Back on the 2 year plan… 14 day Alaska Round Trip Los Angeles on Celebrity Mercury. This was an early season trip departing at the end of April, 2009

We asked Suzi’s folks to drive us to the ship. Figured we get there around noon. We did. No Ship. The porters were there, the check-in agents were there, no ship…

They did check us in and since we were early, we got a boarding card with an “A” for first boarding group. Now the ship wasn’t scheduled to set sail until 11:00 PM, however, was supposed to be in LA by about noon.

This was a re-positioning before a re-positioning cruise. The Mercury had been in the Caribbean. This cruise actually left Florida, went through the Panama Canal and dropped passengers off in San Diego (re-position # 1). Then it was supposed to sail, empty to LA to pick us up. After this round trip, it would head back to Alaska and stay for the season (re-position #2).

So now you have a terminal full of restless passengers. No Ship and worse, NO FOOD! We feel Celebrity and RCL Corporate stepped up to the plate. They went out and brought in a ton of sandwiches, pizzas and drinks. They also sent the Cruise Director and other officers by shuttle to the terminal to calm down the natives.

Suzi called her BFF who had heard it was a noro virus outbreak but when the staff arrived, they assured us that wasn’t the case. They said a vast majority of passenger were not US citizens, so when the ship got to San Diego, US Customs shut them down so they could process everyone appropriately. The staff went out of their way to make sure we we were kept up to date. About 5:00 PM, they told us the ship had been released and was on it’s way. Great.

The ship finally started coming through the channel at about 8:00 PM. By the time the Mercury was securely moored. it was 9:00 PM. Since we were first to board, we were still in the main dining room at 10:30 watching passengers board. We did not set sail until about 3:00 or 4:00 AM the following morning.

Our Stateroom was 1001 and our Travel Agent booked us as Concierge Class. It was a nice ship but didn’t have the wow factor of the Jewel Of The Seas. Definitely an older ship.

After a couple of sea days, our first stop was in Astoria, Oregon in the mouth of the Columbia River separating Oregon and Washington. Beautiful little town. Photos will be added later.

After another day at sea, we made it to our first port in Alaska, Ketchikan. As expected, the temperature was… 82 degrees? Yes folks. 82. We did our walking up to Creek Street to find the Salmon ladders.

The next day was Juneau. We booked the Mendenhall Glacier and Gardens tour. Weather was pretty good. Not 82 like the previous day in Ketchikan. The highlight as we were walking to the observation deck at Mendenhall was this little guy:

And Mendenhall Glacier is massive.

Our next port was Skagway. This has always been our favorite port. Touristy, yes but so nice to walk up and down all the streets.

Our next stop was cruising Hubbard Glacier.

Next stop, Sitka. After tendering into town, Suzi and I just walked around the downtown area.

The final port before heading home was Victoria, BC. We booked Butchart Gardens after a stop at the Butterfly Pavilion. Suzi HATES insects, so I had to make sure she wasn’t hiding a can of Raid.

Yes. Butchart Gardens is that pretty.

We enjoyed our time on Celebrity but it doesn’t often end up in Los Angeles.

So now we’re trying to make up for those 8 years of no cruising. In late September, 2007, we booked a 14 Day Cruise, Roundtrip London (Harwich) on Royal Caribbean’s Jewel Of The Seas. We tacked on an additional 3 full days in London. This time, no Cuz, no folks. Just Suzi and I.

We hopped on a British Airways 747. Our first time on a plane that size. 10 hours later, we arrived at Heathrow and boarded our bus to the ship. I happen to love to fly so I don’t get much sleep on planes. By the time we got on the bus, I was wiped. It seemed to take forever to get from Heathrow to Harwich but I wanted to stay awake to see the sights of a Country I had never been to. Suzi? Put her in any mode of transportation and she’ll fall asleep in minutes.

As we got closer to Jewel, it seemed significantly different than the Carnival ships. Once we boarded, you really noticed the atrium or Centrum. It goes up 10 decks! Massive. It also had a bank of outward-facing elevators. We were on Deck 10 in Stateroom 1068. The decor was much less glitzy and very well appointed throughout the ship.

At dinner, we met our server Oxana. She took excellent care of us making sure we both had a wonderful dining experience.

After a MUCH needed Day at sea, we arrived at our furthest, and northernmost port, Oslo, Norway. We booked a walking tour of the city. The first words out of our tours guide’s mouth was “Welcome to the first sunny day all summer.” It was gorgeous. We walked to City Hall, the Royal Palace and to where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded.

We walked past a statue of the famous Norwegian author, Henrik Ibsen so I took a shot. Once I got home and looked at it, I noticed that all of the colorful foliage behind the statue was actually a reflection from a garden behind me. The statue was in front of a large glass building.

As we sailed away, I was standing out on the balcony and took in the sights of the Oslo Fjord.

Our next port was Copenhagen, Denmark. We booked an excursion that took us through some of the highlights of the city. We got to witness the changing of the guard at the Palace and stopped by Nyhavn Harbor.

Then we went to the island of Amager to the Dragor Village which was built to house farmers that produced food for the royal household. Many of the homes had thatched roofs. The guide said that back then, a thatched roof meant you were poor. Nowadays, owning a house with a thatch roof is a sign of wealth.

On the way back to the ship, we stopped by one of the most photographed statues in the world. The Little Mermaid.

Whether it was the flight over or too much salt, Suzi’s shoes became way too tight, so we gingerly walked to some shops by the ship and found a shoe store. I can’t believe it… It cost us 325.00… (Kroner) for a pair of shoes. OK. I think it was about $60.00 US. Either way, well worth it.

After another day at sea, we were in Hamburg, Germany.

Bear with me. Back in the mid 70’s, my brother, Andy, moved to Dusseldorf for his company. There were two young women assigned to work with Andy who was tasked with bringing an old-school German company to work within US Business practices. One of those women was Ursula. After Andy moved back to the US, they remained friends. Several years later, Ursula and her boyfriend came out to California for vacation. It was then Ursula and my Mom became good friends and constant pen pals. I too kept in touch with Ursula throughout the years, especially about travelling. Something we were both passionate about. So, when I emailed Ursula, now retired, and told her we would be in Hamburg, she booked a train and a hotel and said she would meet us there and give us a special tour of one of her favorite “big cities”.

Suzi and I took the shuttle into downtown then made our way to the hotel, Good thing I went by address and not the name of the hotel, as it recently changed… And our personalized tour of the city began. Ursula insisted on treating us to the Hop On Hop Off bus and knew which stops were nothing but tourist traps and what were truly worthy. One of the stops was to St. Michael’s Church where we climbed up the bell tower. Unfortunately, it was a rainy, dreary day but we still enjoyed.

Since the ship wasn’t scheduled to set sail until 2:00 AM the following morning, we thought we’d stay with Ursula for dinner. Suzi absolutely loves cabbage and we were certain we would be going to a really nice German restaurant. That’s when Ursula informed us that her favorite restaurant in Hamburg was… Italian. So we had a really good bowl of minestrone, talked, laughed, then said our goodbyes. We hightailed it to the ship for dinner.

Ursula was so generous and would not let us pay for anything. All she wanted was a photo of her favorite building in Hamburg.

Next port was Amsterdam, Holland. We booked an Excursion that took us to the town of Edam, then to an authentic old village of Zaanse Schans.

You will never guess what one of the stops in Edam was… Ready? A cheese factory. (Bet you never saw that one coming!) Aside from the cheese, Edam is a beautiful town.

Zaanse Schans is spectacular with it’s old houses and windmills.

My favorite shot of this tour was this old drawbridge.

Upon return to the ship, we did venture into Amsterdam.

No stops in any “coffee” shops, but we did find ourselves in the Red Light District. Sorry, gentlemen. No photos.

Next stop was Zeebrugge, Belgium. We opted to do an excursion to Brugge, rather than Brussels. It was the Brugge and Belgium Chocolate tour. Cold, overcast and an occasional mist.

It’s a beautiful city, just need to see it under clear, sunny skies. The walking tour was good, but there is soooo much history, our guide tended to stop at Every. Single. Building. Based on the number of tours going on with stops at the chocolate factory, I’m sure our guide had to slow down the pace to allow time for the chocolate demonstration but it did make for a long tour that really didn’t go that far into town.

Next Stop – Le Havre, France for Paris. As a photographer, I had been looking forward to this stop. We booked Taste Of Paris that would take you 2.5 hours to get to Paris. Then 3.5 hours on your own before getting back on the bus for another 2.5 hour drive. The only real legitimate complaint we have about ocean cruising are situations like this when it takes more time to and from, than the actual visit itself.

Our tour did include a trip around the city first so we passed the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame. Although we were provided with comprehensive directions on how to get from our drop off point to all of these areas, we had a group of American women who were only interested in Notre Dame. They would stop at nothing to bully the guide into dropping them off. As soon as we got to Notre Dame, they finally said they were getting car sick and demanded to get off. The poor guide finally called her boss and was given approval. We all secretly hoped they’d miss the pickup time. All we hear in America is about how stuffy and rude French people are. We found them to be really nice people. The only people we saw in France that were being stuffy and rude was this group of ladies.

Our Drop off and Pickup point was right near the foot of the Eiffel tower. I just could NOT wait to get some photos. As it turns out, Paris was hosting World Cup Soccer. Right between the first and second observation decks of the tower was a freaking World Cup balloon. Seriously????

Thanks to those wonderful folks at Adobe, I was able to Photoshop the balloon out.

Due to our limited time, we opted to see the city on foot, rather than stress out about waiting in line to go up the tower. We found our way to Champs Elysees and the Arch on our way to one of those quaint corner sidewalk cafes off the Seine.

We took a nice leisurely stroll back to the pickup point and people watched until the bus arrived. Yes, the group of women did make it back in time and were greeted by several boos from other guests.

After another day at sea, our next port was Dublin, Ireland. We took a shuttle into town, then walked around. What’s a trip to Ireland without stopping in for a pint? Since we’re in the section called Temple Bar, this seemed like an appropriate place to have a Guinness.

The next port was Cobh, Ireland for Cork. Although Cork was the “main attraction”, both Suzi and I fell in love with Cobh (pronounced Cove). Since we had booked an excursion into Cork, and it involved visiting an Irish Pub, we had to go.

Cork, located on the River Lee, is a beautiful town. Our tour had a stop at St. Finbarr’s Cathedral before heading to the Pub.

So what do you do after visiting a church? Pub!

Coors Light? WTF? I had the Murphy’s. Back to Cobh we go.

Next time we do an itinerary that includes Cork, we’ll stay in Cobh. So pretty.

At the port, there is a statue of Annie Moore. Annie was the first immigrant to the United States to pass through Ellis Island. She departed from Cobh, accompanied by her brothers Phillip and Anthony.

What made this a special port was that close to departure, it seemed the entire town came out. Cars lined the street and even a brass band came out out played as we pulled away.

Our Captain must have had a strange sense of humor. As we made our way to the open water, he said we should look back at the town as it was the same port the Titanic left from. Never to see land again. Comforting… Our last day was a sea day before arriving at Harwich, barring a rouge iceberg that is.

We booked our hotel and transportation through Royal Caribbean, so they whisked us to London and to City Inn in Westminster. PERFECT location. One block from the Thames and 2 blocks from Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

We had three full days to take in what we could. I had even contacted “It’s just Stella”, you know, the world renowned immunologist we met on the last cruise in Rome. Hoping to see if we could get together. Unfortunately, she would not be in town. Probably creating a new vaccine to save the world… Oh well. We found plenty to do like “minding the gap” and looking the “wrong” way at street crossings. And taking a few pictures…

One of our friends had been to London several times and suggested that since we would be in London on a Wednesday, we should attend the Evensong Service at Westminster Abbey as the choir is there. We went and wow. The acoustics are as phenomenal as you would think.

We did a Hop On Hop Off bus on day two and saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. After dinner, we caught the tube, minded the gap and went to the Tower of London, more specifically, Tower Bridge.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for more shots including:

Our last day, we got really ambitious and decided to walk all the way from our hotel in Westminster to Harrods. Not THAT bad a walk. Unless, of course, it starts pouring rain. We walked into Harrods totally drenched. We toured the entire store then hopped on the tube and headed back to the hotel.

We were scheduled to depart at 3:00 PM the following day. Royal Caribbean felt that leaving at 12:00 PM would be sufficient. Suzi, always preferring extra time, compromised on 11:00 AM. Good thing because as we were waiting for security, they started calling our flight. Good thing was, we got fast-tracked onto the plane for our non stop flight to LAX on Virgin Atlantic.

The number one reason we’ve chosen Princess is our proximity to the Port of Los Angeles. Although we have Carnival in Long Beach as well as other ships out of L.A., Princess offers a variety of itineraries. We have sailed to Alaska, Hawaii, California Coast and Mexico (Both Riviera and Sea Of Cortez).

We have sailed 10 of our 17 cruises on Princess and have 4 more booked. Still Platinum members but looking forward to free laundry when we hit Elite sometime in 2021. (It’s all about the free laundry, isn’t it?)

The primary reason we are staying loyal to Princess has to do with our Cousin Jerry. Jerry and Suzi’s mom were born 2 days apart, in the same hospital, to sisters. We started cruising together when Jerry was in his mid 70’s but you’d think he was in his 50’s. Jerry was in the kind of shape you wish you’d be in at that age.

The three of us sailed to the Caribbean, the Mediterranean / Adriatic, Panama Canal, Hawaii and Alaska together. We were all booked for Mexico / Sea Of Cortez on Crown Princess in September, 2016 when our world changed. Jerry phoned us to let us know he was diagnosed with the most aggressive type of cancer and probably had less than a year, even with treatment.

Jerry was a lifelong bachelor and loved to travel, so he decided that between treatments, he would travel. He opted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered in whatever body of water was near. That did not set well with us. We asked that when the time came, could we have his ashes and have the privilege of scattering them. Thankfully, he said “of course!”

During a phone call to Princess, the representative asked if there was anything else she could do. So I asked what their policy was on burials at sea. She immediately gave me an email address. AshesRequest@princesscruises.com. My mouth dropped. All we needed to do was send an email with our booking number and Princess would do all the rest. Only stipulations were a biodegradable urn and no burials at sea on Alaskan itineraries. And, it’s all complimentary. WOW!

Fast forward to 1/31/2016. We lost our third Musketeer.

A few weeks later, we received Jerry’s ashes in a biodegradable urn. I sent my email to Princess and received an acknowledgement. This was the same cruise all three of us were booked on…

Fast forward again to Departure day, 9/25/16. We went to the Pursers Desk and talked to Scott Lewis, the Customer Operations Manager. He was expecting us. We arranged for the first sea day, Day 3, at 12 Noon. We sent an email out to friends and extended family as to the time so they could stop and share a moment of remembrance. We were to meet Scott by Club Fusion (Deck 7 Aft).

We arrived with Jerry at 11:50. We noticed that crew members were already beginning to block off the stern of the ship and redirecting those out for their walks. It was an absolutely beautiful day. Warm and tropical. At 11:55, Scott arrived and escorted us outside. The staff let us through and were very respectful. Some of the passengers realized what was happening and offered their condolences.

As we made our way back, we saw that the crew had setup a cloth-draped table with a box of Kleenex. Something so small but so absolutely touching.

In order to allow family and friends to see the ceremony, Scott used my camera’s video option and recorded us.

After saying a few words, we placed Jerry exactly where he wanted to be… The Ocean.

Scott got on the radio and alerted the Bridge. He went on to tell us that Jerry’s location will be recorded on the official ships log. He also told us that we would be receiving a document showing the ships time and coordinates, which we got a few days later. (Once we got home, I looked up the location and saw we were almost exactly halfway down Baja California parallel to The El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve.)

The staff and crew of the Crown Princess went above and beyond. I am not sure if other cruise lines offer a similar service but it could not have been more special.

This, more than anything else, cemented our loyalty.