Chapter 26 - to sea again with a difference
- one more cottage
Our Travel Agent, Barbara, who arranged early cruises and many of the airline bookings for trips to France, had not given up on seeing the Dickasons go cruising again, even though we discouraged her after the last Princess cruise.
In 2003, she recommended that we try Celebrity. She assured us that her other clients with similar interests had given high praise to the smaller ships, the food and service on this cruise line, and she had taken groups on Celebrity cruises and agreed with their judgement. Somewhat reluctantly the Dickasons allowed her to make reservations for us for a short cruise on a round trip itinerary from San Francisco in March 2004, though we were determined not to enjoy this larger ship after Explorer. Flights to and from San Francisco were included in the package she presented, and a night in a hotel near the San Francisco airport was reserved for the night before embarkation.
Once at the San Francisco pier, we were delighted to find short lines for check-in and security, though there was an anxious moment when the agent at the desk searched in vain for our file for some minutes then called a supervisor. Very quickly she found the Dickason’s file, in an up-graded stateroom with a veranda instead of on the expected lower deck with an oceanview. Our prejudice against this cruise was immediately reduced - and minutes later on board after the Seapass photo was taken, one jacketed staff member took our carry-on bags, another presented us with flutes of champagne, and we were escorted to our stateroom.
Mercury was then one of Celebrity’s smaller ships at just under 1900 passengers if completely sold out. The itinerary from San Francisco included calls in California at Monterey and Catalina Island as well as Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with several sea days. The itinerary was not as important to the Dickasons as checking out Barbara’s recommendation, and on four counts it was a success - we did enjoy the change of cruise line.
Service, food, entertainment, and benefits [actual and potential] impressed us, and as later chapters will detail, led to more Celebrity cruises.
We found the staff of this line to be very well trained, always willing to smile and chat and offer hints and suggestions. In small lounges the bar staff were knowledgable, prompt, and when they realized we were wine drinkers, suggested we buy a bottle [cheaper than wine by the glass] and offered to label the bottle with our stateroom number and store it until our next visit. Similar service was available from the Sommelier in the main dining room, where our waiter and assistant waiter were attentive, helpful and witty too.
We had taken Barbara’s advice and requested a table for two in the main dining room, and this really appealed given that it eliminated the gamble of whether there
would be compatibility with table-mates. In the main dining room the appetizers, soups and desserts in particular were a delight, and some main dishes were very good to excellent given the number of dinners served at each sitting. We also enjoyed the small appetizers offered in the lounges with pre-dinner drinks, though we only attended the fabled midnight buffets as photographers not as grazers.
Breakfasts and lunches were most often eaten in the buffet on the upper deck, and by being selective, we could eat surprisingly fresh fruit and salads with perhaps pasta or pizza or soup at lunch and thereby save our major appetite for the menus at dinner.
The Celebrity Theatre featured a main stage show each evening. The ‘Broadway’ style shows with the Celebrity singers and dancers were very popular and very colourful and well produced, but our preference was for the guest entertainers. On this cruise there was a comedian, a classical pianist and a magician who separately entertained us. In the smaller lounges before dinner and into the night, we became groupies for the string quartet, and enjoyed a solo pianist/singer who had a great variety of tunes.
On our first cruise with Celebrity, Michael’s Club, another small and enclosed bar, was a cigar lounge. There was a wide range of cognacs, whiskies and liqueurs on offer, but the Dickasons found the cigar smoking produced a difficult environment, so we only visited if one of our favourite entertainers was performing early in the evening before the serious smokers arrived.
The friendly Celebrity activity staff scheduled shuffleboard, table tennis and many indoor games too. Still competitive and relatively ache-free, the Dickasons made a hard to defeat team for shuffleboard, and Les continued to win t-shirts at table tennis and putting. We occasionally sat in to hear the “Name that Tune” music, but decided to leave playing that game [and Trivial Pursuit style games too] to the really keen passengers.
Being rookies on Celebrity, the Dickasons were not invited to the Captain’s Club events, but the Captain’s Club hostess made sure that we knew we would be members if we sailed on Celebrity again. She presented us with a list of the escalating benefits of being members, and directed us to the Future Sales manager who informed us of the advantages of making bookings for future cruises whilst on board - category up-grades, small deposits, ship-board credits - and she assured us that if we decided on a cruise and made a reservation she would fax the details to our Travel Agent who would earn the normal commission and handle all arrangements for us.
Snow-birding was behind us; we had no plans for January 2005; we found a cruise on Celebrity’s Horizon in the eastern Caribbean and paid the deposit. We think Barbara must have been very pleased to receive the fax which confirmed that her recommendation had worked.
Two other discoveries were made on that first cruise; our aversion to a veranda, and Cruise Critic boards. Having the up-grade to the veranda stateroom was not as appealing to the Dickasons as expected. On sea days, it was very windy and made reading a book there difficult. In port, there were fifty-fifty odds because the veranda was either on the dock side, where bus and truck traffic continued most of the day, or the water side, which often had a tender alongside which re-fueled the ship or took off garbage and sewage. Either way, the noise and fumes made sitting on the veranda unlikely. Given the popularity of verandas with other passengers [some ships have all-veranda configurations] perhaps we were too fussy, but we made our conclusions on this first Celebrity cruise, and with one notable exception, have not had a veranda since.
In conversation with another passenger in a lounge, Les was told about the Cruise Critic’s web-site. There a surfer could find recent reviews of sailings written by professional travel writers and by members of Cruise Critic. Members could also post reviews of cruises. The ‘boards’ consisted of an elaborate mix of chat lines where members posed general questions and received answers from informed and experienced cruisers. There were also Roll Calls for specific sailings which resulted in postings with advice by other members who had reserved staterooms on that future cruise.
Back at 3377 Les spent some time becoming familiar with Cruise Critic, joining the Roll Call for the Horizon cruise for January 2005 and unearthing the glowing reviews that were posted for the most unusual of the Celebrity ships - Xpedition - which had week-long cruises in the Galapagos Islands. The Dickasons discussed what an adventure that this would be, and despite the cost, determined to book a cruise when on Horizon the next January.
The final French cottage
The Dickasons had heard friends rave about the Provence countryside and nearby tourist attractions after they had arranged through the Dickasons and Richards to rent the Provence cottage. Using the credits for having sent so many friends as renters to the cottages, the Dickasons reserved the seventh and final one for a two week period in October 2004, and informed the RIchards that this might be the final cottage trip.
Flights were arranged from YVR through Heathrow/Gatwick to Montpelier, and a Europcar Renault from Andre was reserved for pick-up there, Montpelier being much closer than our usual Toulouse landing place. A final stay at our favourite B&B, Staith House, near Gatwick completed the arrangements, and everything worked very smoothly and the Dickasons struggled through the traffic in Nimes for the first time,
headed north to La Calmette for provision shopping in the supermarket before the final 6km to the east to Russan [Ste Anastasie], our home base for two weeks.
The village and the cottage were small. Situated on the River Gard, Russan had about 300 people living in creamy-grey stone houses with orange tiled roofing. It was large enough to have a shady central square with a fountain, a church, Post Office, newsagent/bar/cafe, a small general store, and very importantly, a fine bakery which received a pre-breakfast visit from Les every morning.
The cottage resembled a small apartment with main bedroom, living/dining room and kitchen all on the main floor with a spiral staircase leading up to a second bedroom and downstairs to a laundry area. A terrace was situated off the kitchen, and was equipped with an electric barbecue. The journals from previous renters, the restaurant reviews, the box of tourist literature, the roster of markets, picnic backpack and the plastic jug for wine were all there, and the decor of the cottage was distinctly Provencale with furnishings and paintwork in the grey-blue which is peculiar to the region. Prints on the walls were of work from famous French artists who had once worked in Provence.
The Dickasons adopted a different approach with the luxury of two weeks in the same cottage. Longer day trips for sightseeing were scheduled every second day, with activities closer to home for the days in between. On some of these days, the car was not used at all as long walks on the Grand Randonnees [marked walking trails] which passed through Russan were taken, or strolling around the village, reading, eating and drinking filled a very relaxing day.
During the time in Russan, several trips were made to Uzes, only a 20 minute drive. The first coincided with the St. Fermin Fair, and the traffic was diverted from the town centre to accommodate the stalls for artisans, potters and artists, food and wine merchants, fabric vendors, and to allow the musicians to set up and entertain the thousands of visitors. Checking out the market and exploring the 12th and 13th century buildings, including the chapel and fenestrelle tower [see photo at left], confirmed what friends had told us - Uzes was the most fascinating small town.
Another visit was to the regular weekly market, and again thousands attended to buy from a different set of vendors of fruit, fall vegetables, cheeses, olives, wine, and fresh meat and seafood too. Again traffic was barred from the central streets, and shopping was facilitated. After placing the shopping bags in the Renault, the Dickasons returned for a lunch at a recommended tapas bar, and after chatting with the friendly chef, came home with a recipe for a beef stew with chocolate which is
sometimes served at 3377 dinners.
Also within easy reach was the famous Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct over the River Gardon. On one of our lazy day trips from the cottage, it made a perfect picnic lunch spot as we marvelled at the Roman skills in architecture and construction techniques.
A very productive short day trip was to the Cooperative winery in Bourdic - Collines de Bourdic. The display of awards won in the vaulted tasting room and the tasting of their premium wines meant the Dickasons had to buy quite a selection to use in Russan with the barbecued dinners. Though it was tempting to buy only the more highly rated Rhone wines in supermarkets, the Bourdic vines on the hills produced some excellent matches with local meats and cheeses. The photo at right shows Pat in the cottage dining room with Bourdic wines to accompany some veal straight from the bbq.
There are souvenirs here at 3377 which remind us of two other short day trips. The local newspaper announced the annual artisan and wine festival at Quissac, and after watching the procession of locals in historical costumes, some on vintage bicycles, unicycles and tricycles, tasting wines and sampling olives, the Dickasons found a wood-worker who painstakingly cut and trimmed a piece of wood to make a nameplate for the new cat Zoe. It is fixed to her bedroom door at 3377.
Entries in the guest book at the cottage prompted us to drive the short distance to Lussan to the pottery there which specialized in producing ceramics of pintades [guinea hens], roosters and chickens. The showroom was very impressive, but the bargain purchases could be found in the room at the back where ‘seconds’ were arrayed on shelves. Having chosen the items we wanted in the front, the Dickasons retreated to the back room and found almost identical hens - with blemishes hardly noticeable - and for which the price was a fraction of the ‘firsts.’ The two hens often form part of the decor on the table at dinner in our dining room.
Nimes was an approach-avoidance location during this stay in Provence. It seemed that all roads south led through Nimes, and the Dickasons cursed the traffic on the first Saturday and on several longish day trips, and were forced to allow extra time and to be patient when approaching and passing on what was considered a by-pass but was clogged with traffic. However the day allocated for a trip to Nimes to explore produced an instant love affair. Again, the connection to things Roman had jaws dropping and heads shaking at the brilliance of the ancient builders. The Maison Carree, a temple with perfect proportions from the first century and the stunning Arenes de Nimes, an amphitheatre dating from the same period occupied much of the morning. A guided tour of the latter was held on the same morning that the preparations were being made for placing a roof over the floor area so that concerts could be held in the coming winter [see photo next page].
The arena, the guide explained, had been transformed into a fortress in the 6th century, to a chateau in the 12th, and was used by hundreds of villagers in the 18th
century. Restored in the 19th century as a bull ring, it became a very active theatre site in the years which followed.
Leaving the Roman section of the city after a picnic lunch, the Dickasons found Les Halles, a very large indoor market place which had daily offerings of a huge range of foodstuffs, fabrics, local products from artisans as well as restaurants.
The city of Nimes is very proud of its reputation as “olive capital” of France [and “beef capital” too?] and postcards, posters and fabric art cheekily announced the claims. Les has an apron from the market depicting a bull and strategically placed olives which amuse guests at 3377. The Dickasons did buy a variety of olives as well as postcards and the apron.
Several other day trips, that went past or through Nimes, resulted in visits to fascinating destinations on the Mediterranean. The Carmargue, with its flamingoes, white horses, marshy parks and walking trails was a complete contrast to the cities and villages of other day trips. The walled town of Aigues Mortes was the highlight of another day, and on the return trip the feature was the fortress and revitalized town inside it at Les Baux.
There are so many famous places to visit, that as the second week wound down it became difficult to set priorities and make plans. However, two other sites made the cut; St. Remy and Avignon. On a cool, grey day in Avignon the Dickasons were warm inside using an audio tour of the 13th century Palais des Papes, with brilliantly restored chambers with furniture and tapestries. A view of Le Pont d’Avignon across the Rhone River was the centre-piece of the picnic lunch that day. St. Remy provided an informative self-guided walking tour of the places Van Gogh had lived and worked - with reproductions of his work on every plaque, postcard and poster, and in the many galleries dotted through this charming town.
At a final celebratory lunch back in Uzes, the Dickasons concluded that leaving the Provence cottage as a finale, and having two weeks in the fall in this region of France was a definite highlight of the multiple trips to all seven of the Richards’ cottages. However, when asked during this period and years later which was the favourite, the Dickason response typically was “whichever cottage we are in.”
Second Celebrity cruise
Before the January cruise could be enjoyed, the frowning travel gods forced a change of plans for leaving Nanaimo to travel to Tampa Bay. Snow fell four days before the planned ferry trip to Vancouver for an overnight motel before an early morning flight. It continued to fall for 36 hours and that raised the possibility of canceling the cruise. But, with the assistance of neighbours at Edgewood a Plan B formed - first to arrange for one friend to come and feed the new cat, Zoe, and take her to the cattery when weather permitted - and secondly to have another friend at Edgewood, who had chains on his SUV, agree to collect the Dickasons and luggage for delivery to the ferry terminal on January 7th, a day ahead of schedule due to the forecast of yet more snow. The motel near the airport in Vancouver extended our stay to two nights, and the Dickason’s extra time there passed slowly before the alarm sounded at 5am on the 9th.
Flights, a stay in a Tampa Bay motel on the 9th, and transfer to the ship on the 10th were anti-climactic after the anxious moments of the previous three days. Seeing Horizon in the sun at the dock was very cheering. She was then one of two small ships in the growing fleet - carrying about a hundred fewer passengers than Mercury. Everything on board however was very similar to what we had experienced on our first Celebrity cruise - though this time the weather was much warmer.
The sailaway from the dock in Tampa Bay is arguably the most serene and beautiful of departures from the eastern US ports. Leaving the dock, the ship steamed slowly down the channel as the city sparkled in the sunshine before she crossed the actual Bay of Tampa and reached the Gulf of Mexico. Passengers strolled on the outer decks and sat in t-shirts and shorts at bars with ‘sailaway’ drinks - a contrast to the winter wear needed just days previously.
Ports on this cruise offered varied excursions, but the Dickasons followed the pattern from their Princess cruises and took self-guided walking tours or bought excursions ashore from private operators [some highly recommended on Cruise Critic ‘ports of call’ boards].
Although it was only the second Celebrity cruise, the Dickasons were recognized by some staff members who had been on Mercury and we remembered them. Over the following years, this would occur more often as the total number of cruises with Celebrity climbed. Being members of the Captain’s Club meant there were invitations to special events, and the Captain’s Club hostess was available and willing to answer questions and resolve problems. Celebrity also hosted a reception for the Cruise Critic members who had registered on the Roll Call, giving the Dickasons the opportunity to meet and put names to passengers who had been posting anonymously, with screen names, in the months before the cruise.
Outstanding on this cruise were lectures from a digital camera expert [who doubled as a comedian in the Theatre one night], “Two for the Road” [piano and violin duo playing light classics], Colin [piano and vocals], lectures from a geologist/oceanographer, and the two appearances of Katya, a classical pianist who gave recitals in the Theatre. Probably the best waiter of our cruising experiences was serving the Dickason table for two on this cruise. Capacci was a superstar who exhibited humour, willingness to help, fine relationships with his assistant and our Sommelier, and even chatting to passengers when he met them ashore.
Not all was perfect on this second Celebrity cruise because there were some last minute changes to the itinerary due to some mechanical problems and some strong winds and currents. Our arrival in San Juan, Puerto Rico was several hours late, and though the departure time was extended, there were some passengers heard loudly grumbling about the inconvenience and about the weather. Later in the itinerary the ship docked instead of tendering in St. Maarten and divers made repairs to the propeller seal while most passengers were ashore.
Two incidents in ports visited merit inclusion here. In Nassau, as we strolled back to the ship after bartering for a straw hat, military music was heard just a street away. Investigating, the Dickasons watched as a brass band and a police motor-cycle escort preceded a procession of judges in full regalia. The opening of the Supreme Court was to take place that morning, and the colourful event attracted quite a crowd of tourists and locals as it passed the pastel coloured buildings on the main street.
The Dickasons had no plans for excursions in St. Maarten, but soon after leaving the dock and enjoying the warm sunny morning, we were approached by a tout for one of the time-share companies and offered a sealed envelope. Inside was a shopping voucher for $500... suddenly the tout was very excited. He assured us that there was rarely such an envelope in the pile he was given to distribute, and that he was thrilled for us [and we guessed for his commission]. The fine print on the voucher directed us to take a taxi to the time-share location in Oyster Bay where the taxi would be paid for, the voucher authorized, and a taxi would be provided for returning to the dock area for shopping.
The drive to the complex was first through a very poor area of the city, then through the lush jungle to a very beautiful bay. Our driver assured us that Stallone and Belafonte, among others, had houses on the bay. At the administration building, the driver was paid and he left. The Dickasons waited for some time before a charming lady arrived, seemed surprised at our voucher, asked for our ID, and announced that because the time-share had age restrictions and we were both over 60, she could not authorize the shopping voucher or take us on a tour of the facility, but she would arrange for a free taxi ride back to the dock. While waiting for the taxi, Les did take some photographs [see at right] - and as we enjoyed a $1 beer at a dock-side bar later before re-boarding Horizon, we put a positive spin on the adventure. We would have had trouble spending $500 in the shops anyway, and besides we had a free shore excursion to a lovely location.
Key West was the final port of call before the return to Tampa Bay. The Chamber of Commerce there provided a self-guided walking tour map of this lovely Florida city, and it had many historical highlights on the route. Several of the descriptions featured Ernest Hemingway - the
houses he lived in, his six-toed cats, and his favourite pub [Sloppy Joe’s]. From the outer deck that day we saw over 400 sailboats heading out for one of the races in the KW 2005 series - quite a sight with the blue water and the many sails outside our stateroom.
We asked that evening why Horizon had not stayed longer in such a wonderful port. The answer was surprising - apparently there was a local by-law which prohibited cruise ships from staying in port after 5pm. The logic behind it was that the local residents of apartments and houses near the dock did not want their sunset spoiled by having a ship in the foreground!
As Horizon sailed north on flat seas towards Tampa Bay, Les sat with the Sales Manager, Olga, and arranged for reservations on Celebrity Xpedition with a package deal which included a night in Quito, Ecuador, a flight to the Galapagos, seven nights on the luxury ship, and a flight back to Quito in November later in that year.
One more hint from the Cruise Critic boards aided the Dickason’s return from Tampa to BC. Cruise lines insist that flights leaving airports after disembarkation of passengers be booked after noon at the earliest. But, when a cruise ship docks on time, and the disembarkation is smooth and the airport is nearby, passengers can find themselves at the airport hours before their scheduled flight. The hint was to ask at check-in if the airline agent could change the ticket to allow for an earlier departure. The Dickasons followed the advice, and were re-ticketed for stand-by and did leave Tampa ninety minutes early, with Economy Plus seats. However, snow falling in Chicago delayed the departure from there, and the Vancouver arrival was almost exactly at the time showing on the original ticket with a different routing.
Planning for the Galapagos began almost immediately - although, as the next chapter will describe, several other trips were wedged between January and November 2005.
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