Morgie's Travels 

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A life on the Ocean wave....

 

After a nice relaxing week in York spending quality time with my mom and dad, it was time to start the next part of the journey.  So, on Saturday I was joined by my son Robert and we started the drive down from Yorkshire to the port of Southampton on the South Coast of England. It was great to see and spend time with Rob again, the last time we had been together was 18 months ago immediately after my Ursi had passed away, so very different circumstances.

The five-hour journey down in lovely sunshine was interrupted by a 90 minute stationary traffic jam on the M1 caused by a burning wagon. I really hope the driver got out because the vehicle was destroyed! We arrived at Southampton on the South Coast about teatime and checked into a hotel for the night.

The following morning, we were up early to drop off the hire car, before catching a cab to Southampton cruise terminal. As we pulled up, I looked across to see our home from the next 15 nights, Royal Caribbean 's Anthem of the Seas. It never ceases to impress me approaching them, the size and scale of these ships when docked is amazing. Anthem of the Seas stand 16 decks high, can house over 4900 passengers, with a crew complement of over 1500. It really is a floating town on the ocean.

The one-way cruise itinerary was going to take us across the Bay of Biscay, calling at Vigo in Northern Spain, down the Portuguese coast calling at Lisbon, then the Canary Islands, before heading off across the Atlantic towards New York stopping at Bermuda on the way. The repositioning cruise is always good choice for me as I enjoy the time at sea as much if not more than the ports and destinations where she travels. The added benefit is, repositioning cruises either transatlantic or transpacific tend to be a lot cheaper and a lot quieter in terms of numbers of passengers so a lot better value for money. This cruise was no different, with the ship only about 2/3 full for the crossing.

The trip across the Bay of Biscay was quite rough, high waves and plenty of rocking (which I enjoy) when we got to Vigo on Day 3 it was a dull grey and rainy day and as we had been there several times before decided to stay on the ship and enjoy the calmness of the Solarium while people trudged around in the rain on shore.

Next stop on day 4 was Lisbon, Portugal. The cruise in and out of Lisbon is always special, passing under a replica of the Golden Gate bridge with what seems like inches to spare. The weather was much kinder to us and we took the chance to tour around the city. I’m a fan of hop on – hop off bus tours, particularly when you only have a limited time in port. We had a great 2-hour trip around all the major sights in the city before heading back.

Another day at Sea was followed by stops at Lanzarote and Tenerife, before we started the 5 day crossing towards Bermuda. The weather had improved significantly (or so we thought!) and she Atlantic was like a millpond as we cruised slowly towards the US.

What do you do when there is so much time at sea you may ask? Well of course on a ship the size of Anthem there are no excuses to get bored. There is constant live music somewhere in any of the dozen bars on the ship, as well as more energetic activity such as learning to surf on the Flowrider, trying your hand at skydiving in the i-fly wind tunnel, rock climbing, plus all manner of sports in the huge sports arena at the back of the ship. There is also some amazing entertainment and shows on during the evenings.

These days I am built more for comfort than for speed and one of my favourite pastimes on the ship is the Casino. My games of choice there is poker, supplemented by some pokies, or slots playing. It’s funny, but I’m not a gambler off the ships, cruises are the only times I play and there is a method to my madness.

It’s well known that, like Airlines, cruise companies have loyalty programs that give you certain perks, discounts and freebies to more you cruise with them. Royal Caribbean has been my go-to cruise company of choice now for over 20 years so I have made my way up the loyalty rankings to Diamond Plus status, one level off the top tier. This gives me a lot of perks and discounts on the ship by itself and once achieved, never expires, unlike Airlines who will downgrade your status if not constantly used.

What isn’t as well known is that Casinos on cruise ships also run loyalty programs, with a whole different set of perks and benefits, all earned based on the amount you spend in the casino. On Royal Carribean it is called Club Royale and can be a game changer for frequent cruisers like me.  Hmmm, sounds expensive you might think but let me explain my strategy to you then perhaps it will be a little clearer.

At the start of the cruise, I set myself a budget that I’m prepared to lose for the fun of playing. Everyone will have their own level but for me it typically averages out around $100 a day for those days I’m playing. Now, I don’t know whether I’m a generally lucky person or whether my game and slots strategy is what pays off but in recent times and cruises I have generally be quite successful in the Casino.

On this trip, I stuck to my normal plan. Texas Holdem is my game of choice, the tables are a great place to meet new people and because you are all playing against the house and not each other, there is no rivalry between the players. You tend to see the same group of faces every night and over the years I’ve made some good friends that way. Poker on a cruise ship isn’t a place where you will ever make a lot of money but it’s fun to play. Oh… and of course once you earn loyalty status there, all drinks are free all the time.

My strategy on slots is simple. I’ll identify 3 or 4 machines that look fun to play then target them. The secret is to always lay maximum bets on the machines as, like in Vegas, the odds of winning are significantly higher than in lower bets because that’s how the machines are configured.

This cruise I was luckier than usual. In total I won over $3,500 in slot jackpot wins at different times, which more than paid for my poker games. At the end of the cruise, I walked off with $2,400 in cash which was a nice feeling.

One of the key benefits that Casino loyalty also provides is free cruises. As a result of my playing and points accumulation from winning on this cruise I also walked off with 2 free cruises for 2 people, to be selected from a long choice list between now and September next year. I’ll also have a 3^rd cruise offered in April when my casino Loyalty level renews.

{spoiler alert] So my casino habit has now provided the free transport for the next major leg of my travels after my 6 months in the US, which will be another 2 week transatlantic cruise from Miami in April across to Barcelona, followed by a further week cruising around the med itself. Just what the pensioner ordered!

So… back to the cruise. On day 10 we were about halfway across the Atlantic when the Captain made the announcement that, due to a hurricane steering its way right into our intended path, we would no longer be calling at Bermuda but instead were turning north to dock at Halifax in Nova Scotia instead. It was disappointing to hear as I had been looking forward to seeing what is one of the few remaining British colonial outposts in the region. However, safety always has to come first, plus I’d never been to Nova Scotia before either, so nothing lost. I was expecting there to be snow and cold weather as we headed into Halifax but the weather was unseasonably warm so Rob and I had a stroll around the long harbourfront before we boarded the ship for its last leg down to New York. There was some amazing Artwork and sculptures all along the wooden boardwalk stretching for over a mile, telling the stories and history of Halifax and its people. This statue commemorates Samual Cunard, the Shipping magnate of the vast Cunard Shipping line that dominated the West Indies shipping trade in the late 1700's and early 1800's. He also pioneered the first cross Atlantic steam ships, from Liverpool to Halifax.  Amazing what you learn by going for a walk.

 

It was wonderful just to spend time with my son, on an amazing ship as we crossed the great ocean between the continents. For me, there is nothing more calming, relaxing and satisfying then looking out across that great expanse of water, with no land in sight and reminding myself just how lucky I am to have lived and be living the life I am.

From the calmness and serenity of the ocean in all its forms, the next part of the journey brought us into New York Harbour at 5am on a cold rainy day….. but that’s a whole new Blog 😊

Check out this link for the montage of photo’s and video clips from the cruise.. hope you enjoy them.