Ship’s Position:

37°44′16″ N 25°39′46″ W

We docked at Ponta Delgada, Azores Islands this morning at 7:00am local time. It was still very dark as the ship tied up without a sound. We were greeted by a steady rain as the sun rose so I took a nap after breakfast hoping the sun would come out before noon – and thankfully it did.

Of course the first thing that caught my attention was the marina adjacent to the cruise ship terminal.

Ponta Delgada is 2,885 nautical miles from Fort Lauderdale. We still have another 800 nautical miles to go before we arrive in Lisbon, so another full day at sea tomorrow.

I got off the ship & walked around the town’s waterfront for about 90 minutes. There’s an old fort at the southwest end of the sea wall that dominates the harbor entrance.

The architecture in the town is a mixture of “modern” concrete buildings along the waterfront and more classic on the streets further back.

Ponta Delgada is on Sao Miguel, the largest of the Azores islands.

It was good to stretch my legs on land after being on the ship for 7 consecutive days & Ponta Delgada was a nice place for our first landing.

Ships’s Position 1:40 pm Local Time (UTC +00:00)

36°19′14″ N 31°56′33″ W

We have now traveled 2,570 nautical miles & the ocean is getting shallower – “only” 8,800 feet now.

The weather is very nice today. The sun is shining warmly & the seas are much calmer, deep blue in colour & there are no whitecaps in sight.

The time changed again last night. We’re now on UTC +00:00 & moved a total of 5 hours forward since leaving Florida. I’m hoping that’s the end of the time zone changes until we head home. A fellow passenger was commenting that the repositioning cruises from Europe back to North America are much easier on your body because you gain time along the way – rather than losing it – as we are on this trip.

A couple of other interesting statistics:

FIRES

So far we have “only” had two small fires on board. The first one was in a crew level restricted area inside a special waste incinerator. (I thought that that was what an incinerator was supposed to do.)

The second one was a small grease fire at one of the food concession grills on the Lido Deck.

In each instance the fire was quickly extinguished before a general alarm was required & the Ship’s Captain calmly & clearly explained over the ship wide PA system what was going on. None of the crew or passengers (myself included) seemed to be upset by either of these incidents. I think everything was handled very professionally & I appreciated that we were quickly given reliable information – as opposed to hearing stories created by passengers & then embellished by others as the information spread around the ship by gossip.

MINOR INJURIES

I have seen several people walking around with slings on their arms. I never saw anyone fall but the ship has been pitching about quite a bit for the past 3 days so it would be pretty easy to take a tumble.

I have also seen a lot of people walking around like this (see below)

This could well be the cause of some of these injuries.

In addition to paid access to the internet, Princess is broadcasting the ship’s own intranet website (for free) to all passengers with a smartphone or a tablet. This is pretty handy because you can access the full cruise itinerary, see all of each day’s activities, book excursions, send instant messages to other passengers & do many other things. But, the downside is that many people are walking around entranced by their devices & not paying attention to where they are. Heads up & eyes forward everyone!

Last night I went to see the headliner act with comedian Tom Briscoe in the Princess Theatre.

Visit: www.tombriscoe.com

This fellow is really funny & had the entire audience in stitches through his entire performance. A lot of his material was based on a man’s perspective of married life & it was pretty easy for all men (& women) in the audience to relate. He skated close to the blue line a few times but never used an four letter words & you would have to be overly sensitive to be offended. Goes to show that you don’t have to cuss to be funny!

If you ever get a chance to see this fellow in a local comedy nightclub, in Las Vegas or somewhere else I encourage you to go. Be sure to bring a hanky to wipe the tears (of laughter) from your eyes.

Gotta go for now, they’re replenishing the desert section at the buffet & I need a little something to hold me over until dinner time.

Cheers!

Ship’s Position:

34°26′59″ N 40°18′29″ W

We have traveled about 2,150 nautical miles so far. As you can see in the photo below, we have traveled in a straight line almost since we left Florida on Saturday. Glad to see that the folks at the helm are paying close attention to where we’re going.

It won’t be much longer until we reach our first destination, Ponta Delgada on the Azores Islands. We dock there on Saturday. Hopefully they will have time to re-provision the ship before we head off to Lisbon. The lineups at the buffets and dining rooms are still pretty long. All that fresh sea air is giving everyone big appetites. The ship’s cupboards must be getting bare.

Speaking of food, unfortunately I missed yesterday’s “Eat More To Weigh Less” seminar. I had a schedule conflict because the poolside restaurants had limited time specials on double cheese & meat pizzas. They were having a customer appreciation battle against the ice cream parlor on the opposite side of the pool – which was offering double chocolate fudge sundaes. Who could refuse opportunities like that!

I expect that the weight control seminar will be offered again. In the meantime I will follow the advice given in the seminar’s title. I think I’ve got the system figured out.

Happy times are back (for me) in the sports world. The ship’s satellite has now picked up a European TV sports channel that broadcasts several football (soccer) games each day. Gotta figure out how to fit those into my routine.

Better go for now. BVB just scored a goal against Monaco & are pressing hard for the equalizer ⚽️

Cheers!

2:00pm Local Time

Ship’s position:

32°28′2″ N 48°58′15″ W

We have now traveled about 1,700 nautical miles from Florida and are over halfway to our first port of call. We’re pretty much in the middle zone of the Atlantic Ocean now. The blue dot in the screen shot below shows the ship’s current position. Never thought that I would ever be here on a ship of any kind 🙂

The winds have died down a bit and there is now much more blue sky and sun showing. A welcome change from the past few days.

I have not seen another ship since we left Fort Lauderdale. Perhaps they have passed by us in the night while I was sleeping or I was on the opposite side of the ship when they were in sight on the horizon.

After breakfast this morning I spent some time typing up notes about our plans for the Marine Trader Trawler. I must confess that while I am enjoying the repositioning cruise I would much rather be getting the trawler ready for the big trip back to Canada. Oh well, that time will come soon enough.

Even though the sun is shining there is still a lot of side to side movement on the ship and the air is getting a bit cooler (17 degrees C). As a result, more people are staying inside and it’s harder to find a quiet place to sit.

I found a table in one of the lobby bars that was not open yet and relaxed for a couple of hours reading a book & typing notes on my iPad. At one point I stopped for a stretch and saw myself on the ceiling. Maybe I should install some mirrors on the ceiling of the trawler! I think Catherine will vote against that idea.

I phoned Catherine last night using my SKYPE to landline calling account. The connection wasn’t too bad considering my location and the fact that I was sharing a satellite internet connection with many other passengers. It was nice to talk with each other but it also made me feel a bit lonely. I think that this will be the one and only cruise-ship cruise that I take by myself.

Time to go. Need to snack at the buffet to build up my energy level before making a couple of trips around the ship on the Promenade deck. And then shortly after that it will almost be dinner time.

Cheers!

Ship’s Position @ 11:30 am (Ship’s Time)

30°20′28″ N 58°3′1″ W

We turned our clocks ahead again last night. So we are now 2 hours ahead of EDST.

Today it’s totally overcast but the temperature is holding at 20 degrees C. The temperature in this part of the ocean is slightly over 20. Higher than I thought it would be.

I took the photo above from the Skywalker lounge at the back of the ship. Nice panoramic view from up here but the entire room shakes a bit – like a train traveling at high speed. I don’t think I’d want to be up here in a storm.

The water has calmed since yesterday. Swells are only about 2 – 4 feet & the number of whitecaps has dropped by more than half. Hopefully this will continue, although I am a little concerned because the ship’s staff have been placing barf bags in conveniently accessible locations around the ship.

Not sure if that’s an indication of what’s to come (weather wise) or if it’s one of the passenger’s critique on the food from the buffet. I’ll keep you posted on that 😉

The Captain announced that we have travelled over 1,200 nautical miles since leaving Florida & that we have passed the halfway point of our journey to the Azores Islands.

I’m still finding lots of interesting things to do to pass the time. The cruise line has become quite progressive in their programs. This afternoon I’m attending a seminar that will help me make it through the rest of the trip. I was going to take the ballroom dance class but I’ve decided to save that for another trip when Catherine is with me.

Gotta go – it’s almost time for the seminar & I want to grab a snack at the buffet before it begins.

Bon Appeit!