Where Is Safarigal?
Balmoral Day 5
January 22nd, 2024 Funchal, Madeira We picked up our pilot at 9:00 and slowly made our way to the port in Funchal, cruising along the beautiful coastline. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, it had the makings of the perfect day to be a tourist. We docked at 11:00,...
Balmoral Day 4
January 21st, 2024 At Sea There must be a bit of a swell because although the ocean looks perfectly calm we are rolling from side to side. It is not an unpleasant sensation, in fact I love it, and love the creaking, although some are complaining. Talking about...
Balmoral Day 3
January 20th, 2024 At Sea Hopefully it wasn’t related to bopping the night away, but we were awoken in the middle of the night by the announcement of a “Code Alpha” in one of the cabins. A code alpha is ship speak for a medical emergency. It’s so worrisome when...
Balmoral Day 2
January 19th, 2024 At Sea We woke up in the Bay of Biscay. Although not quite a millpond, it is certainly not rough at all. There is hardly any movement on board the ship, Brian was up early and worked out in the gym like a good lad. I was still working on greeting...
Balmoral Day 1
It was a very cold, but sunny morning. We arrived at City Cruise Terminal just before 11:30 and at 11:30 the check in process began. We were called to check in according to the colour of our luggage labels (we were blue), and were able to go straight to the check...
Prologue
We are in Southampton, ready to board the Fred Olsen ship Balmoral in the morning. This is the first time we have been in Southampton when we are not about to board a Cunard Queen. I think to myself; I would like to be boarding a Cunard Queen. But it is not to be....
Explora 1 Day 10
Miami December 22nd, 2023 We had to be out of our suite by 8:00, so it was an early start. We said farewell to Patsy the poinsettia and hoped that the new occupants of the suite would take good care of her. I had thought about leaving them a note about putting her...
Explora 1 Day 9
Ocean Cay, Bahamas December 21st, 2023 Would we or would we not actually be able to set foot on Ocean Cay? Ocean Cay is a private island in the Bahamas, owned by Explora Journey’s parent company, MSC Cruises. The MSC large ships get to stop there, but so far the...
Explora 1 Day 8
At Sea December 20th, 2023 Our last sea day. It was still raining, and had been very rough overnight. This is the strangest Caribbean cruise we have ever done! I’m not sure this ship has the best stabilizers, there’s an awful lot of rocking and rolling going on....
Explora 1 Day 7
Samana, Dominican Republic December 19th, 2023 Today is the day. Today we will host the shore excursion for our group. I love doing this, but it is always anxiety provoking. What if more people show up than we have booked? What if we can’t find our bus and our...
Explora 1 Day 6
Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda December 17th, 2023 Today was our day for going to the Baths. This is a wonderful area for swimming, snorkeling and sunbathing on Virgin Gorda. It is time to be back on a white sand beach again. Well, it didn’t happen. Strangely enough my...
Explora 1 Day 5
San Juan December 17th, 2023 It was hot and humid and raining. We decided not to venture ashore. The Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Old San Juan was beckoning in the distance, but the dark clouds, heavy with moisture, were sure to drench us as soon as we walked...
