Trans-Atlantic Cruise - April-May 2007
MS Voyager of the Seas - Royal Caribbean Cruise Line
Itinerary
21 April 2007 - Depart Miami bound for Bermuda
23-24 April 2007 - King's Wharf, Bermuda
24 April - Depart Bermuda bound for Funchal, Madiera Islands
25 April 2007 - Return to near Bermuda for MedEvac then bound for Gibraltar
1 May 2007 - Gibraltar then bound for Alicante, Spain
2 May 2007 - Alicante and Guadalest
3-4 May 2007 - Barcelona, Spain then flew to Dublin
4-7 May 2007 - Dublin, Ireland
21 April 2007 - Miami
Mexican Naval Training Ship Cuahtemoc tied up near Voyager
23-24 April 2007 - Bermuda
Approaching the island of Bermuda
Fort St. Catherine, St. George's Parish, on the north east coast - Originally built in 1612 as a wooden fort, the current structure dates from the 19th Century
King's Wharf - formerly the Royal Navy Dockyard with the fort built in 1814 to launch the attack on Washington DC during the War of 1812
The Voyage of the Seas from the King's Wharf-Hamilton Ferry
Hamilton City Hall - with close up of weathervane being a sailing vessel
Marilyn at Fort Hamilton
Phil at Fort Hamilton - this Woolrich Rifled 10" cannon could fire 400 lb. projectiles that would pierce 11¼" of wrought iron at 1000 yards!
Street scenes in Hamilton
Gibbs Hill Lighthouse
24-30 April - At Sea
Sunset at sea from our balcony after leaving Bermuda on the evening of 24 April
USCG C-130 vectoring a rescue helicopter to our ship. A 91 year old female passenger was stricken by a heart attack and the ship's doctors recommended that she be returned to shore for treatment. We were about 300 miles east of Bermuda when we reversed course to take her within helicopter range of Bermuda. The helicopter was dispatched from Norfolk VA to Bermuda. This transfer cost us a day which was made up by canceling our planned visit to Funchal in the Madeira Islands.
The rescue helicopter lowering a Coast Guardsman to assist in the evacuation of the patient
1 May 2007 - Gibraltar
Gibraltar and Voyager from the Rock with Algeciras Spain in the distance
Trinity Lighthouse at Europa Point built in 1838
Looking across the Straits of Gibraltar to North Africa. At right is Jebel Musa in Morocco, one of the two mountains which along with the Rock of Gibraltar were known to ancient mariners as the Pillars of Hercules, the end of the world they knew. At left is the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. When Morocco was given independence in 1956 by France and Spain, the Spanish retained two enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla. Ceuta is a strategic location as far as entrance to the Mediterranean is concerned. The photo was taken from Europa Point.
St. Michael's Cave. At right is the Symphony Hall
One of the young Barbary Apes who live on the Rock. They are actually a species of monkey that was brought here by British soldiers in the 18th Century
View from the Rock looking down at the airfield which was constructed by Gen. Eisenhower in 1942 to aid in the invasion of North Africa., The highway runs from Gibraltar through the airfield to La Linea, Spain. On our 1984 trip, we tried to enter Gibraltar from La Linea but the Spanish had closed the border
The Moorish Castle from the Rock. This is all that remains of the old castle built by the Moors in the 14th century when they controlled most of the Iberian Peninsula. The old castle is still pockmarked where British cannonballs were fired against it
Main Street, Gibraltar town
Our last view of The Rock as we sail for Alicante
2 May 2007 - Alicante/Guadalest, Spain
The village of Guadalest. We decided to visit this small place that is a town built within a mountain. This photo from the road shows the mountain with the church belltower built on one crag and the old Moorish castle built on another
View of the church belltower Penon de la Alcala from the village
Village plaza
View of the valley from the village
Looking down from the pinnacle of the old castle
3-4 May 2007 - Barcelona, Spain
View of the city from the heights
Statue of Cristobal Colon (Columbus)
Barcelona street scene
Leave it to Marilyn to find a flea market!
Part of the old city walls with an old man
Sagrada Familia an unfinished cathedral started by Antonio Gaudi in 1882. I wonder if our word "gaudy" comes from his modernist architecture?
4-7 May 2007 - Dublin, Ireland
Cobblestone Pub, Smithfield Square (near our hotel)
Enniskerry - we had breakfast a Poppies and a good breakfast it was (eggs, bacon, toast, and butter)
Irish countryside in Wicklow Mountains
St. Laurence's Gate in Drogheda, built in the 13th century as part of the city's walls
Street scene in Drogheda
The Megalithic Passage Tomb at Newgrange, a 5,000 year old burial site in the Boyne Valley of County Meath. This is one of three large megalithic and several smaller mounds in the area. The burial chamber is illuminated by the sun on the winter solstice through the square opening above the entrance
The entrance stone, one of the kerbstones at Newgrange with pre-Celtic engraving
The countryside at Newgrange Farm
Ruins of Mellifont Abbey. Henry VIII pensioned off the monks after he broke with the Church and the Abbey fell into this state
One of the high crosses with the Round Tower in the background. The monastery was founded in 521 AD. The Round Tower was built around the 10th century to protect the people and the church valuables from Viking raiders
The other side of that cross from the Round Tower side
Another of the high crosses. These were built in the 9th and 10th centuries
After about 10 minutes at Monasterboice, we went to the car. Surprise! The car's windows on the passenger sides had been smashed in and Marilyn's purse was taken as was the rental GPS we were using. Luckily Marilyn had taken our passports from her purse and put them into her money pouch (we had our flight home the next day and the loss of passports would have really complicated things!) Shortly after this, two tour buses came up with tourists. The driver of one, a kindly man named Edmund Burke, called the local Garda (police) station in Drogheda to report the crime and to Hertz at Dublin airport to get us a replacement vehicle. He called the thieves "banditos" and he said they prey on tourists (our rental car had a big Hertz "1" on the rear window). The Garda detective said an European couple had the same thing happen there on the previous Wednesday. This place was way out in the country. We saw very few cars or people and were shocked that this would happen out there! Marilyn drove the care back to the Garda station in Drogheda while I rode with the detective. This really put a damper on our trip (and a big dent in my wallet to replace the GPS unit).
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