My vacations usually consist of separate European train/walking tours, drives out west in a convertible, or a cruise. This was all 3 into one.SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
The trip started out flying to Lisbon via Heathrow. Heathrow is not efficiently run, do have 2 hours minimum between layovers. I got to my connecting flight within 15 minutes.
First stop out of overnighting in Lisbon was Seville, Spain. The bus ride is about 7 hours with 2 transfers. There is no direct train from Lisbon to Southern Spain. The Andalusian and Extremedura countryside is beautiful with vineyards, cliffs, prairie and rolling hills.
Seville is a beautiful city of 800,000 people and the fifth largest in Spain. Like most European cities there is a mediaeval quarter [Magdalena] with narrow walking streets where I stayed, grand boulevards: the Resolana comes to mind. There is a walled city area there from the 1400’s. Beautiful parks with palm trees, and orange trees grace the city. Great public buildings are spread throughout the city. The Plaza de Espana is quite spectacular: a Moorish version of the Paris Eisenhower Plaza. The people are very lively and friendly. All would help me with my Spanish or answer in English. The city is slightly run down so one gets a sense of faded glory. It did rain when I was there and a 5e umbrella kept me dry and added to the great ambience.
There is nothing unusual or distinctive about Seville except how it all comes together. Like a Gestalt the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I met 3 friends along the way which made the visit even more spectacular.
Gay marriage in Spain has not caused the sky to fall. If anything Spain is looked at throughout the world as a major player now.
Returning to Lisbon: I city I visited in 1992 has not changed much. The neighborhoods of interest are the Barrio Alto, Biaxa, and Alfama and the castle atop. The Lisbon Zoo is quite extensive and worth a trip. Like Seville it is slightly run down with a sense of faded glory. The people are less friendly especially the overly touristy Biaxa.
Lisbon is a beautiful city but I never quite bonded with it. By contrast to Seville the whole is less than the sum of the parts.
For that week I did not speak English and speaking only my high school level Spanish which became quite surreal.
The costs for tourists in Spain and Portugal are about 1/3 of Northern Europe and ½ Miami Beach.
CROSSING ON THE REGATTA
Picked up the ship in Lisbon and had an uneventful embarkation.
Ship:
It is essentially a medium size boxboat. The exterior design is generic and tall for its footprint. Inside is a different feel. The space planning of the ship is a descendent nephew/niece of the Love Boat. It makes total sense that Princess bought 2 of them to replace the old ones. It is easy to get around and the spaces flow into one another.
The size of the ship is perfect at 30,000 tons. It is big enough for variety of spaces and amenities, yet small enough to navigate easily. The sense of intimacy makes it a floating bed and breakfast. The connection to the sea is very good. The wide boat deck promenades are underutilized spaces with teak deck chairs and low freeboard so one really is close to the waves. You know you are on a ship.
The scale of the spaces is comparatively small compared to a megaship. The décor is neo Edwardian. Normally I prefer Edwardian Décor done at the time of his reign. Here it is done in a restrained fashion made necessary by the smaller scaled spaces and the ship takes the look of an old money Northeast Country Club. The wood and brass are real, replete with aroma, and not of the plastic variety that disgraces the Queen Mary 2. The only bad room is the about to be redecorated Toscana restaurant which is more Texas cattle baron than anything I have seen in Tuscany. The forward Horizons Lounge is a low deck head large square room with floor to ceiling windows. The Edwardian look is uncomfortable there. The space wants to be early Frank Lloyd Wright: He was designing at the time of King Edward so it is period appropriate.
Cruise Format and Service:
The entertainment is high culture Cunard style with enrichment lectures, a string quartet, and a jazz band that play throughout the ship at many times during the day and evening. The 4:00 tea is right out of Cunard with the string quartet, exotic teas, scones, and finger sandwiches. The service style is LoveBoat era Princess where the staff gets to know the passengers by name, make conversation, and make everyone feel included. Shani the cruise director is an elegant young British lady with a Julie Andrews presence. The evening shows range from musical reviews to juggling acts. One night we had a comedy act where audience members got the mike and told jokes. I indulged and you all know I am not funny. The disco had about 8-20 people and closed down at 1pm which is good for a passenger complement of mostly over 55.
The food throughout was among the best of any ship I have been on. The cuisine has no ethnic identity, but everything was tasty and portions were small so you can have 6 courses and not be overfull. I preferred the dining room to the specialty restaurants.
Livability:
Smoking is prohibited all over including cabins. One corner of outside deck and a corner of a lounge is a designated smoking area. This really makes the ship so much more pleasant. The country club casual dress makes the experience more pleasant since I do not have to pack the suit. Some dress up, but for dinner, slacks, shoes, and dress shirt are fine for men. Women can wear any nice dress or pants outfit.
People:
Most of the 350 passengers were older seasoned travelers. I am 45 and was the 8th youngest person on board. Many passengers were Oceania repeaters which says a lot for a 2.5 year old cruise line. The ethnic make up was about 25 British, 30 Canadian, 2 from Norway, the rest from America.
There were about 30 gay passengers: mostly couples. The Friends of Dorothy party held upon my request, had 22 people show up. The FOD party was mid cruise. Before about 11 gay people met up and 10 more jumped out of the woodwork at the event. It was Oceania’s first and the staff was surprised at its popularity. Many of the gay people were breaking bread with heteros integrally and openly as it should be. Horizons Lounge, used as the disco was the ship’s gay bar after 11:30 pm.
2 Friday night Sabbath services had 25 people in attendance. The rabbi was a passenger who volunteered.
Passengers of note were Kathy and Ken who are partiers in the William Powell-Myrna Loy fashion. Joe and Ivan both 6’4” with a gentle demeanor who spearheaded the yahoo group for the cruise. Gary and Ian from DC who can talk on a wide variety of subjects were the youngest passengers on the ship and wise for their years. Sammie Kaye from San Antonio: is a fun loving full of life Texas belle who graced the FOD party. Todd and Bob: very sensitive and welcoming people, Hans and Erik from Norway who are very fascinating with great stories to tell. Erik is a captain in the Norwegian Navy. Marge from Pacific Heights is an 80 years young retired computer programmer who had worked with QM2 sized Univacs and IBM 360’s in the mid 20th century. One day at tea Shani joined us and at the end of the conversation I said “Shani, you want to be like Marge when you grow up”: we all had a good laugh. Robert is a retired army colonel nurse anesthetist. Tom and Nancy were in my Libson hotel and inveterate travelers. This is the first cruise where I took pictures of individual people.
The Storm:
The ship rides like more like a motor home or aircraft than a liner. There is not much rocking or pitching, but kicks and jiggles. In smooth seas there is no movement at all.
First day we had 15’ white caps and Force 6 [30mph] winds. The next morning The waves got to 20’. In the top deck forward lounge my coffee cup was dancing on the table, I could barely walk, and a grand piano flipped over and decided to leave the room. My cabin midships lowest passenger deck was calm and undisturbed. My cabin did have a porthole and was fun to watch the wake wash up against it, submerge it with the look and whoosh of a Maytag. It was good that I did not take an upper deck balcony unit, as it would have been useless most of the trip. That evening we hit 85mph [Force 12] winds and 30’ waves, had a delicious lobster dinner despite plates and silverware ricocheting about the restaurant.
I went dancing later and slid along the dance floor in obedience to the ship so not to fall. At 1am I went to bed and slept through the worst of it.
Oceania:
They are not all things to all cruisers. Rather than say what it is, I will say what it is not. The line is not designed for families with children, Pete Party Animal, and Heather High Hair. They should take Disney or Carnival.
Miami:
I rented a convertible for my cheap thrill of getting a suntan while driving and an unobstructed view for sightseeing.
There is as much Spanish spoken is South Beach as there is in Spain. South Beach has beautiful art deco that I do not tire of, the people are another story. It reeks with shallow wannabe supermodels and Vogue/Esquire clones. North Beach is less pretentious and the home of the 1950’s Miami Modern called MiMo with the works of Morris Lapidus. The Eden Roc hotel and the Fountainbleau are local landmarks. They were the playground to Frank Sinatra, Arthur Godfrey and other Ratpackers.
The Everglades is quite spectacular. It is a national park with beautiful wetlands, cypress forests populated with alligators [got within 6’ of one, they co-exist with people] and exotic birds. It was a lovely drive and walk along the many trails. The last day I visited friends in the area including a childhood friend that I rekindled with.
The worst part of the trip was coming home.
[ 12-02-2005: Message edited by: desirod7 ]