The Cruise Line is Holland America, and the ship is the MS Eurodam with 11 decks, holds 2100 passengers, is 935 feet long, and can do around 24 knots.








Our itinerary is: fly from LAX to Barcelona transferring directly to the ship; cruise to several Spanish ports along the Mediterranean (Valencia and Cartagena), sail through the Straights of Gibraltar (with a stop in Gibraltar), around the Iberian Peninsula stopping at several ports in Spain (Cadiz and Vigo) as well as Lisbon, Portugal; traveling through the Bay of Biscayne to Portland, England; across the English Channel to Cherbourg, France; up to Brugge, Belgium, and then through the North Sea to our final destination Copenhagen, Denmark. We'll stay in Copenhagen two nights before flying back home. The cruise itself is 12 days long - total trip 16 days.

Can we handle a 12-day cruise (our longest yet)? Can we survive the flight over in economy class? Will we win the battle against 2000+ passengers for access to the breakfast buffet?..and my first day on board the ship, I discovered that our "Drink Package" which included 15 free drinks per person per day (including alcohol) is not like roll-over minutes - if you only consume 5 drinks one day, you cannot have 25 the next day. *SIGH*....A true test of our survival skills.


Saturday, May 16, 2015

Day 1/2: April 25/26 - Traveling to Barcelona

The start of the 16-day trip was not uneventful.  We awoke at o’dark 30 Saturday morning to make our early morning flight.  Our boarding process at LAX rated a D+ score, as the captain required all of us to de-board the plane, wait for an hour while we ponder our poor performance, then re-board the plane.  The second attempt was apparently acceptable, although I failed to notice any marked improvement...and the captain gave us no pep talk during the time-out. 

The flight was not even 5 minutes into its flight when the passenger next to Diane had to use the barf bag.  YUCK.  The flight attendants were of little use.  Diane attended to the poor soul who required multiple bags before upgrading to a small kitchen trash bag before finally getting it together the remaining portion of the flight.

The second leg of our journey out of Newark, NJ had a rather large women in a window seat next to Diane take up all of her seat, and half of Diane’s.  On top of that,  a flight attendant knocked my elbow spilling hot coffee all over Diane - scalding part of her, staining her clothes, and smelling like coffee.  For the rest of the trip, I looked at her and thought “mmmm…Italian Roast"…while she, who hates the smell of coffee, thought “what's that skunk smell?”  What a way to start a vacation.

Not to be out done by the coffee spill, a man at the airport also waiting for the transfer bus to the ship spilled his coke, getting not only Diane’s other leg, but what was worse… her new purse…(later that same day)…a lady in the ship's elevator couldn’t seem to keep her glass of iced tea upright, and managed to spill some onto Diane.  Hopefully, things come in three’s,  and that should be then end of attempts to liquidate Diane.  


We successfully  - and eventually - arrived in Barcelona early Sunday morning, waited a sufficient amount of time to transfer to the port terminal and then waited a sufficient amount of time to finally board the ship - some 22+ hours travel time.

Friday, May 15, 2015

Day 3: April 27 - Valencia, Spain

View of Valencia Harbor 













Our first port of call was Valencia Spain...home of the America's Cup racing, oranges, the LLadro porcelain factory, and street markets crowded with tourists.   We hit a bus tour early for a trip to the Lladro (YAH-DROW) Porcelain factory - beautiful (and expensive) porcelain figurines.  They allowed us behind the scenes to see their artists making the molds, cleaning & gluing the pieces together, painting, and painstakingly making those little flowers and adding other details to the artwork.  Very impressive.

The bus tour continued through the ancient city of Valencia - dropping us off downtown for a brief walking tour...which was a mad house among many other tour buses and tourists.  Nevertheless, we survived (without any gelato I might add, having no euros just yet).


Important tip #1:  convert dollars to euros early in the trip so you can buy ice cream at your first opportunity.





Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Day 4: April 28 - Cartagena, Spain

Cartagena (CAR-TAH-HAY-NYA).

The dock was very close to downtown and since there were several interesting things to see in the city, we decided against a bus tour...and took a walk around the city.  We went through a maritime museum which was focused on excavations from the Mediterranean - remnants of ships sailed by Romans & Phoenicians, ancient coins, tools,  etc. dating back 1000 - 2000 BC…all very interesting.

We walked into town to find a Roman amphitheater and other ancient ruins.  We walked, and walked, and walked....seeing some great narrow cobblestone streets, small shops & cafes, old buildings...but couldn't find the ruins despite the map saying we were standing in the middle of the _ _ _ _ thing!  We finally gave up, stopped for a beer (actually I had the beer - Diane had a Diet Coke) and headed back to the ship.  We could see the ruins from our cabin!...I guess that will have to suffice.


Later,  we learned we needed to look for an inconspicuous museum entrance in order to enter the ruins.   Phooey.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Day 5: April 29 - Gibraltar




















We pulled into Gibraltar just after noon.  We chose not to take any tours that involved exploring tunnels (which there are some 30 miles worth within the "rock"), encounters with viscous hat-stealing indigenous monkeys (of which there are over 300 roaming the rock), nor take any stairs or gondola rides to our death up the side of the hill.

I did take an afternoon stroll through downtown - quaint shops & streets, and remnants of medieval forts.  Luckily, I was not threatened by any monkeys.


Next to our ship, a very large luxury yacht named “Limitless" was docked.  Curious, we looked up the owner, and found it to be Leslie Wexner, the owner of The Limited store chain, and parent company of Victoria Secret.  

Monday, May 11, 2015

Day 6: April 30 - Cadiz, Spain




The Port of Cadiz, Spain
Cadiz was one of the highlighted stops for us as we looked forward to a tour and show of a horse training facility.  I thought it might have been a rehab facility for animals who forgot how to be a horse...but instead it was for Andalusian horses on the special prancing and maneuvering show routines.  







A very impressive show. The facility also trains riders as well - for fees up to $6000 for horse & rider.


The Tour included a stop at Tio Pepes - a Bodega, which is a manufacturer of Sherry (this being the Sherry capital of the world I suppose).  In the Tasting room, we discovered that neither one of us liked Sherry...but I did pick up some Brandy. (I was going to make the joke that neither one of us liked Sherry....but her sister Margaurite was rather nice...but decided not to lower myself to that level and destroy any credibility on the remaining portion of this blog).



The Bodega invites famous people to sign their casks.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Day 7: May 1 - Lisbon, Portugal



















We booked a "Leisurely Lisbon" tour - a nice bus ride around town stopping at a few famous spots for photo shoots and bio-breaks.






One particular stop was at the famous and historical Jeronimos Monastery,  which was a favorite destination for people traveling hundreds of miles as part of a pilgrimage to this very spot.  

We, on the other hand, ignored the Monastery and headed for an even more famous bakery - Pasteis de Belem (many people on the ship raved about this place).  Diane fought the crowd to pick up some small custard-filled pastry things supposedly made from a secret recipe dating back to 1837.  They were quite tasty, and well worth our own Pilgrimage.


One note:  The economic depression was noticeable in Spain, but perhaps even more so in Portugal, where 34% of the population is unemployed and there were many, many shops, warehouses, and homes empty and boarded up.

One example is the bridge (below), which was planned to be completed in 2013...then 2014...then 2015...now 2016

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Day 8: May 2 - Vigo, Spain

Coming into Vigo Port


Vigo is in the part of Spain north of Portugal.  We opted for a tour around the countryside hitting a few historical sites.  We first stopped at a medieval Celtic Settlement on the Monte do Castro hill near the center of town.










We then toured the countryside of Galicia near the border with Portugal stopping at Castro Santa Tegra - a celtic settlement built over 2000 years ago - but surprisingly wasn’t discovered until 1913.


The tour continued northward to the port town of Baiona. It was once a major harbor - the launch and return point for most voyages back then...but it's claim to fame is the port  which the Pinto (of the NiƱo, Pinto, Santa Maria fame) was returned from its famous voyage and was first to announced that Christopher Columbus founded the Americas (ignoring the fact that the first humans in North America arrived over 15,000 years ago - and set up camp long before ole Chris arrived). A replica of the Pinto can be seen in the harbor...not a very large vessel for transoceanic routes!  I wonder if they also offered pub trivia in the crow's nest?


We had some small pastry snacks in the Hotel Parador de Baiona - a converted medieval fortress, now a 4-star hotel located on top of a hilly peninsula overlooking the harbor.  Quite a hefty hike…not sure the snacks were worth it.