Spanish Trip Report, part 1

Author Message   E.L.Fink Intermediate Member Username: Yahootie Post Number: 135 Registered: 08-2009 Posted From: 75.247.119.250 Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 - 02:43 pm:    Truman, Macdonald is the owner of the condos. They have some 4 complexs located between Malaga and Gibraltar. AFVC - http://www.afvclub.com/ Also RedWeek seems to be their agent - www.redweek.com We didn't join the RedWeek group, nor their website. We unloaded our bags at the condo, when the boat stopped in Malaga. Then we flew back from Barcelona to Malaga. elf   Truman Gillette New member Username: Sierratee Post Number: 3 Registered: 12-2004 Posted From: 216.227.19.244 Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 - 12:50 pm:    Thanks John & Lynn for the report. I have a couple of questions 1. What is the AFVC that arranged the condo rental and, 2: Did you get off the cruise in Malaga and return to the condo after the cruise? Thanks again Truman   E.L.Fink Intermediate Member Username: Yahootie Post Number: 116 Registered: 08-2009 Posted From: 75.223.188.14 Posted on Thursday, June 03, 2010 - 12:35 pm:    The ship was great, clean, organized, and fast. They admitted using a little too much chlorine in the water, loosened everybody up. There was something in the air. My eyes burned and stayed red for the entire 2-weeks. I suspected something was used in the ventilation system to cut down on airborn disease. Otherwise, nobody was ill. elf   Edwin B McConville Senior Member Username: Perkyva1 Post Number: 995 Registered: 06-2003 Posted From: 96.225.147.4 Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2010 - 03:24 pm:    John & E.L.: We took our 2nd Royal Carib cruise 6 May, the 1st was 7 yrs ago. I think the line has gone down: I called maintenance 4 times within the 1st 3 days: no water in the toilet nor sink, closet door falling of its hinges, light fixture fell from its mooring to the floor, shower faucet leaked; & this was in a junior suite. I made my reservation thru USAA's travel section & paid in advance all tips; that was included in the final price, all who were to be tipped were deserving. Have taken 9 cruises & only were given bridge tours on 2, a Princess cruise in 2000, & a Seabourn 2 yrs ago. Never an engineering tour even tho I was a chief engineer on a Navy ship. Not sure I'd take another Royal Carib cruise again.   John R Garrison Senior Member Username: Majorg Post Number: 2666 Registered: 02-2006 Posted From: 208.81.157.86 Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2010 - 11:01 pm:    John/Lynne: Great report! Sorry I only got to ride with you from the hotel to the airport...I would have much rather been with you the whole trip! Only addition I would make is that it is possible (because it's how Becky handled it) to have the tips added to your room bill (and, in effect, have the Purser distribute the tips). Hope to see meet you again on the circuit (I'll try to remember my passport next time!). Happy Travels, John   E.L.Fink Intermediate Member Username: Yahootie Post Number: 112 Registered: 08-2009 Posted From: 75.247.139.69 Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2010 - 07:21 pm:    Galveston => Barcelona – Part 1 => Malaga => Rota => McGuire => Charleston => Houston To make a long story short: - Apr 18 – May 2 – Curies from Galveston to Barcelona aboard the Voyager, Royal Caribbean. - Flew from Barcelona to Malaga, 5-3-2010 - Stayed in Malaga, 5-8-2010 - Moved to Rota Naval Base, 5-8 to 5-12 - Stayed on the beach, 5-12 to 5-15 - Back to Rota, 5-16 to 5-18 - Flew back to McGuire, 5-18 - Spent night in Pax terminal, 5-19 - McGuire, 5-20 to 5-21 - Charleston, 5-21 - Kings Bay, 5-22 - Drove home, 5-22 to 5-24 The wife & I took a cruise from Galveston to Barcelona, Spain. On April 18, a neighbor drove us down to Galveston. On the way, we picked up Becky & John Garrison, delivering John to Houston’s Hobby Airport for a flight back to Washington state. He forgot his passport. Becky joined us on the cruise. The ship was the Voyager of the Sea of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. The cruise was a 14-day cruise repositioning transatlantic from Galveston to Barcelona, Spain. We hitched up with several Spat-couples – Phyllis and Jim of Dallas, Lois & Jack, Eileen & Marion, Wayne & Flo of Clear Lake and Becky, meeting them for breakfast several mornings. Turned out Becky, Phyllis and Jim were on the same trivial-pursuit team. We didn’t attend the welcome aboard party for veterans put on by the ship, so there were others we never meet. Aboard were other couples, Pat & Jim of our church and Sylvia & Jerry from the wife’s school. On the way home from Rota waiting for a C-5 flight, we ran across another couple, Wayne & Dee from Oklahoma City, who knew nothing of the Spat gatherings. It turned out Jim of Phyllis & Jim and I were stationed on the aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga. At the time I was just a plane pushing airman on the flight deck, about 8-years before Jim did the twilight tour off VietNam. Small world! The cruise was smooth, no bad weather all the way across. We did sail through the same rig-field about 24-hours before the BP semi-submersible blew up. At the time, I thought we were way too close to the drilling rigs, but what do I know? I only worked out there for 15 years. Also, we were over flown by several training flights out of NAS Pensacola. About halfway between Pensacola and Key West, a Coast Guard chopper was dispatched to pick up a lady and evacuated to the nearest hospital. Every training flights in the area showed up to take a look, much like a crowd at an auto accident. The problem was not announced. Our first port-of-call was Nassau, where we toured the Pirates of the Caribbean Museum, got some great still & streaming photos. We walked through town and purchased trinkets. While at sea, we ate dinner at the late seating and then watched the late show. Six days later, we arrived at our next port-of-call, Ponta Delgada, Azores. We took a tour of the crater lake. It was socked in with fog. One couldn’t see 10-feet off the road. The tour guide played a video tape on the way back to the ship. We learned Lajes AFB is not on the same island as the port & airport. Malaga, our third port-of-call, we disembarked the ship, first off the gangway to take our luggage to the condo we had rented through AFVC. We got a 2-bedroom unit for 7-days for a price of $500, off season. While we were gallivanting about town in our rental car, trying to get the lay of the land, something happened at the ship. Don’t really know what went wrong, but somehow the hand rails of the pier’s gangway (one we were first to disembarked on) were jammed through the bottom of one of the lifeboats, rendering its purpose useless. The handrails cut an 18 inch gash, 6 inches deep into the hull of the lifeboat. We did note the gangway’s operator was having problems with the control panel. We also noted when we returned, as well as in the next port-of-calls the mooring lines were tight, to the point of forcing a list to the pier side of the vessel. We assume, first the control panel went wild, or second the tide went out allowing the vessel to move against it’ mooring. We never learned the real reason. The ship’s XO (a full 4-stripper, female captain) meet all guests returning from the beach, explaining we had to embark on the ship’s gangway at pier level, rather than on the automated pier’s gangways located on the upper levels. The skipper was ticked! He made several announcements that evening concerning the re-assignment of the personnel, using that lifeboat. The mooring lines remained tight for each port-of-call, thereafter. Our next port-of-call was Cartagena, Spain, where Hannibal launched his invasion (over the Alps) of Rome. Cartagena is currently the home of the Spanish Navy. We went ashore, noting a team of ship’s sailors working on the hull of the damaged lifeboat. Cartagena was celebrating May Day; nothing was open, except for a few shops and restraints along fleet landing. We ate tapas & drank sherry/beer with friends, a Hispanic couple from Pearland, TX. They explained some of the some of differences between Spanish and Tex-Mex. It was interesting to note, the ‘scum-bags’ hanging around fleet landing, flashing their green-blue-red-orange tattoos on white skin, were ship’s crew. My guess, part of the ‘black-gang.’ Returning, the lifeboat was as good as new. The only appearance of damage was fresh paint. Seems the captain has more than one problem, since he introduced at Captain’s Call, one evening the former skipper of the ship, whom he trained under. At last, Barcelona! We arrived before sun-up, tied up to the pier (tight, I might add). We waited until last to disembark. We waited in line for 1 ¼ hours for a cab. We were in one line, the cabs in another. The police directed the loading of the cabs and it took that long. We went directly to hotel, Best Western Alpha at the airport for about 85 Euros. They offered free transportation to the airport, so we road over to get our airline tickets back to Malaga for $46 each. We purchased our ticket one line in the US. One can purchase a ticket, but without a seat assignment, there is no guarantee of making the flight. We didn’t spend any time in Barcelona. The next morning, off to Malaga, again. A couple of points before we get off the subject of the Voyager & crossing the Atlantic: Everybody received a Transatlantic Crossing certificate, much like the ones the Navy hands out for crossing the international date line, artic circle, anartic circle, etc. About half of the vessel’s inside cabins/staterooms have windows over looking Broadway. The boat has a skating rink. They put on about 6 shows while crossing the Atlantic. Tickets are free, they are used to limit the attendance in each show. Tips are not collected by the purser and passed on. One must tip individuals at the end of the cruise or if eating in free-style dinning at the end of each meal. It was not made clear about tipping. We did a bridge tour. It was interesting the number of guidance, fire, GPS, ballace control, and damage control systems available. Having been an engineering duty officer with the Navy and building propulsion & control systems for the offshore drilling rigs, there are 10 -15 control knobs on the engine room control panel for each control knob on the bridge. They would not let anyone into the engineering spaces. OK, guys! I know there were about five-SPAT coupled aboard that boat. Lets hear your version of the crurse? John & Lynn Elf