Steve and Cathy's Blog

We were due to arrive at 6:00am, but we are early. The photo of the Miami skyline that heads up this post was taken at 5:30am from our veranda. We are not surprised we are here early, because this is the most important, cannot-possibly-be-late destination in any cruise itinerary as far as the cruise line is concerned. Our logistics experience tells us why.  We have to be out of our stateroom at 8am so the stewards

This post will contain tidbits of the last two full days of this cruise. It’s 90% created to memorialize a few insignificant moments Steve and Cathy had. As has been said in the past, we use Oceania Cruises as transportation to places we want to see and learn about. We are not into cruising life, as it were. There are dozens of activities on a sea day like these two, and we partake in none of

It’s another beautiful day in the Caribbean. We’re up early because we have an excursion that begins at 9:00am. Because the weather is ideal, we have breakfast in the Terrace Café on the stern as Insignia approaches Tortola. We dock at 8:30, a half hour early. Across the pier is the gigantic Norwegian Escape (capacity 4,266 passengers).  Our excursion is named Virgin Gorda and Baths. It entails a fast boat ride to the island of Virgin

Steve is up at 5:20; Cathy at 6:00am. We are right in the port, and apparently at the dock by 6:30, but, because we are on the port side, we don’t realize it. Steve only discovers that we are docked when he ventures up to Deck 10 around 7 to see what we aren’t docked. Hmmm, we are! He takes a photo of the town of Roseau to show Cathy that we are indeed here. Cathy

Our port of call is only 94 nautical miles due west from Bridgetown, Barbados, so we arrive in port at 8am instead of the scheduled 10:30am. Bunkering must have gone well. At any rate, we are up around 6am to watch a beautiful sunrise. Here are two very different views, one facing east and the other facing west. Cathy points out the fascinating light pattern in the western sky. It’s a perfect morning to have breakfast

After three Sea days, we arrive in Barbados right on schedule at 10am. The cruise port has room for six cruise ships, and there are three there already. It’s always interesting to see other cruise ships, and these three are no exception.  Marella Explorer 2 Rhopsody of the Seas The most interesting is MS Evrima because of its small size. It’s described as a “ultra-luxury expedition ship,” and its owner is Marriott International and sails under

During the night, we moved the clocks back an hour. We are now on Atlantic Time, which is a result of heading northwest. It is an illustration of just how far east much of South America is compared to the United States. The eastern tip of South America (the city of Recife, Brazil) is only 3 degrees west of Reykjavik, Iceland. It’s raining steadily today, even when Steve gets up around 5:00am, the purpose being to

These are two very quiet days with very little to see or say. We present this post with this admonition. The scenery is, of course, the river. The photo above is what we see all day along the shore. The sky dominates the rest of the view, of course, and it is constantly changing. We intersperse some photos we took during various times of the day.  6:00am 6:00am 2:00pm More Meeting of the Waters December 1st:

Note: We have combined two days of this cruise because, frankly, pretty much the only thing that took place was Steve hunting for souvenirs in both locations. We caution readers that you won’t learn much about these two locations, but we feel obligated to chronicle the days anyway for our own recollections in the future. November 29th: At 5:15am, Steve wakes up and sees that the ship is underway. He sees barges moored opposite the town of

Our excursion, Meeting of the Waters, begins at 8am, so we are up early, around 5:30 or so. We enjoy our cappuccinos out on the veranda checking out river traffic and getting a good view of this bridge. Ponte Rio Negro: the only major bridge across the Amazon or any tributary in the Amazon basin. It is very pleasant at this hour, before it begins to warm up for the day, which it will for sure.