Ch..ch..ch..changes!!

When we opened Just Cruisin' Plus on Jan. 4, 1988, there were so many cruise lines operating that it was impossible to know which ones went where.  The days of preferred suppliers was extremely important.  As travel agents, we had to be very selective in which cruise lines we would support and which would support us.

Over the years we have seen change and more changes as cruise lines have taken over other cruise lines, completely changing the face of today's modern cruise industry, then some of these going bankrupt.

The first was a shock when Princess Cruises gobbled up Sitmar and changed the names of all the Sitmar ships to "something" Princess.  Then, Royal Caribbean bought Admiral Cruises, followed by Chandris Fantasy, which changed the name of this cruise line to Celebrity Cruises.  Premier Cruises (The Big Red Boat) purchased Home Lines, taking their one ship (Royale) cruise line to three ships.  Holland America Line bought Windstar Cruises, but have sold this arm in the past couple of years.  Majesty Cruises was purchased by NCL and all of their ships were then named Norwegian  "something". Then, NCL went on their buying spree and purchased Royal Cruise Line, Orient Cruises and Royal Viking Line.  The Royal ships were moved into the NCL fleet; the other two cruise lines kept their names, but eventually went out of business.  Then, Princess took over Cunard.  Dolphin Cruise Line was purchased by a holding company, and their ships became Regal Cruises. Carnival got into the buy-out frenzy and now owns Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and The Yachts of Seabourn in North America; P&O Cruises and Cunard Line in the United Kingdom; AIDA in Germany; Costa Cruises in Southern Europe; Iberocruceros in Spain; and P&O Cruises in Australia. Radisson merged with Seven Seas and became Regent Seven Seas.

Then there were others who were not as lucky.....American Hawaii, Commodore, Premier, American Family, Regency, Epirotiki, Delta Queen, Pearl, Sun Line, Bermuda Star, Dolphin, Ocean, Regal, Windjammer, and Renaissance to name a few.  These companies all went bankrupt or just ceased operations.  The Renaissance ships have all resurfaced today as Oceania Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises, and a couple of Princess ships. 

On Saturday,. we got an announcement that another cruise line went bankrupt - Cruise West.  Click on the link to see the details as reported in Travel Weekly today.

If you think it's difficult to keep up with all the changes in your industry, try walking in our shoes.  When we first opened, the changes were occasional.  Now, we see them almost weekly, if not monthly.  But change is good, right?  Right?  RIGHT?

What time is it?

Today we’re in St. John’s, Newfoundland Labrador. No longer is this province in Canada known as Newfoundland AND Labrador. It’s just Newfoundland Labrador. We were told that the premier wanted to “brand” the area. That’s my kind of marketing guy.


And, what could be better than to be greeted by a Newfie Lab as we got off the ship. She was a beautiful black coated girlie with the most wonderful disposition who let all of us pet her as we headed into town.

We docked literally in downtown St. John’s. Now for anyone who doesn’t know Canada or Canadians, St. John’s is not to be confused with St. John, New Brunswick. Apparently the apostrophe “s” is extremely important here.

We took a sightseeing city tour of St. John’s and saw the oldest standing wooden house in North America. None of the doors were more than 5’7” tall. We also went into a beautiful Basilica as well as the Anglican Church. Both are named St. John the Baptist. One, however, is Catholic and one is Anglican (Episcopal). My good buddy, Henry VIII, was responsible for this split during his reign as king of England.

We should sail back through The Narrows that we came through at light-thirty this morning, and hopefully we can see just how close we were in getting through them.

A couple of more facts about Newfoundland – Newfoundland didn't become part of Canada until 1949, and we had to move our watches back 30 minutes last night. Wonder if we’ll move them back 30 minutes again tonight, or if we’ll move them an hour and a half tomorrow night?

Cock-er-tock

Qaqortoq, you’ll always be

Home, sweet, home to me.

Good ole Qaqortoq

Qaqortoq by the sea!!!

We docked in a very interesting port today – Qaqortoq, Greenland – where it is anything but green. The terrain consists of massive hills and mountains of rock covered in moss. There are no trees, and very little vegetation. Qaqortoq, pronounced “cock-er-tock” means “White Palace” in Greenlandic. There are three languages spoken here – Greenlandic, Danish, and English – although most of the natives speak Greenlandic.

Qaqortoq has a population of 3,400, so when our ship docked today, the town almost doubled its population. Most of the natives are Inuits, like the Eskimos in Alaska. The houses are all painted bright colors – reds, blues, greens and yellows. Our theory on the bright colors is because of the dull terrain during their short summer, and the snow in the winter. The people are very friendly and welcoming.

We stopped in the New Choir Church and their small choir of nine people sang a’capella in their native language. Amazing Grace and Nearer My God to Thee were both recognizable songs in a language we’ve never heard. This sanctuary was small, but the sound was amazing. With no microphones to enhance the sound, the acoustics were perfect.

It was quite chilly today with a high of 41 and a low of 39. We have yet to see the northern lights, but with the clear skies today, we can only hope that when we get out to sea tonight, we’ll be able to see them.

By the way, I must give my friend, David Bohan, credit for the words to the song at the beginning of this post. He never strays far from his roots in Tennessee.

Welcome to the Bergs!

The Goldbergs and the Icebergs, that is…

Today has been most interesting as we cruised the waters off the coast of Greenland. First, there was a wonderful documentary on TV called Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, which was about the 1950s TV series called Meet the Goldbergs. This was TVs first sitcom. What an incredible show! How I wish TV programming today had more shows like this one.

Then, there were the icebergs. We were so surprised today to awaken to bright blue skies and calm seas – so smooth, in fact, that it was like sailing on a lake instead of the ocean. There were whales playing along the side of the ship and seals slipping on and off ice floes. We saw numerous icebergs and small towns along the route. Relaxation was the name of the game today.

The temperatures have been in the low 40s and with the wind from sailing, it was quite brisk to be outside on our balcony, but outside we were. Hopefully, tonight, the skies will be clear enough for us to finally see the northern lights. With any luck, tomorrow, we will dock at Qaqortoq (cock-er-tock). I really think the Greenlanders need to add a few letters to their alphabet. Have they never heard the rule that a “u” should follow a “q”? More tomorrow.

We are sailing...we are sailing...

We are sailing…we are sailing…home again…’cross the sea…


We are sailing…stormy waters…to be near you…to be free.

And, so goes the old song, recently recorded by Joe Cocker.

Sunday was Dublin. Monday was also. We were scheduled to sail from Dublin on Sunday night, but the weather and the seas saw differently. Sunday was a “soft” day in Dublin; soft meaning light, misty rain. But, the winds decided to pick up to 35 mph gale force, and no ships were allowed in or out of Dublin’s harbor. Our scheduled departure on Monday was noon, which was changed to 7:00 pm, again because of the winds.

Our late departure caused us to miss calling in Belfast. Because we had been to Belfast four years ago, this was not a great disappointment. So, our free day was spent sleeping in, reading, watching movies and playing cards with our friends, the Bohans.

Today, we are in the North Atlantic headed to Iceland. Our arrival has been pushed to 2:00 pm tomorrow, but we don’t leave until 9:00 pm tomorrow night, just in time to see the aurora borealis (northern lights). The seas are running about 10-16 feet with a wind across the bow of the ship, so walking is somewhat a feat today. We jokingly say that the only people who can walk a straight line are the drunks. We, however, bounce from wall to wall. Thank goodness for Bonine keeping my nemesis, sea sickness, away.

More to follow tomorrow night from Iceland.

Cead Mile Failte!



Charlie & Sherrie in front of the statue of Molly Malone

 Cead Mile Failte! One Hundred thousand Welcomes! 


The old story goes: Do you know what a seven-course Irish meal consists of? A six-pack of Guinness and a potato. Ha, ha, ha!! Actually, it’s not as funny as it sounds. Today we’re in Dublin, one of our favorite cities. One of the signs we saw at a pub advertised Irish stew made with beef, potatoes, onions and carrots served with a side of, get this, mashed potatoes.


Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle and is also known for its charm, warmth and fun-loving people.  It has a magical way of capturing your heart.

It’s hard for us to think about the famine that swept Ireland and the masses of people who migrated to the U.S. for a better way of life, only to find themselves indentured servants in many homes in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and other cities along the East Coast. These people were relegated to the most menial jobs and discriminated against to a degree, that today would be incomprehensible.


Charlie’s mother’s maiden name was Greene, a good Irish name that he was told for his entire life was Scottish in origin, just because the stigma of having Irish blood meant a person of lower class. Today, he is proud of his Irish heritage, as well he should be.

My son-in-law also has an Irish and Scottish heritage with his last name being Graham. My granddaughter has a beautiful Irish name, Maeve Virginia Graham. So, today my quest became finding something with Maeve’s name on it, a feat which I have never been able to accomplish in the U.S. Well, Maeve, Grammy found something for you today. Hope you love it as much as I love you.

Pasties, Tarts & Gypsy Rose Lee

Now that I’ve got you attention…..

Today’s blog has nothing to do with Gypsy Rose Lee, but everything to do with pasties and tarts.

Today we were in Falmouth, Cornwall, England. This little town is located on the far southwestern tip of England, and is also the closest channel to the Atlantic. Henry VIII (again my fixation on all things Hank) built two castles to guard the harbor mouth against Spanish invasion.

Now, back to the pasties, and that’s pasties, not pastries with an "r". These little babies are actually pronounced "past-ees").  A Cornish pasty is a pastry shell filled with chopped meat, onions and potatoes. We also saw some with pork and apples, lamb and mint jelly, spinach and cheese, and many, many more. These delectable concoctions were originally meals for the tin miners who needed a convenient way to carry their lunch or dinner to work.


Another specialty in Cornwall is their Cornish Cream Tea. Fresh scones are topped with clotted cream and jam, and served with a pot of tea. What a way to have a sit-down in the afternoon and refresh oneself with a spot of tea and a scone or perhaps tasty tart.

Today, Cornwall. Tomorrow, Dublin. Later.

The Monks, The Poets, and Off with Their Heads!

The Showtime series, The Tudors, has peaked my interest in English history tremendously.  So, when we decided to take this Trans-atlantic cruise and spend a couple of days in London, I was so excited to go to some of the sites we missed on our first trip here. 

The Crowne Plaza St. James is located about three blocks from Buckingham Palace, where we were to meet our our Big Bus - a open-air, double-decker English bus - for a hop-on, hop-off tour of London.

We found out today that 26 of the staterooms at Buckingham are open for tours from the last week in July until the first few days of October.  We had done this tour four years ago when we were here, so we opted to head out for Westminster Abbey.  A drive around this amazing city is always so interesting and with 70 degree temperatures and sunny skies, we couldn't resist sitting on the top of the bus enjoying the sites. 

Westminster was originally a monastery.  It is incredibly beautiful.  We couldn't take photos inside, but the history there is amazing.  Henry VIII, Anne of Cleves, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary I, and many, many other monarchs are buried within these walls.  This is also the church where Princess Diana's funeral was held 13 years ago this week.  We used the headsets and did our own directed tour of the Abbey.

One of the final stops is at Poet's Corner in Westminster.  Miss EAU will appreciate this - I saw memorials to Byron, Kelly and Sheats (Byron, Shelley and Keats), as she so often called them when I had her as my English teacher in high school.  We saw the graves of  Rudyard Kipling, Robert Browning, Tennyson, Charles Dickens, and Thomas Hardy and memorials to Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters - Emily, Charlotte and Anne - and William Shakespeare, as well as the grave of George Frederic Handel.  This place was just amazing.

Then, we were off again to the Tower of London. The Tower Bridge is often mistaken for London Bridge.  They are definitely not one in the same.  My fascination with Henry VIII was evident as one of the places I most wanted to see was where Anne Boleyn and Kathryn Howard were both beheaded and are buried in a chapel there.  There is a monument of the chopping block where both lost their heads.

We saw the Crown Jewels which were magnificent.  The jewels were originally housed in Westminster, but were moved to the Tower of London in 1303.  This is an astonishing collection of priceless Coronation jewels - crowns, sceptres, and orbs - filled with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and endless semi-precious stones and pearls.

After spending seven hours at these two spots, we reluctantly returned to our hotel for a good night's rest before we head to Southampton tomorrow for the Crown Princess and our grand adventure across the Atlantic.  Stay tuned.

Upper Class Service on Virgin Atlantic

We're in London for our 18-day Trans-atlantic cruise.  And, we got here on Virgin Atlantic in their Upperclass.  For those who don't have an American Express card with Rewards Plus, I can't emphasize enough why you need one.  For every dollar you spend, you get one and a half frequent flyer miles.  That can add up quickly.  Delta wanted 200,000 miles for a one-way Business Class ticket to London; Virgin charged us 50,000 miles for their Upperclass.  And, Upperclass it is!!

Our seats were individual pods that converted to a flat bed for sleeping.  By the way, that's our friends, the Bohans, in this picture.  Charlie, however, quickly found out that the seats when flat were exactly 6 feet long.  When you're 6'2", it can be a bit cramped.  However, we were able to sleep a few hours on the way over.

We are staying at the Crowne Plaza St. James Place.  What a wonderful hotel!  We are about a half mile from Buckingham Palace, right in the heart of London.

After finally getting into our rooms at about 1:00 pm, a quick shower and small nap, we were off to Harrod's and a little shopping.  Dinner tonight was pub grub at Albert's, a quaint little pub about a block from the hotel.

We hit the ground running tomorrow morning with our only full day in London.  More tomorrow.  Stay tuned.