Making Up for Lost Time

Budapest, Hungary

This is a year of make-up travel for us. Because we stuck close to home for the first three years of Covid, we decided to take some trips in 2023. We recently returned from our first ever riverboat cruise, which was followed by travel on a larger ship on the Mediterranean Sea. There was a lot to love about both forms of transportation.

We flew from Charlotte to London on August 5th. This is the second long trip that we did with carryon luggage only. The South Africa trip made a believer out of me. No more hanging around the airport waiting for our bags to come off the carousel. And no more lost luggage! 

After a long layover (8 hours) we then flew from London to Budapest. We spent a couple days touring this beautiful city before it was time for our cruise. Budapest is a charming city, very clean with friendly residents and lots to see. I had heard that if I liked Prague, I would love Budapest. I have to say that while I enjoyed Budapest, I have found no city yet that compares to the storybook feel of Prague.

Budapest

Avalon View

On August 9th we boarded the Avalon View, which was docked a short walk from our hotel. I was not familiar with this ship line, but it was the only one I could find that worked time-wise with the later cruise we were taking with our friends. It turned out to be a great selection, as the ship was new, and the staff and food were great. The stateroom was a generous size, with a large bathroom and the bed facing the sliding doors.

This was a short cruise on the Danube River from Budapest to Vienna, with stops in Bratislava, Slovakia and Melk, Austria. Not knowing if we would like river cruising, this was a perfect trip to get a feel for the experience.

Bratislava is a pretty town along the Danube. We did a walking tour of the area in the morning, and then hiked up to the castle after that. We had met a couple from Louisiana and another couple from California on the boat, and the six of us ended up spending a lot of time together. 

Bratislava, Slovakia

Our next stop was Melk, Austria. There were low-lying clouds in the area when we docked, and the setting was beautiful. We took a short bus ride to the town center for our tour of the palace and the town.

After the tour we had time to walk through Melk before making our way on a path through the woods back to the boat.  

Melk, Austria

This cruise ended in Vienna, where we had an opportunity to have one last dinner with our new friends before we all parted ways for our next adventures. We had an opportunity to see a bit of Vienna before it was time for us to fly to Rome. It's definitely an interesting city, and one I wouldn't mind spending more time in.

Vienna, Austria

We both very much enjoyed the intimacy and ease of river boat cruising, and it is definitely something we would consider again for future travel. With only 166 passengers on board, it was easy to meet the other folks at meals and on the excursions. I'll cover the next part of our journey on a 700 passenger ship in the next post.

Happy Anniversary Baby

wedding anniversary

Friday was our 44th wedding anniversary. It's hard to wrap my head around that. We met at Iowa State University when we were 18 years old, and started dating a few months later. We married shortly after graduation, and relocated to St. Louis where Jim had secured a job. In St. Louis we completed master's degrees, raised a family and built a good life.

When we retired to the Charlotte area nearly three years ago, we didn't know anyone or much about the area. It was a huge leap of faith to come here, and only a strong marriage could survive the stress and upheaval of the massive move. During one of our three years here we buried both Jim's mom and dad, and my beloved sister. Having someone to share the grieving process with made all the difference in the world in how we coped with the huge losses.

The support network within our new community is phenomenal as well. Because we are in a 55+ community, we have experienced many deaths already. But I think most of us moved here in the hopes that the community will wrap us in a loving embrace when we experience a severe health issue or death in our family. That has certainly proven to be true so far. I am confident that when something happens to me or Jim, our neighbors will rally around the survivor. And the community will share in the grieving process.

Getting back to our anniversary, we didn't do a lot to celebrate this year, save for going out for a meal at one of our favorite restaurants. It offers waterside dining, so we always know we can sit outside. But as next year will be the 45th anniversary, we are already thinking of something big to do in honor of that occasion. We are both eager to cruise again, but there are still so many people getting Covid on the ships that it just doesn't seem worth the risk yet. Maybe by next summer it will be more under control. Who can say?

Sailing Away - 8

Saturday and Sunday were both sea days, and we wondered if we would be bored. As it ended up, there was plenty to keep us busy - and not just eating. We played a lot of trivia games, listened to different music and entertainment, went swimming (yay for the adults only pool!) and got in some pickleball games. It was fun to meet other players from around the United States, and the waves and winds added an additional degree of difficulty to the game. It was quite fun, and made for some good laughs.

Princess Pickleball

Sunday morning we ordered room service and enjoyed donning our Princess robes and sitting on the balcony to eat. That night the four of us had dinner at the Princess Grille in celebration of Jim's upcoming birthday and our friend's 40th wedding anniversary which is coming up this summer.

miscellaneous ship pictures

Then it was back to the stateroom to pack and put out our large suitcases in preparation for disembarkation the next morning. When we were done, Jim and I went to a few venues listening to music, and had one final fru fru drink to toast another wonderful vacation.

We arrived back in Port Everglades at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, February 25th. Disembarkation and customs went very smoothly, and before we knew it we were back at the airport to come home. I highly recommend this cruise!

Sailing Away - 7

sunrise in Curacao

Friday, February 22nd found us cruising into our last port of call, Willemstad, Curacao. I had never heard of this island until one of the HGTV international house hunting shows aired. Pronounced cure-a-sow, it is the "C" of the ABC islands. This independent country has a population of 160,000 and is 38 miles long and 9 miles wide. It, too, is a fairly flat island.

We had heard much about the town of Willemstad, and how its Dutch heritage as illustrated in its architecture has been infused with the colors of the Caribbean. The four of us decided to do our own walking tour of the area so we could drink it all in. We had arrived in port at 7:00 a.m., so the day was still pretty young when we got off the ship.

The boardwalk along the sea is very nicely done, and it is for sure a walkable community. We enjoyed all the little bridges, and the fact that they had taken the old fort and retrofitted it for commercial and residential use instead of just letting it fall into disrepair.

Rif Fort

The vegetable and fruit market was interesting in that boats bring the produce to market as opposed to trucks. The boats are tied up behind the tents.

produce market

The colors did not disappoint, and we very much enjoyed our day in Willemstad. It was great to be able to spend the day walking around, as we knew the next two would be spent at sea as we made our way back north. We left Curacao at 4:30 p.m.

leaving Curacao 

Sailing Away - 6

sunrise

Thursday, February 21st we arrived at Kralendijk, Bonaire at 12:00 p.m. As usual, Jim and I were awake early and were able to take in the sun rising over the horizon. The "B" of the ABC islands, Bonaire is a Dutch island that is 24 miles long and 9 miles wide, with a population of 19,400.

Kralendijk, Bonaire

The first thing we noticed was how flat the island was compared to the other ones we had visited so far. The second thing was how pretty the water in the harbor looked. The colorful tents along the walkway added to the festiveness of our arrival.

Bonaire is an island that prides itself on nature preservation, and has been active in preserving its reefs. They don't want to sacrifice their environment for the sake of tourism, which is commendable. About 60% of the island is a national park or protected area. For that, and other reasons, Jim and I decided to do the Mangrove Eco-Cruise by kayak.

Because our excursion did not begin until the afternoon, we had time for a leisurely lunch before making our way to the dock where our group was meeting. We boarded a van for a 20 minute drive to the eco-center, pausing to admire a cactus fence as well as a group of flamingos, which is called a "pat".

flamingos on Bonaire

They gave a short presentation about the mangroves before we headed out to our two-person kayaks. Mangroves are trees or shrubs that grow in coastal intertidal zones. They have tangled roots above ground and form dense thickets. Lac Bay Mangrove forest is about 850 years old and is one of the best preserved groupings of mangroves in the Caribbean. Three different species of mangroves exist here - red mangrove, black mangrove, and white mangrove.

Jim and I have always been in single kayaks in the past, but this was great as I could feel free to snap away with my waterproof camera.We paddled narrow channels through the trees as well as open water. It was a beautiful experience, and our guide was excellent.

mangrove kayak tour

We had time to catch a quick beer at a bar that offered free Wifi before we needed to walk back to the ship. We got a kick out of the flamingo made of recycled items pulled from the ocean.

Bonaire 

Our ship sailed off into the sunset at 6:30 p.m.

sunset

Sailing Away - 5

St. George's Grenada

Grenada was the next port of call, and we arrived at St. George's at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, February 20th. Located in the southeastern Caribbean sea, Grenada has a population of 110,000. It is 21 miles long and 12 miles wide. On this island all four of us agreed on a snorkeling excursion to an underwater sculpture park on the ocean floor of Molinere Bay. There are 68 sculptures in this park, but we only saw a handful of them.

underwater sculpture park

From there we got back on the catamaran and motored to Grand Anse Beach, where we could swim in the most beautiful-colored water I have ever seen. The rum punch added to the party atmosphere for sure.

Grand Anse Beach

Our visit to this island was short, and we sailed out of St. George's at 1:30 p.m. I was pleased to capture yet another pretty sunset off of our balcony.

sunset

Sailing Away - 4

February 19th's stop was at the island of Dominica (pronounced doe-min-ee-ka, and not to be confused with the Dominican Republic). Founded by Christopher Columbus in November 3, 1493, the island was and still is inhabited by the Caribe tribe. Its land mass is 29 miles long and 16 miles wide.

We arrived at the port of Roseau at 9:00 a.m. A full rainbow greeted us when we woke up, and the pretty morning sky highlighted the hills of the island.

Roseau, Dominica

Our friends went scuba diving and we elected to do the Champagne Reef Snorkel. The snorkel site was located at Soufriere-Scott's Head Marina Reserve. Located on the edge of a submerged volcano, you can actually feel the hot water venting from the earth's core. We swam through tiny, crystal-like bubbles which escape from the volcanic fissures on the seabed. It was rather like being inside a glass of champagne.

Champagne snorkel trip

We bid Dominica adieu as the Crown Princess left port at 5:30.

leaving Roseau

Sailing Away - 3

St. Thomas at sunrise

Sunday was a day at sea, and we arrived in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, February 18th. Now one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Thomas was founded by the Danish in the 1600s.

We were in the first group of passengers getting off the ship as our excursion began at 8:30. The four of us decided to try the BOSS Underwater Scooter Adventure. That stands for Breathing Observation Submersible Scooter, and we had never heard of them until now.

I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous about this one since I have never gone scuba diving and like the sense of control I have with a mask and snorkel. In this, you stick your head inside a bubble, hop on your scooter, and they lower you 8 feet below the surface of the water. In the meantime, you hold your nose and keeping blowing out to pop your ears as you go down. But once we got going, it was so much fun! We were allowed to ride for 30 minutes, but it felt like only 10. Due to the size of the group - there were 38 of us, I believe - we went down in groups. We were allowed to snorkel after our turn on the scooters.

BOSS

After cleaning up and having lunch, we had some time to do some exploring of Charlotte Amalie. You could see that some areas are still recovering from the hurricanes of 2017, but a lot of buildings look remarkable intact.

Charlotte Amalie

The ship pulled away from the port in St. Thomas at 4:30 p.m. It was another beautiful day.

leaving St. Thomas

Sailing Away - 2

Bahamas sunrise

The Crown Princess arrived in Princess Cays around 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 16th. We were awake long before that, and caught the gorgeous sunrise. Princess Cays is an exclusive port of call and private beach owned by Princess Cruise lines. It is located on the southern portion of the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. This island has a total population of 13,000.

We have been to this island before on another Princess Cruise, so this time we elected to do an excursion. First, though, we had time to enjoy the lovely beach for a bit.

Princess Cays

The dune buggy excursion was billed as a Cultural Heritage Tour. It was probably the least favorite excursion we have ever done. First of all, the dune buggies did not have much power. Second, it was extremely dusty - we had to wear face masks. And last, it was sorely lacking in culture, though we did see a church ruins. The best part was a deserted beach that we walked down to - no driving on the beaches here. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. It just added insult to injury that the provided buffet on Princess Cays had the exact same hours as our tour, so we had nothing to eat for lunch.

dune buggy excursion

Back on ship we all took quick showers and met up for a late lunch. The ship left Princess Cays at 3:30 p.m. It was a smooth night of sailing.

Sailing Away - 1

My husband and I recently completed a ten day cruise of the Southern Caribbean aboard the Crown Princess. A couple who have been our long time friends accompanied us, as they have on three other cruises. We have never sailed more than seven days, so we were curious to see if ten days would be too long. I think we all agreed that we could do a fourteen day cruise with no problem.

As our ship was sailing out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, we flew in the day before to make sure no airline delays would cause us to miss our ship. In fact our friends, who were flying in from a different city, ended up not getting to our hotel until midnight. It was Valentine's Day and the weather was beautiful, so Jim and I walked from the hotel down to the water and found a place to dine alfresco. We split a meal so we could also split a dessert.

Valentine's Day

Port Everglades

Our hotel offered a shuttle to the cruise port, so we were able to quickly make our way over there on Friday morning. As we were the only ship there at the time, processing and boarding went very quickly. We could not occupy our room until noon, but hey, food and beverages were available so it was no big deal.

We had staterooms on the 11th deck, better known as the Baja level. We always get one with a balcony as I think I would go crazy in one of the interior rooms. Because it was President's weekend, the ship filled early and we were located near the back of the ship. We had a little more vibration than we would have liked, but it was all good otherwise.

Once we were allowed in our stateroom, we took the opportunity to unpack our suitcases and store them under the bed just to get that out of the way. Then we made our way back up to the top of the ship so that we could watch when the ship set sail at 4:00 p.m.

Fort Lauderdale

While Miami has a prettier port, Fort Lauderdale looked very nice as we began our journey south. Our first stop was Princess Cays in the Bahamas, where we would arrive the next morning. The sunset Friday night was stunning!

Sunset with Miami off to the left

Photography Challenge Weeks 7 and 8

Without internet on my trip for the most part the past two weeks, I was unable to post the photo challenges.

Week 7 was to take a picture that tells a love story. This heart was part of a Locks of Love project in Charlotte, NC.

Dogwood Photography Challenge Week 7

Week 8 was to use a leading line in an image to show the concept of infinity. This view of the sunset from the balcony of our Southern Caribbean Cruise aboard the Crown Princess seemed to fit the bill.

Dogwood Photography Challenge Week 8

Cruisin' Part 5

sunrise at sea

Friday was the last day at sea as we made our way back north to Los Angeles. One of the (only) benefits of being a poor, light sleeper is that I got to see some incredible sunrises on this cruise. Above is what I woke up to Friday morning. We had breakfast at the buffet as usual, and then hit the morning trivia game where we came in second yet again. Always a bridesmaid... The trivia games were pretty interesting as they tried to mix things up. For example, in one you had to name not only the One Hit Wonder song that they played but also the artist who sang it. Really? My favorite variation was Majority Rules. Only Jim and I went to that one, so we joined another couple to form our team. After each question was asked you wrote down your answer and ran it to the trivia host, where the answers were quickly tallied. The answer written down by the most teams was the winning answer, whether right or wrong. "Name one thing that people do in an elevator that is annoying?" My first thought was "fart", but then I come from the Kubler family. Our team wrote down "talk on the phone." Winning answer? Fart. Go with your gut, people. Har, har. Needless to say, the answers were very entertaining, and it was undoubtedly the most fun I have ever had playing trivia.

After trivia we walked around the ship a bit, and before long it was time to eat. For the first time we decided to try one of the main restaurants for lunch. Normally we just ate at the buffet because it was fast and easy. We joined a table of four other women, three of whom were from California. The fourth was from Austin. The meal was very good, and it was fun to change up the conversation a bit.

Crown Grill

We packed a bit in the afternoon as the large suitcases had to be placed outside our cabin door by midnight. By then it was time for more trivia, and lo and behold we came in first! And I have the Princess chip clip to prove it. No champagne for trivia on the last day - boo. As we had reservations at the Crown Grill that night, we headed back to the room to shower and change. There were three restaurants on board that you had to pay extra for, and this was one of them. We were celebrating Jim's birthday that night, so we wanted to do something special. The service was exceptional and we all enjoyed our meals. The only thing that was off-putting came at the end. They knew it was Jim's birthday, so they brought a cute little special cake for him. And then several staff members came over to sing happy birthday. Badly. Very badly, and apparently on purpose as we heard them sing at another table later. I guess they think it is funny, and it might have been if done in one of the casual restaurants. But I did not think it was appropriate in the elegant setting.

Jim's birthday celebration

Jim and Paul hit one last trivia game after dinner, but I went back to the cabin to finish packing. We had our bags out before the designated time, and spent another restless night at sea as the water was again pretty choppy.

Saturday morning was so foggy in Los Angeles. I had no idea the city got that kind of weather. I always think of San Fransisco being shrouded, but not LA. I have to admit, it made for some fun and interesting photos though.

 Los Angeles Harbor

Vincent Thomas Bridge

We met the Corbins early for breakfast as they had a disembarkation time of 8:00. It was great to have one last meal with them before saying good-bye. We did not have to leave the ship until 10:30, though everyone had to be out of their rooms by 8:00. We were going to Katie's from the port and she had to work that morning, so we were in no rush to get off the boat. We spent time lounging outside and catching up on emails and other messages as we finally had Internet service for the first time in seven days.

Disembarkation went smoothly and quickly, and we were soon waiting for our Lyft ride outside the terminal with our luggage. We hit our first big snag of the trip when the driver could not locate us. I had indicated to him that we had just gotten off a cruise and were at Berth 93. I don't know where in the world he was, but after 20 minutes he gave up on us. When I contacted Lyft the second time, I actually called and spoke to the driver. I asked him if he had ever picked anyone up at the port before, and he said that he had. I told him that we just got off the Princess ship and we were at Berth 93. No problem, he says. Well, he did have a problem - the same one as the previous driver. A Princess employee told me that Lyft and Uber drivers were actually not supposed to pick up in our area (though I saw a couple of Uber pickups going on), due to the taxi contract. He said we needed to walk out of the port and get picked up there. So we schlepped all our bags a few blocks outside the port, and arranged for pickup there. It turns out that there are two Perth 93s in the area. Why? Why would they do that? Thus the confusion. At any rate, we were in a car and on our way to Katie's and ready to spend a couple of nice days with our girl.

My final thoughts on this cruise. This was our fourth cruise and the second time we have used Princess cruise line. This ship is smaller than many others as it was built in 2006. That has its own pluses and minuses. I like having fewer people on board, but that also means less amenities than the larger ships. The Crown Princess is due to be refurbished in 2016, and it will be interesting to see what they can do as they can't change the footprint of the boat. This was our first cruise on the Mexican Riviera, and I would not do that route again. Having only three stops in seven days equals too much time on the ship for my liking. Every other cruise has had four or five stops. I also do not think the ports of call are all that interesting.

There were over 200 kids on our ship! I have never been on board with that many children, and it was not an enjoyable experience. You could never get close to a hot tub as they were all packed with kids, they were running around wild, and the crying in the nice restaurants was just uncalled for, in my opinion. The folks in the stateroom above us had a toddler, and all that child did was whine. We could not sit on our balcony if they were out due to the whining. It certainly wasn't peaceful and restful out there. A woman who had done this exact same cruise back to back - again, why? - told us that the previous week there were 500 kids on board. Why these children, predominantly Americans, were not in school is beyond me. We planned the timing to avoid spring breaks. I sound like I don't like kids, and that is not the case. It is just when I am not traveling with children I don't want my vacation to be marred by other people's kids being obnoxious.

All that being said, it was wonderful to get away, especially with such great friends, and to cruise the Pacific Ocean, which we hadn't done before. Princess knows how to do things right, and the excursions were great fun. It definitely will not be our last cruise.

Cruisin' Part 4

Cabo sunrise

On Thursday we entered the port of Cabo San Lucas around 6:30 in the morning, greeted by another beautiful sunrise. It was interesting to see a U.S. naval ship in the harbor. That would be a nice assignment.

US Navy ship

one of the ship's tenders

Inexplicably, we had the shortest amount of time in this port, which has no actual dock for large cruise ships. All passengers going ashore have to be tendered into port, so you have to build in extra time for that. Due to time constrictions, we booked our excursion through the cruise line. We met for breakfast at 7:15, and then hurried to the meeting place we were assigned to catch our tender into Cabo. We had decided to take a Zodiac tour and snorkel trip. A Zodiac is an inflatable boat that can reach high speeds and thus is desirable to the military - think Special Forces here. None of us had been on one, and of course the guys were all excited about the ride. I wasn't thrilled about being bounced around, but on the plus side the boat doesn't hold too any people so the excursion was small. We had eight in our Zodiac, plus the driver and a guide. A second Zodiac brought several more people from our ship, though we really didn't see much of them once we took off. Below is the other Zodiac.

Zodiac

Paul and me 

One of the main attractions in Cabo is El Archo. Literally translated as The Arch, the three stories tall rock formation is also referred to as Land's End because if you followed a line south from here you would not touch land again until you reached the South Pole. The Pacific Ocean becomes the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez) here. The rock formations are incredible, and the boat was able to take us fairly close to them. There were numerous sea lions hanging out on the rocks.

El Archo

pretty fish

After ample time to study the rocks and take photographs, we headed to our first snorkeling location. The water here was a bit colder than Puerto Vallarta, and I was wishing I had the wet suit provided on the tour there. On the plus side, it did get me swimming faster! All was going well, and we were enjoying the variety of fish in the area when the female guide swam up to Paul, Kathy and me and told us to swim to a new area. "Towards the shore?," Paul asked. She nodded yes and said she would go and tell the others. We took off in the direction she indicated. And that is when I thought I was going to die.

The three of us got hit by a humongous wave. I am talking one that expert surfers would have been ecstatic to ride. We barely recover from that, and I turned around and thought, "Holy crap!" Here comes another one, just like the other one. I have never been in that situation before. Do you ride it out? Dive into it? Pray? I saw Paul dive into it, so I followed suit. Then a third one came, and I was growing tired from fighting the waves. When I could finally stick my mask back into the water, I about had a heart attack. I was inches above some coral, and I could only image cutting myself on it.  I swam as hard as I could to the left, not knowing if it was any better over that direction. Thankfully, there were no more huge waves, and I took some time to just float for a bit and rest. I honestly did not know if I had enough strength and energy left to swim all the way back to the boat. I had been sent pretty far away from it. Eventually I made it back, as did Kathy and Paul. I don't think I have been so scared in my life. And we still had one more snorkeling stop to make. The female guide spoke softly in Spanish to the driver when she got back in the boat. She never said a word to the three of us, but Jim said she seemed pretty shaken up by what had happened. As well she should.

I wasn't sure if I was going to even get out of the boat at the next stop, but we ended up in a pretty quiet cove. So I decided to get back in the water, which was thankfully warmer than the last stop. I am so glad I made that decision, because the coral was prettier here, and there were so many fish! It truly seemed like we were swimming in an aquarium.

fish and a whale

On the way back to Cabo we saw a whale. Although this was the migration season, this is the only one that I saw on the trip. I am not going to lie though. The best thing I saw was the cruise ship. After my ordeal, I was happy to get out of the water. Back on ship we showered, played some trivia and had a low key dinner at the grill so we could eat outside. Besides, it was another formal dinner night, and none of us felt like dressing up. Then we watched the movie, "The Martian" outdoors on the big screen, and followed that by seeing the comedy/music show by Steve Moris, who used to play with the Beach Boys. It was a nice ending to the day.

Crown Princess