The Trans-Atlantic Party has begun. We had a nice pre-cruise dinner with the gang on Sunday night. Monday morning, Marcie & Tom joined us at the hotel to send us off on our cruise. It was great seeing them. They looked so relaxed (4 months of good livin' will do that to ya!).

The boarding process was delayed due to the time it took for them to unload the world cruisers. The rumor was that some were staging a sit in and refusing to get off the ship! Not true but at least it gave us something to talk about while we sat in a warehouse for a little over an hour waiting to board.

After finally boarding, we had a wonderful 1st night. We can already tell that there's not going to be a dull moment on the ship.

I've uploaded the 1st set of photos this morning

www.worldflyer.net/tap

Thanks John for all the pix. Glad to see everyone is having fun! Looking forward to your reports.

Woo hoo, pictures!! Thanks sooo much John, I loved looking at them!

Looks like all the Tap'ers are having a blast all ready - thanks for the report & pics! :)

waking up to see these pictures was bittersweet....color me green with envy wishing I was there. Everyone looks fantastic. Thank you John but we want more!

Oh...it's so nice to have photos! Keep 'em coming!

Me too, Suzie....color of the day is GREEN!

Hi John,

Great that you guys started enjoying the cruise right from the start!

I wonder what I am doing wrong? I click on the link and it takes me to a page with a picture of Voyager but I don't see any other pictures!

Green here too. But, it's fun to seeing all the TAP'ers having fun. Love the pics, John.

Maria,

Under the photo of the Voyager are some blue captions. Click on the first one - it is a link - and it will take you to the photos. Click on the first picture in the group to look at it and there will be some arrows to click on in the upper right corner to navigate between the photos.

It's nice to see everyone we've cruised with in the last few years having fun!

I must be doing same wrong thing Maria

Link wouldn't light up under AOL so closed it out and was able to click on link thru internet explorer.

Cheers! Ray

Ray, worked for me with via AOL....

Ray,

Thanks for the tip. I got out of AOL and it worked.
Kathy, when I am in AOL none of the captions are blue, they are all grey with no link. Who knows why?

María, I love your second countdown ticker!!

It's looks like everyone is starting out right enjoying themselves. Wish we were there!!

Looks like no time was wasted getting the TAP started. THanks John for photos, fun to see everyone. I'm sure it will just get better and better.

Karen,,
Yes, isn't it nice and peaceful, in the middle of nowhere!

John, thanks for reporting in with us and posting your great pictures. sure looks like everyone is having a terrific time.

Nancy

Yes, we are having fun. Today is 77 degrees and mostly sunny. I am taking a lazy day today and will get more in the groove tomorrow, but at least wanted to chek in that we are still alive and well (more or less)
Lynn

Thanks for checking in, Lynn...and for the pictures, John! Glad to know all is well on the good ship lollypop :app:

Wonderful photos and posts - thanks!

Bonnie, it was great meeting you. Thanks for coming in for breakfast
Lynn

John~~ great photos! We were just at the Embassy Suites and made a reservation for 12-22 yesterday.
It looks like everyone is having a great time.

Such fun photos, John! It appears that Tonya and Suzanne are picking up where they left off! Wish I were there to participate in the antics!

John,
Meeting you and Tonya yesterday was so fun! I love all your pictures....keep it up!

We're slowly settling back to reality, had to wade through 4 months worth of mail this morning! I sure wish I was back on the ship with all you guys. Seeing your fun photos is just great!

It is wonderful being reunited with family and our pets, other than that....returning to reality kinda sucks! LOL
Keep having a GREAT time....I know you will and thanks for the great pictures!

Great calm seas and fun to dance the first night with Tonya and Suzanne. Been a while since i Have done that. NO dancing in the Hanseatic!!

I had my wonderful rack of lamb waiting for me in the dining room with Frank and Wendy and two lurkers, Linda and Nick who are delightful and need to post Linda would probably be the poster. So I hope to move her into a poster before the end of the trip. It was her birthday so it was an extra special dinner.

Today I started to teach pooch. It really is a simple game but I am not sure I have Brad's teaching skills. However at the end of the first game I think they had it down. Betty was the first winner - smart lady. Playing without Brad the King of Pooch is not the same. He kept score now I have to do it and I am not as good at this as Brad.

Tonight we eat with John and Tonya and it is the Captains Welcome aboard party so we have some great food waiting for us.

Be back later.

Ah, Pooch plus dancing--what a treat!! Keep the sea mail coming--and pictures too.

Yesterday was a great sea day. We stayed busy from dawn to after midnight. We lost an hour last night. The 1st of 5 nights where we'll lose an hour of sleep. That made this morning a little more difficult for Suzanne, Andi, Doug & I; we have to be up early this morning for our 1st Cordon Bleu lesson.

Everyone is having a blast. We had a fish fry on deck for lunch followed by a session of Pooch. I took 2nd place in the Blackjack tourney (it wasn't a great feat; there were only 6 of us and 3 didn't know how to play BJ!) Dinner was lobster & beef wellington. Tonya & I ate w/ Ken & Ngaire and had a grand time. Afterwords was more dancing in the Voyager Lounge. It was a little more subdued due to us needing to get up early this morning, but everyone still managed a little crazyness.

I've posted another day's worth of photos on my site:

www.worldflyer.net/tap

John....more photos, yea!

BTW....looks like Suzette has joined the cruise too! :D

For you Crossers and would be transatlantic partiers...here is a typical first day...

Beginners or intermediate bridge lessons
lectures
Lots of exercise classes
trivia
Noontime game show (TABOO)
movies
afternoon tea (strawberry theme)
afternoon trivia
musicians everywhere
bingo

I have been surprised just how warm it is out here in the Atlantic..the Captain said it would be about 81 degrees average. It is pool and outside weather, so you can use your balcony or pool deck comfortably. That's something I was not sure about before we came.

Folks' daytime attire is comfortable and the ship isn't cold, so shorts are fine for daytime wear.

Highlights of yesterday...

1) dealing with ONE person winning three of the four bingo games.
2) a great dinner with some LCTers and the staff captain....did I say lobsta? or Beef Wellington? yum
3) Meeting new folks... Yallcruise for dinner, Carolyn and Donald...Sandra and Malcolm, Wendy and Frank from LCT
4) Other passengers on this ship are ever so nice and friendly
5)Learning how to lose at Pooch with grace
6) Getting to know LCTers like Betty, Tina, Tonya and John, lynn better...

It's been so busy on this ship, I've only made it through 20 pages in my book....

Lunch yesterday was a Fish Barbeque and last night, the Captain's Dinner.

Even with the all inclusive, you still get your two bottles in the cabin...food is great...service is great.

Yippee John, formal night pictures!! Those were great and everyone looked so elegant!

Great reports and pictures! Amazing that it is so warm! Warmer than here for sure.

Great picturs again John. Everyone looks so festive.

Andi - thanks for a typical day schedule. I'm seriously thinking of dropping the Cordon Bleu class on CROSS, I've done it once and I don't want to miss out on other things! :) Your schedule gave me an idea of what to expect. Hope someone on CROSS knows how to play this Pooch game.

Love reading these posts, it just creates more anticipation for us CROSSers. Thanks everyone!

I'm lovin' these pictures!! You all look elegant. Give John a big hug for keeping us poor landlocked cruisers entertained

Thanks for adding the super pix, John.

Any idea as to whether or not you'll be stopping in Casablanca or has Regent substituted that port?

Continue on with more fun times, seamail and pix, TAPers!

Thanks John - love the seamail too!!! Joanna

John, thanks for the great picts and seamail. Wishing everyone another splendid day at sea!!

Nancy

Joann,

Peggy knows Pooch.

Keep the sea mail and pics coming! :app: It sure looks like TAP is living up to its name (Trans Atlantic Party)! :woh: :woh: