New York to Miami - Port Calls and Tips aboard Oceania Insignia

November 1st and 2nd - St Georges, Bermuda

We literally entered Bermuda with a "Bang" as a blunderbuss toting local let go with a 1-gun salute as we passed by this fort on our starboard side.  Yeow - with all the things going on these days, hearing a loud bang when you aren't expecting it is scary -- so be warned when you're entering the harbor...

Fort "Bang"

Right after getting our breath back, we looked forward and saw this very narrow passage dead ahead -- fine - so first the natives are shooting at us and then the local pilot's going to put us on the rocks...  Actually looking at the narrow passage reminded us a little of transiting the Bay of Kotor enroute to anchoring off of Kotor town in Montenegro.  Fortunately, its all a matter of perspective -- once we brought the mirrors in port and starboard, we hardly lost any paint...

Our big day in Bermuda was centered on playing golf at Port Royal Golf Course.  The very cool part about this was that we got to see much of this very beautiful country along the way.

Great Day of Golf at Port Royal

St Georges is in the top right - the eye of the fish hook and Port Royal is all the way down on the bottom right where the hook curves up to the tip.  Transportation wise, there were plenty of cabs available pierside - all cabs run strictly by meter - no negotiating or potential for monkey business - very civil actually.  The ride which took us down the east coast of the island was very picturesque, took about 45 minutes and cost us $55 US Dollars (dollars are readily accepted).  After a lovely round of golf and with sage advice from the course starter, we headed back to the ship by local bus heading first to the largest town in Bermuda - Hamilton - where we changed buses to head up the west side of the island this time and back to Insignia.  The bus ride cost us about $10 total.  One of our strongest impressions of Bermuda was how unfailingly polite they are to each other and to visitors - as each person got on or off the bus, they exchanged pleasantries with the drivers.

On the flip side, the only bus drivers that drive faster than our bus driver from Hamilton to St. Georges are the bus drivers that take you from the port in Sorrento up the hill to the main piazza -- these guys seem to defy the laws of physics that say you can't lean something as heavy as a bus so far over without tipping all the way over.

Very picturesque course

We overnighted in Bermuda and awoke to another picture postcard day with temperatures in the low 80's and a very nice cooling breeze.  We stayed aboard and on departing St Georges, kept a weather eye on the fort to our port to make sure we didn't get another surprise 1-gun salute from our piratical friend.  Off to the south we sail for Saint Barthelemy (St Barts) three days away.




November 5th - Gustavia, St Barts

Well, when you're cruising to smaller venues, the day of the week has a very important influence on what you might consider doing.  Arriving on a Sunday, we didn't even think about things perhaps being closed up, right?  I mean small island, lots of one day visitors, 60 days after Hurricane Irma hit the island... We got off the tender (you tender in here) expecting to do some wine and cheese shopping in a French influenced setting and found that just about everything was closed.  But as this sign indicates, things are back to semi-normalcy post storm - just don't come looking for lunch on a Sunday in Gustavia.

So added a tickler to self when looking at port calls...  Look at the day of the week and then do some digging into the local culture to see if your port visit might be impacted.  So with no shopping available, we took a nice 2 hour walk around town and the hills surrounding Gustavia to get a view of things.  One thing for sure, St Barts is a more prosperous island than most of her neighbors and this shows in the streets and buildings around the port.

Streets of San Francisco - really steep but no cable cars

When walking around Gustavia, we could see evidence of Irma damage, toppled walls, broken trees, and a statue laying on its back but by and large it was clear that Gustavia - located on the west side of the island fared far better than the east side of the island where entire resorts will be closed until winter 2018.  Nature is so capricious - from Gustavia, you could look north across the channel and see St Martin (Maarten) just a few short miles away and realize that St Martin took a hugely damaging hit from Irma.  With our port call in St Barts, the tempo of our cruise aboard Insignia was hitting high gear, over the next three days we were visiting Antigua, St Lucia, and Grenada as we made our way to the south.

November 6th - St John's Antigua

Following on our theme of Hurricane Irma is the tale of two islands in this tiny country - Antigua which was ready to receive us and spirit us away on a beautiful catamaran - Mystic II - for a day long tour of Antigua's beautiful western coastline and whose commercial harbor was receiving containers and cargo as if nothing had happened - and her sister island of Barbuda which when we visited was still completely evacuated as a result of damage received by Irma's Category 5 fury (185mph winds).

Our cruise aboard Mystic II was advertised as a Lobster and Champagne cruise - and they delivered on this promise.  This was our first Oceania shore excursion and we were very happy with the value and experience delivered.  What would be interesting to find out though would be if the folks on our catamaran from other cruise lines (two other ships were in town) were paying the same or different prices for the same excursion.  Be that as it may, the view of the coast line was beautiful, the grilled lobster lunch was quite good and the booze which was included in our excursion price, never stopped.  All in all we had so much fun that we're looking for similar excursions for our upcoming cruise on Oceania Marina.

The Booze Pirates - Arrgghh

November 7th - Castries, St Lucia

We have visited St Lucia several times and very much like the island's vibe.  Since we've pretty much seen everything on our various visits, we decided to stick around the port town area and do some shopping at the local farmers market and the adjacent supermarket -- our stash of hot sauce and cabin wine had been depleted by this time so it was time to stock up.  Dodging intermittent rain showers under a couple of small umbrellas we'd packed, we shopped for local artisan crafts at the farmers market and hot sauce at the supermarket - the prices for everything were very reasonable which is something we've found to be true in St Lucia.  We loved the juxtaposition of day time and night time shots of Castries - the cars moving through the hills at night looked like fire flies floating down the hill.

November 8th - St Georges, Grenada

Our arrival aboard Insignia marked my first visit to Grenada - I didn't know what to expect but very much looked forward to visiting the town and surrounding environment.  First thing I noticed is how tall the locals are - these guys must have been at least 9 feet tall - don't know if they'd be able to make it down the Sendall Tunnel without bending over...

All kidding aside, we first walked north along the docks looking at the shops and old businesses (Abattoir - A butcher shop) that used to be the life blood of daily shopping before being replaced by supermarkets.  We turned around at the bus terminal and walked several hundred yards south where we could see the Sendall Tunnel to our left and stairs leading to Ft George on our right.  Since it looked like Ft George would have a great view, we headed up the stairs.  When we reached the top, we met a very nice young lady who volunteered to give us a guided tour of the fort and its history.   As expected, the view from the top was spectacular.  Historically speaking, Ft George is where Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was murdered in 1983, providing an excuse for the US to invade Grenada six days later.

When we asked our guide where we should eat lunch, she brought us over to the Fort's inner harbor view (above) and told us how to walk down the hill to reach BB's Softback Crab - what a great recommendation!  The softback crab dish was so tasty and our table was right on the water. Great food, great view, and even better company... From BB's we took the Sendall Tunnel back to the port and Insignia.

We could definitely envision a longer stay in Grenada the next time - really enjoyed our time there.

November 10th - Aruba

Aruba's another island we've explored end to end several times so we chose to stick close to town and do a little shopping.  The port area has lots of shopping, a very nice mall, several supermarkets, and of course, a place to have a beer on the water.

November 11th - Santa Marta, Colombia

Our visit to Santa Marta was our second to Colombia -- our first visit to Cartagena had been so wonderful, we were ready to be "wowed" by Santa Marta, Colombia's oldest city.  Well, sometimes things don't turn out as you'd planned.

As is our preference, when we are visiting a port for the first time, we like to walk the port and surrounding neighborhoods to get a feel for the people, their culture, and their lifestyle.  So after getting off the ship, we headed right (south) along the sidewalk adjacent to the beach.  If we visited St Barts on the wrong day (Sunday) we were visiting Santa Marta on the right day (Saturday) the seaside was busy and lots of hustle and bustle on the streets.  The beach was nothing to write home about - lots of locals were in the water and enjoying themselves but after seeing the beautiful beaches in Aruba, Antigua, St Lucia, and Grenada, these beaches were "meh".  So no beach for us...  What about shopping?

The streets and stores were packed with vendors and customers along Carrera 5.  We went into a supermarket which I would say was similar to a Walmart - grocery, home goods, and clothing.  Unlike our visit to Cartagena where we fearlessly trekked throughout the old town, for some reason, our guard was definitely up when walking through the streets.  As it would turn out, perhaps we had that "itchy" feeling for a reason...  While we were pricing wine and cheese in the supermarket, three young people (20's) approached us and asked where we were from, offering to exchange dollars for the local currency.  Mind you, we are in a large, well lighted, and busy store...  Anyway, there is no doubt that the two guys and a girl were pick pockets - trying to get us to pull out money so they could distract us long enough to get some.  We backed right away without letting them within touching distance and put a few aisles between us immediately.  After dealing with that (and no, we aren't paranoid, we were street smartened about pick pocket scams when we lived in Naples Italy so we know when things aren't right) we decided to head generally back to the ship.  Along the way we saw some very nice historical buildings, one of which had a very long line of locals waiting to get in.  Just as we were getting ready to figure out what the buzz was, an altercation broke out between about 6-10 men in the park across from this building - with all the shouting, a crowd quickly gathered to see why everyone was so angry.  That was our cue to go the other way and head back to the ship without delay.  Did anything come of it?  Most likely not but coming on the heels of a pickpocket experience, we were getting the distinct impression that Santa Marta was not our kind of place.

So going ashore with high hopes, we returned chastened by our experience.  Perhaps this was the port where we should have taken an excursion away from the port and been wowed by the natural wonders of Colombia - live and learn is a great motto indeed...

So, with our departure from Santa Marta, we headed almost due north bound for Miami.

On our trip back, I decided to jot down a few notes and tips we'd gathered from our experience aboard Insignia which we'll share now...

Impressions and Tips 

Casino - First up is an observation about a place we never frequent but always end up passing through whenever we're on a cruise ship -- the Casino.  So why would non-gamblers care?  Because the casino is non-smoking!  You can walk through it without getting slimed which in our memory was a first - love it...

Shipboard Service - Regardless of where we were - on the pool deck, doing Happy Hour, or eating in any of the restaurants, the service was always, "High Touch" meaning that it was impeccable - the staff was there on a moment's notice - more often than not before you'd even asked because they are paying attention and seeing what needs to be done.

Properly Hydrated Workouts - In both the gym and beside the walking/running track are coolers of water bottles or sports drinks to ensure you stay hydrated - all completely free.

Learn about streaming - Something to consider when you are aboard ships is that you may miss important sports or live TV events - all depends on their on-board programming.  Aboard Insignia we didn't get ESPN so were going to miss a very exciting World Series unless we streamed in onto one of our digital devices.  Taking advantage of our free wi-fi package, we were able to see all the games live - but if you're planning a cruise during Superbowl, Olympics, World Series, World Cup, try to find out if on-board programming includes the right channels.  If not, you will usually be able to find a website that is streaming the event live on the internet.

Wi-Fi Calling - This one's on a similar line to the last tip - the internet, if you have it available, can keep you connected with your phone.  In our case, we have AT&T on our iPhones.  Our iPhones allow you to put them in "Airplane Mode" so you don't get hit with International cell roaming charges -- but while you are in Airplane mode, you can turn wi-fi on and assuming you have an internet connection, will allow you to make and receive phone calls if you enable "Wi-Fi" calling in General - Settings - Cellular - AT&T - Wi-Fi Calling "On".  This actually worked quite well and we were able to keep in touch with folks ashore to resolve a couple of thorny issues.

Plugs in your Cabin - As advertised, we had two US electrical plug outlets in our cabin; there were also two European electrical plug outlets - which were unusable for us because we hadn't brought European plug adaptors.  We'll add these for every cruise henceforth.  Generally, our issue is the amount of plug-ins needed for our devices (yes, I know, we're on vacation and supposedly digitally detoxing) but there you are - if there's a connection available, we're on-line.  Anyway, all of our digital devices are dual voltage so no transformer is required so by carrying a couple of European plug adaptors, we will double the amount of plugs available to keep things charged up.

Water and Coffee - We are used to seeing bottles of water in our cruise cabins with "dust" on them because like us, no on wants to pay $4 for a bottle of water.  But on Oceania, we had three tall bottles of water on our ice tray each time our cabin attendant refreshed our room - free of charge...

While we're on the subject of water, we actually had several choices of bubbly water (with gas) with each meal - Pellegrino, Perrier, or a third more generic sparkling water.  Having three different choices was really nice - and once again, included free of charge.

If you're a big coffee fan, you'll also appreciate that Oceania's Barrista staffed Cafe uses Illy equipment to crank out perfect Cafe Latte's and Macchiato's - once again included and something we looked forward to getting each morning and afternoon.

Bottom Line - At some point you've got to quit writing and say what you really think.  I would say at this point - 15 years since my first cruise - I am a middling experienced cruiser.  Valerie's been cruising 30 plus years and was an officer on a cruise ship for 3 years.  We've been on bigger ships and smaller ships, mass market cruise lines and those purporting to be more exclusive - we haven't been everywhere on everything - yet - but our experience aboard Oceania Insignia was the best we've had to date.  Dollar for dollar we got exceptional value for our money.

New York to Miami - Eating and Drinking aboard Oceania Insignia

Having someone else doing the shopping and cooking everyday is a key feature of cruising so the quality, tastiness, and variety of what you eat and drink aboard is an important consideration.

This was our first experience on Oceania Cruise Lines and we were very excited to try a product positioned as a "cut above" aboard Insignia.

In summary, we were pretty much blown away...  The quality and variety of food is clearly a cut above that we've experienced on our previous cruises.  Generally we cruise on medium to large sized ships (2000-5500 passengers) but have done several river cruises (~100 passengers) and a Windstar cruise (~200 passengers).  So like Goldilocks, we'd tried both sides but found the middle choice to be the perfect alternative.

So what were the things that blew us away?  Fish - first and foremost - we consistently had amazing fish of all types aboard Insignia - of particular excellence were the several banana leaf wrapped fish dishes that Valerie ordered.

Banana Leaf wrapped Sea Bass (note the little clothes pin that tied the wrap around the fish)

Fresh cooked Tuna

We also had a fresh tuna night - our Executive Chef Michael went shopping in St Lucia at the fishing boat docks and brought back just caught tuna that he and an assistant chef personally grilled to order for each customer on the Terrace Grill patio.

Exec Chef Michael cooking our tuna

The other "new to us" experiences were being able to order grilled to order lobster each night in the Terrace and being able to get freshly cooked to order pasta or risotto most lunches and dinners in Terrace.  After the first time, having a complete roast suckling pig on the Terrace buffet carving table was just "Ho Hum" - really?

Grilled Lobster from the buffet

The food was accompanied by excellent, "high touch" service - lots of waiters and assistants - and even very nice "you'd be happy to have it on your own dinner table" place settings.  We were also delighted to have several very nice discussions with our executive chef Michael (from Poland) - one discussion centered on the secrets of preparing risotto we'd seen him demonstrate during a cooking class on board.  Just really fun to be able to learn about cooking when you're not having to do it yourself...

Executive Chef Michael (right) and his Assistant in our cooking demonstration class

Another thing we found different aboard Insignia was actually looking forward to eating lunch or dinner in the buffet (Terrace) - we generally alternate between indoor and outdoor venues - if we ate lunch outdoors on the Terrace patio, we'd eat dinner in the Grand Dining Room and vice versa.

Terrace during Lunch

The view from the Terrace at night

A general observation aboard Insignia is that you can be as formal or country club casual as you'd like -- there were no designated "Formal Nights" - we tended to dress up for the Grand Dining Room or Specialty evenings and were more casual attired in Terrace.

The final general observation is that all of your dining is included in your cruise fare - Specialty and In Cabin course by course dining are not extra cost options.

Yes - safe to say we are now pretty much spoiled for anything less...  Here's a more detailed look at eating aboard Insignia.

Eating on Oceania Insignia
There are four dining areas aboard Insignia - the Terrace Cafe (Buffet), Waves (Burgers and Dogs), the Grand Dining Room, and the Polo Grill.  We'd managed to eat in each by the time we'd spent our first night docked in St George, Bermuda - nothing like eating your way across the Atlantic...  Here are our impressions and experiences.

The Grand Dining Room (the main dining room) is set up with for couples with each table a window set up for twosomes.

Window Table for 2

Elegant Table Setting in Grand Dining Room

Table in our favorite waiter Min's Section

Lunch in Grand Dining Room

I should preface discussion of the food we had in the Grand Dining Room by stating - for the record - we never ate breakfast in the Grand Dining Room.  But we did eat lunch there about every other day and found that lunch is just as delicious as dinner with varied menus of cuisine from around the world.  We quickly got used to being able to order sparkling water (Perrier, Pelegrino, and something fizzy in a big green plastic bottle) to accompany each meal (water is an included amenity for dining and in your room).  Another thing we loved was being able to get our favorite spicy sauce - Sambal Oelek - in both the Grand Dining Room and Terrace.  Our waiters loved bringing it our to us and Budi (from Bali) was even jazzing it up for us with specially chopped up peppers in the kitchen before he brought it to our table.

One of our highlights in the Grand Dining Room was their Gnocchi - Valerie has been searching, unsuccessfully, for the past 20+ years to replicate the Gnocchi she ate at an Italian Restaurant in Paris.  She had Gnocchi twice on our cruise that took her right back to Paris, which, considering the fact we lived in Italia for two years and now live in Naples, FL (Italian restaurants on every block almost...), says how good the Gnocchi was aboard Insignia.

We had several "Tastes of ..." samplers at lunch -- they were all yummy - this was Taste of Scandanavia

Standard Grand Dining Room fare - Wow!

Our favorite waiters - Budi (from Bali) and Min (from Myanmar)

Toscana experience

Toscana was our first Oceania specialty dining experience.  By the time we ate in Toscana, we'd already experienced the high quality Italian cuisine being prepared by our kitchen in the Grand Dining Room and Terrace Grill.  So we expected and experienced very good Italian food in Toscana.  Our best individual dish was a bone-in Veal chop with porcini cream sauce.  An unexpected treat was getting real buffalo mozzarella in our Caprese appetizer.  We live in a city (Naples, FL) that prides itself on Italian cuisine -- in general the taste and quality of what we got aboard Insignia was better than any of the Italian restaurants we frequent in Naples.  The experience was upscale as well with an olive oil and balsamic cart to accompany our fresh baked bread plate.

Yes - you will eat bread...

Balsamic and Olive Oil cart

Bone in Veal Chop with Porcini Mushroom Sauce - best Val's ever had

The Polo Grill experience

The Polo Grill is the "Steak and Chop House" aboard Insignia -- and of the two Specialty Restaurants on Insignia -- by far the busier.  Like Toscana, we had two included reservations for dinner in the Polo Grill and tried something different each evening.  Our best dish in Polo was Valerie's perfectly cooked Rib Eye on our second evening in Polo

A Wonderful Beet Appetizer in Polo

Perfect Rib Eye

The Terrace Cafe - A key reason for eating in Terrace is location, location, location...  Terrace on 9 deck aft occupies indoor and outdoor buffet dining which gives you the option of eating outdoors on beautiful Caribbean nights.

But it's not just the location - the food in the Terrace Cafe is the best buffet dining option we've ever experienced - better even than aboard River cruises in Europe and Asia.  On an average evening, you can get cook to order lamb chops, lobster, filet mignon, freshly prepared sushi, and cook to order pasta offered alongside the evening's special focus (e.g. Cuban night, Tuna night, Asian night...)

Service in the Terrace Cafe is just as good as the service in the Grand Dining Room and we actually saw our executive chef more frequently prowling the buffet line and talking with customers in Terrace than we saw him in the Grand Dining Room.  Clearly, buffet dining aboard Insignia is a point of pride and it shows in the product.

Nightly Sushi fare in Terrace

Cook to Order Pasta in Terrace

Waves

Waves is the other outdoor dining option aboard Insignia offering gourmet burgers, hot dogs, and fish items.  We ate in Waves before golfing in Bermuda - Waygyu burger with truffle sauce, really?  Also can't fail to mention that the adjacent Ice Cream counter offers Shakes, Malts, Cones, and Cups of ice cream made aboard this ship - these are included in your fare.

Specialty Coffee
Genuine Italian coffee ala Illy is offered in the coffee bar on 5 deck aft (just outside the Grand Dining Room entrance).  We quickly got into the habit of having "cafe" each afternoon - sometimes falling prey to the freshly baked cookies offered with your coffee.  Specialty coffee is included in your fare.

In Suite Dining

We regularly enjoyed coffee delivered by our butler Rony each morning.  We also sampled the offered canapés (included) on several afternoons.  They were actually more interesting than most we've tried on other cruise lines.  The best part of in suite dining on Insignia was being able to order off of the Specialty Dining menus (Toscano or Polo Grill) and have it served in your cabin.  I had the best individual piece of tuna I've ever eaten in our cabin that night.  So why eat in your cabin?  In our case, we had spent all day out on the golf course and didn't feel like getting cleaned up and re-dressed for dinner.  In Suite Dining, served course by course,  is a wonderful option...

Afternoon Canapes

Drink Packages

There are two different Beverage packages offered on board:
1) House Select - $39.95 per person/day and provides wine and beer by the glass at lunch and dinner meals - in restaurants or in your suite
2) Prestige Select - $59.95 per person/day and provides liquor, wine, and beer during all bar hours.

In addition to the Beverage packages, there is also a Wine by the Bottle package which starts at 7 bottles for $47.50/bottle.

We selected House Select (wine by the glass with lunch and dinner) and were pretty happy (drinkable choices but nothing really tasty) with the wines available by the glass.  From a value perspective, we feel we got good value for our money.  Our favorites from the available "by the glass" menu were a Bogle Chardonnay, a Noble Merlot, and a Woodbridge Cabernet.

In addition to these choices, we were also treated - thank you American Express - to a free wine tasting (and bottle of wine) and were delighted to find we also got to enjoy a Champagne breakfast in our cabin.  This was our only breakfast while onboard and have to say the scrambled eggs were amazing.

Happy Hour is available each evening in the ship's bars - Early - 4:30 - 6pm  and Late - 10-11pm -  with 2 for 1 drinks offered.

New York to Miami - Embarkation and Sail Away on Oceania Insignia

Next morning we shopped for take aboard cruise wine (3 bottles allowed per cabin for in-cabin consumption :)) and called Uber with our package and bags in tow. 15 minutes later, we were at Pier 88 and walking through the smoothest cruise ship embark we’ve ever experienced.  

Once on board, we went up to the 9th deck and ate lunch in the Terrace Cafe while we waited for our room to be ready. Included in our Welcome Aboard package was a letter detailing among other things, that our room would be ready for us at 1pm.  It was really nice to have the early boarding option (11am) since that meant we weren't twiddling our thumbs after having to check out of our hotel.  We went right from Check Out to Check In if you will...  And in addition to this convenience was being able to eat lunch and have a glass of wine while waiting for your room to be ready.

Our lunch in the Terrace Cafe was our first Oceania "buffet" experience - hmmm - they cook risotto to order in a buffet line?  Are those lobster tails? Yes, we were learning to readjust our buffet "grazing" expectations.

Our room was ready as promised at 1pm.  Once we were in, we were unpacked in 30 minutes flat. Walking in with your luggage eliminates the wait for your bags to arrive. 

Our cabin was my first "Suite" experience aboard any cruise ship - #8043 - officially designated as "Penthouse Suite" but in actuality the lowest of the three suite categories aboard Oceania - plenty of room and closet space but a single sink bathroom.

Live Orchid and Complimentary AMEX Champagne

View towards our balcony

Couch and Make up Table

Beautiful Bed with the best sheets ever

The skyline of New York City and Manhattan for our sail away was beautiful - a great back drop to the start of our cruise.

Manhattan Skyline

Once we were unpacked, we did a “walk about” top to bottom, end to end (fore and aft) of Insignia. Really nice size, not too big, not too small. Our cabin on 8 deck two doors down from the aft (rear) stairway was perfect.  9 deck is home to the Terrace Cafe, Waves, and the pool deck.  Meanwhile, the Grand Dining Room was three decks down aft on deck 5.  After we were unpacked and before sailaway, we met our Butler Rony for the first time.  

Butler?  What's a butler do on a cruise ship?  As Rony would explain over the next few days, he serves as our advocate and counselor on services aboard the ship to make our cruise memorable.  We'll get used to this but we don't really want to get too spoiled, do we?

We left Dock 88 about 5:30pm - pretty windy still - but the sky was mostly clear and the temperature was beautiful.  Our cabin was on the starboard side so we knew we'd be passing the Statue of Liberty as we sailed down the Hudson - the sun setting and providing a back light just as her lights came on - absolutely beautiful; night falling as we passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and out into the Atlantic enroute Bermuda.

New Jersey Shoreline

Her lights came on as we sailed by

Verrazano Narrows Bridge

Our first dinner in the Grand Dining room was excellent - even the arrangements for eating in the dining room were a new experience for us.  There aren't set dining times on Oceania Insignia - you go down to dinner when you feel like eating and they cook your food when you order it so it really is a "when you want it" experience rather than having "Anytime" dining on the regular cruise lines we travel.  When you select or are given "Anytime" rather than Early or Late seating, this usually means you wait, "every time", so we never recommend this selection when folks are traveling most cruise lines.  As we would find out over the next few days, we had to reset a few expectations with respect to dining on cruise ships.

We went to sleep on our first evening to the gentle rocking of pretty good Atlantic seas - 10-12' - but even though Insignia is a bit smaller than the ships we've cruised on over the past several years, her stabilizers do a great job of attenuating the motion.  Dreaming of sea days and golf in Bermuda...

New York to Miami aboard Oceania Insignia - Getting to NYC despite TS Phillipe

If one storm is good, why not have another?  Our annual summer RV trip across the USA was cut short by Hurricane Irma - now that we’re leaving on our fall trip, why not thrown another storm induced monkey wrench in things - Tropical Storm Philippe.  

Anticipating getting our last minute preps done, I’d awakened a bit earlier than planned this am. Thank goodness, because at the top of my in-box was a flight cancellation from Jet Blue (sent at 2:47am - who checks email at that time?). Our non-stop from Naples to New York City (JFK) was being replaced by a late night sleepover in Logan Airport - arrive at midnight and leave for NYC at 5:35am - who thinks of these things?  At least we would still have made our cruise on Monday but we would have missed dinner at Osteria al Doge and “Beautiful” on Broadway. Argh - what to do and what kind of last minute flight booking extortion were we going to have to deal with?

Delta non-stop into LaGuardia. $800 for two first class tickets. Why first class? We were traveling all carry-on our original Jet Blue jet; now we’re on a CRJ which basically has no carry-on space for roller bags.  The other factor was that we have no “status” on non-Star alliance flights so if we’d gone coach, we wouldn’t  have had room to stow our cell phone by the time we could board. 

Arrival at LGA scheduled for 4:28 after ATC delays - more stress until Valerie says, “Why don’t we eat dinner after the play?” On to Open Table, dinner res at Osteria al Doge moved from 5:30 to 9:45... Girls are so smart....

Getting Uber from Laguardia Terminal C  - after departing baggage pickup, walk across the street to the median, Passenger Pickup Point #1 is to your left.  It was about a 30 minute ride into mid-town Manhattan with fair amount of traffic in the rain. Arrived at the Best Western Premier Herald Square - our second stay at a BW Premier. 

Really love our location - a block off of Broadway - great reception and a modern, European decor in room.  Room not expansive but efficient and clean.  I am liking these BW Premiers - great locations in the middle of the action.   By the way, Keen - a steak house and rated very highly on Trip Advisor is on the same block, same side of the street as the BW Herald Square. 

BWP - Herald Square

BWP - Herald Square Room

View from our room

Walking to the Stephen Sondheim and stopping along the way for a drink.  Destination - The Knickerbocker Hotel St Cloud roof top bar. Sticker shock - $17 and $22 for a glass of wine.  But nice setting and if the weather had been better the view from the rooftop would have been awesome.  All together I think we may have walked 8 blocks from our hotel to the theater - easy walk even though it was raining and windy.

The Knickerbocker - right across the street from Sondheim

Orchestra Pit Front Row Seats

The theater was lovely - the seats were impeccable thanks to our American Express card - Row A 107 and 108 in the Orchestra - basically front row center - the orchestra conductor’s head was right in front of us.  Beautiful was amazing - the lead who played Carole King (Chilina Kennedy) brought an empathy and energy to the part that just blossomed on stage in front of us.  

Our Playbill

After the play it was time to head to Osteria al Doge - and best of all, since it was raining cats and dogs, we found a short cut right across the street from the theater through a parking garage breezeway that kept us dry most of the way.  On the far side of the garage, we made a quick right and there was Osteria al Doge.

Meyers Parking shortcut to Osteria Al Doge

Caprese - Osteria al Doge

Osteria al Doge gave us a perfect table up front where we could see folks walking by under their umbrellas and getting a feel for the rhythm of NY streets on a rainy Sunday night.  By the time we finished dinner, the rain had left up quite a bit so it was a pretty dry 8 block walk back to our hotel.

Osteria al Doge

Three Days in Reykjavik, Iceland and Four Days in Britain

From a first time visit to Copenhagen, to a first time visit to Reykjavik -- out of the frying pan and into the fire -- not...

Our flight from Copenhagen (CPH) to Reykjavik was also our first flight aboard Scandinavian Airways System (SAS), a non-stop flight of about 3.5 hours aboard a 737-800 in SAS Business Class.  The seating was a bit unusual - essentially what I would consider "Premier Economy" seating -- three seats across with a little more leg room and free food/booze.  On the CPH to Keflavik (KEF -- Reykjavik's international airport), leg we had all three seats to ourselves -- which was not the case when we flew SAS to LHR (London Heathrow) via Oslo (OSL) -- we had aisle seat mates on both segments.  I would rate our SAS experience as competent and efficient but would definitely not pay (in $ or in points) for SAS Business Class again.

Our arrival at KEF was gray and rainy - we'd rented through Auto Europe (our continuing "Go To" for European car rentals) - lots of people sitting around the terminal, most looking like they were getting ready for an expedition of some sort.  Was this a harbinger of things to come?  Yep...

The drive from KEF to our hotel - the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica - took about 35 minutes.  Our Co-Pilot Live navigation program got us there with one slight navigation fault - getting off on an exit to have us go straight back on the same road - perhaps this is an "Anti-Spy" feature or something to ensure we can shake a tail - need to check out the settings...

The hotel is conveniently located at the intersection of two major thoroughfares a bit up the hill from the traditional downtown area along the waterfront.  We greatly appreciated three things at the Hilton.  First, we had free parking for our rental (rental cars are essential to get out and see things if you want to do it on your -- vice tour operator's schedule).  Next, our room rate included free breakfast -- which was an amazing spread and considering the prices of food in Iceland in general, a real money saver if you are a dedicated breakfast person. Our seventh floor room had a beautiful view of the Reykjavik harbor and the mountains (snow capped) north and east of downtown.  Overall, we were very pleased with our hotel choice in Reykjavik.

We were even more pleased with our choice for dinner that evening at Resto.  Highly recommended on Trip Advisor, it was the best and most memorable meal we've had in years.  Focused primarily on sea food, Resto had plenty of atmosphere, great service, and wonderful food.  Price-wise, our dinner for two (starter and main each) with a decent bottle of wine was about $150 US -- not cheap but in this instance and comparatively speaking, it was a great value.  Especially when compared to trying to satisfy our craving for Mexican food the following evening at Red Chili.  Our starter at Red Chile was an order of Chips and Salsa - $23 US - followed by two burritos at $25 each (without beans and rice) and two glasses of wine that totaled about $100 US.  The only redeeming feature of our Red Chili meal was that we could walk to the restaurant from our hotel.

The other meal we had away from our hotel was Happy Hour (weekdays from 3-5pm) Fish and Chips at Icelandic Fish and Chips on the waterfront in downtown Reykjavik.  For $15 US, we each got three beautifully fried pieces of fish (Cod, Ling, and one other white fish) delicious chips, 6 different tartar sauces, and a draft beer.  We would highly recommend making your way to Icelandic Fish and Chips for their happy hour special.

Iceland is the land of unusual sights - so what did we see?  We started with the Golden Circle - a loop of roads east of Reykjavik that take you past a variety of natural wonders - waterfalls, azure lakes, snow capped mountains, spouting geysers, Icelandic horses, and lichen covered lava fields that look like moonscape.  The vistas were very beautiful, the roads were decent (including the gravel segment we traveled on for 10 miles after taking a less traveled shortcut) and for the most part, our iPhone GPS kept us headed in the right direction.  You do notice though that since you are pretty far north (almost 65 degrees north) it takes longer for your GPS to synch up and you get more frequent location hiccups due to loss of GPS satellite signal.

Highlights along the Golden Circle?  Lots and lots of Icelandic horses - in just about each of their reputed 42 distinctive colors.  The Strokkur geyser at Geysir which erupts about about 5 minutes or so was fun because it erupts so frequently - Strokkur, while not quite as large as Old Faithful, is quite close to Geysir geyser which erupts during earthquakes and reaches almost twice as high as Old Faithful.  https://guidetoiceland.is/travel-iceland/drive/strokkur  While this might have been fun to see, I wouldn't look forward to an earthquake in such an active geothermal area.

One thing that struck us during our two days of driving around Iceland was the lack of visible 4-legged critters (other than Icelandic horses) on the trackless expanse of volcanic landscape.  Maybe there is a lot going on in the cracks and crevices but we kept thinking we were going to see deer or elk like we would in Montana or Wyoming but apart from a few reindeer in eastern Iceland, there aren't any large, non-domesticated animals in Iceland.

We had our first Icelandic geothermal bath experience about midway on our Golden Circle tour at Laugarvatn Fontana Geothermal Baths.  https://www.fontana.is/  When compared to our visit at the world famous Blue Lagoon geothermal baths the following day, Laugarvatn Fontana was far more intimate and less crowded though less visually stunning than the contrast of black volcanic stone with aqua waters at Blue Lagoon.  Price-wise, there isn't any comparison either -- Blue Lagoon is about an order of magnitude more expensive.  Ultimately, the geo-thermally heated water in both spots is equally relaxing - your choice of none, one, or both will be based on personal preference, how long you have in Iceland, and whether or not the water is a destination - Blue Lagoon - or a stop along the way on a larger route - Laugarvatn on the Golden Circle.

On our Blue Lagoon sight seeing day, we headed out first to take a look at one of Iceland's nicest golf courses, the Keilir Country Club.  http://english.keilir.is/ Just a few minutes south from downtown Reykjavik, the course sits all by itself on a peninsula that juts out into a harbor.  Looking like a prototypical "links" style course, we wish we'd had the time (and weather) to play rather than just visit the course.  When we entered the club house, there was a lively group of men doing what golfers do - talking about their golf swing and what they'd done on their last round - or at least that is what it seemed like they were talking about since we don't speak a word of Icelandic.  What they weren't doing though was playing golf or waiting to tee off - did I mention the temperature was about 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit), winds in the mid-40mph range, and driving rain making for a wind chill factor of about 27 degrees F - which stands for FuhFuhFuhFuhfreezing - one hardy (foolhardy) soul was actually out on the course playing in a cart with canvas sides fully down (and probably a heater going full blast inside too).  Our next stop on the Reykjanes Peninsula after Keiler was the aforementioned Blue Lagoon. http://www.bluelagoon.com/

Located in a moonscape of black volcanic rock and aqua tinted geothermal pools, the location is visually stunning.  Even on a day with monumentally foul weather, there were tons of people waiting their turn to get in.  The Blue Lagoon is so popular that they recommend reserving your place ahead of time - and if you are price sensitive, plan on visiting in the off hours since their pricing is based on time slot demand.  If you want to visit between 11am and 2pm, you are going to pay a lot more than if you show up at opening (8am) or around closing (10pm) when it will not only be cheaper but a lot less crowded.  There are also several options ranging from your basic entry fee (bring your own towel/robe but you do get your Mel Gibson Braveheart mud mask) to a VIP option - with a (non time adjusted) price range of $54 to $530 USD.  One thing we found in common between Blue Lagoon and Laugarvatn Fontana was the availability of very nice Icelandic draft beer on tap at each venue.  After Blue Lagoon, we headed farther south and east along the main road on the Reykjanes Peninsula ultimately arriving at the windswept shores of lake Kliefarvatn https://www.visitreykjanes.is/en/travel/places/nature/kleifarvatn by way of a stop at Krysuvik-Seltun geothermal area. https://iceland.nordicvisitor.com/travel-guide/attractions/reykjanes-peninsula/krysuvik/

On the next morn, we headed back out to KEF, turning in our rental car before catching the Avis shuttle to the terminal.  Conveniently, there is a gas station located at the airport to refill your rental before turning it in.  Fuel prices are more than we're used to but not out of line with many other European countries - filling our car's tank after driving around 500km was about $70 US.  Another item of note had to do with our entry and exit from Iceland...

**** Travel Alert **** - when you cross the Atlantic on a cruise ship (and this has happened to us twice now - maybe we'll remember next time) and disembark, they don't stamp your passport - in fact, there are no Immigration formalities what so ever (sample size of two - in Civitavecchia, Italy and Copenhagen, Denmark) and thus you will end up explaining to Immigration officials at an airport in some country how you got to where you're explaining yourself, without any official records of your journey to get there...  Last time, this was in Germany -- this time, after flying from Iceland on what amounts to a local flight to Oslo (no immigration formalities on departure and thus no passport stamp) we were explaining ourselves in Oslo.  Fortunately, the immigration folks were understanding but think about it...  We arrived in Denmark, flew to Iceland, and are transiting to UK in Norway before anyone acknowledges -- officially -- that two American citizens are in Europe.  Moral of the story - when you get off a Trans-Atlantic cruise, make a point of finding someone in the terminal and getting your passport stamped.  Why the cruise ships don't bother to mention this is beyond me...

Other than our Immigration issue, the flights from Iceland to Norway to UK were smooth but unremarkable.  Best of all, there was no line at London Heathrow Passport control which has hosted several of my longest waits in the past - although I think San Jose, Costa Rica may have wrested the title for longest wait ever from LHR on our arrival there this past December.  So with no waiting in Immigration, and towing our carry-on luggage, we were out of the terminal within 15 minutes of arriving at our gate and being whisked away to the Cotswolds for a country weekend by my brother Paul.

Paul and our sister in law Selina had planned a fully packed weekend in the countryside north and west of London.  Staying at The Wild Rabbit -- a beautiful and quaint countryside inn with a newly awarded Michelin Star -- was a real treat. https://thewildrabbit.co.uk/  We stayed in the Hedge Hog room located above the Inn's kitchen/dining room area.  We had breakfast at the Inn each morning and dinner on two of our three Cotswold nights.  The evening menu is English countryside - beef, fowl, and fish - including use of a "Green Egg" for cooking your meat.

Our first day in the Cotswolds was reserved for Daylesford Cooking School http://daylesford.com/cookeryschool/our-courses/ with Jason as our head chef ably assisted by James as sous chef.  Unlike a couple of other cooking classes we've attended, this was a 5 course, hands-on class, given by a real restaurant experienced chef who ensured we learned the techniques chefs use to handle knives, accomplish food preparation, and plating presentation.  Everything Jason or James walked us through was clearly presented and with none of the "attitude" that sometimes accompanies cooking classes.  These are folks who are clearly interested in your enjoying the process of learning what they are teaching.  The food we prepared was simple in concept and really tasty -- something we're sure we'll be able to replicate here at home.  Along with the cooking techniques we learned, we also learned a lot about the Slow Food movement and responsible agriculture.  Daylesford Farms is centered on sustainable organic farming and our menu was organized on the concept of using seasonal herbs, vegetables, fruits, and dairy.  Knowing the pedigree of your food is perhaps more important to the final product than actual preparation of the food.  All in all, The Cookery School at Daylesford was simply excellent -- something you should absolutely consider doing if you spend time in the Cotswolds.

The next morning, we set out for Oxford and a private two hour walking tour of the Oxford campus hosted by Elizabeth from "Walking Tours of Oxford" http://www.walkingtoursofoxford.com/.  Over the course of our tour, we found out how differently Oxford is run/organized from just about any other university of the world - truly fascinating - and luckily enough, we got to see a number of graduates queueing up to receive their degrees on a beautiful sunny Saturday morning.  From the hallowed and ancient gates of Oxford, we traveled next to the nearby Blenheim Palace http://www.blenheimpalace.com/ a relative youngster (1820's vs 1100's) by comparison.  Still maintained as the country home of the Duke and Duchess of Marlboro, we were accorded a private "bespoke" tour of the magnificent residence and grounds.  The combination of Oxford and Blenheim Palace as a morning/afternoon was perfect - enough time to see both places with relatively short drives between each attraction.

Ultimately though, our vacation was coming to an end.  One last night spent at Paul and Selina's home in London and dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant, Il Trillo, within walking distance of their home http://www.iltrillo.net/en/ristorante-2/   We were joined for dinner by Bob and Jules Thurston, long time friends, who live in London and are preparing for a summer move to San Diego, California.  An evening across the dinner table with family and friends you don't get to see often enough is the perfect way to end your vacation because it motivates you to begin planning your next get together.

A smooth Uber ride to the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Wing gave us time to eat a remarkable breakfast in the VA Club House before our 11:35am departure.  Our flight, VS 005, was aboard a relatively new 787-8 Dreamliner.  Beautiful aircraft and love the Upper Class seating arrangements but the aisles and seats are way narrower than equivalent aisles/seats in Lufthansa or United Business Class on a 747.  Yes, I know that 747's are going the way of the dinosaurs, but I don't think their replacements, conceptualized and built during the era of squeezing every ounce of profit out of the flying experience, can hold a candle to an aircraft envisioned and built when flying was less of a bus ride than it is these days.  I'm generally not about nostalgia and am all in for new techo-gizmo things - but this is one instance where I don't think we're making progress towards improving the customer's experience.

Arrival at MIA 9 hours or so later was uneventful.  I am still trying to figure out our (USA) new arrival procedures...  We've been Global Entry folks for about 4 years now - but with the new Mobile Passport App on our phone, we're left confused about what part the app plays (if anything) when you are Global Entry travelers.  For sure, the various signs pointing this way and that if you are "This and That" are not straight forward and left a lot of foreign visitors dazed and confused.  Regardless of which line you are in, plan on a long walk (> 1/2 mile) from plane to curb or the MIA rental car center (which requires an additional people mover trip) -- all in all, with carry-on only, Global Entry Passport control short cuts, and being among the first off our plane, it still took us an hour from door opening on the airplane to getting into our Hertz rental car for the two hour ride home to Naples.

In summary, we were gone from home for 26 days, visited 7 countries (transited 8), sailed 5030 nautical miles, flew 6615 nautical miles, and drove another 650 miles or so.  We covered a lot of "ground" along the way and learned once again, why we love to travel and see new places and people; at the same time though, why we love returning to our little Treviso Bay home here in Naples.