In total, we had six full days at sea, and most of the time we were traveling on rough seas (9-12 foot waves). I got pretty seasick on the first sea day after Lerwick, but I gave in and took seasickness medication the rest of the time we were at sea, and felt much better. Taking a big cruise ship across the ocean is like being on a giant floating hotel - something like 15 stories high. So, even though the waves were pretty high, the worst you got was a little spray in your face on deck 7. Often the doors to the decks were blocked due to wind, but you could still go out for a walk, which you need to do after all the food you eat!
Most of the time, the rain followed us from England, but we did have some nice sunshine on a few occasions.
Here we are leaving Dover, with the white cliffs behind us:
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
And here's Lerwick, Shetland Islands where we're on an old fort. Paul's having some fun with the cannon.
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
And here's a neat old castle in Scalloway, Shetland Islands
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
And of course, the highlight of the Shetland Islands, the Shetland Pony
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
And to honor those Vikings of the past, Paul tried to mimic one of them at a gift shop.
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
After a day at sea, we arrived at Reykjavik Iceland. It was pretty rainy out, and we didn't want to book an expensive tour through the cruise, so we decided to go horseback riding. Iceland is home to some fancy breed of horses that are unique to Iceland. They don't let other horses mix with them, and they're supposed to be very rugged. Because it was cold and rainy and we were in Iceland, we were given some special outfits to wear while riding the ponies - a full-body snowsuit of sorts and a screaming orange jacket. Hey, everyone was doing it!
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
We did have a little sunshine on the deck on the two sea days across the atlantic. Here I am enjoying the pool deck in the sunshine. They had to empty the water and tie down the deck chairs due to rough seas, but that didn't stop us from standing there long enough for a photo!
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
Next was Newfoundland, where one of Paul's favorite bands is from (Great Big Sea), and the home of the Newfoundland dog. They are such gentle, friendly dogs despite being the size of a small bear!
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
Here's Cape Spear, the easternmost point in North America. They are actually 30 minutes ahead of standard time in eastern Canada. By this point, I was armed with an Icelandic wool scarf, but it was still cold!
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
I just like this picture of me and the lighthouse.
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
And here's Paul at a little fishing village called Qidi Vidi in Newfoundland
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
Traveling from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia was really great. The weather was gorgeous and in that particular region, there a tons of whales, dolphins and porpoises. We saw a school of whales go by, and we had some dolphins/porpoises follow the ship (there was a lot of debate on which kind they were). The dolphins/porpoises love to play in the wake of the ship, and try to keep up with it. It was great seeing their little free show! See if you can spot them in this picture (taken from deck 14):
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
In Nova Scotia, we signed up for a bus tour with the cruise. It was pretty easy that way, and we got to see a few different little towns.
Here I am standing next to a whale jaw. I still remember when some marine biologist brought one in to show my elementary school. It was still fun to see this time.
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
And here's an obligatory lighthouse picture (we saw a bunch of these)
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
And finally, we arrived on American soil. Only, getting off the ship wasn't that simple. The ship next to ours had a bomb threat, so there were a ton of fire trucks, etc on the pier. It caused about a two hour delay to debarkation, which was annoying but at least it was only a threat. Nothing says "welcome to the USA" like a NYC bomb threat!
Here's my last picture on the ship, sporting my medeConnect hat. Just a little shout-out to all my former colleagues in the UK. And, appropriately, the rain followed us to shore as well (but thankfully we missed a hurricane by a couple hours).
 |
| From Transatlantic Cruise |
