Copenhagen to Boston 2026

You've probably heard the expression "taking a slow boat to China".     That's what today felt like.     We cruised in very calm waters all day just off the coast of Canada and the USA.     Actually this whole cruise has been smooth with at least one day traveling at what is termed "hull speed" or the fastest the ship will go which is about 22-24 mph.     The weather was clear and warm.     Many people reported seeing whales and dolphins, but I never saw any this day. After our breakfast, we started our day  with an enrichment talk    about chocolate by Kez James.    It was pretty good and really improved when she passed out mini chocolate bars! After that Angela went to the cooking demonstration and our waiter, Albert, from the Japanese restaurant the other night delivered an impressive song as entertainment.    I went to the Lido and worked on my blog before engaging in a great conversation with some ...

  Today is a pretty special day for me.  It's my 81st birthday and a number of things have been pre-planned for this day.   We didn't set an alarm but felt the thrusters bring the Sapphire Princess into the dock.  A short time later the clearance message was given over the PA system. While Angela showered, I changed our return flight to an earlier flight. This change was free as our original flight time of 6pm was cancelled and we were moved to an 8pm flight. So I selected a 3:30pm departure from Boston instead of our newly booked 8pm departure.  We also have a late departure scheduled from the ship so this is much better for us.  Later in the day I was also able to order meals for the flight. We ate our normal breakfast and scanned off of the ship.  We were here last on August 5, 2022 on the Nieuw Statendam, but we never got to see the town.  Angela booked a lunch Princess shore excursion, Mussels & Music which started at 11:15am,  so we...

Sunday morning came a bit early as I had stayed awake until 1:30am listening to the Grand Old Opry tribute to Dolly Parton.  But I was ready to face the day especially since I would be preaching at and leading the interdenominational service in the Explorer's lounge at 8am.   The service went well and was very well attended with probably nearly 100 people there.  Princess provided a brochure with words to hymns and an Old Testament scripture included.  I think I might have touched a few nerves as I had one lady approach me after the service with a relationship problem she was having.  We had the chance to chat in the hallway after the service and I shared a bit of help with her. The highlight of the day was the opportunity to take a tour of the bridge which was offered by the cruise director.  A group of about 20 of us were escorted to the bridge on deck 14 and basically given free rein to walk around and ask questions with only two rules: "Don't touch...

Day 4 at sea started like all of the other days: no alarm and we were awake shortly after 7. It had rained overnight and the bridge camera was Ladies, look at your husband first question right now what did I say?qobscured by the rain drops on it. Today's schedule is a bit more full than the previous three days.  There are 4 enrichment type lectures during the day starting at 9am with Kez' talk on Halifax.  It was actually pretty good and it was followed by Dr. Colon in the Explorer's lounge who did talk number 2 on the development of surgery techniques. Once again it was fascinating.  For me I took a long lunch break while Angela had a Pop Choir practice.   After lunch there was a presentation in the theater about the bridge and the ship by a 2nd Officer and a Cadet.  That presentation went long and was followed immediately by Dr. Colon giving his first presentation on ancient plagues which was fascinating in how it aided in dynasty changes due to the weakening ...

  It was really nice to sleep in with no alarm.  Shortly after we had awakened, the Captain came on the PA system with an emergency announcement that blood donors were needed for a passenger that needed a transfusion.  Volunteers with specified blood types were encouraged to report to the Crown Grill with their blood donors cards.  We heard nothing further the rest of the day.  For the patient, it's got to be a bit scary to be half way between Europe and Canada and needing the transfusion.  There's literally no external help available within hundreds if not thousands of miles.  For these crossings we typically do not see another ship until we are closer to the end of the crossing.  It's just the big blue ocean with its waves, wind, and critters that we see. After breakfast we attended the Life at Sea interview with 1/2 of the cast of singers and dancers along with Allwyn our cruise director.  We've attended these type interviews and there was...

Once again it was nice to once again wake up a bit later without an alarm going off.  The nights have been restful without virtually any motion from the ocean. Our first event was at. 10am and was a Princess Insider talk on Sydney & Halifax. I didn't find it especially helpful as Angela (not my Angela) ended up spending too much time selling Princess excursions and too little time on real port information.  Since we've been to these ports, I have more than a trivial amount of knowledge of them. The Princess Patter (daily printed newsletter) is filled with all sorts of activities most of which are somehow related to selling some item or service. There are also many trivia events and various sporting activities.   At 2pm there were competing enrichment type events so we split up and I attended Dr. Angel Colon's "Translational Science" lecture.  He's a professor emeritus at Georgetown University and adjunct professor at Rutgers.  He lectures very well and tod...