Back in USA!

Here in JFK. Flight was delayed 2 hours from Barcelona but Admirals Club there was quite comfortable and had internet access. Trip was fabulous despite some wet days. We loved the smaller ship and friendly staff. We met some great new friends from the Cruise Critic Message Board group. We were all totally in awe of the 85 and 87 year old couple from Florida travelling on their own and never missed a beat. So Jim and I hope we have another 25 years of cruising!

Final Day in Mallorca

Today was our final day :(. The weather was perfect and the island of Majorca was even more beautiful than Menorca. It is larger and much more cosmopolitan. The first site that you see in the harbor of the city of Palma is the majestic Cathedral of Majorca. It is hard to believe that it was started in the 11th century and took 4 centuries to complete. It was Gaudi that finally finished the interior design. The cathedral has the largest Rose window in the world. After the cathedral, we took the Hop On Hop Off bus to see the rest of the city. We ended with our last visit to a sidewalk café. We still had time to enjoy the pool before finishing packing and dinner. Our bags are now packed and outside the room and we will be off the ship and on the way to the airport at 7:30AM on Sunday morning (it will be still Saturday for most of you!) We have an 11AM flight out of Barcelona to JFK and then a 3 hour layover and on to Dallas. It was a great trip and we met a lot of fantastic people. The staff on the Azamura Journey were great.

Mahon Menorca

Today we arrived in Mahon, Menorca. It was sunny and in the low 80's. Menorca is one of the five Balearic Islands off the eastern coast of Spain in the western Mediterranean. It is a small island – 30 miles by 14 miles wide but boasts one of the best natural harbors in the Mediterranean. Because our ship is one of the smaller cruise ships we were able to dock right across from the steps that lead up to the capital city of Mahon. The English controlled the island for most of the 1800’s and there is still a lot of British influence in the architecture of this beautiful island. It was pretty easy to walk around the town. We visited the local fish market and a couple of churches. We were planning on taking a bus to one of the many beaches however we found out that some of the bus routes did not have very frequent schedules and even though Menorca is beautiful, we did not want to risk missing the ship. We took a taxi to Punta Prima, one of the closer beaches. With the bad weather we had earlier in the trip, we had not had to opportunity to go to a beach. Menorca is a popular vacation spot for many visitors from UK and Germany and most of the people at the beach we went to appeared to be renting some of the summer houses nearby. Tomorrow we will be in Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands and more sunshine is predicted.

Dinner with Captain

Our dinner was with Captain Emmanouel Aposkitis, Staff Captain. He is actually second in command but sounds like he is responsible for just about everything. Pictured with the Captain is his "new" American wife from Cinncinati. Apparently they met on a cruise 4 1/2 years ago. We are in Mahon, Menorca this morning and it is sunny so we are headed to a beach. Hard to believe we have one more full day :(

Sunny Day at Sea

After a rough night of rocky seas, we were happy to see sunshine for our one and only sea day. Azamura had multiple events scheduled every hour. We enjoyed sleeping late and the first thing that we went to was a Mushroom Risotto cooking demonstration by the Executive Chef, Lisa Jones. She is a great chef from Chicago and has put together some fabulous menus. Right after that was a coffee for Cruise Critic Members with Senior Management of the ship. Cruise Critic is a website with lots of different message boards where cruisers share information about their cruising experience. Azamura has realized what a powerful site this is and really values the feedback from the members. Cruise Critic is also how we met some of the nice people who we shared tours with and had several dinners with. We enjoyed the sunshine for the rest of the day and are now getting ready for dinner with the captain. Tomorrow is Mahon, Menorca and hopefully will be a beach day.

Tomorrow is a Sea Day

After 10 straight days of ports and some tours leaving as early as 7:45, we are looking forward to a sea day tomorrow and are hoping for sunshine. Jim just wants to continue the nap that he had today on the way home from the tour. Tonight we are having dinner with about 8 other couples that we have met. For tomorrow night, we have received an invitation for dinner with the Captain.

Shopping in the Suk

The next stop in Tunis was to the Suk which was basically a bunch of shops with cheap souvenirs. It was kind of a creepy place and again we were delayed waiting for a straggler in the group. Jim did get to model a fez and you need to guess what color outfit Janet bought.