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Oriana TA & Back 2013
  • Rulocal

Oriana TA & Back 2013

A 73-day adventure by Rulocal Read more
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  • Trip start
    January 9, 2013
    RulocalOriana TA & Back 2013Rulocal

    And so things progress

    January 9, 2013 in England ⋅ 🌫 3 °C

    Well the E-Tickets are printed off, car park sorted, hotel sorted and estas printed that's everything methinks.
    On with the planning of the trip now.
    This is mainly going to be the US stops as we've done most of the others before.
    New Orleans is going to be a day of sightseeing and an evening of celebrating Jennifer's birthday, when we will all partake in a bit of NOLA southern hospitality...hic!
    John is sorting the Port Canaveral stop where he is arranging a visit to the Kennedy Space Center.
    I've been before, about ten or twelve years ago and it's well worth a visit.
    I'm sorting Charleston, where I've planned a short walking tour taking in some of the main sights.
    Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale and Key West have yet to be arranged.    Read more

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    Voodoo Chile

    January 17, 2013 in England ⋅ ☀️ 0 °C

    I have been in email contact with the New Orleans voodoo museum, and have arranged for Sheila to have a psychic reading with a voodoo priest called Dr John.
    She likes that kind of stuff, so out should be quite interesting.Read more

  • RulocalOriana TA & Back 2013Rulocal

    Well done John

    January 25, 2013 in England ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    John has done a brilliant job sorting out some excursions for our cruise, much cheaper than the ship's tours, and no doubt much better.
    We've got in Charleston, a carriage ride for an hour around the city and then a 90 min harbor cruise all four $36 each, which is brilliant.
    In Cape Kennedy we've got return transport and entrance to the space museum for $75 each another brill price.
    Can't wait......    Read more

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    One more sleep

    February 9, 2013 in England ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    Jennifer has just texted me saying 2 more sleeps before we go.
    But I told her it's only one as I count the Sunday as the start of the holiday, because we're spending the night before the cruise in the hotel in Eastleigh.
    Not looking forward to the drive down there though as it's forecast heavy snow :-(    Read more

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    Beautiful downtown Eastleigh

    February 15, 2013 in England ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    Spent yesterday afternoon in a working man's club in Eastleigh with Sheila, Jennifer and John, watching the match, (we won't talk about the game if you don't mind) suffice to say it wasn't the result I wanted.
    The place was nice and the members made us feel very welcome and the beer was a reasonable price.....
    We had originally gone to a local pub where I was told they had the football on sky.
    This turned out to be wrong, we were given directions to the club by one of the locals, who even phoned the club for us to make sure we could get in.
    He was a star, and as I've said the club was good and we had a bit of banter with the locals, who at one time after united had scored and I wasn't happy all started doing impressions of Harry Enfields curly haired Scousers and all saying " calm down, calm down" in the worst Liverpool accents I've ever heard.
    But out was great fun and it's definitely a place I'd visit again.
    Except for the result of the match it was a great start to the holiday.    Read more

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    First night on board

    February 16, 2013 in England ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    With it being the first night Sheila and I went to the restaurant for dinner, instead of the buffet which we normally use, mainly so we could see our other friends who are on this trip.
    We had a lovely meal and a good catch up.
    Pauline passed Jennifer and John and Sheila and I a card each which it turned out was from Hazel and "posh" Peter two other friends who were booked on this cruise but due to illness, couldn't make it.
    The card was apologising for not being here and wishing us all bon voyage and hoping we all had a great cruise.
    It was a really nice thing for them to have done.
    So if you happen to read this blog guys, thank you both very much and we wish you were here.
    Oh btw "Posh" Peter get well soon mate x
    I've been looking at some of the other passengers on board and I don't think the ships disco will be very busy on this trip.
    I'd say our company is among the youngest, and we're in our 50s and 60s lol.
    I passed Anderson's bar last night and I'm even more certain that you have to be certified dead to be allowed in there, I've never seen a more miserable place.
    It's now 6am and the weather isn't to bad, it's cold and the ship is rolling a bit, but no strong wind, rain or snow.
    That's all for now I'm going for another coffee.....
    Btw, Sheila had her picture taken with a famous film star (see pic)    Read more

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    Ladies and gentlemen... Mr Neil Diamond

    February 16, 2013, English Channel ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Well last night's entertainment was very good, well most of it.
    They act in the theatre was a Neil Diamond tribute by the name of Gary Ryan, he had apparently won Starts in their eyes a few years ago.
    He was very good and at times sounded more like Neil Diamond than Neil himself.
    After the show Sheila and I decided to have one more drink then turn in.
    So we went to the cabaret lounge but the group was very mediocre, so we proceeded to the Lords Tavener pub, and the act in there was superb, they were called the Intermission Duo, he played keyboards and guitar and did a bit of singing, but his wife was the main singer and she was fantastic, she was a very bluesy type singer with a bit of rock and jazz thrown in.
    They didn't just do covers they did their own arrangements of them, and the good news for us is that they're on for the full cruise.
    Today is Wednesday it's 6.45am sand the weather is cold, a few more days and I'll be pissing you off with reports of 80 degree sunshine lol.
    8.30am and we've just finished breakfast with Jennifer and John, Jen's gone to the gym and John has gone for a walk around the deck.
    Sheila and I have come to Anderson's bar for a quiet read and a knit, the knit is for Sheila obviously.
    Anderson's bar of an evening is so quiet and miserable, that I'm sure you have to be certified dead to get in lol.
    Anyway back to my book........    Read more

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    Jimmy James

    February 17, 2013, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Yesterday was another mostly uneventful sea day, we did a couple of quizzes that was the progressive quiz, in which we don't know our position yet, as James, the quiz master insists on building the anticipation, by only giving the positions every five days.... God the tension is almost unbearable :-P
    The other was the daily music quiz in which we came second to our great rivals, we are now even with two wins each....not sure if I'll be able to manage this continual pressure for the next four weeks....lmao.
    One thing I must say is that the entertainment staff on the ship are a 100% improvement on the staff from the last time we traveled on this ship.
    It was formal night last night so for a change Sheila and I went to the restaurant for dinner, which was nice but we do still prefer going to the conservatory buffet and eating there.
    The headline act last night was the one and only Jimmy James, but without his Vagabonds, who he split from years back.
    The guy is now 73 years old and still going strong.
    We have seen him numerous times over the years and he never ever disappoints, his 50 minute spot seemed to last for 5 and even after his obligatory encore he left everyone wanting more, fantastic entertainment well worth seeing.
    After one last drink we turned in at about 12.15pm, only to be back down at the reception desk at 12.25 reporting an accident!!
    Sheila opened the wardrobe to put her dress in when a large bottle of water rolled from off the top shelf and hit her right on the corner of her eye, it was a full bottle and quite heavy, it gave her quite a shock and actually drew blood.
    Who the water belonged to or why it was up on the top shelf of the wardrobe we don't know?
    I can only guess that the previous occupant of the cabin had put it there and forgotten it, and when the ship was pitching and rolling it has become dislodged and when Sheila has opened the wardrobe door it's fallen out and hit her.
    She's ok now but it did shake her up a bit....    Read more

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    The Captains talk

    February 17, 2013, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    Normally we don't bother going to the welcome aboard party, as they can be a bit boring, the only saving grace usually is you get a free glass of wine (or two) ;-)
    So as we don't have any free drinks on this trip we thought we'd go to the party, and as we were first in we had our picture taken with the captain.
    I don't normally bother with the captain's photo as sometimes the captain can be a bit pompous and full of himself, but this guy Captain David Pembridge is his name, was lovely.
    A nicer and more down to earth captain I've yet to meet, his short talk was interesting and informative and he came across as a really nice guy.
    After dinner which we had in the restaurant and was very nice, we went to the show which was a comedian from the black country, by the name of Lee Wilson.
    He was excellent, very clean with no fowl language or smut, with an old fashioned style but extremely funny.
    I'd go and watch him again.
    Oh yes I forgot to mention that the four of us that is Jennifer, Sheila, John and myself won the afternoon music quiz, and me having had a couple of drinks proceeded to show our winning prize which consisted of a couple of stickers (which you accumulate and cash in four prizes, such as plastic key chains at the end of the cruise,) around the room thus making us a target for future quizzes....lol.....bring it on.
    Anyway it's 9.15am and the weather is overcast and the temperature is about 14 degrees Centigrade....but it's better than being at home freezing our rocks off....
    The hardy walkers are out on deck all wrapped up taking the sea air, I ventured out just long enough to take the picture below, then I was straight back inside to the nice warm Anderson's bar with the rest of the dead people........    Read more

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    Land ho!

    February 21, 2013 in Saint Lucia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Today is Thursday 21st February and today we dock at our first Caribbean island the island of St Lucia.
    The last time we were here was two years ago and I'm afraid the overall impression of the town we landed at, the name of which escapes me, was not a good one it appeared to be a mixture of the worst places in Wigan and Bradford, but with sun.....
    We were twice warned about the dangers of walking in certain areas, once by the police and once by a local barber.
    It sort of ruined all the brochure pictures and romantic island blurb....Lol
    Anyway, yesterday was nice the weather was once again fantastic, and I did another 4 hour marathon sunbathing session with Sheila, John and Jennifer, but with a slight difference, they were in the sunshine and I was in the shade and even in the shade with the ship doing about 17 knots it was still hot hot hot.
    In the afternoon we bombed out of the music quiz only finishing third and there's a new champion team so now we're gunning for two teams...Lol.
    In the evening we first of all watched the duo, who were once again fantastic, we asked Kandy to sing "Babooshka" by Kate Bush which she did brilliantly well.
    Then later we went to the show which was great we first of all had the classical pianist do three numbers, then Gary Ryan the Neil Diamond tribute act did about four numbers and finally Mr Jimmy James finished the show of with another fantastic set, not only is he still a cracking singer who can belt them out with the best of them but he can still do the moves on stage which for a 73 year old is amazing........    Read more

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    Sandra's place is the place to be

    February 22, 2013 in Saint Lucia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Well St Lucia was good this time round.
    For one thing everything was open, so there were plenty of shops and things to see, which there weren't last time.
    We got some free internet outside a shopping centre not far from the ship.
    Then we had the piece de resistance "Sandra's Bar", which was a shack with seats, by what passed for a river, but looked more like an open drain, but if I'm honest it didn't smell, well not much....lol.
    In Sandra's bar you could get local Piton beer for $1.20 a bottle and if you were brave enough you cold sample the delights of smoked herring and cucumber salad.
    This delightful local delicacy looked and smelled awful, but Jermain, who was one of the local characters in the bar waxed lyrical on the delights of this wonderful dish.
    We were all panicking in case he offered us a taste, which thankfully he didn't.....phew!
    The place was full of locals coming and going one of them was a girl whose name I didn't get, who before her shift behind the bar at an all inclusive beach resort, sank four or five bottles of Guinness, while telling us of the free shots to be had while she was working in the hotel bar....lol.
    All in all it was a great afternoon where we met some real people and not one of the expensive and contrived trips from the ship where the things you see and people you meet are all put there for the tourists.    Read more

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    St Kitts & Nevis

    February 23, 2013 in Saint Kitts and Nevis ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    St Kitts today and it looks like we're doing a tour of the Caribbean by local bars.
    Today it was Yummies bar and Snackette, which is a typical Caribbean type bar serving local beer and local food which mainly seemed to be rice and beans served with salad. (eat in or take away)
    Once again we just sampled the beer and gave the food a miss, I'm sure one of these days we'll be brave enough to try some, somewhere.
    We had the craic with the owner who called himself 'film star' because he'd met the Prime Minister of St Kitts and had a photo to prove it.
    I must admit in the photo dressed in his white fedora hat and white suit with matching white shoes and blood red scarf he did look every inch the film star.
    Just a pity in real life his tatty shorts and T-shirt, flip flops and crooked teeth ruined the illusion, he was a nice guy though.
    We then headed back to the port and found another bar there called 'Te Pau' which sold Carib beer at 99 cents a bottle!
    Bloody hell, we'd just been paying $2 at 'Yummies bar'....lol.
    After 'Te Pau' we returned to the ship for a well earned sleep.
    Later that evening on board ship there was a 'Caribbean Pool Party' but we didn't stay as it mainly consisted of 60 to 70 year old pensioners 'dad' dancing to Bob Marley, and that is not a pretty sight.
    So we finished the evening off in lord's Tavern listening to the brilliant 'Intermission Duo' with Kandy singing at her brilliant best.
    Then off to bed for another well earned sleep.
    Tomorrow it's Tortola, which is just about the most beautiful island I've seen and because we've all seen it before and done the tours and the beach, I think just for a change we'll suss out a local bar, and continue our cultural tour of the Caribbean....hic!...
    Jennifer has had a text off Hazel & posh Peter, and I believe you're reading the blog guys, so this is a quick hi from us all, and we really do wish you were here xx    Read more

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    "Buy a drink" She said!!

    February 25, 2013 in British Virgin Islands ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Road Town,Tortola today and we continued our cultural tour of the Caribbean by looking for a cheap local bar, which we initially failed to do.
    The bars we passed were either closed or as in one case to expensive at $3 a beer!!.lol
    So we headed back to the harbour bar which turned out to be even more expensive at $3.50 a beer but it did have WiFi.
    I purchased 4 Carib beers, flippin heck that cost $14!! (I'm sure I'm turning into a Yorkshire man)
    I then says to the girl behind the bar does the WiFi need a password? To which she replies "yes", so I says "what is it?"
    She replies "buy a drink".
    Then me being the complete knob head that I am says "I've just bought one, in fact I've just bought 4".
    She looks at me and I look at her for what seems an eternity.
    She then says "right what did you ask me?" I said "is there a password for the WiFi?"
    She says "yes" once again.
    So I says "what is it? 'please' ", thinking she was being funny because I hadn't said please the first time.
    To which she replied 'buy a drink'.
    I actually opened my mouth to speak when the penny FINALLY dropped 'buyadrink' ......'buyadrink', what a clever password, far to clever for me obviously.....LMFAO
    On the way back to the ship we found a proper local bar doing beers at 2 for $5 and rum punch and something called a pain killer for $5 each, John insisted we tried one after our beers, I had a rum punch and he had a pain killer.
    I can tell you they both killed pain, until the next morning when they then caused pain....will we ever learn? ....lol.    Read more

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    My god the heat! The damned heat!

    February 26, 2013 in Jamaica ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Day at sea yesterday and the officer of the watch announced a temperature of 26 degrees, well I think he needs a little finger on his watch as the temperature was definitely in the 30s.
    Just ask any of the sun worshippers who vacated their sunbeds about 1pm because they were melting in the heat, the beds that is not the people...lol.

    Sheila and I had a sun free day and stayed inside most of the time, just venturing out at lunch time for the on deck Bar-BQ, which I'm sure they could have cooked without charcoal...did I mention how hot it was on deck?

    After lunch my bed was calling me so I had a nap till quiz time, you may have noticed that I've not mentioned the quizzes much recently, that's mainly due to the fact that after our good start at the beginning of the cruise, we've bombed out in most of the quizzes.
    But we still keep plugging away.
    We're hoping most of the other teams get bored of winning and stop turning up, thus giving us a better chance of winning again.
    Then again the way we've been performing if we were the only team taking part we'd still finish second....!.

    Sheila and I decided to have an early night and went to bed at 9.30pm, with the hour going back that made it 8.30 pm and the reason for me writing this blog at 4.45am.
    Well I have had 8 hours sleep plus naps.
    It's Montego Bay, Jamaica today so Sheila, Jennifer, John and I are going to continue our cultural crusade of the Caribbean.
    We've had a few warnings about the dangers of walking around Jamaica alone, but being seasoned travellers and hard cases from Bradford and Liverpool I'm sure we'll be ok.
    If that fails I'm hoping Jennifer being almost a local will help..lmao.
    It's Monday 25th of February, you know the time and it's dark outside but lovely and warm....    Read more

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    George Town, Cayman Islands

    February 27, 2013 in Cayman Islands ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    We're all berthed off Georgetown Grand Cayman.
    There are five ships most are not allowed to anchor due to the coral on the sea bed, from what I can see it's only the Disney Magic that's anchored.
    The other four, that's us the Oriana, the Carnival Victory, the Aida Aura and the RCCL Independence of the Seas are all not anchored but held on position by their engines.
    The temperature is in the 80s already and it's only 9am.
    We're doing our usual two or three hours by the pool, then lunch and then we'll hit the town..    Read more

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    To Hell and back!!

    February 27, 2013 in Cayman Islands ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Well we hit the town, that is after a 40 minute wait for a tender.
    When we finally got to George town it was like first day of the January sales, there where thousands of people milling around.
    We decided to leave the waterfront and take to the side streets, where John spotted a sign for the local bus that could take us to Hell for $2.50 each.
    So on we got and sure enough after about 15 minutes we arrived at Hell.
    The charge was only $2.50 each as I said, with no messing around or the driver asking for tips as is usually the case.
    The driver told is that when we were ready to come back all we had to do was stand at the front of the post office and a bus would be no more than 10 minutes.
    For those who've not been to Hell before it's quite an interesting little place with it's volcanic rocks and quaint little post office.
    For the princely sum of 95 cents you can buy a postcard and a stamp and send it to your family or friends with the postmark 'sent from Hell'.
    We had a good look around and too lots of pictures, then waited by the road and sure enough within 10 minutes a bus came and took us back to the port.
    Once again no hassle or tips wanted.
    We even had a chat with a lovely Jamaican guy who works on the island.
    I wish our pubic transport at home was as reliable and friendly.
    Back in George Town we joined the rather large queue for our tender back to the ship.
    There must have been 500 people queuing for the Oriana tender and only 5 queuing for the Aida Aura tender, obliviously the Germans can organise things far better than us Brits...
    Their tenders went back and forth like clockwork, ours either failed to launch, which happened with one of them, broke down which happened with another or ran aground on the beach which happened with the third one.
    All in all it failed to instil confidence.
    The tenders aside we all had a great day ashore, even of we didn't manage to continue our cultural tour of Caribbean bars as we couldn't find one empty enough to get served in the limited time we had left.....    Read more

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    Montego Bay

    February 28, 2013 in Jamaica ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    What a disappointment!
    Montego Bay conjures up thoughts of beautiful sunshine, miles and miles of gorgeous beaches and Bobby Bloom singing the delights of Montego bay, on the island of Jamaica.
    Then P&O go and spoil it all by docking us in an industrial wasteland, trying to pass it off as a romantic tropical port, and failing miserably.
    There was literally nothing there except for a run down shopping complex just outside the port gates, where all but one shop and one bar was closed.
    We didn't use the shop but did use the VERY overpriced bar for the WiFi.
    To be honest inside the port building there were some more trinket shops and one even more expensive bar.
    You could not walk to anywhere as nothing was within walking distance.
    There was a shuttle available at $10 return which would take you to a shopping mall.
    We didn't bother with it and after having a beer in the outside bar and using the WiFi, we returned to the ship.
    By the horror stories we heard later about passengers being ripped off by the shuttle divers it was a wise move.
    All in all where P&O decided to park the ship, was second only to Alexandria in Egypt as being the worst place I've visited.    Read more

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    Puerta Maya, Cozumel, Mexico

    March 1, 2013 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Puerta Maya today, nice place if very commercialized.
    The port area consisted of lots and lots of shops and the largest duty free shop I've ever seen.
    I must admit that there were bargains to be had especially in T shirts.
    The shop keepers were quite friendly and not to pushy, one of them was either very funny or very honest when he said to us, "senor, senora, come into my shop and give me the chance to rip you off" he said this with a great big smile...lol
    We went for a short walk outside the port and continued our Caribbean cultural tour by finding a Mexican/Chinese restaurant that had cheap beer and free WiFi, where we spent a very pleasant hour or so.
    After that it was back to the port to buy some booze for various people, then it was all aboard for another couple of drinks before a well earned afternoon nap.
    In the evening our favourite entertainment on the ship, the Intermission Duo, where appearing in the Pacific lounge, which is the main cabaret lounge on the ship and they were brilliant even sounding better than in the Lords tavern pub, which is their usual venue.
    In this bigger venue Kandy could really let her voice rip and Gordon could wap his guitar and electric piano volume right up the effect was amazing.
    They really are the best entertainment I've ever seen on board any ship I've been on, especially Kandy whose vocals are amazing.
    But it's not just the vocals she uses the mic like an instrument and literally acts out the songs she sings.
    They finished last nights spot with Wuthering Heights, by Kate Bush and imho did it better than she does, with Kandy's amazing voice and Gordons superb guitar work it was a brilliant end to a brilliant show.... They really should be headlining in the theatre.    Read more

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    Way down south in Nawlins!

    March 2, 2013 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

    It's 5 am and we're about to dock in New Orleans.
    We've been sailing along the mighty Mississippi since 9pm last night, it's still to dark to see much yet, but we have been passing lots of oil, or gas rigs in the river since we entered it's mouth.
    Also the Mississippi is longer, wider and deeper than I realised as Oriana is quite a big ship at about 70,000 tons and we've been steaming along the river for almost eight hours and we're not there yet.
    I'll be going down to get our immigration passes soon so I'll have more to report later.    Read more

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    New Orleans, The Big Easy.

    March 2, 2013 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C

    Well after a very pleasant immigration clearance, the quickest and easiest we've ever had in the US.
    We went for our first walk around New Orleans, mainly in the french quarter.
    In the cold light of day it was a bit run down and seedy.
    But later on in the evening it became colourful and vibrant.
    Only three of us went out in the evening as Sheila wasn't up to it after all the walking we did in the morning.
    So she missed her voodoo reading, I just hope Dr John doesn't put a hex on us....lol.
    Anyway the first place we hit was Laffiettes old blacksmiths shop, which is the oldest bar in the french quarter.
    Out was ok, but a bit dark and dismal.
    We got talking to a group of lads from Texas who were on a stag weekend.
    We moved on to a couple of other bars and then to a bar called The Funky Pirate Blues Club, which was brilliant, the band was superb, the did all the old blues stuff by John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and guys like that.
    Another bar whose name escapes me had a young rock band on, so we had Led Zeppelin and the like.
    The one thing we didn't hear on Bourbon St was jazz, which was a shame.
    On the street though there were lots of different entertainers ranging from a guy making fantastic music on a plastic bucket to break dancers dancing on a huge chess board.
    All in all we had a great but very tiring day...think I'm getting to old for all this partying, in fact I don't think it I KNOW! it.
    If we visit New Orleans again which I'm sure we will, Bourbon St won't be top of the list, but will still be on it if quite a but lower down.    Read more

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    New Orleans

    March 3, 2013 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    We decided to have a little ride on the riverfront streetcar then do the open top bus tour.
    So first we got ourselves a 24hr jazzy pass for the local transport, great value at $3 each.
    We road the full length of the riverfront line which is a really good way to view the river.
    Then as it was a bit cold for doing the open top bus, we decided to see as much of the city as we could by streetcar, at the end of the riverfront line we changed cars for the Canal St, City park line which takes you right up to the north end of the city almost as far as lake Pontchartrain.
    We then road the same car back to St Charles Ave and switched to the St Charles line through the university and business district.
    The whole thing took us about six hours including coffee stops.
    So just about the best $3 we've spent on the whole cruise up to now...lol.
    After a bit of shopping in the Riverwalk mall it was back to the ship for a well earned rest.    Read more

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    Key West

    March 5, 2013 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    It's got to be at least ten years since I was in key West and nothing seems to have changed.
    Despite the storms and hurricanes they've had, the buildings all look the same.
    Even the weird and wonderful people look the same.
    Must be something in the water.
    The weather wasn't to bad but not brilliant, the four of us booked on the tourist train for a look around the island it was quite good and at $21 it was $8 cheaper than the Conch train which did the same tour but was called the Conch Train, Conch Republic being the nickname of the island.
    After the tour we went shopping..groan!
    After shopping we continued our cultural drinking tour...woo hoo!
    Duvall St is the main street in key West and is full of bars.
    We first tried Irish Kevins which was really noisy and rocking, with a guy playing guitar and singing.
    Then it was on to the world famous `Sloppy Joe's` and finally a place called `The Smallest Bar`.
    Then suitably inebriated we went back to the ship four food and a well earned sleep......    Read more

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    Port Everglades

    March 6, 2013 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Port Everglades today, that means shopping for us, but Jennifer and John haven't been to this port before so they're off exploring Fort Lauderdale.
    Sheila's favourite store here is "Ross dress for less" it's a US version of TK Max, designer clothes at discount prices.
    We got all the grandkids Converse trainers and got little Josh a really cool pair of Nike trainers, plus some stuff for ourselves, of course.
    Sheila spent so flippin much I had to make two trips back to the ship.
    Then it was a coffee and free WiFi in the Marina Deli, which is far cheaper than Starbucks and the WiFi is better, also it has local people in there not bloody tourists....
    Before you say it, I know I'm to good to Sheila taking her to all these really up market eateries....lmao.    Read more

  • RulocalOriana TA & Back 2013Rulocal

    Port Canaveral, well done Chisit.

    March 7, 2013 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C

    Today was port Canaveral and John (chisit) had pre-booked our transport and entrance to the Kennedy space centre.
    Everything went like clockwork, we left the ship about 8.20 and our private minibus was waiting for us to rocket us off to the space centre, no waiting in the shuttle queues for us! (see what I did there, Rocket, shuttle? lmao)
    It also worked out about half the ships tour price on which you had to pile onto a big coach.
    The fifteen minute journey was made interesting by the driver who gave us a running commentary on all the interesting points locally, even stopping at a storage depot in the middle of nowhere, to show us a unused fuel tank from the shuttle program, it was huge, it is the big orange thing the shuttle is attached to on take off.
    It wasn't part of the space centre display, so that was a nice little extra that you wouldn't have got on the ships tour.
    When he dropped us off at the centre we had pre-booked tickets so no waiting in line, we went straight in.
    Once in we spent a brilliant seven hours exploring the wonders of space travel, from the two 3D IMAX cinema shows, to the space shuttle simulator (which was a bit tame), along with the rocket garden, astronauts memorial and my favourite the amazing 364ft Saturn rocket, we had a brilliant day, and there was still lots more to see, if only we had the time.
    My only disappointment was that we didn't get to see and stand on the real space shuttle which I did last time I was here, about ten years ago.
    But it has been moved to the New display centre for the Atlantis program which doesn't open till June this year, maybe next time...
    Once again Chisit well done and if the stuff you've booked for is in Charleston is half as good, we'll be on a winner.
    I'm gonna stop now or you'll be getting a big (bigger) head....lol.    Read more

  • RulocalOriana TA & Back 2013Rulocal

    Charelston, South Carolina

    March 7, 2013 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    We docked in beautiful Charleston last night, which was twelve hours earlier than the itinerary stated.
    That gave us an overnight in port and a chance to explore some of the town and find out where we pick up our carriage ride on the morning.
    We did this but didn't stay out to long as most places were shut and also it was bloody cold.
    We got back to the ship about 9 pm and had a drink before going to see the show that John had recommended.
    It was a singer called Rebecca Storm, who I'd never heard of but John said she was very good, and I must say she was.
    She did a lot of musical theatre stuff, Evita, Blood Brothers, etc and she'd actually starred in them.
    She was excellent and acted out the songs rather than just sing them.
    Strike two for Chisit, we just need the carriage ride to be good and that will be his hat trick of good recommendations, space centre, theatre and carriage ride...lol
    I'll keep you informed.
    Looking forward to the day, as Charleston looks to be a beautiful and interesting place, but I well be putting two pairs of socks on and getting well wrapped up.    Read more

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