#126 Nomad Diary. 18-24 March 2023. Begin 14 Day Transatlantic Cruise in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Our Year Ahead.
Afternoon send off in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Having call with 2 year old Quinn and our son Jeremy. Oh my heart!
Saturday. 18. We linger at our hotel until 11:30 when we have a scheduled cruise port shuttle. While at the busy hotel breakfast we met a couple of other cruisers, both single women. One was a truck driver going on a Celebrity cruise with her dad. She had plenty of travel and cruising experience and we traded brief life stories. She let us know that in our Nomad situation that having a state residency in South Dakota could be beneficial for us. We did a little research and began to think about this possibility.
We arrived at our ship the Sky Princess about 12:30 just after noon. We easily boarded and found lunch at the onboard Italian restaurant. Then we went to our room and did our safety brief requirements and made dinner reservations at one of the dining rooms. We spent the next couple of hours walking around the ship. This is a newer ship for Princess Cruises. We have sailed this company more than any other and that means we have perks like getting our laundry done for free and 50%off the internet fee.
Tonight’s big show was a magician. He has headlined in Las Vegas and had a good show. We then went to watch the movie under the stars. It was a beautiful evening and we sit out on cushioned deck loungers while enjoying a huge movie screen above the pool deck. By 10:30pm I was very tired and slept so well.
Darrell on our balcony.
View of the Ocean.
Sunday. 19. Today we postponed exercise to the afternoon. We go to the dining room for breakfast and sit with 2 nice couples and enjoy the morning meal together. Years ago I decided to record people’s names and work to remember them. Since yesterday I’ve added several names to my notes and we’ve found a group of 6 from the Villages in Florida who we knew and sailed with this past November! I didn’t remember their names, but I did remember the faces and now I am more likely to remember their names. Today is the first port talk. There will be 4 port talks on this sailing. This presentation is done by the ship’s Destination Expert. It helps us to get an overview of the port and decide on what and how we want to see while we are there.Today we learned about Madeira a small Atlantic island owned by Portugal. This will be our first stop after 7 sea days crossing the Atlantic Ocean! Darrell and I participated together for worship while following along online with our congregation in Alabama that we were members of until the time of our retirement in March 2022 when we began our more frequent moving by staying only days or weeks in different locations. In the afternoon I went to a learn to dance class. It gave me some exercise as the teacher was very specific with learning where to put your feet and practiced it over and over. The rest of the day is coffee together, exercise, dinner with other couples in the dining room, a show put on by 4 opera singers (amazing!), listening to live music throughout the ship.
Resting on deck in some shade.
On our way to dinner.
Monday. 20. Today was our first time change on the ship. The ship changes the time onboard to get us ready for our final destination of England. We began at Ft. Lauderdale in Eastern Standard Time. Today at noon, the clock was forwarded to 1pm. We enjoyed getting in a hot tub after dinner.
A beautiful carrot cake served at dinner.
Tuesday. 21. My comments today have been about how calm the sea has been, how much warmer it is than I expected, and how fantastic the food on this ship is. These are all comments that compare to my 3 previous Atlantic crossings which each had a different route and direction. We have a large, private balcony in our room that gets sea spray and the floor is constantly damp on it. There are different decks on the ship that we have been to where the wind is too much for my comfort, and others where it is sheltered from high wind making it more enjoyable. In late afternoon our balcony is dry and the sun is shining, but it is windy and cool enough for me to wear a sweater. Today at noon the ship’s time was moved forward an hour to 1pm. We are now 2 hours later than eastern time.
Map showing our google location! We still have pretty good internet!
Rainbow seen from our balcony. Wow!
Wednesday. 22.
Picture of me. Taken by Darrell.
Sunset view from our balcony.
Thursday. 23.
Friday. 24.
Nomad Notes.
Our Year ahead month by month plan “A”. Plan “B” will be designed if and when Plan “A” doesn’t work out.
2023:
April 1-29 Arrive Southampton cruiseport. Take the train to Frant. Staying at an airbnb at Bells Yew Green. Next to Frant train station and near to Royal Tunbridge Wells. We are revisiting the church of Christ that is near to the High Brooms station as we enjoyed our time last July with the members there.
April 29- May 3 Train to Cambridge. We have a stay booked through Booking.com.
May 3-31 Train to Newcastle, then Metro to Whitley Bay on the North Sea. We have a month-long stay booked at an airbnb near the seaside. We are revisiting this area. We enjoyed meeting a transplanted Alabama family at a church in Newcastle and others too. The coast and the area intrigued us.
May 31- June 1 Train to London. Spend one night in an Heathrow airport hotel. Flight to Lisbon on TAP airlines. Arrive at furnished apartment near the airport booked through Booking.com.
June 1-6 Stay in Lisbon, Portugal.
June 6-7 Flight Lisbon to Miami, Florida. Transfer to Ft. Lauderdale airport. Flight to Dallas, Texas. Get in late and spend the night in an airport hotel.
June 7- 21 Denton stay booked at airbnb. Visit with Darrell’s family and get our truck back.
June 21- July 21 Not yet booked. Considering a road trip to South Dakota and possibly changing our residence to this state.
July 21- August 20ish Stay a month near Huntsville, Alabama with son’s family: Eric, Erin and Owen. Babysit with Owen as we can and help at the time of the new baby’s arrival around August 13th. Body work scheduled to be done on our truck in Hartselle, Alabama.
August 20ish to Sept 20th Possibly visit Maine and stay with son’s family: Jeremy, Andrea and Quinn.
Sept 20-23 Have air tickets booked from Portland, Maine to Vancouver, Canada. A couple of days in Vancouver. We are considering changing this booking to fly out of Huntsville, Alabama. We plan to leave our truck in Alabama with son Eric.
September 23- October 17 Cruise booked on the Grand Princess starting in Vancouver, Canada and Arriving Auckland, New Zealand.
2023-2024
Oct 17- March 2 Live in New Zealand.
March 2- March 15 Cruise booked Auckland to Sydney with stops in Tazmania.
March 15- April 1 In Australia. Friends in Brisbane have suggested a road trip to and from Sydney with them and a stay in their home.
April 2- April 27 Cruise booked on Grand Princess Sydney to San Francisco.
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