artnbarb
1000+ Posts
As a young girl I grabbed a box of tissues and sat glued to the TV whenever "An Affair To Remember" was on. Years later I dreamed of flying on the Concorde to England then cruising back aboard the QE2. The idea of getting to England really, really fast, then slowly returning to the states was very appealing! Alas, I never got to fulfill that dream.
Years later, when the Concorde was no longer a possibility, I still wanted to take a transatlantic cruise. Somehow fate and good timing finally let me fulfill my dream while we were living in Italy. We found a transatlantic "repositioning' cruise going from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale in late November. We had a friend to visit in Ft Lauderdale, and SWA flew directly to Louisville from there. And the price was $699 per person for the 2 week long cruise!
The first week of the cruise was a blast - a different port every day. We didn't even go ashore at our first port, Livorno, because that was the access port to Florence. We love Florence but it just didn't seem worth the travel time or expense for the limited time there, so we spent the day exploring the ship. Other stops along the way were Villefranche (Nice) Cadiz and Barcelona, Spain, and Madeira. On another cruise we stopped at Cartagena, and Funchal instead of Cadiz and Madeira.
Since I'm not much for lounging around the pool, with or without a book, the second week of the cruise wasn't near as much fun for me. Luckily, we were on Celebrity Cruise Lines and there was a glassblowing show held twice a day every day we were at sea. We were there for every show, completely mesmerized by the transformation of the molten glass into a variety of shapes, using a variety of methods.
We took these westbound cruises because with Art working at Churchill Downs there was no way I was going to be able to fulfill my dream of cruising to Europe, arriving without jet lag. But when we moved to Florida this summer Art decided to give up working at the track and the stage was set. I thought we'd have to cruise out of Ft Lauderdale or Miami, but then discovered that Royal Caribbean sails to Europe right out of Tampa!
We'd been planning a visit to the Dordogne region of France but had no idea how the logistics would work. We assumed we'd combine it with a trip to Italy, but house-hunting here in Tampa has been a full-time job and I really hadn't thought much about it. Art had looked at some cruises, but I didn't want to cruise just to be cruising; there had to be a trip within Europe at the end before I'd even consider it.
European destinations from Florida included Rome, Barcelona and Southhapmton (with a stop at LeHarve), so I began thinking that perhaps we could cruise to one of those ports before heading to the Dordogne. At first I thought we'd leave the ship one stop before its end, at LeHarve, and drive 7 or so hours south. As I studied the map it seemed like Barcelona might be just a little closer, but it would also take me past Carcassonne, a city that's long been on my bucket list, so that's what we're doing.
The cruise lines offer their own return flights, but I'm not sure they would have let us stay for an additional 2 weeks before flying home, so we didn't explore that option. I do know that for early May, a return flight from Barcelona to Tampa (via Atlanta) was just under $500 per person, which I thought was very reasonable.
We decided to use FF miles to get back to Tampa. American Airlines offers trips for 20K miles each way, but the taxes vary incredibly depending on where you fly through. Flying out of Bordeaux seemed like the logical choice, and the flight times were good, but unfortunately the flight went through London and the taxes were $242 per person. By returning to Barcelona and flying out of there the taxes are $49 each, and we decided to suck up one long day of flying, and won't arrive home until 11:00 p.m. We could have opted to fly through Charlotte and spend the night there before continuing home the next day.
If we weren't in the middle of house-hunting, with no idea when we'll find something, I'd seriously consider flying to Rome in November, helping our friends pick olives, then cruising back to Tampa with as much olive oil as I could carry. Maybe next year!
Years later, when the Concorde was no longer a possibility, I still wanted to take a transatlantic cruise. Somehow fate and good timing finally let me fulfill my dream while we were living in Italy. We found a transatlantic "repositioning' cruise going from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale in late November. We had a friend to visit in Ft Lauderdale, and SWA flew directly to Louisville from there. And the price was $699 per person for the 2 week long cruise!
The first week of the cruise was a blast - a different port every day. We didn't even go ashore at our first port, Livorno, because that was the access port to Florence. We love Florence but it just didn't seem worth the travel time or expense for the limited time there, so we spent the day exploring the ship. Other stops along the way were Villefranche (Nice) Cadiz and Barcelona, Spain, and Madeira. On another cruise we stopped at Cartagena, and Funchal instead of Cadiz and Madeira.
Since I'm not much for lounging around the pool, with or without a book, the second week of the cruise wasn't near as much fun for me. Luckily, we were on Celebrity Cruise Lines and there was a glassblowing show held twice a day every day we were at sea. We were there for every show, completely mesmerized by the transformation of the molten glass into a variety of shapes, using a variety of methods.
We took these westbound cruises because with Art working at Churchill Downs there was no way I was going to be able to fulfill my dream of cruising to Europe, arriving without jet lag. But when we moved to Florida this summer Art decided to give up working at the track and the stage was set. I thought we'd have to cruise out of Ft Lauderdale or Miami, but then discovered that Royal Caribbean sails to Europe right out of Tampa!
We'd been planning a visit to the Dordogne region of France but had no idea how the logistics would work. We assumed we'd combine it with a trip to Italy, but house-hunting here in Tampa has been a full-time job and I really hadn't thought much about it. Art had looked at some cruises, but I didn't want to cruise just to be cruising; there had to be a trip within Europe at the end before I'd even consider it.
European destinations from Florida included Rome, Barcelona and Southhapmton (with a stop at LeHarve), so I began thinking that perhaps we could cruise to one of those ports before heading to the Dordogne. At first I thought we'd leave the ship one stop before its end, at LeHarve, and drive 7 or so hours south. As I studied the map it seemed like Barcelona might be just a little closer, but it would also take me past Carcassonne, a city that's long been on my bucket list, so that's what we're doing.
The cruise lines offer their own return flights, but I'm not sure they would have let us stay for an additional 2 weeks before flying home, so we didn't explore that option. I do know that for early May, a return flight from Barcelona to Tampa (via Atlanta) was just under $500 per person, which I thought was very reasonable.
We decided to use FF miles to get back to Tampa. American Airlines offers trips for 20K miles each way, but the taxes vary incredibly depending on where you fly through. Flying out of Bordeaux seemed like the logical choice, and the flight times were good, but unfortunately the flight went through London and the taxes were $242 per person. By returning to Barcelona and flying out of there the taxes are $49 each, and we decided to suck up one long day of flying, and won't arrive home until 11:00 p.m. We could have opted to fly through Charlotte and spend the night there before continuing home the next day.
If we weren't in the middle of house-hunting, with no idea when we'll find something, I'd seriously consider flying to Rome in November, helping our friends pick olives, then cruising back to Tampa with as much olive oil as I could carry. Maybe next year!
