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Türkiye & X TA 2022
  • Two to Travel
set – nov 2022

Türkiye & X TA 2022

A glitch with airline vouchers found us doing a last-minute trip to Turkey ... eastbound flight ... westbound TransAtlantic to get us home. Leggi altro
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  • Two to TravelTürkiye & X TA 2022Two to Travel
    Sunset on day 3 of our Atlantic Crossing.
    A closer look at the dusk sky reveals the new moon.Sunset on day 3 of our Atlantic Crossing.

    Atlantic Crossing … Day 3

    29 ottobre 2022, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Another day at sea. And again I have very little to write about. I’ll just mention a few changes to our routine and finish up with some sunset colors we enjoyed as we strolled around decks 14 and 15 after another show that did not appeal to us.

    Breakfast and dinner were both at the Oceanview Café … but al fresco on the open deck. It’s so nice to be able to sit outdoors. I was surprised by how few people there were out there. Not complaining at all.

    I gave up an hour of my veranda time for the matinee show headlining Jayne Curry for an encore performance. Another excellent show. I wish I could say the same for the evening show, featuring an encore performance by Leslie McDonel. Instead of the “sultry standards” she sang in her first show, this time she opted for rock. Not particularly to our taste, so we left after the first song. And that’s how we ended up enjoying the sunset colors.

    Tonight we fall back yet another hour … for a total gain in time of three hours thus far. No complaints. I’d rather gain or lose time a little bit at a time instead of in one big chunk as happens on a long haul flight across the Atlantic.

    Distance Remaining to Miami: 1,831 NM    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelTürkiye & X TA 2022Two to Travel
    Sunrise from the aft deck at the Oceanview Café.
    Halloween decorations in the grand lobby.Halloween decorations in the grand lobby.Even guest relations has gotten in on the Halloween festivities.Edible Halloween decor at the Oceanview Café.Sunset colors reflected on the clouds to the aft of Silhouette.

    Atlantic Crossing … Day 5

    31 ottobre 2022, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F

    Happy Halloween @ Sea!

    For eagle-eyed readers … yes, I skipped a day. We didn’t lose it … there just wasn’t anything worth writing about … and no photos worth publishing either. So onward to today.

    There were a variety of activities to mark the Halloween … and edible and other decor to remind us that today was all about goblins and gools! We enjoyed the decor, but didn’t participate in any of the activities. From the number of outfits we saw around the ship earlier this evening — some of them quite creative — there were plenty who came prepared to enjoy the festivities.

    Aside from today being Halloween, it was a typical day at sea for us. Spent mostly on the veranda in my case, while Mui joined me occasionally.

    Breakfast and dinner were both on the terrace at the Oceanview Café. The difference between the two? We arrived at our preferred corner table for sunrise and seconds later found ourselves going through a squall so thick that it felt like we were surrounded by clouds. Dinner on the other hand … nothing but sunshine and blue skies
    .
    After dinner, we headed to the theater for Jayne Curry’s third show. Another very enjoyable one.

    We fall back one last hour tonight. Add in the fall-back from last night and we have now gained a total of five hours to put us on Eastern Daylight Time. The next time change for us will be when we fly home on Thursday … we’ll gain two hours then. And then over the weekend another fall-back will put the US on standard time and we will gain one more hour. Whew!

    Distance Remaining to Miami: 905 NM    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelTürkiye & X TA 2022Two to Travel
    Sunrise from the terrace at the Oceanview Café.
    Passing Great Abaco ... one of the Bahamian Islands.Our last rainbow of the cruise ... a. Carnival ship on the horizon also heading to Florida.

    Atlantic Crossing … Day 7

    2 novembre 2022, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    Yes, I skipped another day. Really, nothing to write about … except perhaps to mention that we got instructions for tomorrow’s disembarkation in Miami. We were assigned to Group 23 … at 8:15a. Nope … no can do. We have a mid-afternoon flight to Colorado and would prefer to dally on the ship as long as possible. So, Mui got us changed to the last group … #46 @ 9:15a. Still too early, but it is what it is.

    I should also mention that the production show last night — Euphoria — was similar to a Cirque du Soleil performance. Impressive acrobatics and aerial artistry. But … we could have done without the dancers strutting about the stage in air-filled animal costumes.

    On with today’s story.

    It was funny to hear Capt G advise us during his 9:45a report that we had a mere 270 NM left to cover. So, you can imagine that we were moving pretty much at the speed of molasses in winter throughout the day.

    Once our cabin was serviced mid-morning, we began packing our bags. Easy enough since practically everything that came out would be going back in … we just organized ourselves so that all the laundry went in one bag. The checked bags are now sitting outside the stateroom door … well ahead of the 10:00p deadline.

    Being this close to Miami meant decent satellite signal, so we attempted to use up our complimentary internet minutes. Except that even after having used two hours earlier in the cruise, and another hour of surfing the web and catching up on my reading today, I still had nearly two hours left. Hmmm! Nope, the math wasn’t adding up since we had four hours to begin with. Mui and I think that fellow passengers must have been complaining about the lack of a decent signal these past three days, so we might have been given extra minutes.

    By happy hour time, we started seeing cruise ships on the horizon … some leaving Florida … others, like us, heading there to disembark passengers. We also saw the low-lying Bahamian islands on the horizon. It was fun to have a bit of entertainment as we sipped our wine. At one point, we went through a squall which presented us with one last rainbow. We’ve certainly seen more colorful arches on this cruise than we have on other TransAtlantics.

    For dinner, we opted to just grab a bite at the Oceanview Café and go to tonight’s variety show at 7:00p. The opening act was a surprise performance by a passenger … the winner of Celebrity Idol on this cruise. She did a credible job. Then came the featured acts … the Fly Boys; Leslie McDonel; and Jayne Curry. All three gave us great performances.

    Now, I am going to put the laptop away and savor my last little bit of veranda time before I call it a night and turn in for a good night’s rest.

    Distance Remaining to Miami: 108 NM    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelTürkiye & X TA 2022Two to Travel
    Welcome to Miami, FL ... skyline from our veranda.
    Welcome to Miami, FL.Welcome to Miami, FL.Looks like we've arrived at our berth — Miami, FL.

    Welcome to Miami

    3 novembre 2022, Stati Uniti ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    Yes, that’s right … it is 4:46a … Silhouette is sailing to her assigned berth at the Port of Miami.

    Of course, neither of us has a good reason to be up at this hour. After all, we don’t have to vacate the cabin until 8:00a … and our disembarkation group is not scheduled to be called until 9:15a. Nonetheless, here we are … bright eyed and bushy tailed.

    We went up to deck 15 to grab some photos and then returned to the cabin to prep for the day ahead. While I’m waiting for my shower turn, I figured I would post this tidbit … so nice to have 5G cell service and data again.

    More footprints as our travel day from Florida to Colorado progresses …    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelTürkiye & X TA 2022Two to Travel
    Sunrise from our cabin before we have to vacate it — Port of Miami, Florida.
    Find me in this picture ... at our berth in the Port of Miami, Florida.Our cozy cubby where we are awaiting disembarkation — Port of Miami, FL.I've set up my office to make the most of our time on the ship ... tea and snacks handy — POM, FL.

    Still @ POM … Still Onboard Silhouette

    3 novembre 2022, Stati Uniti ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    With a 3:12p flight out of MIA, we wanted to disembark Silhouette as late as possible. After all, it would be preferable to kill time on the ship instead of at the airport. Looks like we’re getting our wish.

    It’s now 10:47a. We should have been called to leave the ship and complete the immigration formalities in the terminal around 9:15a. About an hour ago, disembarkation was halted … the Cruise Director making a point of placing the blame squarely on Customs and Border Control.

    Thus, we are still at the Port of Miami … still onboard Silhouette. We are comfortably ensconced in Cellar Masters on deck 4. In stark contrast to the chaos on deck 5 where the gangway is located, we have peace and quiet here. In fact, we’re the only ones in this particular lounge.

    Not sure when disembarkation will resume. We have plenty of time before we need to begin worrying about getting to the airport.

    More later …    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelTürkiye & X TA 2022Two to Travel
    A Cuban lager @ MIA to wash down our meal and help us relax after the worst disembarkation ever.

    @ MIA … Finally

    3 novembre 2022, Stati Uniti ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    We are finally at MIA. We have checked our bags. We have gone through security. We have gotten a bite to eat at La Pausa, one of the eateries at the food court. All in less than an hour. We are now at our gate, waiting for boarding to be called.

    We’ve been cruising since 1999. That’s 23 yeas of embarking and disembarking ships of all sizes — from 5,000+ to 50-passenger — at various ports all around the world. I can categorically say that today’s disembarkation is at the top of them all … as the WORST EVER. And this on a one-ship day at the terminal where we were berthed.

    C’mon people. This is not something new. Miami disembarks thousands upon thousands of passengers practically every day. It’s time for all the parties involved — from cruise lines, to port personnel, to CBP — to stop blaming each other and solve the problem.

    OK … off my soap box … moving on with the story.

    It’s not that we minded the delay leaving the ship. No, we wanted a late departure anyway so when our number was called at 11:15a, we were happy that we got our wish.

    The problem? The unknowns once we stepped off the air bridge into the terminal and found ourselves in a molasses-slow moving line. Even that wasn’t a problem per se. The issue was that there was no one around to advise people of what was ahead as we inched our way down the corridor.

    Getting to the baggage claim area 35 long minutes later, we found ourselves in the midst of total chaos. People were getting out of line to collect their bags and then rejoining the line for immigration. Bags were halter skelter … all over the place. What happened to lining up bags by disembarkation number? Yeah, right. We eventually found each of our three bags in three different rooms.

    Here’s where we got smart. Noticing that people were flagging down porters who were then leading them off to immigration without having to join the long queue, I snagged one and off we went. About 5 minutes later, we were showing our passports and being welcomed back to the USA.

    We were going to Uber it to the airport, but once outside the terminal, we saw that there was no one in queue for taxis, so we switched plans and hopped in the next cab. This turned out to be a really smart move as the ride-share pick up area was swarming with people waiting for their rides.

    It took us about 15-minutes in mid-day Miami traffic to get to MIA … but we made it. Whew!

    More later …    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelTürkiye & X TA 2022Two to Travel
    Snow blanketing the ground at DEN — Denver, CO.

    We’re Home

    3 novembre 2022, Stati Uniti ⋅ ❄️ 30 °F

    Safe and sound … we’re home.

    Our uneventful flight landed at DEN a little ahead of our 5:44p ETA, but then had to idle on the tarmac as we waited for our gate to become available. Flurries were flying, but it didn’t look too bad. Perhaps we had managed to arrive ahead of the forecasted snow. Hah! That was about to change minutes later.

    By the time we had collected our bags — about 10 minutes after deplaning — and got to the off-site Avis building — another 15 minutes later — the snow was really coming down. Mui took care of the paperwork for the rental car and came back with the keys to a Toyota Sienna … a mini van … an improvement on the economy car we’d reserved.

    The snow was falling in big, fluffy flakes and visibility was quite poor until we reached I-25S. Then the snow turned to rain. Once past Castle Rock, there was no precipitation in any form, though the pavement was wet. Traffic was flowing smoothly throughout, however. By the time we were halfway home, the pavement was bone dry. So much for the forecast of snow in Colorado Springs tonight.

    Around 8:00p, we pulled into our driveway. The house was a cozy haven after the bone-chilling cold outside. From 88F in Miami to 23F in Colorado Springs. Talk about a shocker.

    Thus, another trip comes to a close. Unexpected though it was, I’m glad we had another chance to visit with family this year. And, of course, we’re always up for a cruise … so that was a bonus.    Leggi altro

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    Fine del viaggio
    3 novembre 2022