Day 20 & 21 - England

Ada took us to the Bristol zoo. It is a nice zoo, with many interesting animals. It seems to emphasize smaller, unusual species.

Monkey.

 This is the Meerkat place (none in this photo, though.)

 Running in front of the gorilla enclosure.

 The butterfly house was fun, with lots of pretty ones. This one, however, is quite striking. It is from the Amazon rain forest, and protects itself by displaying images of snake heads on its wings!

  Next day, Ada took us for a walk on Cadbury Hill.

 It was a nice day, and she really enjoyed laying on the grass.

 Every kid likes a stick.

  On the way back, there was a cricket match going at the local club field. It's as exciting to watch as American baseball...

Day 15 through 19 - England

On Sunday, Mark's Mum (Kate) treated us to a scrumptious Sunday lunch at a pub in Clevedon. It was good to see Sarah.

Kate came by to pick up the spare baby seat for her car.

Jessica is staying on track in her training program for the 10K on May 7. Go Jessica!

 
Ada helped Mark practice for his upcoming Irish music session. She is so musical!

A Bouncy Castle for Ada arrived. It was rainy outside, sooo...

Ada likes rolling around in the Castle. She's not so much into bouncing, yet.

 
She enjoys going barefoot whenever she can. Even if it's chilly enough for a jacket.

There is lots to investigate in the back yard ("gardens").

 
We've had extraordinarily nice weather, with some gorgeous sunsets. Clean air!

Mark and Pa went to the session in Glastonbury. People enjoy hearing Mark play.

Ship & Shore - Day 14

The ship docked at Southampton early in the morning. It was a bright sunny day in England.

While we waited for clearance for disembarkation, fuel was loaded for the next leg.

Up top, workers were putting protective coverings on the wood railings in preparation for a 12-day dry dock stop in Germany, for some updates to the ship.

We found our bags! (It was all very well organized - easier than an airport...)

Then we got to wait in line for taxis.

After about a 5 minute drive, we were dropped off at the train station.

We enjoyed a nice ride through the Southwest of England. Jessica met us at the train station in Bristol.

And in the afternoon, Ada took us on a walk to the Cadbury Garden Center. It was fun to be with her!

Ship - Days 11 through 13

One morning, some of us actually got up in time for sunrise. Almost.

The seas got a little rougher for a day or so.

The waves made the ship do this (watch the horizon).

And that made one of the swimming pools do this. Pretty fun to watch.

Surprisingly, there was a similar pool on the other side in which the water hardly moved.

Ship riding requires a lot of resting.

Tony and Sylvia, from Manchester, turned out to be enjoyable and kind table-mates. The third couple, from Australia, were much younger and were only able to stand us for one meal. We never saw them again...

As we approached England we began to see other ships.

At dinner on the second to last evening, the entire dining staff gathered to listen to Captain Remo (sounds similar to "Nemo") crack some Norwegian one-liners and tell us he was glad we came along, and then they all serenaded us with - "Hey, Look Me Over".

We enjoyed one final sunset from the ship.

Ship - Days 6 through 10

By this time, we are getting into a 'cruise mentality'. It goes something like:
Sleep. Eat. Rest. Eat. Nap. Goof off. Eat. Sleep. Eat. Sleep. Nap. ...etc.

The ship is Really Big. This is a view down the length of the Royal Promenade. It is about 400 feet long, and 3 stories high, lined with shops and cafe's. The ship is almost 1200 feet long.

This is the Alhambra Theater. It seats 1200 people. We actually saw 3 (count 'em - three) movies here - a cinematic record for us.

This is the sitting area on our deck, overlooking the Promenade.

The most wonderful amenity, though, was the soft-serve machine, operating every day from 9 to 5!

Here are some examples of the amazing 'melon art' that greeted us each day in the buffet dining area.

While walking outside one morning, I noticed someone welding in a workshop next to the deck.  It was Roberto, from the Phillipines, building a scale model Harley Davidson motorcycle. He was using stainless steel nuts, bolts, kitchen spoon handles, and the like. He said he was inspired by a cruise earlier in the year in which Harley Davidson displayed 34 new motorcycles.

Savitri, our cabin attendent, started leaving clever towel sculptures each evening. She often incorporated a pair of my glasses for a personal touch.

By now, we were nearing the Canary Islands, and a large cold front. The seas got a bit rougher, with occasional rain showers. Big fun!

Ship - Day 5

Our last stop before crossing was Phillipsburg on St. Maartens island. The view, and especially the color of the water, was spectacular.

We made a short jaunt ashore, to catch up with email at a local Internet shop.

It was hot, so we headed back to the air-conditioned ship. We toured some of the on-board activities. Rock climbing...

... Flow Rider. Very cool surfing simulation.

While sitting in the 12th deck dining area, we noticed a sailboat hanging in the wind shadow of our ship. Look closely - that little blob at the top of the mast...

...is a guy working on the rigging. He's around 150 feet above the water!

There was an interesting mural on the atrium wall opposite the stairway sitting area on our deck.

It's made entirely of spools of colored thread - about 19,200 of them!