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North America , South America, the Caribbean, and Caribbean Cruises |
Sea Cruise
Life on a ship is better than being at a hotel on land. Everything you need (or Sea cruise…..it may have taken 50 years to actually take the first voyage but this positive adventure will lead us to another “sea cruise” in the near future.
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These two words became familiar to me in the late 50s when Frankie Ford had a hit song by this name. In the song he sang to his gal…”won’t you let me take you on a sea cruise.” So almost 50 years later, I finally got to take my gal on a sea cruise as the kick off into retirement. And as the song implied, the adventure would be wonderful and it was. This was not just any cruise but a 12 day voyage on the Brilliance of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean ship, that sailed from Barcelona, Spain and navigated around the Mediterranean Sea, with seven stops, including Cannes, Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice, Split (Croatia), and Palermo, Sicily.
The sea was like glass for 11 of the 12 days; the weather was near perfect (heat and humidity in Florence and Rome, but no rain!). The delightful experience has us looking for another cruise soon. The highlight for me was climbing Mt. Vesuvius, then glancing into the surrounding region and recalling the human impact this volcano had on Pompeii and Herculaeneum, Roman towns completely buried by ash and lava. While this disaster occurred thousands of years ago, you cannot help but feel sorry for the local residents living in the shadow of this volcano which is currently inactive but will someday roar again. We did 
see rock and ash being ejected from Stromboli as we passed by its location at night. I thought about all of the vessels at the bottom of the Mediterranean, a sea on which people have journeyed for thousands of years and subjected themselves to natural events such as storms. Whereas the ancient peoples may have clung to the coast to know their location, modern GPS and radar kept us safe regardless of day or night. We were thankful for the lack of rough sailing in contrast to what sailing might have been like in the Caribbean with hurricane Ike passing through.
In the USA, historical buildings may mean 100 years old but usually less. History in Europe is reflected in hundreds of years of human occupation. The Romans, for example, were prolific builders and used geological materials that have stood the test of time. Forts were turned into castles and all kinds of museums over time. They selected coastal locations that they could access easily and were also easy to defend. While the focus of the trip was the sea, shore excursions took us into inland cities like Florence and Rome. We sailed into Venice at noon and then out a day later at 6pm which gave us the opportunity to clearly see the spectacular setting of the city. Global warming will likely cause sea levels to rise however, and will threaten a way of life that is unique.
want) is close at hand. The food was excellent and formal entertainment in the theater was wonderful. Activities - lounging by the pool, playing pool (the table tops are controlled to adjust to the movement of the ship and always remain flat), exercising in the gym, participating in trivia games, taking dancing lessons or just reading in a quiet nook, you are in control of your agenda – do as little or as much as you want. For us, our cruise included just the right number of cruising days to give us a rest break from the wonderful inland excursions. The Oceanside view of the ports is interesting and definitely different from the land view. Sharing this adventure with good friends made the trip even more special!