March 30, 2025 – Post Cruise Day 1 – Lisbon, Portugal – Party Cloudy – 70s

Slept pretty good since the room was quiet - not even the usual hotel ambient noises. 

I don’t know what time zone Lisbon is on (guessing Western European Standard Time) but at 6 AM, it was pitch black outside. I got ready and went downstairs to the breakfast area.  Our room is close to the second set of elevators and lets out right at the back entrance of the breakfast room.  I opened the door and could not believe what I was seeing.  A huge room (not that crowded yet) full of all sorts of food.  Here are the offerings – several cold cereals (and milk), oatmeal, an automatic pancake maker, two different kinds of scrambled eggs (one without meat), sunny side up fried eggs, lots of jams and jellies and assorted breads, cheeses of all kinds, pastries of all kinds. And both standard coffee dispensers and espresso and latte makers.  This was our usual hotel breakfast on steroids.  I got a nice window seat, watched the sun come up,

 and wound up having pretty much what I ate on the ship – dry cereal, three pancakes (they are small), scrambled eggs, and coffee. It was all delicious – the best breakfast buffet in a hotel in who knows how long – certainly not during our cruise careers.  Coffee refills were easy. It was great.  I came down with Ellen a bit later to have some more coffee.  Made up for our wonky dinner last night.  I should also mention that they had at least four staff handling the tables and making sure things were OK as well as someone in the kitchen (you could see it) making sure that all the food was replenished. 

After breakfast, we headed out on our adventure in Lisbon.  We walked up the hill to the Aeroporto Metro Station to buy round trip tickets for the day.  Our experience at the Metro was not pleasant. The ticket machines are not intuitive and the agents not all that helpful.  We did get in line to buy tickets from a ticket agent but a student in front of us purchased 650 Euros worth of tickets and each one had to printed out and stapled to a receipt.  We spent over 40 minutes in line. We finally got our tickets (4 euro pp round trip came to $9.11).  

Our destination was the only synagogue in Lisbon and that the Metro stop closest to that would be Rato (per the hotel desk clerk).  Lisbon does not have a massive transit system and we figured out the system map and saw where we had to change trains and where to get off..  The trains were clean and fast and we got to Rato in about 30 minutes or so.  It's a young crowd riding the trains; we might have been the oldest folks on the train.

We found the shul, Shaarei Tikvah, quickly – it was essentially across the street.  It did not look active and all we could get was a picture of the sign. 

The Rato area is also Little Thailand with lots of Thai restaurants and some spas.  

With the long wait to get tickets and the time to get to our destination, I needed to find a bathroom.  We were also getting hungry so a place to eat was also on the search list.  We wound up in a huge supermarket – Continente Bom Dia Lisboa - and with some help from a store employee, who spoke some English, found some ready made sandwiches that would could eat. We bought tuna and hardboiled egg sandwiches and a coke – total cost $7.52.  The check out clerk spoke perfect English (must have been an US expat).  The bathrooms were also very nice and clean.  Success.  Ellen couldn’t finish her sandwich so she took it home. We figured it would last until we got back to the hotel.

We had not had a massage in over three weeks so we stopped at a Thai Spa that was 50 Euros for one hour – we had a very nice couples massage that ran $134 (including a ATM service charge) – the place was clean, the people were straight from Thailand (not much English) and very nice.  The whole experience was positive.

Nice and relaxed, we started our walk to the Maques de Pombal Turnabout, located between Avenida da Liberdade and Eduardo VII Park.  

We found the turnabout named for the powerful Prime Minister who ruled Portugal from 1750 to 1777 (the First Marquis de Pombal)

at the bottom end of the Parque Eduardo VII.  

We went across the street to the Parque and found some seats in partial shade.  I got some nice pictures looking up at the monuments at the top of the hill (the April 25^th Monument). There were lots of people on the grass like it was the beach.  There were a number of hop on hop off busses parked so this must be a popular destination.  

We stayed there for quite a while – not too hot and a nice view – clean air.  Why not?

The way back to the Rato Metro Station was all uphill.  So we did get some serious steps in.  We found the station, which has a very interesting escalator (all lit up and almost a work of art). 

We hopped on (a bit more crowded later in the day), transferred, and got off at the end of the line – Aeroporto.  Downhill to the Hotel and back in our nice and comfortable room (it had a state of the art thermostat).  

There was still some sandwich left so we shared that for dinner along with some goodies donated by the ship.  

A nice day in Lisbon.

March 29, 2025 – Lisbon, Portugal – Mostly Sunny – 70s

Our terrific cruise is over and here's where we sailed.

Up early to catch the arrival into Lisbon 

and to get to La Veranda for their early disembarkation breakfast.  I got the same breakfast I have had for the last 16 days (with only the type of egg being different).  More crowded this morning (as expected) but I still enjoyed the breakfast.  Ellen had her breakfast delivered a little later.

We vacated our suite around 8:45 AM and waited in the Coffee Connection (enjoying a farewell Iced Mocha) 

and Reception area until Yellow 2 was called. Andy told us that there would be a bit of a delay as no one could leave the ship until all of the luggage was in the terminal area.  Still it did not take that long to get that done and soon our number was called.

Disembarkation was easy – a quick scan out (we had picked up our passports a couple of days ago – they were held and scrutinized by immigration) and then on to our bus, which we found pretty quickly.  And we were on the tour (a nice bit of negotiating with Destinations to get on this tour because this is really meant for people flying out of LIS).  We got good seats on the bus and we were on our way.

Lisbon is made up of seven hills and walking the city can be tough (something we will try over the next few days).  From the pier, the bus drove by the Praca Don Pedro IV – the “Rossio”, (“Commons’') the name locals call this square.  The tower and statue date to the mid 19^th Century.  There is also a fountain (with statues from Spain) and the square was paved with Portuguese Mosaic. We didn’t stop but I did get pictures.

Our next stop was the Jeronimous Monastery, which was constructed in the later 1500s. I took some pictures but they have somehow vanished. 

In 1880, the remains of Vasco da Gama were interred in the Monastery close to the tombs of King Manuel I and King John III, who had supported the explorer.  When we visited here last, our guide told us that da Gama’s remains were not in his tomb – I guess he was not quite accurate.  The place was packed with visitors but there was a gift shop with facilities so that was a plus. The square is also home to the Navy Planetarium – too far away to walk and we only had about 30 minutes here.

The Monastery is not to far from the Tagus (Tejo) River so that was our next destination.  The bus parked pretty far away from the river – it was really crowded today and the bus couldn’t get any closer.  We walked about a block to get to the Monument to the First Aerial Crossing of the South Atlantic commemorating the 1922 flight by Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral. 

It’s an airplane made of stainless steel on a concrete base.  There is, according to the description on line, a sextant in the monument but I couldn’t find it. 

We walked across the street to a very large square that abuts the Tagus River.  There were a lot of little sailboats out there today and lots of people, as well.  It was hard to get a picture of the April 25^th Bridge, built along the designs of both the Golden Gate Bridge (the Orange Color) and the Bay Bridge (design).  

It was completed in 1966 and named the Salazar Bridge (Ponte Salazar) after dictator, Antonio de Oliveira Salazar. The Bridge was renamed following the “Carnation Revolution” in 1974 to the April 25^th Bridge after the date of the Revolution.  The bridge spans about two miles across the river.

The other is the Monument to the Discoveries, a large structure in Belem, honoring Portugal's Age of Discovery (in the 15^th and 16^th Centuries) and its maritime explorers. The stone memorial resembling a caravel was built in 1940 for the Portuguese World Exposition. It was officially recognized in in 1960 to celebrate the fifth centenary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator.

There are several navigators/explorers 

on the monument: Bartholomew Dias – who turned the Cape of Torments into the Cape of Good Hope; Vasco da Gama – who discovered the maritime route to India; Pedro Álvares Cabral – who discovered Brazil; and Magellan – the first European to cross the southern Pacific and circumnavigate the globe.  Henry the Navigator leads the line of explorers while Vasco de Gama is in the third position.  Magellan is about a third of the way down the line (you would think that he would be near the top). 

There is a map of the planet on the pavement of the monument but it is difficult to get a picture with all of the tourists wandering around.

We then walked across another square and by a lot of food trucks to the Belem Tower. 

The Tower was built by King John II in 1519 as a fortification for that section of the Tagus River.  It was also used as an embarkation and disembarkation point for Portuguese Explorers headed out on their voyages.  The limestone structure is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

We found our way back to the bus and a bit of a ride to our next stop, the Parque Eduardo VII.  

The park was name for the English Monarch following a visit from him in 1903.  It’s current configuration dates back to 1945.  It is a huge park (64 acres) that runs from the top set of monuments (April 25^th Monument) to the Marquis of Pombal Square and roundabout.  The bus let us off near the April 25^th Monument, which gave us a view all the way down the twin grassy sections.  There was a maze not far from the top.  We took a lot of pictures but our time here was limited. 

On our way to the airport, we passed by Praca do Commercio, with its iconic statue of King Jose 1 on his horse, stomping on snakes.  

When we were here a few years ago we walked down the hill to this Praca and then had quite a struggle to climb back up to our hotel.  I did get some shots through the clean windows of the bus.

I asked our guide to let us off close to our hotel and she said the hotel, Melia Lisboa Aeroporto was just a short walk from LIS Terminal 1, where everyone was going to get off. It took a little while to get to the airport and the guide pointed out the hotel to us and it was right there. It was easy to spot.

We got our bags and started downhill to the hotel.  This involved crossing the turnabout and other busy streets which fortunately all had pedestrian crosswalks – the cars here are very good at stopping at cross walks.  We started off by walking to the right a bit to catch the first crosswalk and then it was easy to see how to cross the streets.  Downhill was good – we will probably take the hotel shuttle when we are going to the airport. 

We checked in which took a little while but they had all our stuff.  We did have to pay a 24Euro resort tax, which wasn’t part of the original pre-payment to Hotels.com (Expedia.com).  We had contemplated shortening our stay but the desk agent said that would have to be worked out with Expedia and I just knew that would be a major deal so we are going to stay the full time.  We are in Room 529 – 

all the way at the end of that part of the fifth floor. We only have one neighbor.  The entire hall was illuminated by motion sensor lights and by the room numbers so you could see where you were going.

The room, which I did not get a picture of (just forgot) was a typical Eurostyle room, smallish with a nice bathroom – there isn’t an actual door on the toilet space – just a translucent door that doesn’t shut completely (I could not find a vent in the toilet space).  The shower is next door to the toilet and has the same kind of door.  There is a fridge and a safe so we are OK there.  There was one bottle of complementary water in the room and lots of snacks for purchase.  We will make this work because the price is right.  We got the WiFi password and also noticed on our key sleeve that we also got two breakfasts – breakfast was not included in this reservation when I saw it on line – perhaps the on line information was not up to date.  Breakfast is served from 4:30AM (really) to 10:30 AM.  Lots of airline crews stay here so they need early options for breakfast – also people catching early flights need breakfast as well (that would be us).

We were pretty hungry at this point and checked for local restaurants and were told that the hotel across the street, Star Inn Hotel, had a restaurant – they did but it wouldn’t open until later in the evening. Our hotel also had food in the bar area so we decided to get dinner there.  We wound up ordering a Margherita Pizza and a green salad (there was only oil and vinegar for the salad).  We ordered a Euro Coke Free which came in a big bottle and was enough for both of us.  

Our waiter must have been a trainee because he literally could not get anything right – without going into details, we finally got the food and coke.  It was actually OK and enough.

We went back to the room to wind down – the room seemed quiet – no room noises.  After a while, I could hear the toilet running.  I called the front desk and told them and they sent someone (I think it was the front desk clerk) up to fix it.  It worked for a while and then another service person came and installed a new float mechanism.  That was worse as it would not flush after that repair.  Another call to the desk and he said he would move us to a different room.

It took a little while but we wound up one floor up in Room 627 – 

fortunately, we decided not to unpack so the transfer was easy.  This room was exactly the same but it had two neighbors.  Still, it seemed quiet.

The toilet worked so that was a W.

Lights were out at 10:15 PM.

March 28, 2025 – At Sea – North Atlantic Ocean – Rainy and Gray Skies – 60s

Choppy night and a bit creaky as well.  The ship didn't start creaking until a couple of days ago.  I guess it takes just the right combination of wind and waves.

Too cold and wet to eat outside so it’s Table 10 this morning.

Frosted mini-wheats, pancakes, and delicious scrambled eggs – I never tired of it even though I had essentially the same breakfast the entire cruise.

Mid morning, I went to the Coffee Connection to get another delicious Iced Mocha.  The quality of the drink has not changed the entire cruise – always delicious.

I did a laundry this morning so that all our clothes would be clean except for what I need for today’s lecture.  That way, everything could be packed with just a few dirty items.  The launderettes were very effective and convenient. 

The chop continued through the morning and through lunch, which was under the roof at the Pool Grill (pizza and salad).  I also like the ice cream on board.  The lunches have been interesting – I should mention that I have had only one beer (a Corona) this entire cruise and that was after one of the excursions.  And even though they are always available, I have only had one actual Impossible Burger this entire cruise.  

My final talk today, “Solving Cold Cases with Genetic Genealogy”, is not as well attended as the others – although some passengers have been to all eight talks.  It’s a talk that I like to give but always have some trouble getting the key points across.  I made some changes and maybe that will help.

 

With the chop, I was going to have to stand next to the podium.  I decided to try something new – lecture from the area in front of the stage.  I polled the audience and they liked the idea so I did that for the first time in a theater setting.  It was like Celebrity Central almost – people were still pretty far away.  The big drawback was how high the screen was and the difficulty of seeing the small writing.  Probably, a one-off deal.  It went as expected – some parts not so easy to get across.  A nice round of applause and this set was history.  I think, overall, the lecture series was well received.  My available demographic was small so I was pleased with the attendance.

We are essentially packed so the rest of the day was spent in the Observation Lounge – too chilly to stay outside on the veranda (we tried).  It’s quiet in the afternoon up there.

We had just enough clothes to be OK in the Observation Lounge for Fabiano (tonight I tried a Pina Colada – I didn’t like it and while the bartender offered “to fix” it, I opted for an Amaretto Sour instead, which was excellent.  We took in about an hour of music and then headed to the Compass Rose for dinner.

We don’t usually go to the restaurant on the final night but the only other option is Sette Mari La Veranda.  Dover Sole and Salmon tonight along with the San Marsano Tomato soup and a salad with Blue Cheese Dressing and the usual sides.  We had desert and coffee and tea and thanked Sharina and Christian for their fine service.

We did not go to the farewell show (another potentially loud production show) and instead just hung out in our room.  Suitcases went out around 9:30 PM. We are in Group Yellow 2 which involves a morning tour of Lisbon and an airport drop off.  It’s early but everything is early on disembarkation day

March 27, 2025 – Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands – Partly Cloudy – 70s

Port Information. Lanzarote is the fourth largest of the Canary Island archipelago and the easternmost of the islands. It lies 80 miles off the coast of Africa.  The island has about 163,000 inhabitants which makes it the third most populous island next to Tenerife and Gran Canaria.  The ship will dock in the city of Arrecife, the capitol of Lanzarote, and home to approximately 65,000 people. Arrecife is “reef” in Spanish and the city is located on the East Central coast of the island. Lanzarote has a hot desert climate with practically no rainfall in the summer.  Lanzarote is a volcanically formed island with many volcanoes dotting the landscape. 

We ordered breakfast from Room Service because our tour today is early.  I had pancakes, two fried eggs, and some cereal (familiar no?).  Ellen had an omelet and some fruit. The breakfasts were both good.  I caught the approach from our veranda.

Initially, we weren’t sure about going on tour today because many of the good ones were already taken, started early, or were “strenuous”.  We visited Destinations yesterday, and did find an open tour – early and with some walking and booked it. 

Our excursion today –“Northern Lanzarote and Aloe Vera Farm” is an early tour but the description looked interesting.  

We are on the pier at 8:30 AM to board our bus.  We got out to the busses early so we could get good seats. 

While waiting, I got a picture of Splendor docked.

The bus started off 

with a little tour of the city of Arrecife – one of the first things we saw was "Wind Toy - Phobos". 

The sculpture, created by noted local artist César Manrique is located in Tahiche, a village near Arrecife. The sculpture composed of concentric circles and metal balls is located at the roundabout where Manrique was tragically killed in a traffic accident in 1992. 

Our first stop was a shopping stop – a small store in a little stucco complex complete with garden.  

We went through the shop (always looking for magnets we don’t have) and then used the facilities (always a plus) and took some pictures.  

From there, the bus began to climb up a mountain road and stopped at Mirador del Río, a viewpoint at a height of 1,560 ft on an escarpment in the north of the island.

Mirador del Rio was created between 1971 and 1973 by Cesar Manrique (the same).  It consists of a balustraded cafe, a souvenir shop and a platform at the top which are integrated in the lava rock. The was inaugurated in 1973. Its surroundings have been declared a protected natural area.  Just outside the large windows of the café, there are several area of excellent viewing.  I took a lot of pictures from the viewpoint, some of which are below.

Some of the more hardy of the folks here today even climbed up some stairs to get an even grander view. 

The main point of interest from the mirador is Graciosa Island or commonly La Graciosa (Spanish: "the graceful") another volcanic island (the eighth in the archipelago).  

It is located just 1.2 miles north of Lanzarote across the Strait of El Río. It was formed by the Canary Hotspot like all the Canary Islands. 

The bus went back down the hill to our next step, an aloe farm and a demonstration by an employee of Lanzaloe, 

a store selling aloe based creams, lotions, and other items.  There was an amazing Aloe plant near the entrance of the store.  You can't see it in the picture but this is one plant and the two trunks actually form an arch.

The woman grabbed an aloe leaf and proceeded to show us

the various layers of an aloe leaf – the outside parts should not be eaten as then contain a powerful laxative.  She cut that part off leaving a clear gel material that looked like it was inedible as well but she told us that it was OK to eat. 

A few brave shipmates gave it a try but there’s still a lot of cruise left so we opted out of trying it.  It is this gel that is the source of the oil or other substances that form the basis of the aloe cosmetics.  I liked the hand and face creams but the items were pretty pricey so we just sampled the items.

The aloe fields were expansive and impressive – 

the slightly brown color of the plants probably reflects the lack of rain in this island.  

We then all piled into the bus and we were off to our next stop, Jameos de Agua.

Jameos de Agua is located in northern Lanzarote.  It is an art, culture and tourism center, created by  local artist and architect, Cesar Manrique, and managed by the government of Lanzarote. Jameos del Agua consists of a subterranean salt lake, restaurant, gardens, emerald-green pool, museum and auditorium.The term, “Jameos” is not Spanish but comes from the language of the indigenous people of the island and refers to an opening in a lava tube.  The lava tube was formed during an eruption of the Monte Corona Volcano (miles away).  This opening is caused by natural forces and provides light and air to the tube.

The tube is quite long but we are only going to go through a short portion, which contains most of the more amazing components.  In the parking lot, which was full on what should be a working day, we noted a large lobster sculpture.  

This signifies the very small (less than an inch) blind white lobsters, which can be found in the waters of the Jameos.

The first thing you notice when entering is that you can see the opening on the other side of the salt lake.  

The footing is uneven and difficult and you can only walk on a narrow path (almost in single file).  At the far end of the lake, we got a picture of those dwarf lobsters – they just looked like white blobs in the water.

Besides the lake, there is, on the flat part, an actual restaurant (full service).  

No time to check anything out today but it would be an interesting place to get a meal or a beer. We made our way to the other side of the lake.  At this opening it opened onto some stairs leading to a magnificent pool bordered by fake white sand.  

 

Over the fence at the pool, you could see the Atlantic Ocean.  There was foliage around the pool which gave it a tropical look.

Our final destination in the tube was the “Theater”, where concerts and other events are staged.  

One of the impressive things about the theater is the massive chandelier, very abstract. 

There were mirrors in the theater and we gook a “mirror selfie”.

The exit was just beyond the theater (and a lot more tube) so we made our way to the bus for our trip back to the pier. The ride home provided a nice picture (considering it was from the bus) of the Tahiche Volcano (associated with the largest lava field on the island).

Not sure why the tour wasn’t more popular but we found it to be a great way to see the island and most of its unusual sites.

Waiting for us in our suite were our Certificates for crossing the Equator.  Instead of lugging them home, I documented them with photos.

We cleaned up from our long day on the bus and spent about an hour in the Observation Lounge listening to Fabiano’s fabulous piano interpretations.  While we were there, Tammy walked in with four of the female dancers – maybe they were hosting something. I did get a picture of them.

I also caught the "magic moment" today.  The greenish glow of the sky was interesting.

From there we went to the Compass Rose for dinner. Ellen continued with her favorite, Dover Sole and I ordered Branzino for the first time on this cruise.  I had tried Branzino on other ships and wasn’t that impressed (perhaps, it wasn’t really Branzino, which I was told was usually only served in Specialty Restaurants on cruise ships).  The Branzino was wonderful – it reminded me of halibut – wasn’t fishy and just really good.  My side dishes were mashed potatoes (yummy) and the obligatory spinach.  With dessert and coffee and tea, it was a really good dinner.

The ship has finally booked its first comedian – Martin Beaumont, a Brit I can actually understand. He was physically low key but his jokes were spot on.  He touched on a number of subjects, all of them funny.  An enjoyable show.

It was a wonderful day in Lanzarote.

Tomorrow, our final sea day and my final lecture.