The Drawbridge in Ft.Lauderdale
Our first transatlantic cruise in 2022 was mostly the result of a Covid test gone lopsided, which prevented us from flying to Curaçao in the southern Caribbean. It was meant for a two wee trip to Barcelona. However before we arrived in Barcelona on that first cruise, the bug already got us and we booked a 2 week extension across the Mediterranean Sea and the Greek Isles. The next year’s cruise was a 28 day Pacific/South Seas trip, which unfortunately turned bad because of illnesses. In 2025 we once again opted for a transatlantic cruise, because the cost pretty much equals almost 2 roundtrip airline tickets and let’s face it, after 6 months of serving hotels guests, it just feels magnificent to be taken care of by a professional hospitality crew for a full two weeks. And last but not least for those who are sensitive to jet lag, the 6 hour time difference is absorbed over a number of days, rather than all at once. If it’s done right, it can’t get any better and we feel that Princess aims high in customer satisfaction.
Platinum’s with the Captain’s Circle
Our ship of choice (well it’s really more of a case of what ship needs to go over to Europe for the summer season) is the Sky Princess, the sister ship of Regal Princess, which we took three years earlier. Also, our routing choice this year was based on TJ’s longtime wish to visit her family ancestry’s origins supposedly in Seaton Village, Devon, not far from our end port of Southampton.
Having learned from our terrible experience during the previous year’s Pacific cruise, we had an extra suitcase filled with every medicine imaginable. We also decided to start the last 4 days prior to boarding with a vitamin elderberry liquid shot, as we have learned how easy it is to get infected with a cold or flu, just standing in line to collect your medallion. More than 3,000 people in relatively close quarters will get you infected easily.
Soon after boarding we headed for the smoking lounge on aft deck 16, since that’s where the cool people usually hang out. Unfortunately this time, the smoking area housed not only the nicest people but also some of the vilest, loudest, ultra right wing individuals one can imagine. One of them actually during the cruise claimed to be a proud right wing nazi. A quick warning to the security officers on board, made this guy shut up for the duration of the crossing. It promised to be an interesting ride ahead of us.
The sea day length was estimated at 8 days and arriving in the Portuguese Resort island of Madeira on day 9. For a schedule like that we always try to reserve a stateroom on the starboard side of the ship as that puts our balcony towards the south with usually lots of sunshine for tanning during the crossing. Yet, as often happens in the early months of the year, storms develop to the north of us, occasionally dipping down.
Our Besties from Vancouver Darcy and Caralee
That exact scenario was the case during most of our cruise, so we were not surprised that the captain had to change course deeper to the south. As a result we diverted from Madeira to Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Spanish Canary Islands. Since we had already visited Madeira in 2022, we didn’t mind one bit. Our new friends from Vancouver, Canada, Darcy and Caralee (also smokers of course) joined us for the day on land in Santa Cruz and we all had a great time.
After Tenerife we were looking forward to a day in Casablanca, Morocco for a day strolling in the Ancient Medina which turned out magnificent. But our last port of call, supposedly La Coruña in the increasingly popular Galicia area of Spain was the next victim of weather, as we only quickly anchored to let some ship- entertainers off, before steaming northwest through the notorious Gulf of Biscayne to Southampton, England.
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