equipment just in case. Many US hotels have coffee making stuff which can be used for boiling water but usually even the tea tastes like coffee. So we have our little multi volt electric kettle, which has sufficient room to boil enough water for two large cups, we also have a pack of our UK brand tea bags and collect water each night from the restaurant as the tap water is seawater that has been treated by an on board desalination plant but it’s no good for tea at all.

Breakfast time, the silver service has stopped as I presume that we are near enough to the USA should there be any health problems. We sat outside and it must have been raining as most of the chairs and tables were wet but we did find one set that was ok.

The navigation channel on the TV is now showing the sea state as ‘Rough mounting waves’ of 14.5 feet whilst the temperature has now reached 24.3 degrees with winds of 33 knots. Should be interesting over the next few days and Jennifer has her sea bands on. With this weather we may not be able to safely do our planned walk later today, anyway let’s see.

Well, the Captain has been on the Tannoy to say that the weather is deteriorating and he is expecting the winds to increase and also the wave height and as a result they will have to close the portholes on deck 4 until further notice. This may not please some of the passengers on that deck. The weather is expected to be this way for the next 48 hours. Please therefore use one hand to hold on to the hand rails at all times to avoid an accident. He is also planning to slow the ship down a bit when it gets a little rougher. Time to visit the bar selling Brandy!!

Yes, it is getting a little bit more rough as the afternoon wears on but we go to see the Yorkshire lass again on the piano and then to see the show which, an American guy sitting next to Noel, said was great. It’s an English group he said, I felt they weren’t after watching them for five minutes and then walking out earlier in the week however we went and they were Spanish and out of tune. Their group name is Fourever and they went on it seems for bloody forever and then the end came and people stood up and shouting for more, Oh No please not, but they did.

The ship was shaking quite a bit by now with winds of up to 40 knots and wave height at 28 feet and climbing.

11th November- It’s a real storm

Neither of us slept well overnight with the boat moving around all over the place and when we woke we noticed that several things had fallen off shelves and also the bed had moved 12 inches to the right and stopped by the cupboard doors. Wow didn’t notice that.

After breakfast we walked to the front of the ship and overlooked the Captain’s Lair, as we arrived we hit a particularly large wave and their chairs, on wheels would you believe, slid across the control deck and smashed in to another couple of chairs. The Captain appeared at a fast rate and then lots of red flashing lights went for reasons we know not, but we did find out.

Back through the ship we finally passed duty free with stuff all over the place and cupboards falling over, Noel was looking for damaged bottles of whisky but no such luck. Further up the corridor there were groups of Filipinos busy sweeping up water, on the 6 and 7 th floors. We then noticed another group of engineers trying to tie down some relaxer chairs on the 7^th floor with wind whistling past and water going everywhere, quite dangerous for them anyway.

We stopped for a few minutes to look out the window and take some photos at which time they announced that several restaurants on the upper decks were closing for safety reasons and that having food sent to your cabin will be quicker as they put more people on this job. It would also appear that some furniture in the ‘Great Outdoors’ Restaurant has either been washed away or more likely blown overboard from the 12^th floor. But it is certainly closed down now with rope everywhere holding tables and chairs and imitation pot plants

Noel took some photos of the waves from deck 7 and they were much higher than deck 7 and were quite awe inspiring really, not like the River Wey at all.

Whilst typing this at around midday, it’s very windy at about 50 knots and waves of up to 35 feet as the Das Kapitan has just informed us and that this weather will continue most likely till past midnight and then start to subside. You want adventure Groves so shut up moaning. Not like the cross channel ferry at all.

Noel is reading a book called ‘The Hunt for Red October’ by Tom Clancy, a seafaring story no less and there is a quote which says ” a ship is like a prison in which you can also drown” nice!!!

The film they are showing today is ‘Titanic’, actually it’s not it’s called ‘Angels and Demons’ so we went to watch it. If you have seen the film you will know that part of the action takes place in cars travelling fast around Rome, you are in the car going fast around the corner and the ship is lurching all over the place, it’s just like being in a simulator. There are little white bags stacked around all over the place just in case.

In the evening with the Garden Café closed there were more people than places available to eat unless you wait till quite late and so we said ‘bugger it’ and went back to Cagney’s Steak House which was good, but you do have to pay more.

Following dinner a short stay in the Star Bar listening to the four piece string group and then on to the Theatre to see a show put on by the crew which was good and bad in places.

The ship was still moving around quite a bit when we got back to the cabin, there is another hour to be lost overnight which means that by Friday we are already on New York time.

Bedtime calls.

9th November- Let’s do something different

On Tuesday Noel went on a photographic trip around the ship for fun. Not to take photos of the ship per say but to take some photos of the feeling of the ship and at one point he was asked to stop taking photos of the bank of photos taken by the ship’s photographer which were displayed outside his studio, anyway after a quick chat and showing some of the photos taken prior to that point he was let off.

Jennifer went to watch a talk about detox and weight loss but in the end this presentation finalised with offering the passengers this very special box of pills which ONLY cost a $100.00 per month and your worries are truly over. We had lunch up in the ‘The Great Outdoors’ as it was about 23 degrees centigrade which is quite surprising really, this must be due to the more southerly track taken by the ship.

We also keep bumping in to the big ‘New Yorker’ a guy who we previously met in an internet café in Ponta Delgado, who likes to talk in a loud voice; he is quite amusing really and is followed around by his long suffering wife. Each time you meet him he has wise words. He said last time, remember this, when you die your life ends and there nothing else to worry about’.

On Noel’ s earlier travels around the ship he overheard a group of ladies discussing somebody who had died on board, Noel hoped it was the female cruise director but no such luck. We have lost two hours this week and we have another three to go and so presume over the next four nights on board we will somehow loose those as well.

We did a great walk around the ship yesterday of about two miles at a fast pace and of course it’s a smooth surface and also quite exhilarating with the wind blowing down one side of the ship and occasionally holding on as the ship lurches un-expectantly.

Tonight’s show was a Czech Mandolin player who also played several wind instruments and he was quite good. The wind must be getting up or it may be the wave height as the stage curtain was moving back and forth and also the backdrop swinging wildly. Later we went to people watch rather than join the cruise director who was running a game for ‘adults only’ in one of the lounges, not for us we thought. Got back to the cabin and there was a note stating we should put our watches back again tonight.

Upon visiting the garden café there was a gay Filipino male, handing out water. He was singing quite loudly all the time and it appears that once he reaches New York he is flying home for two months leave after being away for nine months. Boy was he happy and looking forward to seeing his family and also his dog.

We also watched the ‘SKY’ news in the room and the report about ex Pres Bush and his new book with strong signals from a number of commentators that Bush could be arrested outside of the US for agreeing with what in the UK we call torture. No doubt Herr Blair knew all about this and now it’s in the open perhaps they may pursue him as well.

8th November - We are sailing, we are sailing etc

Well for the next five days we shall be sailing across the North Atlantic Ocean no doubt trying to dodge the various weather fronts.

It’s strange that when we are walking around the deck we like to go clockwise but everybody else goes the other way round, cannot fathom this out at all.

We missed the Doctors presentation about losing weight by hypnotherapy and also acupuncture as there were so many large people there we could not get in the room.

On Monday night we went to the evening show where a young lass, from Yorkshire, called Claire Maidin who, we understand, had appeared in the X-Factor and also Britain’s got some talent, or something like that, we both agreed she was very good indeed. She has a strong voice and was excellent at the piano and gave a very good performance indeed.

Monday night was also dress up night and so many ladies went to great trouble to look nice but the male of the species did not try so hard and in fact perhaps wore a better and new set of jeans and trainers. The wind has started getting a little stronger and the waves are about 3.5 metres high at the moment although against the size of this ship you hardly notice them at all whilst the ships speed is around 19 knots.

7th November- Arriving in Ponta Delgado, The Azores

A group of large Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and owned by Portugal and is also part of the EU. We arrived in the small harbour and tied up virtually in the centre of town as it would only be a short walk from the Ship to the main shopping areas and Churches etc.

Upon leaving the ship we were struck by the newness of the Harbour Facilities with new shops and open air cafes and the streets were clean. Even the pavements did not have the large Ian Lake holes in them. We noticed several of the cafes were offering free Wi-fi internet and if we can’t find a computer internet place we will pop back to the ship for our own notebook later in the day. We also didn’t want to be late as the Cruise Directoress had promised a big screen production of the Brazilian Formula One Grand prix starting at 3pm.

As it was a Sunday most of the shops, apart from the ones at the Port were pretty much closed but we walked from one side of the town to other and were pretty impressed how well kept this place is compared to Lisbon. Most of the houses had been recently painted and there were no obvious signs of graffiti and very little rubbish on the streets at all. We were unsuccessful in finding a computer internet place, everybody has their own notebook, netbook or I-pad today and so this type of shop is failing. Noel darted back to the cabin and picked up the notebook but we could not make a connection at the first place and

then we moved on to a mall where they also advertised free internet, we could find the signal but could not get access until a person at the next table said you need this code and from thereon it was ok but very, very slow connection indeed. This is not surprising as there must have been 30 odd people with notebooks etc trying to connect.

We did a final walk along the beachfront to the Old Fort at the end of the town then headed back and came across a local drum band with mostly teenagers and some people dressed up in cow outfits, not sure why.

On board we settled in to watch the Grand Prix and were getting nervous that it must have started and then it turned out they could not find a suitable satellite and so they would show the film ‘Mama Mia’, Noel does not like ABBA anyway and Jennifer has already seen the film so after ten minutes we decided there were better things in life than watching this.

We went topside for a cuppa and cake and I forgot to mention that since leaving Lisbon it is all silver service and you cannot even make your own cup of tea. During the first few days perhaps because we were close to a port you were allowed to help yourself to certain foods and make your tea or get iced water but now this is all done by the crew as they state they want everybody to be healthy and reduce the risk of on board illness.

Tonight we tried the Grand Main Dining Room which is at the back of the ship and seats about 900 people. The food was OK but not especially brilliant and we felt that the food in the garden café which is always served piping hot is perhaps better. It was worth the experience however.

During dinner we discussed the merits of cruising, Jennifer felt that it might be better to go on a more expensive ship where they don’t push extra items at you all the time, On Jen’s previous ships they have given talks about where your are going and the history of the place and nice places to visit by experts. On here it’s more like selling their own bus tours which are expensive and presented by people who read a script. Noel felt a little cramped and missed the freedom and also the opportunity to see more of the places we visited and having the complete freedom to do it our way. We are now not sure if we will do the Valparaiso to Buenos Aires cruise when we go to Latin America as we feel we will miss all the good bits that you can see from land and perhaps on a smaller ferry which does Island hopping. Food seems to be the main hobby of the largely American population on board and god knows where they put it all. Sometimes one plate at a time is not enough, quite off putting really.

We both agree that the opportunity to eat at the different restaurants is good rather than sit in the same seat at all meal times but somehow this will most likely be the last cruise for quite a while and we stick to our old routines.

After dinner we did a walk around the decks and put our heads in to the big Theatre where there was a group of youngish guys who may be failures from the X-Factor doing their best to sing Freddie Mercury and failing quite well really.

Shame Chelsea lost to Liverpool we did not see the game but know the result. This is quite depressing as I believe Chelsea may have been playing a weak team due to injuries and as I refuse to pay USD 5.00 for a minute to use the internet I will wait to find out when we reach New York next Saturday. Same applies to the Brazilian GP.

One final matter, as we pulled out of Ponta Delgado the Finnish Captain said that due to severe storms in certain parts of the Atlantic we would be taking a different route to that planned and that he would travel at a faster speed so that he had the opportunity to slow down if the weather got too bad. It’s quite encouraging really.

6th November- A day all at sea

We thought when waking this morning we would most likely have a quiet’ish day after walking a long way yesterday, only we was wrong.

The weather is still quite nice and although rain was forecast it did not appear and the sun was quite bright when we had breakfast this morning on the aft deck. The rest of the morning Noel spent going through his now several hundred photographs to make them ready for the web for when we can reach an internet connection and Jennifer was deep in her book.

A light lunch was followed by more time reading and Ipod music then a good mile and half fast walk on the deck to get the blood moving to get ready for our dinner in the Orchid Chinese Restaurant. The dinner was pretty good and the style was mostly Northern Chinese style but being served by Indian and Philipino waiters and with Japanese chop sticks and no stick rests it wasn’t quite right and even the Jasmine tea was tea bag style, Oh for Hong Kong!!!

Following dinner we went up to the Spinnaker lounge at the front of the ship, we though, to have a quiet sit down, meditate and let the dinner go down only there was a ‘Newly Wed Show’ hosted by, you guessed it, Goodmorning Laideese and genelemen Cruise Director. It is supposed to be a quiz where you ask couples who are married the same question to see if they answer the same. So here is the twist, when they were looking for a very newly married couple a guy put his hand up and said they had been married for only 27 days and so the hostess asked them to come to the floor. It was then that everybody discovered that it was a male gay marriage. This seemed to temporarily throw Miss Cruise Director for a minute. They were pitched against another two couples with the questions getting more personal as time went on, Ummm, not sure about this.

When this was finished the Philippine band started up and they seemed a bit off key and so we left there intending to go to the Bliss lounge but the second house of the show was just starting in the amphitheatre and so we went to that instead. Twelve boys and girls dancing and singing along to old numbers from a past age and they were not bad, but the band was very good indeed and it’s a shame they don’t seem to perform anywhere else on the boat. So they perhaps do three hours every other night, tough life really.

Back to the cabin and pleased to find a note that they will be showing the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix on TV tomorrow at 3pm and so it looks like we may have a shortened visit to Ponta Delgado which is on a Portugese Island several hours off the coast of Portugal in the middle of nowhere, good place to leave the wife.

Let’s hope there is an internet café shop somewhere as we had no luck in Lisbon which in retrospect is not surprising.

PHOTOS WILL BE ADDED WHEN WE GET A FAST CONNECTION

5th November- This time it’s Lisbon Portugal

We were looking forward to visiting Lisbon, as according to reports, its one of the ‘greatest Cities in the World’. We are not sure who wrote that but they must have been on drugs or at least a bottle of good whisky every hour of the day.

As the passengers alighted from the ship they were greeted by, of all things, a red duck type bird played by a Christian Ronaldo look alike. When you have 2000 passengers arriving in a country which is known to have some minor financial difficulties you would think that the Mayor or somebody would come to entice the passengers to spend their US Dollars in his town, but no.

We decided not to take the hop on and off bus today for a change as we wanted to walk to the centre of town so as to get the feel of the place. And did we get the feel of the place, this City has serious problems of graffiti everywhere, dirty streets, very old unkempt housing and in the main areas too many beggars and people trying to sell you sun glasses and watches, to you cheap ay?.

There were so many police around you had to guess why as in the Starbucks Loo

is this large sign saying watch your bags etc,

Why Starbucks you say, quite frankly most of the cafes and so called restaurants looked dirty and they lined the street with cars and buses rushing past and kicking up dust. We thought that the pavements in Weybridge were bad but these were terrible and most of the time you had to walk looking down to avoid tripping over or falling down a big hole. Ian Lake would love this place.

Anyway we toured around for quite a while and both formed the opinion that it’s not a nice place to visit. It could be if the Government and the people had pride in their city and at least kept it clean. They are poor neighbours to Spain who have similar financial difficulties but it did not show in any of the cities visited so far. Both Malaga and Cadiz where very clean no sign of beggars or for that matter Police.

The sun was shining and the temperature was about 23 degrees and by 2pm we had seen enough and headed back to the Ship. This time along the waterfront where there does appear to be some new development and also there were a couple of nice restaurants where you feel you could eat but by this time it was to late. Our walk today must have been almost 7 miles and it was good to stretch the ‘old’ muscles.

We arrived back at the ship around 3.15 pm and went straight upstairs for some iced tea and eventually a beer before dinner.

At dinner they had a large roasted pig, which unfortunately took up quite a bit of space on our table but was very enjoyable indeed. We went up to the Star Bar to listen to the classical string quartet which we now think are Russian, possibly spies we also think, but they played well and with a varied repertoire of music.

During the last few days we have noticed that people seem to spend an inordinate amount of time at the bar and we hate to think what their bar bills might be. A glass of wine is USD 6.25 plus 15% service and a reasonable bottle of red is somewhere between USD 26/28 plus 15% whilst the cost of whisky and brandy etc is not cheap at all. I am not sure if their liver suffers more than their wallet?

We are now on the open sea going to the Azores which is a group of islands owned by the Portuguese and tomorrow we just sail all day and arrive there on Sunday morning around 10.00 I think.

One last comment about Lisbon, I have just read the blurb about the City and it would appear that even the Portuguese Royal Family don’t like it here as they live some miles away in a town called Sintra. That tells you something doesn’t it.

4th November- Half a day in Cadiz and Chelsea win 4-1

“Gudmornin ladeese an genelmen”, whoops here we go again. We arrived in to the Port of Cadiz as the sun was shining down and we headed up to the open deck for a breakfast in the sun.

By 9.15 we left the boat and walked a few yards to where there was waiting another of the hop on, hop off bus tours and although they are not cheap when you only have half a day its perhaps the only way to see around this town.

There are some very interesting views from the bus including great shots of the Burgerking empire Cadiz franchise.

Cadiz, under the Phoenicians rule was called Gadir. The appearance of the city is old and quaint with many small cobbled stone streets with shops and occasional squares with street cafes.

Cadiz started out as a trading post in 1100 trading in silver and amber and later it was used by the Carthaginians who converted it to a busy port.

After being reigned by the Moorish people in the 16^th century Cadiz started to prosper due to its strategic location. Columbus sailed from here to America on two occasions and now by Noel and Jennifer. Sir Francis Drake attempted to capture the town.

After leaving the bus tour we walked around town and tested the Spanish language again only this time we tried ‘Senor, dos café con leche and dos cognac por favour, Gracias’ and by god it worked, my Spanish was so good that the waiter could not believe it and sent his younger son out to check to see if that is what we really ordered.

We finished our walking around at about 1215 and it was time to board the ship again as it was leaving just after 1300 hrs for Lisbon.

We had lunch on the upper deck and the temperature is around 24 degrees today and it was quite warm up top and so we headed down for the peace and quiet of our cabin.

We left Cadiz Port around 1.30 pm in the direction of Lisbon where we should arrived tomorrow morning

There is a lot of attention to eating on board and there are some, quite a few actually, of the passengers who are let’s say, weight challenged and when you see this bag of lard carrying massive platefuls of food its quite off-putting. A sight similar to that as just mentioned almost put Noel off his lunch. Noel also thinks that they should have different prices for not only the cabins but also for the size of the plate you take at meals. Perhaps you could have small, large and bloody large plate prices, as one dinner for some of these people would feed us for a week or two.

Ah well… must get an ice cream before going back to the cabin.

We have taken quite a few photos but can only put them on the web when we have sufficient time and with a much lower priced internet rate as to use the ship system would possibly bankrupt us.

Following dinner we went to see a show in the large theatre which seats around 1000 passengers. The show tonight was called ‘String Fever’ which turned out to be an English group of four closely related violin, and similar, players. We did understand that they may not be able to play as their instruments had gone missing having just arrived from England. Actually it was a pity they found them as although they were very clever musicians indeed they did not know where to pitch their act, to be serious musicians, comedians or an act that conducts audience participation. They tried all three and I can say quite clearly that it does not work. However we think our views were in the minority as many people stood up to acclaim their act causing yet another ten minutes delay before we could leave.

Desperately needing a drink we went to the Star Bar which had a German (we think) four piece group playing classical music and they were really excellent and we enjoyed the show so much that we drank all the wine whilst overlooking the fact we were going to save half a bottle for tomorrow. Oh well such is life.

And so to bed and looking forward to seeing Lisbon outside our window tomorrow morning