hayley_bopp

I'm not in a cruise at the moment but this weekend I'm in Edinburgh, Scotland and today I've been to the Royal Yacht Britannia. I tried to convince my husband that buying it would be the ideal souvenir of our weekend but living in the land-locked midlands, we'd struggle to sail her home. 
It was really interesting to see the workings and state apartments of this famous vessel. My husband and I found it particulary interesting how basic the royal accommodation is. 
The cost is £16.50 per adult and includes an audio tour which was really well laid out. There was also opportunity to have afternoon tea in the room where royal cocktail parties were over held. 
If anyone is ever on a cruise that stops in Edinburgh, I'd highly reccomend this attraction. 

Today...DAY 7...dream day of the trip again because today was Athens.  The port is very close (unlike the Italy ports) so that was nice.  The Acropolis was very crowded on the stairs but we were given lots of time to look (it did take over 20 mins to get down though because of all the people).  A few weeks ago they actually closed it because the temps were over 105.  Today was in the 90s but we brought lots of water!  






The ruins are so enormous that it helps to see people next to them for scale.  After the Acropolis we were given free time to wander the narrow streets of places.  I find that I enjoy going to the local restaurants but that we get bored pretty quick shopping.  Anyway we found a great Cafe and ate outside!  







We wandered placa and then finished up at Hadrian's arch.  It was cool to see the Acropolis through the arch!  





We were back on the ship by 3 and have been laying around in the AC pondering naps.  After last night, I'm not inclined to run around using my drink pkg lol!  No dinner plans for tonight...we will look to see what's up in the main dining room and then likely hit windjammer.  No big shows tonight so we will likely go to bed early.  Tomorrow is Mykenos... We have to meet at 645 for our excursion to ancient Delos!  Jane

So yesterday was pretty quiet with the sea day until chefs table.  Chefs table on vision is in its own separate little room off the main dining room.  It was a nice location... Windows to look outside and you could actually hear people and converse!  




We started off in the that with a fantastic drink L'aristocrat.  It's st Germaine and Champaign like I've been drinking but also had mint and ?.  

I have lots of food porn pics, but suffice to say the food and wine was very very good.  The dessert was disappointing... It wasn't really the traditional world dessert... They served it on a plate and it was good but not the same.  

By then i had had waaaay too much wine anyway to really eat it.  Overall we really enjoyed it, and the sommelier picked excellent wine pairings.  Unfortunately the pacing was really weird... The wines were poured significantly before the food came... And the chef was very very uncomfortable talking to us.  Even though it was the same menu we'd had before, it was good to see the different pairings and the subtle flavor differences.  Jane

Yes it's lovely. I lived in Leith about 10 minute walk away for years and visited a few times and always love it. It's interesting to see how the royal family holiday and I loved that they didn't really ever update the 1950s decor!!

If you could move it to the Clyde in Glasgow, I'm in!

Your sunset pictures are always worth seeing IMO ?

I'm not in a cruise at the moment but this weekend I'm in Edinburgh, Scotland and today I've been to the Royal Yacht Britannia. I tried to convince my husband that buying it would be the ideal souvenir of our weekend but living in the land-locked midlands, we'd struggle to sail her home. 
It was really interesting to see the workings and state apartments of this famous vessel. My husband and I found it particulary interesting how basic the royal accommodation is. 
The cost is £16.50 per adult and includes an audio tour which was really well laid out. There was also opportunity to have afternoon tea in the room where royal cocktail parties were over held. 
If anyone is ever on a cruise that stops in Edinburgh, I'd highly reccomend this attraction. 

I would say who cares! Eat to your heart’s content. Before you know it, you’ll be back at home dreaming of cruise food. Life is too short to worry about if others think you are eating or ordering too much. ?

Day 14, Cruise 2 Day 8 - CocoCay & Perfect Day
Early to rise, I spotted our destination in the distance.  Strong winds on our approach, I'm glad there is a pier waiting for us.

This is where I am going to hit the pause button.  I'm writing this from my balcony after we left CocoCay and I haven't started packing yet.  Tomorrow is Miami and that dreaded debark day.  
More.  To.  Come.  
Stay tuned but give me a day ot two because I have a lot of pictures to go through.
Back soon.

Windjammer for dinner.  Tonight's theme: French. 
I ran into the Hotel Director Julie in the WJ again.  If the senior officers are eating in the WJ, I must be on to something.

Tonight's Headliner:  Kenny James.  


High energy and a lot of fun.  Kenny says he will be on numerous Royal ships over the coming months.

I know, I know.  I promised no more sunset pictures.
I lied.



What a way to end a wonderful day at sea.

When I speak of a small ship that doesn't feel small on the inside it's in no small part (pun intended) to spaces like this.



The forward elevator lobby and Centrum.

Schooner Bar
One some ships the Promenade is the heart of the ship.  Here on Empress the Centrum and Schooner Bar assume that role.

With views of the sea what's not to like.


It also plays host to pub type music, piano music and various game shows and trivia type events.
What type of bees produce milk instead of honey?  Lessons learned while enjoying a drink at the Schooner Bar.

Thanks so much for your blog. I really enjoyed following along. Hope your dry dock passes quickly. 

But sort of not in dry dock either?. Looks like a fun getaway for you guys. Maybe you can buy it and @Joe01 can keep an eye on it between your visits!

I'm not in a cruise at the moment but this weekend I'm in Edinburgh, Scotland and today I've been to the Royal Yacht Britannia. I tried to convince my husband that buying it would be the ideal souvenir of our weekend but living in the land-locked midlands, we'd struggle to sail her home. 
It was really interesting to see the workings and state apartments of this famous vessel. My husband and I found it particulary interesting how basic the royal accommodation is. 
The cost is £16.50 per adult and includes an audio tour which was really well laid out. There was also opportunity to have afternoon tea in the room where royal cocktail parties were over held. 
If anyone is ever on a cruise that stops in Edinburgh, I'd highly reccomend this attraction. 

I'm not in a cruise at the moment but this weekend I'm in Edinburgh, Scotland and today I've been to the Royal Yacht Britannia. I tried to convince my husband that buying it would be the ideal souvenir of our weekend but living in the land-locked midlands, we'd struggle to sail her home. 
It was really interesting to see the workings and state apartments of this famous vessel. My husband and I found it particulary interesting how basic the royal accommodation is. 
The cost is £16.50 per adult and includes an audio tour which was really well laid out. There was also opportunity to have afternoon tea in the room where royal cocktail parties were over held. 
If anyone is ever on a cruise that stops in Edinburgh, I'd highly reccomend this attraction. 

Meal with an officer lunch in Chops today.  
Unfortunately I left my memory card in the cabin so no pictures.
Very enjoyable meal with the IT Manager on one side and the Inventory Manager on the other.  Another Chop's steak in my belly. 
Our IT manager has requested an upgrade to O3b Voom but so far it hasn't come through.  He has increased the bandwidth commit for the ship's Voom.  Currently it is 80Mbps down and 50 Mbps up.  That is shared between guests and the ship's needs.  Individual guests are capped so no single guest will ever see those kinds of speeds.
Our Inventory Manager has promised there shall be Guinness waiting for me the week after next when I return.   Really nice guy who has been with Royal for 24 years.  His last ship was Freedom.  He has a wife and two teenage daughters at home.  They do get to come on board and spend time when schedules permit.  As a 3 stripe officer he has his own cabin.  On larger ships his family can stay with him in his cabin when they visit.  His cabin on Empress only allows 2 so when his family visits they need to use a guest cabin.  He volunteered that he makes a lot more money with Royal than he ever could back in Nicaragua.  Providing a good quality education for his daughters is a priority so that why he is here, he could never do so trying to get by at home.  It's all about providing a better life for his family.  
Loading and unloading the ship has it's challenges.  On Empress there is one door that everything goes through.  He has to wait until after luggage and some other items have been moved before it's "his" turn.  On larger ships there are usually separate doors dedicated to luggage vs food vs. waste offloading and other supplies.  Bayonne will be interesting due to tidal changes.  At times all supplies and luggage have to be hoisted by crane using a basket vs. forklifts directly.  The crane slows things down a lot.  Using one door and a crane will be a challenge.  
Come to think of it in Vancouver when Ovation did its inaugural call in May they were using cranes and baskets.  That is likely why that turn around went so slowly.  It happens at some ports when the tides don't put the doors at the right level and tides change dramatically so using forklifts isn't an option.  The things you never think of.
In hurricane season we carry extra supplies on board.  We might run out of some perishables but there shall be food. 
Food is inspected by himself and members of the galley staff.  If they reject something that vendor is responsible to ensure replacement items are sent to the ship at the next port of call.  Vendors are therefore motivated to make sure that doesn't happen as it could be very costly to do so.
He likes Empress because of the smaller ship size.  On this ship the crew and guests become family because every one gets to know everyone.  On larger ships there are so many crew and guests you can go a contract and not meet everyone.  With the sense of family on board the time goes faster and before you know it the contract is over.  I have certainly experience that here on Empress where several offices and crew have recognized me and stopped to talk.  You don't get that as often on larger ships.
Forgot to mention, we changed time last night.  Back on Eastern time today.

Boleros
On this sea day I've got some time to kill so let's look at Boleros.  I can't say enough great things about Boleros on Empress.  it is the biggest and best Boleros across the whole fleet.
Located on deck 6 aft with entrances on port the port and starboard side.


This Boleros has a distinct Cuba theme.










Great bar with ample bar seating.


Nightly there is always something going on in Boleros.  From Royal game shows to live music and dancing Boleros has it all.  

Ok... May be no Scopes... Pool deck and voom... Actually voom anywhere... Is weak.  I can get online, I can check email, I can upload pics here but I can't download my next Disney emoji blitz level (arrrrghhhh) and I can't get pericope to find the internet.  
 Today's schedule is sunbake, thriller class, sunbake and then chefs table.  We will try and hit love and marriage at 1030 if I can stagger from the food and ? coma, but we will miss the theater show tonight, which is ok because it's just a Celine Dion impersonator and I think I've seen her before too.  
Just FYI... Most announcements have been in English and Spanish.  Definitely all the staff speaks English (except the poor Russian drink waitress) and it's been easy to communicate.  They are running the love and marriage in English but offering it at the same time in Spanish in the some enchanted evening lounge.  
Deck chairs at 10... Mostly taken on the sky deck but not occupied.  Of course, I still haven't seen Jeff lol....
They pushed us ahead 1 hour today to match with Greek time and will push the clock back on our way back.  That made last night tiring but will be awesome when they give it back!   
Happy weekend everyone!!!  Jane

Today's office view!! It's our 2nd sea day!

So yesterday the sea day was wonderful.  Spent the day in the solarium being annoyed by the group of 10 who kept those chairs all day even though they had maybe 3 or 4 there at a time.  Sigh... Anyway decided to do the sky deck today... Less stress!  And I think a little more breeze, though they opened the roof and that made a huge difference at 1130am.  
I did do the first thriller class.  I really like Steve Davis and I'm not really a cruise director person who notices.  But Steve is everywhere (he was the main singer at the centrum rock and roll party last night) and he just really seems friendly.  So anyway I will be back at 1 for class number 2.  Here was the party from 1 deck above... We didn't get seats on the main floor because we went to the theater show first.


We had izumi at 630.  They have Madison several options and she went with the vegetable tempura and the veggie roll, and loved both.  Jeff and I ate the firecracker spring roll,  champagne lobster and California rolls and the hot rocks with tenderloin and seafood.  It was really good.  I found the service to be just ok... It wasn't bad but he didn't really explain anything, and we had to ask for more water and drinks.  The $35 per person worked because Madison didn't eat much... Otherwise we'd have gone over.  As was I think we spent 5.  I needed Jeff to go make a pizza run at 1am lol...I was hungry... But the food really was excellent.  Forgot to take pics of the rolls (as usual) but here are other pics





After izumi, as I said, we went to the theater for the Lomax brothers...4 hands, 2 brothers, 1 piano.  It was a fun show and we enjoyed it.  I'm pretty sure I have seen them before but not sure when or which ship!  After that we raced to centrum for the rock and roll party and then called it a night... Til I sent Jeff to grab me park Cafe pizza! Jane
 

I really haven't found the crowds to be horrible.   There wasn't a line outside the uffizi... Well the line outside the duomo was bad but still overall we haven't felt like sardines yet.  Jane

Lol... Thank you!!   I'm not a shorts person so I wear all Target, lands end and now Zulily dresses!    The weather has been absolutely wonderful... Way less hot than the last couple weeks!!  Really hoping we don't broil in Athens!  
I took an art history class my sophomore year of college and it was amazing... It made me dream of seeing all of this!  You are right... He built the dinner with the bricks angled a different way that was revolutionary and could support weight differently than the old Gothic Churchs.  Ahhh...I need to go back already!  Jane

We actually had no time to eat in Rome... Except at the "group"restaurant.  I didn't even get pizza lol.  But the Florence meal will go down as the best lasagna ever!  We now are on sea days heading for Greece!  Jane

I totally agree... No impact on me at all!  We are having a great cruise!!!   Trip of a lifetime though I miss my puppies at home (not so much the other 2 kids lol). Jane