Wind Star Lisbon to Barbados, 11/9-29

I'm leaving in the morning for a pair of Transatlantics heading over to Hamburg 10/28 on QM2 to be ready for my return on the Wind Star. I've been on Wind Surf twice, but this will be my first time on the smaller ships. I have 3 nights in Estoril between the 2 ships.

If my Surf crossing is any guide the Transatlantic takes a very slow pace. I'll do daily reports on the first leg from Lisbon to Tenerife, but the slower pace on the transatlantic will probably mean reports every couple of days.

Whatever pictures I take will mostly be posted on my companion blog at

http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com

On Cruise Critic the Cunard portion of my journey will be covered here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2119130

Roy

rafinmd,

Looks like we'll be on the same cruise, at least the Lisbon to Tenerife portion. I love how you are doing a transatlantic both ways, wish we had the time.

I'm especially looking forward to the Casablanca stop, having never been to Marrakesh we've hired a private tour for the long port day. I'll look forward to reading your blog post after we get home.

Jean

Roy,

Thanks as always for sharing your travels! I am awaiting to hear about your TA on Windstar! It should be such a different experience and can't wait for your updates!

Thanks for sharing!

Karin

Exited to read your reports on Windstar, a line that we loved. Enjoy your very different TA. Hope you can post frequently as we love the daily pictures and review. ~Patti

I am with you Roy, I would rather spend anytime on a ship rather than 30 minutes on a plane. We were 19 days on the Wind Spirit to Tahiti last spring,the 15 hours flying would have been a crippling nightmare, it was coming home! The Trans oceans are so pleasant, civilized and makes one appreciate time. Wish I could take a ship everywhere! Love reading about your cruises. Happy Sailing, have taken 2 Trans-Atlantics with Windstar

Cruises adored both,. Susanne

Thank you Suzanne, Patti, and Karin. Jean, I hope we meet on the ship.

When I rose it was drizzling, a drizzle that briefly became a steady rain before clearing up. Estoril sits near the mouth of the Tagus River and on Sunday there will be 6 cruise ships in town. My 2 favorites, the Wind Star and the Prinsendam should be leading the pack, followed by Adonia, Thompson Dream, Astor, and finally Costa Fortuna. I hope to be out at the shore watching their arrival and I made a dry run this morning. Actually the river is quite wide at this point and the view is a bit iffy. I saw either the Aurora (last seen 3 days ago in Southampton) or the Braemar in the distance but even with the maximum zoom wasn’t sure which. I guess the Wind Star might not be much more than a dot. On the way back it was bright enough to get a shot of the hotel with my alcony above the pillar with the hotel sign. The hotel has a van that they use for hotel pickups and the like; I’ve hardly seen a VW van for many years. I’m tempted to book it to get to the cruise terminal but think I’ll stick with the train.

After breakfast I walked away from town center a bit rising quite rapidly from the hotel. Estoril streets are a bit randomly oriented due to the topography, one “street” appears to be not much more than a staircase, as sometimes is seen in Ketchikan. Houses mostly obstruct, but there are a few nice views from the back streets.

I took an afternoon walk up to Cascais. A stone walkway runs between the railroad and the ocean, with some beaches but mostly rugged coastline. A few people ventured into the water but it is still pretty chilly for swimming, around 68F/20C. About a third of the way to Cascais I passed the Monte Estoril station where I had disembarked the train Friday.

Cascais seems to be a bigger town than Estoril, with both large shopping centers and a quaint pedestrean areas. There is quite a large harbor for smaller boats. I’ve been through Cascais a couple of times on tours but never gotten off the coach, so it was nice to really get a feel for the town. After lunch I checked out Cascais stores (some yummy looking Raspberries for a nice bedtime snack). I had planned on returning to Estoril by bus or train but decided to walk. While the 15,000 ton Wind Surf has a better walking space than the 150,000 ton Celebrity Solstice, I don’t think my luck will hold out with the Wind Star. I’ll walk now while I have the chance.

The evening was mostly spent at my hotel. Today’s parting shot will be about home and my actual favorite Cruise Line. Saturday will be Crystal Serenity’s first call in my home port of Baltimore (as I write this making her way up the Chesapeake Bay). Most passengers are coming from New York but a few will embark in Baltimore. Wishing everyone either on or boarding the Serenity a great day in Baltimore and a wonderful voyage. I would love to be at Fort McHenry watching her go by but am happy to be on my last day ashore in Lisbon.

Roy

It was raining this morning at 5 so I went back to bed for an hour and a half. On my morning walk a drizzle was just winding down and the sun was strong enough to shine through the clouds. Estoril has a big town square but it appears to be almost an afterthought from the Casino. A statue in the middle of the square honors Fausto Cardoso de Figueiredo, the planner largely responsible for the casino.

After breakfast in the hotel, I took a mid-day trip to another of Portugal’s old towns, Sintra. It’s about a half hour away on a city bus. It’s a quaint little town with narrow pedestrean streets and a former National Palace. It’s also quite a confusing city. It’s extremmaely hilly and the streets follow the contours, not anything like straight lines. A large U-shaped valley is home to Museu Anjos Teixeira, a lovely (from far above) botanical garden. After lunch in a nice little shop near the train station I took the bus back to Estoril.

Estoril seems to be in a pattern of periodic showers. One came in Sintra but was quite light and my rain jacket kept me nicely dry. Just after leaving the bus a heavy one came through and got my legs quite well soaked.

I went into Cascais for dinner. The train is quite fast and turns out a lot less expensive than the bus. I looked on marinetraffic just before bed and was surprised to see the Wind Star was passing Estoril. It must have docked in Lisbon very early Sunday morning.

Today’s parting shot is a continuation of yesterday’s. Reports on Cruise Critic are that Baltimore was in very fine shape for the Crystal Serenity’s maiden call with people very impressed with the inner harbor area in picture perfect weather. I can’t take any credit for the weather but am very proud of what my city has done over the past decades to become an attractive destination. I really wish more ships would call there.

Roy

another subscriber so I can follow along your great reports!

Thanks, Jacqui. I hope you don't mind the email I just sent you.

Soon after 5 I heard the pitter patter of rain on my balcony but it didn’t last long. It stopped and I went down to the shore to watch the Prinsendam’s arrival into Lisbon (Wind Star docked well before 5). I saw the ship but it was very small and far away (4 ½ miles by my GPS readings on sailaway), and I started back to the hotel. A pretty nasty shower came up; fortunately it didn’t last long and happened while I was near the shelter of the train station. Breakfast, internet, and final packing kept me pretty busy until I left the hotel around 10:30.

I packed all the weight I could in the big bag that was on my back, lightening the one I wore over my chest. The result was about 60 pounds in one bag and 15 in the other. walk to the train station was relatively easy as it was pretty much down hill. My ride on the train was about 35 minutes, getting off at the next to last station. I remembered that as being close to the Rocha cruise terminal, but what I remembered as a station was just a building on the tracks. It was about a kilometer walk to the ship, starting with about a 30 step climb to cross the tracks. It started raining (again) for the last half of my walk, I arrived at the station about 12:30, damp but not soaked, and tired but not as exhausted as on my travels to QM2. Boarding was officially 1PM but did not open until about 1:15. Checkin was quick and soon my steward Shaka was escorting me to my cabin. I was up in the Veranda having lunch (lasagna, salad, roll, ice cream) just after 1:30.

Muster was at 4:15. My station is in the reception area by the front desk. Life jackets were required and a roll was taken. When I returned to my cabin from muster drill the watertight doors between the stairs and my cabin were closed. The alternate route is a stairway which is normally “crew only”. It seemed to me that the watertight doors stayed closed longer than on the Wind Surf.

Sailaway was officially 5PM but when I went on deck at 4:50 there was about 100 feet of water between us and the dock. We quickly spun around and headed downstream, passing the 25 Avril Bridge about 20 minutes later, and watching the sun go down in 20 more minutes. At 6 the sails unfurled, the lights of Lisbon were starting to fade, and a swell was moving us around quite a bit.

Tour director Leo gave us an introduction to the ship and to Casablanca, and then off to dinner. I was with 3 others, 2 of them going on to Barbados. Dinner was a very nice Prime Rib followed by superb carrot cake.

As today’s parting shot, I am reading “Ice Blink” about an expedition to the Northwest Passage in the mid 19th century. They were using 2 of the most modern ships of the time. While the Wind Star is considered a small ship today, those 2 ships could have sat side by side with another 2 ahead of them all within the size of the Wind Star. I’ve heard of people wondering if a 1000 passenger ship is “big enough” for a transatlantic crossing while the tiny ship I’m using is at least quadruple the size of many transatlantic ships. This will likely be more of an adventure than my QM2 crossing, but pretty soft compared to the crossings many have made. It’s all a matter of perspective.

Roy

Thanks so much Roy, love reading your posts, we love the Windstar Cruises, we are on the Surf in January and Surf for Tall Ships in August. Keep the posts coming, great reading and dreaming. Susanne

Windstar internet is a bit strange and so far not very impressive. Pricing is based on megabytes used rather than minutes, and I’ve found that the logon process rejects my password manager so I have to log on manually to each site I visit using up internet time (not sure how that impacts the megabytes used but I’m pretty sure some are used while I enter a username and password. I do intend to post menus and daily programs to the appropriate tabs at http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com but most likely will do so after returning home.

Walking facilities on the Wind Star are poor but better than I expected. Markings on the bridge wings indicate “92.5 meters” aft from there. The back of deck 4 is not quite the stern of the ship but I think there is sufficient space forward of there to make the walkable length pretty close to that. It appears that my usual 5-mile walk would be about 44 laps around deck 4, not really feasible. I went out around 5:30 and had walked 17 laps by 6am, not an ideal walk but it met my minimum. Walking becomes very difficult after 6, first because of the crew sprucing things up and then other passenger activity, including smokers around the pool bar. The weather was about right for a t-shirt and my light rain coat.

At 6 it was quite dark outside; when sunrise came just after 7, there was a wide band of clouds but the sun showed through right at the horizon with a lovely band of color above it. Overhead the moon was still quite bright at dawn.

Captain Krasimir Ivanov has decreed that breakfast and lunch will be in theAmphora Restaurant rather than the Veranda until the weather improves. The 9:30 galley tour was pushed back to 10:30 to avoid conflict with breakfast. Executive Chef Darin has a staff of 15, 5 of them full time cleaners. He has previously worked for Holland America and Disney, and said one of the differences at Windstar is he has more control. While the base menus are the same fleet wide, he has more opportunity to modify then as the need arises. He will shop at ports and if he finds something of interest it will be a “Chef’s special”. He also said that last night’s chop was unexpected and that we lost a fair amount of china as a result.

The galley tour ended just in time for a fruit and bread styling demonstration up by the pool with lots of interesting animals created, mouse, monkey, and rabbit from various fruit, and alligator, crocodile, and turtle out of bread.

Aside from a detox seminar there was not much afternoon program, a fortaste of things to come on the transatlantic. The weather actually got cooler and cloudier as the day progressed, a good time to start on my reading list. I am now about half way through “Across the Top of the World” in preparation for my 2016 Crystal Serenity Northwest Passage cruise. It’s about a 2-pound book I’ll be happy not to lug around on future cruises. The afternoon tea and cookie snack was yummy but I decided to enjoy it in the comfort of the lounge.

At the Captain’s welcome party Captain Ivanoff introduced the senior staff and Leo repeated his presentation on Casablanca. After dinner the lounge’s music group, “Cloud 9" played a Motown Tribute.

As today’s parting shot, being at sea it would be easy to forget that November 11 is Veterans Day, although on Queen Mary 2 there was a sea of poppies like we don’t usually see in the US. Thank you all our veterans.

Roy

Roy, great reporting.

I hope the weather improves for you.

No worries on the email. Email me anytime :)

I dozed off and left some things unfinished Monday night, and it was about 5:30 when I got our on deck. As I was getting dressed it was clear we were getting close to port but were still moving. When I got outside the lines were just going out.

Casablanca is the economic center of Morocco with a population of about 5 million. Nearby cities with tours were Rabat, the Capitol and Marrakech, pushing the definition of nearby with a 3 ½ hour drive each way and a 13 ½ hour total tour. I opted for the Rabat tour, advertised at 5 ½ hours, including a 90-minute drive each way. The Marrakech tour left at 6:30, mine at 7, just as the sun was about to rise. We had a total of 12 guests, along with Julia, the singer for Cloud 9 as our escort. We were joined in the harbor by the P&O Oceania, about 2000 passengers, and Julia recognized it as her first ship,

The drive (in a large van) started very slowly in heavy city traffic but began moving in about 30 minutes on a freeway which followed the coast in a northeasterly direction. Once in Rabat (population 3 million) we stopped first at the National Palace). King Mohamed VI (ascended in 1999 at age 36) is quite popular, and has instituted very liberal reforms. Islam is the state religion, but the laws are quite secular. He is the first king to have his wife appear in public. Islamic dress is allegedly not required. Nearly all women I saw did have their heads covered; I did see a few without who appeared to be local, and I saw bareheaded women prominently in advertising. While the government is a parliamentary monarchy, the key agencies have their headquarters within the palace complex, and our guide said about 2000 people live and work there. Most of the other government ministries are nearby but outside the palace complex. The complex also includes a small mosque.

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/thepalace.jpg

Our next stop was kind of a strange mix. A large plaza contains the Mausoleum of Mohammed VI’s grandfather, Mohammed V, his father Hassan II, and his uncle, along with the outline of a huge mosque started in the 13th century. The Hassan tower is the half finished minaret about 65 meters tall out of a planned 130 meters. The adjoining mosque would have been something like 150 by 200 meters. A few segments of wall are there and rows of columns, perhaps 100 columns total represent what had been done to the mosque when the king who ordered it died and work stopped. The Mausoleum stands right outside what would have been the mosque.

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/hassantower.jpg

Our final scheduled stop was the Kasbah Oudaya Medina, a walled complex with mostly gardens inside but also shops. We did not see everything intended there as a film project was in progress. On the other side of the Medina we stopped at a garden spot where we were served tea and cookies in a spot overlooking the mouth of the local river and the margins of the Atlantic. I felt let down by the guide as he told us after we had been served that the cookies were $1 each.

We made 2 unexpected stops back in Casablanca. The first was the Hassan II mosque, started by Mohammed VI’s father in 1994. It is the third largest mosque in the world with the tallest minaret, and one of a few in Morocco that outsiders can visit. When we arrived (about 12:30) prayers were in progress, and we wouldn’t have been allowed inside until 3, but it was a very impressive structure.

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/hassaniimosque.jpg

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/rugs.jpg

The second extra stop was less welcome. We went into the “Jewish quarter” where we visited a carpet showroom and got a sales pitch of nearly an hour. Our return to the ship was almost 2 hours pasted the 12:30 we expected. When we returned the MSC Poesia was ahead of us, totally dwarfing the Oceania. Walking back to the ship I looked over the edge of the pier and saw just how close the deck 1 cabins are to the water.

The port is large and the route to the ship took several turns. I went out for a walk about 3 but after about 15 minutes I was hassled by a vendor and turned back to the ship. I think the vendor may actually have done me a favor since not long afterwards a shower came up.

Cloud9 played a set from the Great American Songbook before dinner. After dinner I decided it was a good night to retire rather early. Captain Ivanov came on the PA about 9:30; we were nearly ready to leave. He warned we would face some swells leaving the port. When I looked at my portholes, they were sealed up and I’m temporarily in the equivalent of an inside cabin.

Today’s parting shot comes from the little daily news blurb that gets put out in the lobby. Astronaut Reid Wiseman is kind of a Baltimore favorite son and in his 5 ½ months on the International Space Station he weighed in on our local television a number of times with great commentary and even greater photos while handling his regular duties with efficiency and grace. We will miss your reports, Reid, but welcome home.

Roy

Wind Star cabin doors are paired with the doors to adjacent cabins and recessed a bit at a common opening in the hallway. The deck 1 cabin doors forward of the watertight doors have a 3rd door outside the 2 individual doors. This is normally open but this morning mine was shut and I was at first unable to get it open. I took that as a sign that it might be too rough outside to be safe, and handled my online activity for the day before leaving my cabin. The lock also seemed to be stuck, and when I tried again about 5:45 I used my inner door as an indicator of the proper position of the locks and was finally able to get the door open. It was still quite rough and windy but I did manage to get in 15 laps (1 ½ miles) on the bridge deck. Walking conditions were not good with wind and rough seas but I had the whole deck to myself, and barely saw another soul out before about 7:30.

We spent the day following the Morocco coast, about 15 miles offshore. Sunrise was officially 7AM, but it was totally clouded over and instead of the sun we could see some other ships and lights from the shore. It was a quiet sea day with little in the way of activities of interest. Despite the challenging sea conditions lunch was moved to the Veranda and it was pleasant to be able to enjoy some meals outdoors. Despite what seemed like pretty rough swells there we passed at least one fisherman in what appeared to be not much more than a rowboat.

Executive Chef Darin did hold a rather unusual cooking demonstration. The feature was popcorn and he made a popcorn jerk chicken soup that we tasted and used the popcorn soup as a kind of sauce for spiced pork. Later the Veranda held the Yacht Club (repeat cruiser) cocktail party.

This is the last full sea day of the cruise (12 more on the crossing) although we have a full 24 hours at sea between leaving Agadir and arriving in Lanzarote (1PM departure and arrival). I have nearly finished “Across the Top of the World” but I do have another 3 ½ books on my Ipad.

Dinner tonight was at Candles. Ideally, this is a steak house utilizing the tables outside the Veranda. The weather was a bit iffy tonight and it was moved inside the Veranda, but was very nice anyway. I believe Windstar used to provide wrapped pillow chocolates each night. They have switched somewhat and leave 2 little chocolate hearts on the dresser each evening, which really can only be eaten when they arrive. The swell has not really abated, and the covers remain over my portholes.

Today’s parting shot is again inspired by the daily news sheet. The first sights I encountered when leaving New York on Queen Mary 2 were the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Ellis closed it’s doors 60 years ago today on November 12, 1954 after welcoming more than 20 million immigrants. I’ve toured the Island a couple of times over the years and am pleased that it has been reopened following the damage of superstorm Sandy. I enthusiastically recommend a visit there.

Roy

Hi Roy, love your posting, keep them coming. How many people on board and how many will cross? We crossed both ways from Lisbon on the Surf and adored every second. We were lucky we always had calm seas and the crossing on the Pacific was the same calm and calmer. I am living vicariously through your post can't wait until January to be in the BVI's on the Surf and Tall Ships on the Surf in August. We had chef Darin on the Pacific , we adored him and his enthusiasm and creativity, give him our best from Susanne and Gilles. Safe and Happy sailing. Merci encore for your efforts. Susanne

I was out on deck just after 5 and did get in a 1 ½ mile walk before things got busy. When I started the lights of Agadir were ahead of us, when I finished about 6 we were still a substantial distance from the harbor. The pilot came aboard near the end of my walk and we approached the dock about 6:30. Agadir is one of one of the prime vacation spots in Morocco with a long beach and warm climate. The city (population 300,000) was devastated by massive earthquake February 29, 1960 and is just about completely rebuilt. At the epicenter of the quake a number of bodies remain unrecovered, and that area is off limits for any redevelopment.

Our guides in Agadir were wearing the traditional Islamic dress. I had the most basic tour, “Panoramic Agadir” and we started out passing through the harbor, divided into several parts. We were in the commercial harbor used by cargo and cruise ships, although there are really no amenities there for cruise visitors. Next is the “ancient” harbor, used by fishing boats, and there are 3 classes of boats, local boats like we saw Wednesday, which only go a few miles out, larger day boats which will fish for a day or 2 further from shore, and deep sea boats which will go out for 3 months and return for one. We walked around the edge of one of the boatyards where day boats were being either built or repaired. After the fishing harbor comes a marina, and then finally the beach.

We had a relatively brief tour of the city, getting off momentarily for a look at the main mosque. Each district has a mosque, while the city has 1 each Catholic and Protestant churches and 1 synagogue. The city was rebuilt from the ground up after the earthquake with the wide Mohamed V boulevard separating the oceanview tourist area from the commercial and residential areas. We stopped at the main (and sprawling) market where the fruits and vegetables (inexpensive and locally grown) were very tempting but the clothing, toys, and other goods did not impress me. Our final stop in town was the Berbere Souk, where we saw 5 floors of local artisan goods, mostly at quite high prices.

Most of the day was foggy but it cleared up nicely for our visit to the Kasbah, high (700 feet) above the harbor. While the city inside the fortress was destroyed by the earthquake the walls are pretty much intact and the views are stunning. It’s also an area of impromptu commercial activity with people selling souvenirs along with photos with dromedaries, goats, and snakes. The views looked out over the fishing harbor and crescent shaped beach. The commercial harbor was just outside the picture; we could see the Wind Star’s masts from the access road but the ship itself was obscured by warehouses. We returned to the ship about 11. There was nothing available close to the ship so I hung out until our departure. We were packed quite tightly between a container ship and a “reefer”, which was loading something that might have been oranges. Several cranes were loading cargo onto both ships as we sat watching.

All aboard was 12:45 by one of the tours was a half hour late and we left about 1:30. The Wind Star’s forward mooring deck is open, and I watched our sailaway from there. While there are power reels to handle some of the lines, others are hauled in using pure manpower. Almost as if on cue the fog returned as we started out of the harbor and there really wasn’t much to see as we left Morocco behind. I’m not quite sure where the afternoon went but I completely missed the afternoon trivia that I had planned to attend. Sunset was not the washout that dawn had been and about the same time we passed one of the day fishing boats with it’s lines out.

I’ve had better evenings on the ship. I’m not quite sure what was happening in the kitchen, but it was an hour and 45 minutes from entering the dining room until our entrees arrived. For a number of years Windstar was part of the Holland America group. When I first sailed on the Surf in 2010 the traces of that affiliation were quite evident although they are becoming less so. A couple of things do remain. Most of the service staff is still Indonesian and Filipino, and a crew show is still a feature of the program. It is a bit unfortunate that the show has changed somewhat. A key feature of the Holland America shows (and I remember this from my Wind Surf shows) is an exposition of Filipino and Indonesian cultures. Tonight’s show was all western music and dancing and none of the native cultures. Part of that may be due to the size of the lounge on the Star which would be problematic for things like a Bamboo Dance or Angklung Orchestra but a few native songs would have been nice. The lighting was also unfortunate with a brightly lit background and dark foreground which made photos difficult. Still, it was a very nice show and a great tradition. At the end of the show all the service crew came out for a photo.

Today’s parting shot will be a quick reprise of my first visit to Morocco, a land I’m having a bit of trouble really understanding. It seems reasonably prosperous but I had trouble really understanding what the economic engine is. Agriculture, fishing, and tourism do seem to have key roles but none seemed to be really rich. I was impressed by an Islamic country with an extremely good apparent tolerance of others.

Roy

Roy,

Thanks fir sharing. Enjoying your blog and the pictures.

Karin

Thanks, Karin

Hi Roy, love your posting, keep them coming. How many people on board and how many will cross? We crossed both ways from Lisbon on the Surf and adored every second. We were lucky we always had calm seas and the crossing on the Pacific was the same calm and calmer. I am living vicariously through your post can't wait until January to be in the BVI's on the Surf and Tall Ships on the Surf in August. We had chef Darin on the Pacific , we adored him and his enthusiasm and creativity, give him our best from Susanne and Gilles. Safe and Happy sailing. Merci encore for your efforts. Susanne

 

 

My understanding is that there are somewhere in the mid 140's onboard right now, a pretty full ship. About 15 on us will be continuing to Barbados out of a total of 62 on the crossing. Once we get to the Transatlantic I expect to post about every 2 days, between the cost of the internet and the lack of activities that should be just about right.

With uncovered portholes I was on deck about 5:30 for my walk, on a nice clear morning. I've been noticing that 2 of the Wind Stars lifeboats are open style, something rarely seen these days.

I first spotted Lanzarote about 8am and it very slowly got closer. It was presumably a busy day for Lanzarote. About noon we sailed by Queen Victoria on our way to the second cruise terminal where we docked behind the AIDAcara. I haven’t seen cara before but it certainly was BIG, I would guess 3000+ passengers.

Tours started leaving just after 1PM. The really popular one featured a camel ride, the packed lounge got pretty close to empty when that left. My tour was second, with perhaps 20 people on a full sized motor coach. The dock is on the South side of Lazarote. Thus us the easternmost of the significant Canary Islands, with a population around 115,000. The Canary Islands are volcanic and Lanzarote is composed of the remains of about 100 dormant volcanos, with much of the ground still being lava. It is an arid island but now supported by 2 desalination plants.

Leaving the dock we took the highway towards the capitol, Arrecife ,but turned north without entering it and began rising on pretty narrow roads. Our first stop was an overlook near an observatory (elev. 1000 ft) with sweeping views of the sea, and on leaving headed down a narrow, steep road with many hairpin turns.

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/1stoverlook.jpg

Our second stop was also an overlook, Mirador del Rio (elev 1430 ft). This looks down on the small island of Graciosa, with a population of 100. This island is separated by a narrow channel that looks a bit like a river and apparently was once mistaken for one, resulting in the name Mirador del Rio.

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/graciosa.jpg

Our final stop was down near the water at Jameos del Agua. A very wide lava tube runs beneath the surface; open at each end, and there is lush vegetation. A series of bars and restaurants have been built into the tube, and in the middle there is a salt water lagoon. Some crabs that would normally live deep on the ocean floor were apparently pushed up to the surface by volcanic activity and remain in this lagoon, visible as little white specks. A second lagoon and a large underground auditorium are also part of the system. I’ve walked in other lava tubes but never one nearly this big.

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/jameos1.jpg

Our return to the ship (about 5PM) was via the coast with seaside resorts along the way.

We had been told not to walk to town, that it was a long distance and not suitable for walking. A shuttle was provided. On the return to the ship I saw signs pointing to what appeared to be a sidewalk and a walking time of 30 minutes. I would have been tempted to try that, but not at 5PM and took the shuttle into town. I found a café with internet and tea and did some work but not some of the things I hoped to accomplish, and was back at the ship about 6:45.

Tonight’s dinner was a barbecue on deck with a variety of meats and other dishes and served in perfect weather.

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/barbecue3.jpg

Today’s parting shot is a bit of a puzzle for me. The guide mentioned that by law all the houses on Lanzarote are white with a limited selection of trim colors, and it was supposed to help maintain the attractiveness of the area. I must say I saw for myself but it still doesn’t make sense to me. It’s hard to account for taste.

Roy

The early weather was quite pleasant and from the time I first stepped out on deck the lights of Las Palmas (as well as other cruise ships) were quite visible. That initial visibility must have been quite good as the lights were very slow in getting brighter and closer. Las Palmas was quite busy today as we were joined by 3 other cruise ships, Queen Victoria, AIDAblu, and Thompson Majesty, and several ships that were smaller than the Wind Star. Two of them really piqued my curiosity, the Corwith Cramer, a semester at sea ship out of Woods Hole, and the Southampton based Lord Nelson with a mission statement of “Enabling disabled and able bodied people to sail together”. We were the last ones into the harbor, uncharacteristically an hour behind schedule.

We docked inside from the Lord Nelson, directly across the dock from the Majesty. I have always wondered about the watertight doors on the bottom deck, and how they work. I just happened to be in the corridor as they were about to close and saw the guy come around and pull the appropriate levers for the doors to start slowly moving.

Los Palmas is the capitol and largest city on Gran Canaria, situated on the northeast corner of the island. Tourism is the main source of income due to a normally very pleasant climate, although today was not a normal day. My tour today was mostly within the city of Las Palmas but with one remote site. I’m not quite sure of the point of our first stop but it was a little park around the Santa Catalina Hotel. It did have kind of an interesting statue in front, but it was also a bit wet and I was starting to regret having left my rain jacket on the bus. Just a bit later we stopped at an overlook over the city, and then continued to the Caldera de Bandama.

About a 30-minute drive on winding narrow mountain roads the Caldera is the remains of a large volcano rising to a height of 570 meters with a 200-foot deep crater that is inhabited and farmed. The views should have been stunning, actually they were still quite nice despite the fog.

Our final stop was at the old part of the city. The Casa Colon was the home of the head of the city in the time of Christopher Columbus and is a museum depicting the history of the Canaries and exploration to the Americas. A couple of blocks walk in what became a steady rain was the Canary Museum, impressive primarily for the collection of Cro-Magnon mummies, skulls, and skeletons. On our walk back to the bus we passed the Cathedral and City Hall. We returned to the ship about 1:15.

While our precious ports have been some distance from anything of interest requiring a shuttle, Las Palmas is right in the heart of the city. It was about a 5-minute walk to a large mall where I got lunch and tried out the wifi. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very good, but I did get some things done and updated the antivirus on my netbook. On my way back on board the ship I got a look at the location of the sports platform, and how close my cabin is to the water line. A comparison in size between the Wind Star and the Thompson Majesty (hardly a mega ship in today’s world) was quite stunning.

It’s a short run from Las Palmas to Tenerife and other Canary stops and most of the ships stayed until rather late. Queen Victoria left during my dinner but the other ships were still in port when we sailed away about 9.

Leo’s final destination talk was a bit of a disappointment. It was all about disembarking the ship and I have received very little information about what happens to people continuing on. I did get the daily for Sunday and learned that continental breakfast will continue until 11AM but the full breakfast will end at 8. Leo is leaving on vacation today.

Today’s parting shot ponders the mysteries of cruise ship scheduling. Queen Victoria left Las Palmas 90 minutes ahead of us Saturday night, but the ship with a cruising speed double ours is just backing into the pier at 8am Sunday, at least 3 hours after our arrival. I really have to wonder what they were doing with all that time, and what drove their schedule.

Roy

I have really been enjoying your posts. I have wondered if a TA would be right for me. I do tend to get a little sea sick so perhaps a cabin right at the waterline would help.

Fun that you saw the Corwith Cramer! My daughter sailed on it a couple of years ago. For readers who have college aged kids, it is an ocean going research vessel under sail. Credits are granted either from your home college or through Boston University. The home base is Wood's Hole, MA and the organization is Sea Education Association.

Thanks MNgardens. Do you know how many students Corwith Cramer carries?

While in Tenerife I found a café with good internet and uploaded the menus (thru 11/15 and special menus at the bottom of the list) and Daily Programs (thru 11/16) to date. Links to the files are here:

http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com/programs/wind-star-transatlantic/

http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com/menus/wind-star-menus/

I will post the menus and programs from the crossing either once home or late in the crossing if internet time permits.

When I rose at 5 we were already fast to the dock in Tenerife, initially the only ship in port but soon followed by the MSC Magnifica and later by Queen Victoria. A small ship, the Corinthian, joined us mid-afternoon.

People started leaving the yacht about 7 and were pretty much gone when I set off for town around 8:30. There were new faces at the gangway; they turned out to be the new key people of Guest Relations Manager Montse and Destination Manager Gonzolo. I’ve been to Tenerife once before (4/12, Celebrity Solstice) but at that time had a shore tour to remote mountains so this wad really my first time in the town. It’s about a half mile to town from Wind Star’s location at the near end of the dock, a mile from the far end where Magnifica (and Solstice) docked.

There are several McDonalds in Tenerife, I stopped at one for tea and wifi. I was able to check some email accounts but could not do much else, a brief interlude on my stroll through town. A marathon was in progress in town, crossing a few of the streets took a little patience but not enough to hinder the walk. My walk took me first west (away from the harbor) to a small square, Plaza General Weyler with a fountain and statue, and then north to one of the larger parks, Parque Garcia Sanabria. I reversed direction and went south to the African Market. They featured some nice produce but I was actually far more impressed by the markets in Morocco. Reversing direction again I largely followed the waterfront back to Parque Garcia Sanabria where I had spotted a promising spot for lunch. I ended up happy with Latte Santa Cruz where 4€ got me lunch, a 60mb operating system update, and uploading of the daily programs to date. Returning to the ship I noticed that even with the Wind Star much closer to the camera than Queen Victoria, the size difference was quite striking. After coffee on the ship I took a walk to the far end of the pier returning about 3.

All aboard was 4PM and muster drill was at 4:15. It was quite clear that it was mandatory for everybody, even those who had done it a week earlier. It went quite quickly with just over 60 people to account for. We sailed about 4:45 and passed the breakwater into the open sea about 5:10 and the sails unfurled about 5:15. As we prepared for sailaway Captain Ivanov indicated he expected fairly smooth seas and favorable winds which should allow for substantial time sailing without the engines.

Gonzolo’s evening talk was fairly brief with no ports to talk about. It does appear that this crossing will have a few more activities than my previous one with movies in the lounge at least some days.

The dinner menu was essentially the same as embarkation day in Lisbon, although the soup was changed. I again had the prime rib along with carrot cake and ice cream.

My longest stretch at sea to date has been 10 days on the Wind Surf. 12 consecutive days at sea will be quite an experience. Windstar crossings are definitely built around people who love time at sea.

Roy

Thanks for the great links Roy!

Looking forward to hearing about the crossing and how your yacht handles the ocean.

Roy, Have a great crossing our longest time at sea was the 19 days from Costa Rica to Tahiti, on the Wind Spirit, last spring, glorious. The last 2 days we literally sailed without power into Tahiti. We had Gonzolo with us last year Istanbul to Athens he was great, give him our regards. We adore crossing on the Windstar ships. We never encountered rough seas. Have a great crossing, so appreciate your postings. Susanne

Fingers crossed for a smooth crossing and lots of sail power! Here in Minnesota it is freezing cold so I am enjoying dreaming of your sailing in warm waters.

The SSV Corwith Cramer carries 24 students (three watches of 8) and I think about 14 staff including the supervising scientists. The students sleep in bunks that are set into the walls. My daughter's was just over the dining table and bench. It sails New England, the Caribbean, and in the last year or so, to Europe.

There is an almost identical ship, SSV Robert C Seamans, sailing in the Pacific -Hawaii, Polynesia, and now New Zealand.

SEA has a strong desire to meet financial need, especially for low income students.

SEA has been quite active in researching the micro plastics in the ocean and coastal environments.

A sudden shower drove me into the shelter under the shelter of the flying bridge after 3 laps Monday morning. The coffee, advertised for 6AM was out by 5:30 providing a welcome relief. The rain let up about 20 minutes later and I completed my normal 15 laps, along with another mile group walk led by fitness director Flavia. With just 61 of us on board, the turnout for the first day’s trivia was just 6 people, and my team did not do well.

In the afternoon we had a movie, Some Like it Hot in the lounge, complete with popcorn. Gonzolo’s program is more active than I saw on my previous crossing but I did finish my physical book and started on my Ipad reading. I read a chapter of “Ice Blink”, the tale of Franklin’s Northwest Passage disaster, and an additional 2 chapters on Tuesday. Captain Ivanov also held his opening Cocktail Party, introducing all the officers and in his remarks indicated that we have head winds and are making full use of the engines to keep water flowing over the stabilizers while the ship still has a noticeable pitch and roll. He suggested we might arrive in Barbados on the 28th instead of the 29th, a suggestion not well received by this group of fans of sea days. The officers are quite an international group with 3 Indonesians, 2 each from Canada and Bulgaria, and one each from Portugal, Phillippines, Spain, Uruguay, South Africa, and the UK.

Despite gaining the first hour of the voyage I called it a night soon after my dinner at Candles.

At the Cocktail Party Captain Ivanov talked of rain for Tuesday, but it certainly was not the order of the day. As I started my morning walk the stars were quite prominent in the sky ahead of the ship. Sunrise was 6:52, but about a half hour earlier the horizon was a bright red-orange with a sliver of moon clearly visible above it. The rising sun found a few little openings in clouds on the horizon. The winds continue to be coming towards the bow of the ship, and for me brought a bit of a chill best experienced with a long sleeve shirt. My morning walk was 16 laps (2 miles) on my own and another mile with Flavia.

We had the same 6 people for trivia and again my team did not do well. Gonzolo is presenting the questions on the screen, and despite many of the answers being multiple choice the trivia seems to be quite obscure. His questions have themes; we had 2 rounds today with one being Greek Gods and the other being art and literature.

There is a series of afternoon workshops, something I haven’t previously seen with Windstar. Richard Campbell is presenting “Writing Your Legacy”, a framework for putting together a life story bit by bit in 1 or 2 page “themes”. The first session, essentially an orientation, had about 4 people in attendance.

Rain started to fall around 4PM, and quite a swell built up with people staggering around the ship. I am doing well but kept to my cabin after dinner.

As today’s parting shot it saddens me to read of the latest Ebola death. While we’ve made great strides in treating this disease it remains a dangerous and deadly matter.

Roy