Storm in the Atlantic

[mahdnc]

5 hours ago, the penguins said:

 

Of course we/it has the occasional disagreement with Spain over the ownership. Glad to say the U.K. has a very straightforward approach - if/when the residents vote to leave the U.K. and join Spain they can. Last referendum on the issue was around 98% in favour of remaining British.

 

I agree that it is a good approach.  Could have really used that option in 1776.

[Ken the cruiser]

Another cool weather website is windy.com, which I use all the time on my iPad when we’re cruising in various parts of the world. It’s pretty cool.

[Spif Barwunkel]

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

You have not had very good luck.    Out of 6 cruises we hit it every time except once and they diverted to Madeira instead which we really enjoyed. 

 

On one trip we missed another port due to a labor action and they gave us Gibraltar instead.    I loved it as I had never been before.   

Jim - your good luck with the Azores, is it because you were cruising at a particular time of year, or are those stops spread out over the entire calendar?

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Another cool weather website is windy.com, which I use all the time on my iPad when we’re cruising in various parts of the world. It’s pretty cool.

Agree Ken-    It is one of my goto sites or app.    

[Jim_Iain]

34 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

Jim - your good luck with the Azores, is it because you were cruising at a particular time of year, or are those stops spread out over the entire calendar?

 

We have only been to the Azores as part of a TA.   Most of our TA have been Westbound so would be in the November time frame.   Of course the sea and weather have a mind of their own.   

[Ken the cruiser]

8 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Agree Ken-    It is one of my goto sites or app.    

I know. I learned about Windy from following one of your Live From threads! It came in quite handy on our Eclipse TP this past spring as well as more recently on our Caribbean Princess cruise last month from Quebec City to Ft Lauderdale. 😁
 

Edited November 11, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Jim_Iain]

59 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I know. I learned about Windy from following one of your Live From threads! It came in quite handy on our Eclipse TP this past spring as well as more recently on our Caribbean Princess cruise last month from Quebec City to Ft Lauderdale. 😁
 

Where are you off to next.     We will be taking the Solstice TP in April.    I have your Live Report bookmarked for quick reference.

[Ken the cruiser]

6 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Where are you off to next.     We will be taking the Solstice TP in April.    I have your Live Report bookmarked for quick reference.

I have to say we’re pretty excited about our cruises we have lined up over the next 6 months. We have a 10-day Galapagos cruise coming up in early December on the Flora, followed by a 30-day Antarctica B2B on the Sapphire Princess roundtrip out of Santiago starting in late January. Then, as if we didn’t get enough of a wildlife fix on those 2 cruises, we have a 21-day Alaska B3B booked on the Grand Princess starting in late April. 

[Jim_Iain]

59 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I have to say we’re pretty excited about our cruises we have lined up over the next 6 months. We have a 10-day Galapagos cruise coming up in early December on the Flora, followed by a 30-day Antarctica B2B on the Sapphire Princess roundtrip out of Santiago starting in late January. Then, as if we didn’t get enough of a wildlife fix on those 2 cruises, we have a 21-day Alaska B3B booked on the Grand Princess starting in late April. 

 

We will be doing the B2B Singapore -Sydney- New Zealand in 15 days then the TP. 

 

We have really cut back on bookings with Celebrity - we usually have and 10+ cruise booked and are down to 5 now.    We may book something for the spring but Iain has to have cataract surgery and they can't schedule yet.  So on hold waiting to work around the surgery.

 

We did book a QM2 TA in the Fall of next year to match up with a WB TA on Celebrity.

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

We will be doing the B2B Singapore -Sydney- New Zealand in 15 days then the TP. 

 

We have really cut back on bookings with Celebrity - we usually have and 10+ cruise booked and are down to 5 now.    We may book something for the spring but Iain has to have cataract surgery and they can't schedule yet.  So on hold waiting to work around the surgery.

 

We did book a QM2 TA in the Fall of next year to match up with a WB TA on Celebrity.

Hopefully, Iain is able to have his surgery soon and all goes smoothly. I had cataract surgery a couple of years ago. It took a couple of days to recover, but then all was fine AND it really makes a difference with seeing clearly again!! The fun part is you’re able to watch the entire procedure as you have to keep your eyes open while they do it. 😂
 

It’s funny, except for the upcoming Galapagos cruise, we’ve pretty much moved on from Celebrity, at least for the next few years, and made Princess our new default go-to cruise line for most of our 3-5 week itineraries, especially since we just made elite. 😁

 

HAL and NCL are our #2 and #3. But for us to book with either of them, the itinerary has to be unique. We currently have 5 booked with NCL (to include a B3B to see the pyramids and Ancient Greece, and a B2B to Northern Europe going to Longyearbyen twice), and a B2B Panama Canal cruise with HAL in early 2025.
 

We just can’t get past the 20% increased fare penalty for booking a Celebrity cruise with a refundable deposit, along with they’re cookie cutter itineraries they’re now offering. But that’s cool as we were due for a change anyway. One thing about getting older and being cruiseaholics, variety is definitely the way to go for us!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Nice site.   One that I like - 

http://www.stormsurfing.com/cgi/display.cgi?a=natla_height

 

It shows the Wave Model in the North Atlantic -   this is showing the storm near Azores for 7 days from today.   I can understand why the Captain may choose to stay clear of it - the center is 25-35 Foot waves.

 

Bookmarked that website last year when you posted it 😁

[BigAl94]

For some strange reason you appear to have vanished from Marine Traffic. Last position 6 days ago east of Italy!

[JeanieC,Aston]

In Gib last month,,,,shuttle taxi ship to town,,,bought a couple bottles of whiskey then back to ship.

Bottle of Teelings Irish for £17.

[JeanieC,Aston]

On 11/9/2023 at 10:09 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

We’re on the Connie TA , just left Cartagena and the Captain comes on the PA to announce that on November 11 we are stopping in Gibraltar and our stop in Azores on November 13 is canceled because of adverse bad weather along the path 

I guess we will heading farther south to miss it , which is ok 

Hi

In 20 minutes time at 11:00 Gib time everything will stop for 1 minute to mark Armistice Day.

Noticed she is bunkering for the long run across the Atlantic.

 

Watch the planes landing in the wind on that short runway,,done it a few times and it can be quite hairy.

Edited November 11, 2023 by JeanieC,Aston

[chemmo]

17 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Hope you enjoy Gibraltar.    It is a nice port and lots to do.   Just beware of those darn monkeys. 

Last time we were there we saw a monkey fleeing surprisingly fast with a camera and large lens being pursued by a man with the physical attributes of John Cleese…The speed of both meant we never found out if he got his camera back…

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 hours ago, BigAl94 said:

For some strange reason you appear to have vanished from Marine Traffic. Last position 6 days ago east of Italy!

Cruisemapper is showing our location

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Have been blessed to sail many TAs and various Atlantic routes and the weather from day to day hour to hour can be quite dynamic. I find it part of the adventure.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi

In 20 minutes time at 11:00 Gib time everything will stop for 1 minute to mark Armistice Day.

Noticed she is bunkering for the long run across the Atlantic.

 

Watch the planes landing in the wind on that short runway,,done it a few times and it can be quite hairy.

Haven’t seen any landings yet

getting ready for 8 day crossing 

 

[BigAl94]

44 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Cruisemapper is showing our location

Saw that, my preferred app (until now) is Marine Traffic, usually very reliable. Strange.

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, chemmo said:

Last time we were there we saw a monkey fleeing surprisingly fast with a camera and large lens being pursued by a man with the physical attributes of John Cleese…The speed of both meant we never found out if he got his camera back…

 

I was watching as a local lady was chatting with a friend with a bag of groceries in the downtown area.   Wham !  Within seconds a monkey grabbed her baget and off he went with her screaming and chasing behind.

[cruisemom42]

11 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

The fun part is you’re able to watch the entire procedure as you have to keep your eyes open while they do it. 😂

 

That's the fun part???

 

😱😱😱

[Ken the cruiser]

19 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

That's the fun part???

 

😱😱😱

Actually, it wasn't all that bad since you have no feeling in your eye. I guess I would say, after the fact, it was quite a memory to be able now to look back on, as I can still remember the details.

[Ken the cruiser]

Sorry for the "squirrel" event. Now back to the Storm in the Atlantic updates! 🙂