Ready! Set! Aloha!

By the time most of you read this post we’ll be winging our way to Honolulu, Hawaii, the first stop on our island-hopping route across the Pacific Ocean to Sydney, Australia.

Approaching the island of O'ahu Hawaii

We were at our timeshare home in Hawaii last January when The Scout found this deal of a cruise while surfing his favorite cruise travel sites.  Sydney and/or greater Australia for years has bounced up on down on our travel bucket list and finally this cruise, its price and our schedule aligned.

Waikiki Beach - Honolulu, Hawaii

One of our favorite ways to travel is to mix a bit of the old familiar with new experiences.  We are doing that on this trip, with a couple days in our old-favorite, Honolulu, prior to boarding our ship, the Celebrity Solstice. The Solstice is also an old-favorite as it was the first Celebrity ship we ever sailed. What a fabulous introduction she provided to that cruise line.

The Solstice will be our floating home-away-from-home for 19 nights, as we travel to French Polynesia, to New Zealand and then on to Sydney.

Inside the Celebrity Solstice 

We’ll have a dozen heavenly days ‘at sea’ – one of our favorite parts of these ‘repositioning cruises’ that move ships from  summer to winter routes. 

For those of you wondering how we pass the time on  sea days, I’ve included the photos above which were taken aboard the Solstice as she transported us from Florida to Europe two years ago.

I’ll be posting updates here about our South Pacific adventure as internet connections permit. We hope you’ll come along with us as we island-hop our way to Sydney. 

Next update will be from Waikiki. . .until then,

“Aloha!”

Travel Tip Tuesday: That Little Black Dress

With the turn of the calendar page a couple days ago and pouring rain this morning, we realized that our 'travel season' is just around the corner.

That means ‘packing the suitcases’ – those small roll-aboard-sized bags with which we travel in the air or on land and sea -- is also just around the corner.

We have used the same Travel Pro roll-aboard bags for years.We find these small bags are much easier to haul up and down and over uneven European sidewalks and subways (some with long flights of stairs). And they are much easier to get into the narrow rail car doorways and over the grated ramps of Greek ferries. And they must be packed light enough that I can carry my share of the load.

These, now battered, accessories have seen us through our month-long overland sojourns and cruises of varying lengths.

In the photo to the left, I posed as ‘bag woman’ with those trusty travel companions as we set off for Greece last spring: our two roll-ons, my Baggallini purse and tote; and a Travel Pro shoulder tote.

We will be taking the same gear on our 19-day Celebrity Solstice cruise from Honolulu to Sydney this fall. This will be the longest cruise we've been on and 12 of the days will be 'sea days' -- those wonderfully relaxing days spent on the ship.

Cruise ship ‘formal nights’ and our ‘small suitcases’ are not a match made in travel heaven.  But we’ve met the challenge. Here’s how:

The Scout packs a suit, dress shirt, tie and shoes and is set.

((Tie and belt are rolled and tucked inside the dress shoes to save space.)








And I have ‘the little black dress’ that I purchased at Chico’s,  (a U.S. women’s apparel chain)  a couple years ago:



I tuck in a few scarves, necklaces and tops and I am set for those formal affairs without ever wearing the same thing twice.

The scarf/shawl (pictured above and to the side) is a sequined affair that I bought at at Italian street market (8-euro) and the glass necklace was a souvenir from Rhodes, Greece.

(Scarves and necklaces are my preferred choice of souvenirs these days. They take up little space and can be used both while traveling and back home.)




That same little black dress on another formal night – this time another Chico’s top and a necklace purchased in Madrid -- turn it into a kaleidoscope of color.



Another Chico’s top (I am what they call a 'Chico's Chick')– a poncho of vibrant primary colors (it folds up as small as a scarf) is how I accessorized that little black dress on a Mexican cruise.



And for those other ‘country club casual’ dress code times on board, I’ve relied on the basic black or white pants and accessorized it with a few tops – the kind that can work with either.

One example is this top I found at Kirkland’s 1 Best Kept Secret, a designer label sample shop (with fantastically low prices). I can wear it with those black and white pants:

An afternoon cocktail party last fall aboard Celebrity’s Silhouette was a casual affair: those white pants worked well in the Adriatic Sea and a hand-washable top finished off the outfit.



On another evening, a black shawl replaced the black jacket that I use on shore excursions and ‘dressed up’ a bit, the black pants:


Speaking of shore excursions, when in Europe we’ve usually worn those black or dark colors for which Europeans are known. 

Again, by using a few scarves, I can wear the same basic black outfit and it always looks a bit different – and scarves take up much less room than do tops and blouses. On our upcoming trip we'll be heading into Australia's spring/summer so I plan to wear the whites more often than the dark colors:




That’s it for this Travel Tip Tuesday – sorry you had to see so many photos of us, but I couldn’t think of another way to illustrate this post.  I promise I’ll stay behind the camera in future posts.

Other posts related to packing tips can be found at: 
Bagless Lady
 Pickpocket Prevention
Tuck these in your suitcase

Note: We are often asked for our packing tips and that's what prompted this post. We were not paid or otherwise compensated for the brand name references – we buy, we use, and IF we like something, then we recommend it.

Now it’s your turn. What are some of your travel fashion packing tips? Please tell us in the comment section below or send us an email.  Hope to see you here again soon ~

Travel Tuesday: Sailing to Oceania

“You are sailing to where?!” 

Oceania. . .you know, that region also called the South Pacific. 

We’ll be boarding our old favorite, the Celebrity Solstice this fall in Honolulu bound for Sydney, Australia.  Our journey by sea to the land ‘Down Under’ will take 19 days to complete.

As shown on the map above, our route will take us through the Pacific Ocean with stops at a few of the islands that make up French Polynesia, give us a sneak peak at New Zealand and provide two long, lovely stretches of leisurely days at sea. 

As seekers of great adventures at great prices, you know we sometimes have to have patience while waiting for the travel gods to bring those concepts into sync.  We’ve had this routing on the radar for at least two, maybe more, years.



And, as seekers of great adventures at great prices, we know we  must be able to act when opportunity knocks on the computer screen.


It rapped while we were in Ko Olina last month.  There it was in an email announcing the week’s Top 20 Travel Deals sent by Travel zoo. 

Even better, it was offered by our friends at Crucon, the New Hampshire on-line cruise agency that we’ve used (and recommend highly) for our recent cruises.

The Scout did a quick comparison of other cruise web sites we use, we checked dates and within hours of reading the email had made a deposit to hold the room.  We’ve learned good deals go fast.





The Good Deal:  The price of $2,199 per person guarantees us an outside balcony cabin, (my favorite place on the ship!) and includes prepaid gratuities ( a savings of about $450) plus complimentary alcoholic and specialty drinks (a savings of about $900 per couple over purchasing the cruise lines “drink package.”)

This illustrates our mantra: There are travel deals to be found out there.  Check TravelnWrite’s Deal Finder page for other tips on finding deals.  We’ll see you back here for Travel Photo Thursday!

Monday Meanderings: Looping Italy’s Boot

The lure and love of  Spain and Greece has become so strong, it was difficult this year directing ourselves towards one of our old favorites, Italy.

Make that ‘difficult’ until a cruise itinerary of the Celebrity Silhouette from Rome to Venice called out, “La Dolce Vita!”



We’ll be living that Italian ‘sweet life’ as well as having some interesting stops as we loop the boot-shaped country, in Malta, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, and Slovenia.


The Silhouette, with an occupancy of 2,886, is a new-comer to Celebrity’s Solstice Class ships, having been launched in July, 2011.

(For those of you cruise enthusiasts out there, Solstice Class ships were  named the “Best Cruise Ships” 2011 by Frommer’s travel guides.)

We first sailed a Solstice Class ship in the Spring of 2011 and have been smitten with these vessels sprouting a live lawn on their top level since then.

The Silhouette is sporting some new features like an Arts Center, which replaces the hot glass art demonstration studios still operating on earlier Solstice ships.  This Arts Center offers classes as a cooperative project with the Art Center/South Florida.   Don’t think we’ll have time to take a class though as all but one of our 12-days on board will  be at some interesting port of call.

We were pleased to see that Murano, the fine dining restaurant, has been retained on this new ship. But I doubt that we’ll be trying Qsine, the restaurant where you order food and wine from an iPad, that is provided.  (The thought makes these techno-dinos shudder!)

Our stops in each port of call will be full-day visits, arriving at 8 a.m. and not leaving until 5 or 6 p.m.  That kind of schedule also gives us plenty of time to explore the towns and sample some of their food specialties – think Naples, think pizza!

Culture, cuisine, cruising – sounds like La Dolce Vita to me!

Cruising tips:

Cruising is an easy way to see a lot of places in a short period of time.  Admittedly, you get but a taste of each  place, but you can also return for a larger slice of life in the future.

When booking a cruise, be sure to ask about:

* The cost of on-board gratuities and whether they are included in your rate or to be paid separately.
* Whether port charges and possible fuel charges are included in the rate or if they will be added.
* What on-board spending credits or perks (like priority boarding or special on-board events) are included.

Now that you know where we will be off to this fall, do you have any tips for us in any of the ports of call?  Be sure to check out Joel’s “Deal Finder” page to see how he shops to find our cruise deals. Follow us on Facebook or subscribe to have our free posts arrive in your inbox. See you soon!

Planning to Head “Down Under” in 2012

You know you are hooked on travel when you are making airline reservations before opening gifts on Christmas morning. 

But then, at our house, we think travel is the best gift we give ourselves. . .so in a way, we were opening a gift.

Our plans are to head “Down Under”  in 2012 to explore areas we’ve never been and along the way we will visit an old favorite, Singapore, a place where we celebrated New Year's Eve 28 years ago. 

It’s a trip that will guarantee we won’t  be home for Thanksgiving and will barely be back and over jet lag by Christmas. (Note to friends: the cards and gifts will be late).
It’s a long way off, or so it sounds right now, but it was even more futuristic back when we set the trip in motion eight months ago. It began with a $200 deposit on a future cruise, paid while we were sailing across the Atlantic in May on Celebrity’s Solstice. 
Frequent Flyer Seats

The reason we were making airline reservations on Christmas Day is because we are using frequent flyer (FF) miles to get us to Singapore and back home from Bali, Indonesia.  As those of you who use FF miles know, you can’t sit back and wait if you want to nab those precious seats – especially for flights around the holidays.

Thanks to Joel’s diligence  (it took calls made over a three-day time span to book the flights because of  time changes we’ll experience on our return flight)  we will fly to San Francisco on Alaska Air and there connect with Cathay Pacific which will take us to Asia. That airline will also return us to Vancouver, B.C. and we will fly Alaska Air home.   The Asia flight is some 14 hours so we’ve each used 100,000 Alaska Air miles to secure Business Class seats. . .which will make the flight almost fun.
 
Money Saving tip: we spent 100,000 air miles each and about $100 in taxes and fees.  To put that in perspective, a Business Class round-trip ticket from San Francisco to Singapore costs $6,018.75 per person! We got a good deal to our way of thinking.

The Cruise

The cruise will depart Singapore and over the course of 17 days will take us to Sydney, with several  ports of call along the way. We’ll spend a few days in Sydney then head to Bali. It’s a six hour flight between those two cities. . .somehow I thought it was closer. 

Money Saving Tip: We’d made reservations for a cabin in Concierge Class – the one that offers a some special amenities on board – but a recent cruise sale email from our travel agency caught Joel’s eye . . .with a quick phone call, he got us  moved to a regular cabin – same size  as Concierge Class – saving us $1,800 on the price of the cruise. (We can buy a lot of ‘amenities’ with that savings!)

We know ‘life happens’ and plans can change – final payment for the cruise isn’t due until next September which means changes can still be made until then. The airline seats can be cancelled (for a fee) and the FF miles returned to our accounts.  But for now our gift is open: the planning, reading, research and dreaming begins. 

So blogosphere friends, do you have some recommendations for us as we begin to plan? If so, please send us an email, travelnwrite@msn.com or jot a comment below.

Going cruising with “Connie”

Now that we’ve finished the Southwest road trip, our suitcases are in the early stages of repacking for our upcoming fall adventure . . .

Ambles through Andalucia

We’ll fly from Seattle to Spain’s interior, beginning our trip in Sevilla, departure gate to the New World a half dozen centuries ago - the perfect place to delve into both culture and history. After a few days poking around the city,we’ll hop a train out into Seville province's countryside to spend a few days in Osuna, population 18,000. Then we head south to see the mark of 20th Century tourism and the Costa del Sol.  In the port town of Malaga we’ll meet friends, pick up a rental car and head out for the trendy, touristy Marbella on Spain’s Costa del Sol. 

A week later a train will take us north from Andalucia to Catalunya, where we will have a couple of days to explore Barcelona.  We’ve been here before, but always on a cruise ship stop that allowed only a few hours exploration, this time we’ll have plenty of time to ramble through its Barri Gotic and Las Ramblas and to ponder Gaude's architectural handiwork before we meet:

‘Connie’. . .

. . .  the cruise ship that will be our floating home for the two weeks it will take to reach the United States.
 

We are already thinking of the ship as ‘Connie’, the nickname given her by her former passengers/admirers. Formally, she’s Celebrity Cruise Lines’ Constellation, a 965-foot long (think 2.5 football fields) luxury liner.

Our 13-night cruise will take us from Barcelona, Spain to Fort Lauderdale, Florida; with stops in Alicante and Malaga, Spain; then after passing through The Pillars of Hercules, we’ll be off to Funchal, Madeira, and Tenerife, in the Canary Islands followed by seven ‘sea days’ as we  cross the southern Atlantic.

  

We’re sold on repositioning cruises for a number of reasons: they are a good travel value, and they provide a mix of ports of call and plenty of ‘sea days’ to kick back, relax and enjoy all the ship has to offer.

We had such a great first time experience with Celebrity on their Solstice transatlantic crossing last spring going to Barcelona, that our expectations for Connie are high.  As we did on the Solstice cruise we will tell you about ship board life and introduce you to folks we meet along the way.

Note:  We’ve listed a number of agencies and websites that we’ve used to nab some incredibly good cruise fares on our TravelnWrite Deal Finder page.  It isn't too early to think about spring repositioning cruises. Some, like the transatlantic crossings, can take a couple weeks.  Others, like one we took from Vancouver, B.C. to Seattle, was a one-night 'crossing' and made for a fun Pacific Northwest getaway.

Back to Spain and our cruise: Do you have recommendations for us?  Restaurants? Flamenco shows? Tapas bars?  Send your tips by email or leave a comment.  And what about ‘Connie’ – are you a member of her fan club?  I'll compile your responses in a future post.

A Luxury Hotel. . .that floats!

Maybe they could be called motorized hotels . . .
Universally called “cruise ships”, enthusiasts of this mode of travel, don’t give much thought to the hotel operation – you select a cabin, or it is selected for you; you like it or you don’t.  Simple as that? Not really.

We really hadn’t given much thought to the hotel side of cruising until we crossed the Atlantic Ocean and had the opportunity to meet and visit with the person who was responsible for the hotel side of the Celebrity Solstice. 

Our Hotel Director Sue Richardson, who hails from the market town of Stamford, England, after earning her Hotel Management degree, began her career at sea in 1988 as Chief Purser and Hotel Director with Royal Caribbean International.

Today her resume would make for a tropical sea novel or movie:  she lived for three years on Bermuda managing a  Boutique Hotel Resort, has worked on a 126-meter (410+ feet) private yacht, and spent three years as a hotel director for Silversea Cruises prior to heading to Celebrity.

“It’s a lifestyle – not just a job or career,” she said.

On our cruise, it seemed that she, just like the Captain, managed to be everywhere, no matter what the time of day. She’s pictured above with Paul Baya, our Cruise Director, during a welcome cocktail party for returning guests. Below she, and other senior staff members, welcomed us back to the ship after a stop in Lisbon.

Over morning coffee with me one sea day, she described her work life as 24/7 during the four to four and a half months she’s on the ship. On the flip side, she is off the ship for an equal length of time, which allows her to pursue educational and travel opportunities and spend, perhaps more, quality time with family and friends than some,who have traditional 8 – 5 jobs and weekends off.

Just like land-based hotel directors, she manages a team of people who are responsible for the operation and upkeep of  accommodations -- in this case -- the 1,235 cabins and 56 suites on the ship, and for keeping the guests happy and entertained.

“It is all about service,” she said, “Service is a feeling. What was the feeling about the experience?”

Judging by the number of returning guests on this cruise – 613 people who had logged more than 10 Celebrity cruises – Richardson and her staff (and their counterparts on the line’s other 10 ships) seem to have nailed it.

Note: The cabin photo above was our balcony room on a Holland America cruise ship.

So, who dines at The Captain's Table?

Have you ever been on a cruise and wondered who was dining at "The Captain's Table"?
I have.

My curiosity came long before I ever cruised. . .way back when I'd watch the rich and famous munching along with Captain Merrill Stubing on the Love Boat , the popular American TV sitcom that aired from 1977-1986. (Click the link for a taste of the show)

Now many cruises -- and dinners -- under our belts later, we still don’t know who dines with ‘the’ Captain, but we've got a better idea of who dines at the Captain’s Table, at least on Celebrity cruises: they are normal people just like us!  In fact it was us.  . .not once, but twice, on the Solstice. And this is how we ended up there:

Prior to our sailing, I had arranged to interview some of the ship's staff for this blog. Celebrity reps also arranged (unbeknownst to me) for us to participate in activities and events usually available to those in Celebrity's frequent cruiser loyalty program, Captain's Club (think perks, like airline frequent flyer). Among the invites was one to dine at  the Captain’s Table being hosted by Environmental Officer James Mitchell (center of table below).

We joined three other couples -- all who had logged many cruises in their travel journals and who kept the conversations lively with travel tales, restaurant and destination recommendations and of course, cruise stories. Officer Mitchell met us in a lounge where we sipped pre-dinner champagne and then led us to The Captain's Table which on the Solstice was in the middle of the main Grand Epernay dining room. (pictured above).
  A few nights later at a cocktail party for Captain’s Club  members we met Staff Captain Panagiotis Kiousis, the second in command of the ship and part of the Bridge Team.  He divides his time between the ship, his California home and his home in Spetses, one of Greece's Saronic Islands; an island where we had spent a few days last fall. 

We three decided to meet for coffee some time during our Atlantic crossing to talk more about Spetses. Instead, Captain Kiousis called and asked us to join him at the Captain’s Table the night he hosted it. 

We'd learned that on long sailings like the one we were on, the officers all take turns hosting the table at each of the evening's two seatings and guests at the tables are invited for any number of reasons. 

On the appointed night we joined other invitees for pre-dinner drinks; among them, a lady born in Greece, and a couple who’d dined with the Captain on a previous cruise. But our host was a no-show. . .thanks to the Spaniards work slow down in Malaga that day:

Donna Trembath, who organized all these type functions on the Solstice, explained that our host was on shore with the Captain trying to get our remaining passengers there back on board and through some dreadfully long - purposefully s-l-o-w - security lines.
So, in stepped our Associate Hotel Director Tom Brady at a moment’s notice to host our group. The ship's operations are divided between the Captain's 'get us there' side and the Hotel side to keep us comfortable and busy while getting there. Tom was second in command of the Hotel side of the cruise operation.  

While we're sorry we didn’t get to 'talk Greece', but we, again, had great dinner companions and a fabulous time.

Now that we've completed our first cruise on Celebrity, we are members of the Captain's Club. . .and it will take a few more cruises with them to get us back to the Captain's table but we will get there one day. And someday I will answer the question, "Who dines with the Captain?"

D2G: The Gourmet Galley Gauntlet

“Homemade meatballs and fettuccine, hold the fettuccine, and a side of broccoli, please,”  I said one evening to our waiter in the Celebrity Solstice Grand Epernay dining room.
He lowered his notepad and asked, “Hold the fettuccine? You don’t want the pasta?!” 

He'd heard me correctly.  Our D2G, (Diet to Go) had met its challenge with the gourmet (mouth-watering-want-one-of-everything) array of food we had on our transatlantic crossing.

Before you start rolling your eyes, about passing up that pasta, let me assure you we ate. . .and ate. . .and ate a lot on the cruise.  Celebrity -- perhaps even more than other cruise lines we've been on -- seemed to emphasize quality – not quantity. Although we could have ordered multiples of each meal and been served them, (that's the way it works on cruise ships) we opted for single servings; each which appeared looking like a culinary work of art (lamb shank below):


But our Diet to Go, D2G,  (see earlier posts for D2G details) made it easy to navigate through the gourmet gauntlet the culinary staff created.  All we did was to modify some little things:

• like sending away the basket of bread that appeared at dinner and skipping pastas every so often;
• skipping the 'traditional' brewskie we shared before dinner on previous cruises;
• and skipping dessert most nights and satisfying the sweet tooth with the candy we found on our pillow each night;
• ordering breakfast from room service for automatic portion control (no temptations from the Lido buffet).

What we did do:

• we drank wine – lots of wine,( more than we would have at home).  
• We ate chocolate and nuts.
• We visited the Gelateria - once - each ordering one scoop and several times drank luscious latte's at the adjacent coffee shop, Al Bacio, next door.
• Actually ate the fruit from that bottomless fruit basket they provided in our cabin
• We headed to the Lido deck's salad bars for lunch.
• And we ate huge amounts in the two specialty restaurants we tried while on board (these places have a surcharge). The photo below was taken in Murano as the sommelier advised us on the wine we should drink with our meal.

That Cote du Rhone she recommended paired perfectly with Murano’s fillet Mignon:

We dined so well in the regular dining room (like frog leg appetizers) that it was hard to leave for another specialty place but we did; and, in the Tuscan Grill, restaurant had fillet Mignon with horseradish flavored mashed potatoes (yes, we each ate some of the potato - not to mention a dessert).

While in port it was easy to get the 35 minutes a day of exercise that we needed on 'the diet' but we had nine days at sea so we made this place a regular morning stop.
  

So six-months into our culinary journey. . . we report SUCCESS: 

• Joel came back from the trip weighing 2 pounds less and I had lost 1 pound. 
• Total pounds lost: Jackie 12 and Joel 6. (We would likely have lost more had we not been traveling and 'fudging a bit' but then that wasn't the purpose of the D2G anyway).

In full disclosure, Celebrity hosted our dinner  in Murano – we paid only for the wine. We paid the full tab in  Tuscan Grill.
Those wanting to know more about the basis of the D2G, should check the Glycemic Load Diet book by Dr. Rob Thompson on the Amazon carousel on the right hand corner of the blog homepage. (More disclosure: if you buy the book from the carousel, we make 40-cents!)

Celebrity’s Captain Quipster

It’s been a month and we are still talking about the guy.
And maybe it is because we liked him so much – although we never really met, beyond a handshake or two, that is; like when he and his top brass welcomed us back from a day in Lisbon.

I am talking about our Solstice cruise ship Master: Captain Gerry Larsson-Fedde, (furthest left in photo). 

Larsson-Fedde, a graduate of the Norwegian Naval Academy,  served in the Norwegian Navy, and held officer positions within Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Celebrity’s parent company, before taking over as Master of the Solstice.

Master is a good way to describe him, as he has mastered the art of being the ship's commander, an obvious inspirational member of the team and having a great since of humor as well.

Remember, I told you he stole the show one night when he rocked out on stage with his guitar? (post: Entertainment with a Capital E!)
 

 On the last sea day, somewhere in the Mediterranean, he led the crew team in a fast-paced water volleyball game against a team of passengers. When they announced his name the audience went wild as did the ship itself.  Cheers and horn blasts echoed across the water.

This game took place the day after he’d had to show his serious side, when he took charge of a situation on shore in Malaga, getting us all back aboard when the locals decided to pull a ‘work slowdown’ protest of some sort. 
 
‘Captain Quipster’s Sense of Humor

A cruise  ritual we’ve come to enjoy – no matter what the ship -- is the noon announcements usually projected throughout the ship in a rather serious tone, beginning with, “Good day, this is your Captain speaking. . .”  then updates on our location, distance traveled and that left to go, and weather/wind conditions.

At noon on the Solstice, our captain began, “Hi. It is me again. . .” followed by the updates.  But what caused everyone to stop talking and listen each day was his closing quip:

This sampler is best read out loud:
Why are ships referred to as ‘she’?  
Day 1: “It takes a strong man to handle her.”  Day 2: “Because when they arrive in port they head to the buoys.”\
Another day: “Man who eat many prunes, get a good run for the money.”
And: “A man who fight with wife all day, get no peace at night.” (Think about it – there was a moment of silence and then a burst of laughter throughout the ship).

When we sail Celebrity again we hope to have Captain Quipster at the helm. . .and the microphone!

We ARE ‘cruise people’

After our Black Sea cruise last year, we weren’t sure this mode of travel still appealed to us. . . now, after our trip across the Atlantic, I can tell you that it does!  We’ve decided that we most certainly are ‘cruise people’ 
But we are still neophytes when compared to others we meet on these voyages.  One couple with whom we dined one night was on their 36th Celebrity cruise and had also logged 11 on other ships. . .another woman announced at breakfast that this was her 53rd cruise and she wasn’t going ashore in the Azores – she’d been there before.

Booking a cruise:
We were so taken with this cruise – and Celebrity cruise line – that we did visit the ‘future cruises’ desk our first morning on board. . .and we’ve tentatively booked ourselves on this same ship for a cruise in November 2012.

We’d booked the transatlantic crossing through  CruCon Cruise Outlet, and were continually impressed with the attention to detail and service they provided.

Example, we wanted ‘anytime dining’ and not a set seating. We didn’t make the cut-off for that so they got us a table for two at a window. . .a nice touch, indeed!

CruCon had some 500 people on this cruise of 2,700+ which is why we got such a good rate; as it was sold as a group rate – with the only ‘group’ part being in numbers.  So large were our numbers that the agency had three staff members (‘Ambassadors’) sailing with us, who set up a desk in the ship’s lobby and attended to our needs as readily as ship’s staff.

Our ‘ambassadors’  hosted a cocktail party for us and sponsored a variety of other on-board activities – so many that we skipped several of them.  Their service was great and we are using them as our travel agents for the upcoming cruise.

Note: If you are considering a cruise – on any cruise line – and want to contact CruCon their US toll free number is 800-493-6609, www.crucon.com.  If you book a cruise for the first-time with them, mention referral  Number 45617, for an additional $25 off whatever other discounts they provide. 

Celebrity’s Oceans Ahead: ‘Save the Waves’

From the shopping list of things to keep passengers entertained on one of our lazy sea days, I chose to attend a presentation called “Carbon Footprint” or some such thing.

And let me make it clear here, I am not some over-zealous environmental advocate. . .I had another reason.

We’d been invited to dine at The Captain’s Table that night and our host was our ship’s Environmental Officer James Mitchell . . .the one doing the presentation.  I decided it would be good to be able to chitchat about , well, carbon footprints. . .the greening of the fleet. . .yes, the environment, by golly!

So off I went, notepad in hand, just in case something might be interesting enough for a post. . .and it wasn’t too long before I couldn’t keep up with all the facts and figures I was hearing.

Not only did I chat about them at dinner, but Joel and I also had coffee with James to continue the discussion a few days later.

A sample of what we’ve learned:

-- In the first three months of 2011 Solstice recycled  163,000 pounds of glass and all proceeds from its sale went to the Crew’s Welfare Fund.

--In  2010 the ship’s total fuel consumption was used 60% for propulsion and 40% for the hotel operations.

--Water from the faucets on the ship is drinkable and meets EPA standards. . .and it is processed on board from seawater.

--The cost of fuel for a 7-day cruise was $750,000. . .let’s see, we sailed almost twice that long. . .

--Solar films used on the ship can generate enough energy to run the ship’s central elevators for a 24-hour period.

--There are ice makers that use less water and light bulbs that generate less heat therefore requiring less use of airconditioning. . .things we’d never before noticed.

Celebrity’s parent company, Royal Caribbean, began an  Ocean Fund back in 1996 and since its inception has contributed $11 million to support marine science, education and conservation initiatives.

Officer Mitchell, a graduate of the Massachusetts's Maritime Academy, has been in charge of monitoring environmental compliance on the Solstice for two years.

His presentation was part of a series of such lectures given on ships in the Solstice Class fleet as part of the cruise line’s “Celebrity Life” series designed to give passengers a somewhat behind the scenes look at ship operations and sustainability.

(Did we talk about the environment at dinner? Sure did. But the conversations also ranged from  favorite wines and food to travel destinations.)

Note:  I’ve invited James to write a guest post and tell us more about this topic any time he wants.

The Spring “Grand Tour”

The fellow from California that we met in Madrid said, "Wow! You are taking a real grand tour aren't you?" when we told him of our travels.

And I hadn't even told him that was what I'd been calling this trip long before we left home. Ever since reading about Europe’s “Grand Tours” I have always thought what fun it would be to have taken one. And since it's never too late, I stretched the definition a bit and named our spring trip our “Grand Tour”  although originally. . .

Those Grand Tours. . .
. . .served as what you might call an educational ‘rite of passage’ for young, upper-class, European men, that really caught on in the 1660’s and reached its crescendo in the 1840’s or so, after the introduction of large-scale rail travel.

(If you travel, you recognize the name Thomas Cook, don’t you? We flew one of their flights last year and they have money exchanges all over the place. Well, it got his start back in Grand Tour days with his then popular “Cook’s Tours”.)

The tour gave the young aristocrats an opportunity to learn about cultural legacies, view great works of art, listen to music. The tours could last for months, even years. They were not pilgrimages of scholarly or religious sorts, simply opportunities for intellectual and cultural growth.

Our Grand Tour. . .
. . .while certainly no where as long as those of olde, we have had wonderful opportunities to expand our cultural and historical knowledge.  From the on-board lecture series (our favorite speaker was English writer Nigel West) and the Corning Glass Museum demonstrations that Celebrity offered, to Madrid where we lived at the point of its Golden Triangle of the Prado Museum, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, and the Centro de Arte  Reina Sofia, we have had some great opportunities to pursue that favorite US public school phrase: life-long learning.

We’re concluding our Grand Tour with our brief immersion in London history and culture (and at least a couple trips to The British Museum), before spending a final night in Paris where we plan to educate our palates with French cuisine, and expand our knowledge of wine, perhaps a bit of champagne, and a lot of Sancerre, the favorite white wine of ours from France’s Loire Valley.

The Spirit of Solstice

There they were, all lined up greeting us as we returned to the Solstice at the end of our visit to Lisbon.  The Captain (on the left) and his team just wanted to welcome us back.

That’s something we’ve not experienced on previous cruises - we can’t recall ever being greeted by the ‘management team’ except at the official welcome cocktail party. Returning from shore excursions we expect staff members to offer water and hand sanitizer, but the ‘top brass’ greeting – that’s a new one.

That same team put those smiles aside the next day when in Malaga, Spain when the Spaniards decided to pull a work slow-down that affected four large cruise ships in port that day.  Tours returned late and then Spanish security decided to slow things further by ‘wand’ checking each returning individual. . .thus threatening to delay our departure. Our captain and his team went to work and got us all back on board, with only a slightly delayed departure.

(Note to Malaga tourism: some of our fellow passengers were so angered , don’t expect to see them again anytime soon.)

However, the following sea day – our last  – the team was smiling again. The photo to the right is a group of managers (our captain far right) who challenged a team of guests to a water volleyball game.

And it wasn’t just management, everyone on this ship added a personal touch to service.

Our room attendant, Agostinho Fernandes, who’s been with the company for 10 years, would head to our door to unlock it and hold it open for us the minute he saw us in the hallway – even though our keys were out.

There was the attentive assistant restaurant manager, Flavio, who helps oversee operations in the immense  dining room who  asked,”Is everything okay? You’ve been gone two nights.” (We had eaten elsewhere and were amazed that he had noticed our absence with hundreds of others filling the tables.)

The ship’s Hotel Director Sue Richardson, (she’s in the top photo) says it is what they call it the ‘Spirit of Solstice’. 

“It is the most critical piece,” she explains, adding, “And the team spirit is outstanding. The Captain is an inspirational leader, he just continues to motivate and inspire the team.”

It’s that  Solstice Spirit that made it hard to leave the ship last week but happy that we will be sailing it again in 2012.