October 19, 2015

Here is the final travel map of our trip…sure looks like there is a lot of white space left to visit!!!

33 countries in 229 days!

October 18, 2015

OK, OK, I’m about a month late getting my last post put up.  I suppose I have been in denial that the trip is over…maybe if I leave the blog unfinished, I can pretend like we are still on the go and I’m not really back to reality.  No such luck…

We did make it home and we are working on getting back to our real lives here in Florida.

The trip back home with relaxing and a good transition from the craziness of the past 7 1/2 months.  We left London first thing in the morning and took a bus down to the cruise port in Dover.  The ship was just about ready, so we only had to wait about an hour before we could embark.  Our room was very nice, we were upgraded to a Balcony, which was great because we were supposed to be in an inside room (which was pretty tiny for a 2 week trip).

Our first stop was to check out the buffet and the kid’s play area.  Being a Transatlantic cruise in the middle of the year, we knew there wouldn’t be many kids on board, but there were a few, so Hayden has a good group of friends to pay with.

NCL – Star

The ship had a great pool area, but it was pretty chilly when we were getting started, so we didn’t get much use out of it.  We did sit in the hot tubs a few times and Hayden went swimming with some friends one day, but the slides were closed for repair most of the trip, so that kind of stunk.

Pool on the ship

Pulling out of over was really neat because we went past the “White Cliffs of Dover”.  It was really pretty and we could even see a huge castle up on the top of the hill.

White Cliffs of Dover

White Cliffs of Dover

We did a great job of staying entertained on board.  The kids area had lots of activities and events for the kids.  Hayden had the same 7-8 kids that were in the play place everyday, so they got to be good friends.  They even had a Superhero Day and a Pirates Day where they got all dressed up and walked around the ship.  Adam and I also had a good group of friends that we really enjoyed getting to know.  We played lots of shuffleboard, ping pong, and bean bag toss (although we are still pretty bad at all three).  Adam also had a good group that played basketball and soccer together each day.  We had lots of time to go to the gym which was good because there was TONS of food!  With desserts every night, I knew I was in trouble.  I did a decent job of running and “only” put on 5.5 lbs.  🙂

Pirate Night on the ship

Pirate Night on the ship

“Superhero Night”

“Superhero Night”

During the cruise, we did have a stop in the Azores which was nice because we could check Portugal off on our list.  🙂  The island was really pretty, but we didn’t really get too far into the island.  We hung out near the port and visited the downtown area.  There was a really neat fortress and lots of cool buildings.  We were on a bit of “tourist overload”, so we walked around for a few hours, found a playground for Hayden, then went back up to the ship for the rest of the afternoon.

Playing in the Azores

Ponta Delgada

Ponta Delgada

Ponta Delgada

Ponta Delgada

Ponta Delgada

Ponta Delgada

Ponta Delgada

During the entire cruise, the water was absolutely beautiful!  It was so blue and crystal clear.  We did have some rough waters coming through the English Channel where the waves got up to 27 feet.  We were on the 8th level and water was splashing on our balcony.  I was feeling pretty terrible, but the medical center gave out free Dramamine, so that did help.  After those two rough days, the rest of the trip was very smooth.

Sunset on the Atlantic

Deep Blue Sea

After 13 days (we got back a day early due to trouble with the population system), we made it back to Tampa!  While there is something nice about being home, I think that I am a natural born traveler.  I was ready to start planning a trip to South America, but Adam and Hayden over-ruled me.  🙂  Customs was quick and easy and we were back in the states.  We are now the proud owners of very full passports and about 8,000 pictures from around the world.

“Welcome to the US!”

Back on US Soil

Around the world and back with just 3 backpacks!

From here, we need to find jobs and get ourselves back into a routine.  Hayden’s not exactly looking forward to getting back to school, but he is ready for Taekwondo and to see all of his friends.

So, this adventure is over, but I don’t doubt that we will have another eventually.  We still need to see South America, Australia and lots of areas in the South Pacific.

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