After 14 days crossing from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona on the Enchanted Princess, five nights in Barcelona and five nights in Lisbon it was time to head back to the US. On April 2 we checked out of our Lisbon hotel/weekend Dance Club (see previous blog for the dance club explanation) and boarded the Norwegian Sun for our 19-day cruise back to the US. Of all the western European countries that we have visited, we seem to be drawn to Spain and Portugal for many reasons, and look forward to spending more time there in the future.
The Norwegian Sun is one of Norwegian Cruise Lines older and smaller ships. It's been in service since 2001,but underwent a major refurbishment in 2018. It has a passenger capacity of around 1,900 and accommodates a crew of approximately 900. We have never been on one of the largest "mega ships (many with capacities of over 6,000 guests) that have become so popular.
Comparing the Norwegian Sun to the Enchanted Princess isn't really fair, but of course life isn't always fair, so here's the comparison in a nutshell. The Enchanted Princess is larger (capacity of around 3,600 passengers) and newer with more whistles and bells. The food, entertainment and amenities were a little better on the Enchanted Princess, but both ships were very comfortable. We certainly wouldn't hesitate to do another cruise on the Norwegian Sun if the itinerary and price were right.
The nineteen-day Norwegian Sun itinerary had nine ports of call, including an overnight stay in Bermuda. Only two of the ports (Cadiz and Funchal) were repeats from the cruise over on the Enchanted Princess. Unlike the Enchanted Princess, which had seven consecutive sea days at the start of the journey, the sea days on the Norwegian Sun were spread out throughout the cruise. The longest consecutive "sea days" was three and they came between Horta, Azores and Bermuda. One of the things we did differently on this cruise from our previous cruise experiences is that we purchased quite a few of the ship excursions. In the past we've navigated our own way around the ports of call. I guess the fact that the excursions were offered for this cruise at discounted rates and we're not getting younger were the driving forces behind this decision. As it turned out, it was a good one. We did ship guided excursions in all the ports except Bermuda and New York.
Cadiz/Seville
Our first port of call was at Cadiz on the Spanish mainland. It was one of the two repeat ports from the first cruise, however, we had a completely different plan for this visit. Our first time through we enjoyed roaming around Cadiz. This time through we took a ship led excursion to Seville.
Seville has a long rich history dating back to the second century. At one point it was considered the economic and cultural center of Spain. While Madrid and Barcelona are now the Spanish cities most commonly thought of, and visited, Seville has plenty to offer. Seville is the home of three UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Seville Cathedral, The Royal Alcazar and General Archives of the Indies). It also hosted the 1992 World's Fair. The World's Fair grounds and surrounding buildings are now an incredible park and home to a number of embassies.
We were extremely fortunate to visit Seville on Monday of the Easter Holy Week. Little did we know prior to our visit that Seville is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations during Holy Week. Several times a day every day of Holy Week there are processionals from local churches to the massive Seville Cathedral. The processionals are somber marches of confradias (church brotherhoods) carrying floats depicting religious scenes. The hooded confradias pass through the cathedral where they are blessed by the priests before returning to their local churches. We were able to catch a portion of one of the daytime processionals which was interesting to see. We heard the nighttime candlelit processionals are even more amazing.
Lanzarote
Lanzarote was the first of three of the Canary Islands that we visited. There are seven main islands that make up the Canary Islands, which are an autonomous region of Spain. As an autonomous region, they are largely self-governed with their own elected leaders even though they are a part of Spain. Interestingly, they are located less than 100 miles from Africa, while the Spanish mainland is over 700 miles away. Our timing for visiting was absolutely impeccable. We got to see something that the 155,000 people who call the island home see only a few times per year...........rain! The rain wasn't real heavy, but considering they only receive around 4 inches of rain per year, it was significant. I'm not sure if she was kidding or not, but our tour guide told us that school is sometimes cancelled when it rains, similar to what happens in the south when there is a flake of snow!
Las Palmas
Las Palmas is the capital city of the island of Gran Canaria. It has a population of close to 400,000 which makes it the largest city in the Canary Islands and ninth largest in Spain. Our excursion for the day took us from the city to the resort areas of the Dunes of Maspalomas and Puerto De Mogan. The resorts are popular destinations for residents of many of the European countries, especially during the cold, damp winter months. We saw a lot of very fair skinned people speaking German or with British accents...........I hope they used plenty of sunscreen! Like most of the excursions we purchased, this one was mainly transportation to the destinations with a little narration along the way. This was just what we were hoping for and made for a nice, relaxing day.
Tenerife
Our last Canary Island port of call was Tenerife, which is the largest and most populous of the Canary Islands. It is home to just under 1 million people and attracts more than 5 million visitors per year with its warm temperatures and sandy beaches. In addition to the sand and surf, Tenerife is the home of Mount Teide. Measured from the ocean floor the volcanic structure is over 24,600 feet high, making it the earth's third highest volcanic structure and the highest point in Spain. Our destination for the day was the black sand beaches of Playa de Martianez. On our way we stopped at several very scenic overlooks, where looking one way we had great views of the beaches and Atlantic Ocean. When we turned around, we were staring up at the top of the volcano, which although quiet now, is still considered an active volcano.
Funchal
Funchal is the largest city on the island of Madeira. Madeira, and the Azores, which we visited next are two separate autonomous regions of Portugal. We had visited Funchal on the crossing to Barcelona, as well as a few years back. On previous visits we had done what we frequently do, and simply roam around the very scenic town. On this visit we enjoyed an excursion that took us outside the city and high up to Cabo Girao. Cabo Girao is over 1,900 feet above sea level and is the highest sea cliff in Europe and the second highest in the world. The views were made even more spectacular with the recent addition of a glass platform that gives you a view straight down. All you have to do is trust the engineers and builders by taking a few bold steps out........and look down! We also enjoyed some time at the small seaside village of Ribeira Brava. The village was small and somewhat sleepy even on a Saturday, partly because it was the day before Easter and preparations for the Easter celebration were well underway.
Easter Sunday was a "sea day". We joined many fellow cruisers for a non-denominational service that was led by a husband-and-wife team of missionaries who were passengers on the ship. They did a great job, and we were very appreciative of the Norwegian Sun staff for providing the space and resources for the service.
Ponta Delgada
Having checked the Canary Islands and Maderia off the list, we had one more autonomous region of islands to visit, the Azores. There are nine volcanic islands that make up the Azores. Our journey took us to two of the nine. First up was Ponta Delgada, which is located on the island of Sao Miguel. We ventured inland from Ponta Delgada to the Sete Cidades Caldera to see the crater lakes that have been formed. The volcano, as well as many others on the island are still considered "active". Thankfully all has been relatively quiet in recent years although there were eruptions and earthquakes in the 90's that caused significant damage.
Horta
If you're on a yacht crossing the Atlantic there's a pretty good chance you'll make a stop at the Horta Marina. The large marina's walls are covered with paintings of the names of yachts, crews and the dates they visited the small city, which is home to around 7,000 residents. The total population of the island on which Horta is located (Faial) is around 15,000. Not a lot of people live on the island, however, it's estimated that there are 3 cows for every one person.........and that's no bull!
All the islands of the Azores are a result of volcanic activity that is estimated to have occurred over 10 million years ago. Masterpieces take time and the Azores are certainly masterpieces that are worth exploring..........if you're exploring around Horta, just watch where you step!
Bermuda
We had no fear of the Bermuda triangle. We just never had the opportunity to visit there. While some people's visits may not have ended well, we enjoyed our time in Bermuda very much. We arrived at 4:00 PM on Saturday, April 15. Unlike most cruise stops, we were there overnight and didn't set sail until 4:00 PM on the 16th.
After arriving and exploring the port area for a while, we took a shuttle to Horseshoe Bay, which was about 30 minutes from the port. This gave us the opportunity to see quite a bit of the long, narrow island that's shaped somewhat like a fish hook. The pink sand beach and crystal clear water made us wonder why we hadn't been there before. We enjoyed walking the beach, all the while wishing that we had brought our bathing suits so we could enjoy the water that was much warmer than we anticipated.
On Sunday morning, we took a complimentary ferry (provided by Norwegian) to nearby St. George Island. The ferry ride was a little less than an hour and really enjoyable. We were able to enjoy some time of roaming around the city of St. George before heading out to Tobacco Beach. The calm, shallow bay water is protected by interesting rock formations, making it an incredibly scenic place.
We set sail from Bermuda with a great appreciation for not only it's natural beauty, but also for the amazingly friendly people who call this island home.
New York City
We've enjoyed New York City many times over the years. However, as we get older and in the post COVID world, we really weren't sure we'd ever visit it again. Big cities and large crowds just aren't as appealing to either of us as they once were. But here we were, back in the Big Apple again!
Arriving by cruise ship in the pre-dawn hours was amazing. We had the New York skyline on one side and the Statue of Liberty on the other side as we made our way up the Hudson River to the mid-town Manhattan Cruise Terminal (West 50th Street). Before we knew it, we were off the ship and in a New York state of mind.
We enjoyed exploring on foot from Times Square/Rockerfeller Center up to Central Park and then down as far as 23rd Street. By the time we made it back to the ship we had covered over 11 miles! We both enjoyed the day in New York much more than we had anticipated. It doesn't necessarily mean that we'll be spending more time there in the future, but stranger things have happened!
We had plenty of "elbow room" on the ship the entire adventure. We had even more elbow room from New York to Miami. We bid farewell to around 600 passengers who ended their crossing in New York. We welcomed aboard no new passengers in New York! The last two days of the cruise were like the entire 19 day adventure, smooth seas, sunny skies and just a few less people to share it with!
