Off to the Mariner for the back to back Med cruise. Some new ports for me as well that is always fun.

Fly DFW - ATLANTA - LHR - ROME. Frequent flyer miles - got to love them, but we were able to get first class all the way. I think I can handle the connections. I really love being on a plane if I am in first or business. I really relax, watch movies, play scrabble in my mini Ipad, Ken had to listen to me he has nowhere to go! Even the food seems to be getting better than it used to be. I have a rule on travel days - I eat whatever I like, no rules. Got to love that too, a brilliant idea of mine. Sleeping not so much but that is okay I recover fast. Now COACH a whole different story, it is never fun!

On the second leg June 22nd, my daughter Cindy and her husband Mark will be joining the cruise. We seldom get to travel together she is as busy as I am so it is hard. Her daughter is at camp so it will be nice to spend some quality time together.

So I am a happy camper as I prepare for another trip on the Mariner, Captain Felice is on board and his presence always makes things better! CIAO!

Have a great time -- and say hi to Felice for us.

Have a fabulous time....hope you can send us pictures and seamail.

Love your itinerary and so happy Cindy & Mark can join you on the 2nd leg. Hi to Felice from Tom & me too and you get to go to his home town!

Ngaire, I'm sure you and Ken are looking forward to relaxing on the flights. I hope all go smoothly. I'm looking forward to the sea mail and hearing about the new ports.

PLEASE, give our very best regards to Capt Felice from Alice and me!

See you soon. We did TUL-ORD-LHR-FCO with an overnight at LHR which is a bonus as we love London. FF miles of course, in business on AA to London then BA to Rome. Taxes are so much less on AA for award tickets, but going home will be on BA because that is all could get for my dates in business or first.

We are now onboard the Mariner.

We saw most of the updates in January but more has been done since then. The thing we like the MOST is there is an extra plug outlet on both sides of the bed. There are NEVER enough plugs so this gives two more outlets! We carry an outlet strip but having two plugs in a separate location is very nice.

Seeing many old friends in the crew as soon as we got on board always feels like coming home. Nice to be back!

Had lunch with Ken and Sheila we met them waiting to board the ship and saw Rachel and George at lunch as well. We will catch up with everyone to night at the pre dinner get together.

We have reservations tonight at Prime 7 what a way to start!!

That really IS good news about the outlets!
What a great way to start your night in Prime 7!

Glad you are all safely aboard. Andrea Bocelli's PBS program last set in Portofino was fabulous. The city was lit up in the background - stoked our interesting knowing we'll be there in one short week

Cheers, Anne

Seaday today as the wind whipped up right after we dropped anchor in sorrento . Later it poured rain for a while. Internet is terrible in our suite. I am blogging over on the cruise critic site, and with the terrible connection can only manage one spot ( if that). Dinner with Ngaire and ken tonight.

Rachel, are you using an ipad in your cabin? I have heard so many bad wifi connection horror stories from people with ipads. I have never had a problem using my Android tablet in the cabin or at the pool deck on any of my cruises.

Having a wonderful time. Our dinner in Prime 7 was great, the same menu as I always have, crab cake, crab legs, and Dover sole. Fantastic. Also enjoyed catching up with Ken and Sheila although we were together just three weeks ago in South Africa. A lot can happen in three weeks.

We ended up with a sea day as we had to bypass Sorrento. A great port but so often difficult to tender because of wind and currents. Nice relaxing day with some cards in the afternoon.

Last night we had dinner with George and Rachel. We had a great time those two have some super stories! We talked constantly and dinner seemed to be over very quickly. Again Dover Sole for dinner, I can be so boring I can eat the same thing again and again.

Today eight of us went on the same tour ERICE by Cable Car. We did this last year and loved it so we booked it again. Lovely little town on the top of a hill with great views. As we were leaving we ran into Captain Felice with his wife Anna and daughter Josephine. The captain had to stay on board but the girls joined our group. It was nice to see Josephine we met her when she was 10 and is so grown up now at 15. We have met Anna a few times before and her English is getting better all the time. The weather was perfect, nice temperature not hot or cold. Could not have been better. It was a delightful morning maybe Ken can post some pictures. We had lunch in Compass Rose with Jim and Mary Ellen and caught up since we saw each other late last year.

Tonight is the BK cocktail party and the preliminary drawing for the free cruise.

The ship looks great. Both the Voyager and Mariner look good after the refurbishments and many things are similar. I like the way the Mariner looks better than the Voyager. The promenade on deck 6 is terrific and now Park West is gone they are going to add more chairs and table down the side where all those paintings used to hang. Also the Horizon Lounge is different and easier to get together for trivia than I remember the Voyager being. Or maybe I am just getting used to the new layout.

BIG DIFFERENCE ON THIS SHIP IS THE DEMOGRAPHICS. It is a short cruise and the ages of the passengers is so much younger. Lots of 40's and also many families. The guests change the mood of the ship and it is a very upbeat feeling on board. There are seats in the coffee corner all the time and not as many playing trivia (we may stand a chance but we did terrible yesterday it was hard).

Okay off to catch up on emails and see what is happening in the BK world at the office.

Yes, Karen, using an iPad which I have used on this very ship with no problems at all 2 different times. The computer guys are working diligently, and have figured out that it has to do with the VPN I have to use for work which is a new thing. Anyway, situation is better as I figured out where to sit--right by reception- to get an adequate signal and speed.

Fun time with ngaire and all the LCT crew in Erice. I have not made it to trivia yet as I have been too tired and/or preoccupied with the computer thing.

They have just brought me a laptop to use so we will see how that goes.

Love reading seamail....we had so much fun in Erice, brings back great memories from B2B MARINER . Anna just needs to keep building her confidence, she's such a doll.

Good luck with Trivia guys, you can do it !

So nice to read seamail. Thanks to Ngaire and Rachel for posting!!

I agree, Rachel. I've had my iPad for maybe 2-3 years. It is not always the best, but sometimes very good in places like the pool deck that Karen mentioned. You just never know when you are in the right place at the right time. Sometimes I go down to the main computer area on the ships and find no one is getting a signal. Just depends on the geography, and apparently, certain placements on the ships for cabins are not good.

I am so glad you loved Erice, we had a wonderful time there with Ngaire and Ken and many other BK cruisers last year. The more I cruise, the more I love places like this, that are new to me, small. not crowded, and time to walk around (this was a little climb) just sit and chat in a little cafe under cover of sun, but outside.

I hope that laptop is working for you.

Nice day in a new port for us Cagliari (Sicily) The tour was a little long but there were some good highlights. The old town, an overview of the area and a seaside area. The best things are noted below.

One was seeing flamingos that frequent the shallow pools for quite some distance. They are so cute to watch they do a little "dance" with their feet to stir up the shallows for food. Unfortunately there was no place to stop and get out for a closer look but they were great to see. Not all clustered together as I expected but spread out over a large area.

The other event of the day that was fun was our free time where our guide told us about the best ice cream store. It was unbelievable, Three huge islands of ice cream, more flavors than you can imagine, probably about 50 flavors.. All swirled into big mounds and beautifully displayed and the flavors were very powerful in all the flavors we tried. The lemon was really lemon, the berry very berry etc. Ken will have to post some pictures!

We had a wonderful dinner with Mary Ellen and Jim in Signatures.

Other than the windy day in Sorrento the weather has been perfect, not hot or cold and calm seas.

Trivia yesterday we were SO close. Only four of us Ken, me, Nikon Ken and Sheila. We have not even been close before, the questions are hard. But if we had not changed two answers at the very end we would have won. I take the blame I always say "do not change an answer unless you are sure' " and I had the power, I was holding the pencil. Still time we have to win at least once.

Just finished a wonderful lunch. The buffet had giant shrimp, lobster cocktails just full of lump lobster, green lipped mussels and then a nice fish on the buffet and New Zealand style roast potatoes. It cannot get better than that!

Off for a wine tasting in Palma de Mallorca!

There's just no better way to start the day than with a cup of coffee and new sea mail! Thanks for the posts and looking forward to some pictures - especially people pics!

I hope they have re-stocked the Pirate TreasuRed for this cruise.

I, too, love the seamail.

Great afternoon! We had wine tour and a visit to pretty local harbor.

The drive from the port everything was so clean with flowers, trees and lovely small stores and restaurants. The winery was at the top of a big hill with a windy narrow road. The scenery was breathtaking, hills, green fields, attractive villas with tiled roofs and lots of flowering trees. . Some "hairy" moments on the road with cars having to back up going up and down the hill.

The winery was in a lovely setting with a terrific guide at the winery who went through the history of wines and items of interest specific to Palma de Mallorca. The first wine was a muscat but not overly sweet it was excellent everyone appeared to really like that and it was very inexpensive. There were four wines tasted and served with bread, their own olive oil, sea salt, olives and cheese. Great afternoon. Jim bought four bottles of wine and a tin of olive oil. Total cost 27 euros!!

We finished the tour at a scenic quaint harbor with lots of boats and complete with swans. It was a very nice tour.

However, not been drinking much wine recently and I drank all four glasses at the winery so now I am REALLY sleepy. So off to bed now. Tomorrow Barcelona we have not booked any tours just may walk into town for a little while.

How lovely!

sounds beautiful Ngaire.

If you want some tapas in Barcelona, walk along Las Rambles to the Boqueria and stand in front, right to the left is a tapa's bar that has a huge variety of tapas. We have gone there twice. We usuallly sit at the big bar inside, but if you walk all the way thru after ordering your selections, there are some tables right outside which are actually inside the boqueria, but we like the people watching inside better.

Photos From Trapani, Sicily:


Nice walking street.








Nice Italian Shoes.


This nice lady was followed down this alley by these cats. She stopped and put out food for them. As you can see they were very happy.


So many choices.


A view from the top of Erice, outside of Trapani, Sicily.


B&K cocktail party .


Captain Felice and Ngaire do a preliminary drawing for the Free Cruise drawn at the last escorted cruise this year, which is Dubai to Cape Town. Thanks for the reminder Ted.

Don't forget Dubai to Cape Town THIS November - that would be final escorted adventure for 2014!!

When you get to a certain age memory seems to go first! ( Don't ask what goes next!)

Thanks for posting the pix, Ken! Love them! And that's my favorite Capt Felice pose. :-))

I really enjoy Felice as well. After having cruised with him before several times, and learning he is quite the expert in safety procedures and good with fuel costs, among other things when I have cruised with him before. I think first time was in South America, on the Amazon, he was SO busy that cruise. That river is so difficult to maneuver, as the charts are not always up to date with depths, etc., and he is so diligent.

Met his wife for the first time last cruise. She is so lovely. Felice, you are one lucky man! Ngaire, may be too late to ask, as you may be off the ship now .but do you think Felice will be on board for the Jan 20 cruise, 2 legs before your escorted cruise in the South Pacific from Sydney on the Mariner? I know the Wolfs and I would love to hear that he is.

Photos from Cagliari, Sardinia:


Offering free rides to his restaurant.


Nikon Ken ready for action.


Brad is loving the Gelato.


The main street in Cagliari.

Photos from Palma de Mallorca, Spain:


Our excursion went to the Santa Caterina Winery.


The wine tasting was great, four wines, bread, olives, olive oil, and a mixture of dried black olives and salt was very interesting.






Sailing from Palma de Mallorca at 9:00pm that night.

Photos taken by a Nikon Camera not Ken's Canon Camera:


Sheila, Rachel, and George.


Mary Ellen having some fun at my expense.


Jim enjoying his wine.


Mindy enjoying a photo opp.

Lovely day again today. Sunny, warm (not hot) and calm seas again. Today we went to "Charming Castellet" a medieval village on a hill about one hour from Marseilles. We were the only bus there and just a few local tourists. It was so lovely and I am sure much nicer than it would be packed with tourists. Delightful picture opportunities all over the place. The white rock buildings, flowering trees and shrubs quaint cafes and interesting shops. The overview of all the vineyards and small wineries was really "charming".

A truly delightful day EXCEPT for my bathroom adventure! There was a toilet with an automatic lock but when I tried to get out NO LUCK. Even though it said GREEN OPEN it would not open. I tried doing the button fast and pushing and pulling. I tried doing it slow nothing would work. Every time you pushed the green open button it would also flush the toilet, sure wasted a lot of water. Fortunately Sheila was outside and went to get help and another lady was there as well. I just kept trying and trying and FINALLY it opened. So from that point we never let the door close again and just stood guard for each other. Just another fun adventure for conversation.

To celebrate my release from the clutches of the automatic toilet I enjoyed two scoops of ice cream, passion fruit and black currant. Both flavors were really yummy!

Tomorrow the next segment starts and my daughter comes onboard. In the morning we are going to St.Paul de Vence I always like to visit that lovely little town. We have to say goodbye to George and Rachel but at least we know we will see them in September on the Japanese Islands trip. Also saying goodbye to two wonderful "newbies" Brad and Mindy who we had so much fun with and so glad we got to meet. Looking forward to seeing them again.

Ahh, St Paul de Vence. I love it there. Colombe D'Or was one of the best most charming restaurants I have had the pleasure of dining in!
-----------------
Helen

Hate that we are having to leave, but alas, work!

Had wonderful pizza today at La Cantina in St. Remy. The owner, Claud, is a jewel.

And hate that we are missing St. Paul de Vence. Love that place.

Hang in there, Ngaire, we are also on our way. Cooling our heels in the BA lounge awaiting departure. First time we've tried "eat on the ground so you go right to sleep" option. Benefit? You can try everything on the menu. Downside? Buffet self-serve. Difficult to find an outlet to charge up the puter and phone that is smarter than a fifth grader. Not to worry ... she says hopefully .. seat outlets should do the trick. Originally scheduled for 787, actual aircraft 767. What difference does it make? we'll be there in no time & be hoofing it for our connecting flight to Nice.

Cheers, Anne

Portofino from the tender taken with a Nikon:

Sad to say goodbye to George, Rachel, Brad and Mindy, but nice to welcome Cindy,Mark, Gary and Anne.

A beautiful day welcomed us in Portofino this morning. Some of us just walked into town and others went on a tour of Portofino and Santa Margherita. Lunch on the back of the Verandah Restaurant finished off a perfect morning. Portofino is a really beautiful spot.

Anne has joined us so we hope our success at trivia will improve she is REALLY good at trivia.

Did the ship carry the US World Cup game Sunday? Soooooo exciting. The Super Bowl party in December on Mariner was so much fun (especially for Seahawks fans).

Italy plays tomorrow (Wednesday, early morning for you, noon here on the east coast) so you may encounter rabid fans and closures, and if Italy wins, joy in the streets.

Paul & Maddy

Yes, sadly we are headed home, via a somewhat circuitous route due to using FF miles. We had a wonderful time, but the cruise was just too short, and I am jealous of you all at portofino, one of my favorite places in the world.

Ken needs to post some pictures again. We decided against the tour and cancelled and just wandered in Portofino. It is such a charming spot. Hopefully Ken will post some pictures today.

Yesterday in trivia we tied for the win, then we found out one of our answers WAS correct so we consider it a complete win yesterday.
There was a new dish on Regent last week, lobster thermidor. Absolutely yummy, a half of a lobster in a very light lobster cream sauce with mushrooms. Better than any other lobster thermidor I have had anywhere else. So we special ordered that tonight and I am looking forward to dinner. Food has been very good on this trip particularly in Compass Rose.

Today a bright sunny morning again with a very calm sea for our tender into Cannes. Certainly been blessed with the weather this trip. We are on a tour this morning so have to dash now.

Ngaire, I could not agree more. Portofino is my favorite port of all. It's like sailing into a picture postcard.
Congrats on the trivia win.
Cannes is a fun port also. Keep having fun.

A couple of photos, more to come later:


This is the type of French Automatic Toilet that Ngaire was locked in. Only costs 1 Euro for the experience, what a deal!!


Coffee break in Saint Raphael, France outside of Cannes.