Transatlantic - 6 days at sea

The six days at sea during the transatlantic is giving us time to explore the ship after the port intensive itineraries we have had.

Some things of interest have been:

Gambling: We used our free gambling coupons and then put a little more in to thank Celebrity for having a non-smoking casino. We also participated in the free pre-loaded slot machines time when they turn the machines on with some credit pre-loaded and everyone can play until all the credit it is gone. It was lots of fun! Of course we put our winnings back into the machine but it was all for entertainment anyways.

I attended one of the talks which wasn't too good but then saw one on TV that was a little better. As a result I'll be attending one today to check it out.

We get free video on demand movies in our rooms. Some of them have been very good. It is a nice feature.

I went to the free spa sampler and got a 5 min. hot stone massage sample. Not worth paying for but fun. I don't think I will be using the spa on this cruise. The spa staff is a bit snippy. However I have used the weight machines in the gym a few times and they are really nice.

We've been sampling the different dining venues. Including the spa cafe where everything is super healthy and pretty tasteless. However, they do have some fruit infusions which are quite good.

We also sampled the gluten free crepes which were excellent (pic. 1). I didn't know they could make gluten free crepes otherwise I would have tried this option earlier. We stumbled across it while wandering the ship last night and a helpful server checked to see if they could make them gluten free and they could. We also discovered that they had one desert at the coffee bar that was gluten free and no cost to us. Of course we tried that right away.

Wine tasting

I have to admit that on all the cruises I've been on there are plenty of opportunities to sample different wines and I always pass as I don't like wine. But on this one there was Sangria at one of the stops and everyone said it was like fruit juice so I had some and it wasn't bad. Then on another day there was a dry white or sweet white sampler and unfortunately I got the dry white but everyone who got the sweet raved about it so I was wondering...

Then the cruise offered wine tasting 101 for people would had no idea what they were doing. It was $10 so my mom and I signed up and joined the masses of other people who had no clue. It was alot of fun as the presentation was excellent (pic. 1). We had 6 wines to try (pic. 2) and they were all described by the expert who told us how to taste them, what we were looking for and how to make the effect better. He made a nasty face with most of them (even coughing on one) so I know they tasted just as bad to him as they did to me. Only one was palatable to me but I would never go out of my way to drink it.

Even with the wines not tasting that great at least my opinion of them was verified by an expert. And we had a great time! (pic. 3)

Highlight of the cruise - Hot Glass Show

The show I'm loving the most on this cruise is the Corning Museum of Glass Hot Glass Show. They have been having them all this time but I was limiting my movements with my broken toe so haven't been attending. I got to the first one on the first sea day and am hooked! So far I've been to 4 off and on. The reason I say off and on is that there are 3 glass blowers. Each one makes a piece during each show. The change-over time is a convenient time to pop into the buffet for lunch as they generally run over the lunch hour.

I need to bring my camera more often as the pieces have ranged from the mundane to the truly spectacular and you never know what you are going to see in advance. They have been demonstrating quite a few different techniques so each show is unique. Attached are some pics from my first show but since then I've seen some really great pieces made so will have to bring my camera again to capture the creation.

I also have to give credit to the glass blowers for being excellent presenters. They manage to keep things interesting and do a good job describing the process.

Terrific Tenerife!

I loved Tenerife! If I could I would come back here and spend a couple of weeks exploring the island. The Canary Islands concentrates on tourism and does a wonderful job with it.

The tour I took was a ship's tour to the Pyramids of Guimar. However we started with a drive up into the mountains for a scenic view (pics. 1-3).

More scenic views

We were surrounded by forests.

We had another stop to take in the views.

We then headed down the mountain to the pyramids.

Pyramids

Thor Heyerdahl created the Pyramids of Guimar attraction among some ancient local pyramids. It is a wonderful resource, covering all pyramids in the world, discussing their similarities and differences. There is also a wonderful walk around the pyramids with signs describing some of the plant life and how it fits into the island's history.

More pyramid displays

There was a nice little museum with many interesting exhibits. Since we were about to start on our transatlantic the one with the currents that were used by the explorers was of particular interest (pic. 1). Pic. 2 shows one of the panels showing the different pyramids throughout the world.