Day 1 (Nov. 29) - Barcelona, Spain
Woke up early to explore the Las Ramblas and parts of Barcelona. Headed to the ship around 1:00 and checked in then had our first buffet!!!!
Our hotel.
Kristin couldn't resist taking a picture of this :)
Las Ramblas
The Boqueria.
Christopher Columbus Monument
Aboard the Voyager of the Seas!
Ready for the Muster Drill!
Sunset in Barcelona.
Day 2 (Nov 30) - Cartegena, Spain
Got to explore the city as well as a fort, ruins of a bull fight arena, and ruins of a theatre that was uncovered in 1991 during a construction project. Coincidentally it was uncovered next to a modern day theatre that was built in 1990.
Bull fighting theatre.
The new theatre. You can see the old theatre on
the right up corner of the picture.
The old theatre.
Spanish Parliament.
Day 4 (Dec 2) - Madeira, Portugal
This was our favorite stop! This volcanic island is absolutely beautiful. We went to the second highest sea cliff in the world, and toured several other parts of the island.
Cabo Girao - the Sea Cliff.
View from the top of the cliff.
View looking straight down...note how small
the road is below!
Another view from the top!
At a fisherman's village.
Exploring the city.
Lori posing for a picture while
Kristin scales a wall in the
background. :)
Madeira Coastline.
Day 5 (Dec 3) - Santa Cruz, Canary Islands
This island was very similar to Madeira. Toured one of the largest craters in the world.
Replica of the Santa Maria.
Top of the crater.
The clouds were breathtaking coming over the
mountains. The pictures do not do it justice!
Another photo of the clouds.
Days 6-11 (Dec. 5-10) - At sea.
We were worried we would get cabin fever spending 6 days in a row at sea. That was not the case! We had a great time on the ship Ice Skating, Rock Climbing, Roller Blading, attending shows, towel folding, napkin folding, playing shuffle board...ok you get the point! We were blessed to have been assigned dinner seats with a wonderful family, the Knapps, from Kansas City. They have two kids Cameron, 19, and Katelyn who turned 16 Day 4 of the cruise. We enjoyed having Katelyn with us for many of the activities. As the cruise was probably 70% over 60 years old, there were no lines for the activities...on the downside we had to fight for tables in the Cafe and the elevator lines we several minutes. We discovered its never good to be in the pathway of a motorized wheel chair!!! Due to weather up North we took the southern route down the coast of Africa and then across. The weather for the crossing was great!
Getting ready to rock climb with Katelyn.
Lori, climbing the rock wall.
Getting ready to skate.
On the ice rink with Cameron and Katelyn.
The Ice Rink ready for a show.
Looking overboard on a dark night. The ocean
was up to 18,000 feet deep...would not want to
go overboard!
The Knapps
Our wonderful waitress Camelia from Romania.
Katelyn ordered nothing for desert, so Camelia
brought her "Nothing!"
Shuffleboard!
Kristin's bunk bed.
Attempting to do some laundry.
With the monkey our Stateroom Attendant,
Amador, made for us.
Kathryn with another towel animal.
Kristin with her gold medal from
the talent show. She played the piano.
She was at least 30 years younger then
all the other participants!
Day 12 (Dec 10) - Nassau, Bahamas
Land!! We took a tour of Nassau and Paradise Island (The Atlantis Hotel). The water was so blue it really made us want to Scuba Dive but we were told it was quite cold.
The dock.
In front of the Atlantis Hotel.
The Atlantis Aquarium.
View of the city from Paradise Island.
The Queens staircase in Nassau.
Fort Fincastle.
Fort Charlotte.
We found another person to take a pic of the
3 of us!
Day 13 (Dec 11) - Miami, Fl
We woke up early, very excited to turn our cell phones on again! We waited on the ship 4 hours for our turn to go through Customs. We thought some of the people on the ship were going to start a riot...they were so impatient! 10 people on the ship refused to get off. They were later charged $3,300 for holding up the imigration process as those who already went through costums were not aloud back on the ship till everyone was cleared. Some people waiting in line 3 hours to get back on the ship. Thankfully, Kristin's friend, Christina, took us for a tour of Miami and we avoided the caos of trying to reboard the ship early. We had a great time with Christina.
South Beach in Miami with Christina.
Waiting on shore...wet, sandy feet are not fun!
Apparently Miami is afraid of offending anyone.
This "holiday" display had a nativity scene,
Christmas tree, and a manora.
In front of the Manora made of shells.
(Christina and Kristin)
Days 14-15 (Dec 13-14) - At Sea
We enjoyed our last 2 sea days are were not ready to pack and leave. We are already planning our next adventure!!!
Kathryn searching for missing clothing.
Camelia napkin folding for us.
At the fairwell party.
More napkin folding :)
We discovered if you put a kiwi in
a cup upsidedown and push it on
a table it looks like a mouse crawling.
Kathryn and Katelyn scared many
kitchen staff! Sadly "Harry" wasn't
aloud to go through costums.
