Ship’s Position (Southampton Docks)

50°53′34″ N 1°23′55″ W

Total Distance Traveled: 5,022 Nautical Miles

The ship docked in Southampton at 5:00am local time. All that is left to do is to disembark & take the bus to Heathrow Airport.

Prior to leaving on this trip I learned one night on the news that 2017 is projected to be a record year for icebergs off the coast of Newfoundland. I didn’t think much of that other than perhaps I might get lucky & spot a few icebergs (from a very safe distance) on this repositioning cruise.

Well, we did not encounter any icebergs (at least not that I know of!) but I was somewhat surprised to learn (after we had left Fort Lauderdale) that this year is also the 105th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic (April 14/15, 1912). Was I tempting fate by taking this trip across the ocean on this infamous anniversary? I tried to keep that thought out of my mind – at least until we reached Southampton!

On April 14 this year (the calendar day that the Titanic struck the iceberg) the Crown Princess was at sea and approaching the Azores Islands for arrival the next day – so, technically, we were not that far from the resting place of the Titanic

Here are some interesting comparison statistics between the Crown Princess & the Titanic:

Crown Princess

* passengers and crew

Titanic

Almost time to get off the ship. I’m really looking forward to meeting up with Catherine & starting the next phase of our adventure.

Cheers!

Ship’s Position:

49°28′47″ N 0°6′36″ E

Distance Traveled: 4,905 Nautical Miles

We arrived at LeHavre at 7:00am local time. It was foggy & cool – about 7 degrees C. Thankfully the sun came out just before noon & it warmed up quite a bit.

Today was a quiet day for me. There were several excursions available to Paris & Normandy but I opted to stay on board & enjoy the space – with many people gone for the day.

The port of LeHavre is heavily industrialized with lots of bulk oil storage tanks & container ship docks. It is also a ferry terminal for connections to England.

I have enjoyed the cruise a lot but really missed Catherine & am looking forward to meeting her at Heathrow Airport tomorrow. We will spend a couple of days each in Bath & Oxford & then we will stay in London until May 4. Lots of exploring & sight-seeing planned.

I have cruised several times now & it has always been nice to get to know some of the onboard staff. My cabin steward is a fellow named Marian & he is from Bucharest, Romania.

Marian has been working for Princess for 18 years & is getting ready to shift his career back to land. For any of you single ladies out there Marian is a bachelor hoping to settle down with someone. He is very personable, well travelled & an expert at housekeeping. A good catch for someone for sure! Thanks so much for taking such good care of me, Marian.

We left LeHavre at 8:00pm & will dock at Southampton at 5:00am local time tomorrow morning. It would have been neat to cross the entire English Channel in the daylight but I can always do that another time, eh?

Cheers!

Ships Position:

47°39′54″ N 5°36′27″ W

Distance Traveled: 4,585 nautical miles

We are now almost across the Bay of Biscay & will be entering the English Channel this evening. Looking forward to that because the ride is supposed to smooth out some more in the Channel.We are supposed to land at Le Havre, France early tomorrow (Friday) morning.

The weather today is very sunny but very cool – only 9 degrees C & the winds have dropped to only about 1/2 of what they were last night.

This morning a lot of the passengers attended a cooking demonstration put on by the Ship’s Head Chef & the Maitre D’Hotel. They gave a lot of good tips & were pretty funny as well.

The Chef’s secret is to use LOTS of extra virgin olive oil when making Caesar salad dressing & when cooking chopped vegetables & pasta sauce. I’ll have to remember to stock our ship’s galley with a case when I get home.

The next item on today’s itinerary was to do my laundry. Several decks on the ship have self serve laundromats but there’s nowhere near enough machines to service everyone on the same day. So I did the essentials today (socks & underwear) & will do shirts & pants tomorrow if I can find an available machine. Life at sea can be so exciting.

Cheers!

Ships Position:

43°20′28″ N 3°1′34″ W

Distance Traveled: 4,300 nautical miles

We arrived in Bilbao, Spain this morning about 7:00am local time. It was nice to be tied up to the dock after such a long & windy passage from Lisbon.

I signed up for a bus/walking tour of the city that started at a viewpoint of the city & the Guggenheim Art Gallery. The architecture of the Guggenheim is amazing & it’s done by Canadian Frank Gherry.

Unfortunately, our tour did not allow enough time for a visit through the art gallery but that’s ok – it gives us a good reason to come back!

Bilbao is in a river valley surrounded by mountains. It’s very pretty to view from a high perspective. I’m not sure how well the photo above shows up on a computer screen. Hopefully better than what I see on my iPhone! I took it using the panorama feature on my camera.

One of the outdoor exhibits includes a giant flower sculpture of a dog. This pice of living art was supposed to be temporary but it proved so popular with the locals & visitors that the curators decided to make it permanent. It is commonly referred to as “the puppy”.

After leaving the Art Gallery our guide took us on a walking tour of the Old Quarter of the city. It is a well preserved & vibrant area. Lots of places to relax at small cafes & soak in the ambiance.

Now I’m back on the ship & getting ready for dinner. Big excitement tonight after dinner as the UEFA playoff football game between Barcelona FC & Juventus is being broadcast on the big screen in one of the bars. I’ll have to get there early to find a good seat.

Cheers!

Ship’s Position:

44°0′52″ N 7°54′1″ W

Today we spent the entire day at sea. We arrive in Bilbao, Spain early tomorrow morning.

It was very calm but windy all this morning. I was beginning to think that the weather forecast had changed overnight & that we would not encounter the rough seas that the Captain had been talking about last night. However, when we entered the Bay of Biscay shortly after 12 noon the water conditions changed dramatically.

As soon as we “rounded” the cape & entered the Bay of Biscay the waves rose to between 3 & 4 meters & the apparent wind often peaks near 50 knots. Fortunately the ship is headed almost straight into the wind & waves so the ship’s ride has been pretty comfortable.

Today was a pretty laid back day. All passengers were required to report to the U.K. Customs Officials to be interviewed & get our passports stamped. That advance processing allows us to simply walk off the ship when we land in Southampton. So that was time well spent – compared to the potential chaos of going through all that on Saturday morning.

I have booked a walking tour of some of the sights in Bilbao tomorrow & am very much looking forward to seeing parts of the old city and the Guggenheim Museum.

Cheers!