Vineyards and Castles on the Oceania Marina
9/17/19 to 9/29/19
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Page 1 - Pre-Cruise in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Embarkation, Ship
Page 2 - Ship (Continued), Cabin, Dining, Entertainment, Activities
Page 3 - Ports of Call: Dover, England; LeHavre, France, St. Malo, France
Page 4 - Ports of Call: Brest, France; La Rochelle, France; Bordeaux, France - Day 1
Page 5 - Ports of Call: Bordeaux, France - Day 2; Bilbao, Spain
Page 6 - Ports of Call: Ferrol, Spain; Oporto, Portugal; Post-Cruise in Lisbon, Portugal - Day 1
Page 7 - Post-Cruise in Lisbon, Portugal - Days 2 & 3
Ports of Call
This would be a very port intensive cruise with 12 straight port days and no sea days. When I booked the cruise, I chose the OLife option with 6 ship excursions, rather than $600 of OBC. Oceania’s excursions are very expensive compared to most of the mainstream cruise lines. By taking this option, we could each have 3 tours in ports where we didn’t need to set up private tours.
Dover, United Kingdom
It is always exciting to cruise by the White Cliffs of Dover when on a cruise. It is even better when you are docking at Dover, where you get very close to the cliffs. We were up and on the outer decks early to get photos of the cliffs. We were arriving earlier than expected and didn’t get to see the full expanse of cliffs; but it was still quite beautiful with the red hued clouds in the background. When at the dock itself, the town of Dover kind of takes away from the cliff’s beauty, but it is still a thrill to see it.
Dover Castle is on the top of the cliff. I took some photos of it but would get better ones later in the day when the sun was shining.
We used one of our OLife excursions in this port. I have been to London several times; but since Craig had never been there, we took a London Panorama tour, so that he could get a taste of the amazing city. It was an 8-hour tour; but with just over a two hour drive each way. That only left about 4 hours in London. Also, with it being a panoramic tour, we would be driving around looking at places through the bus windows rather than doing as much walking around seeing the sights. It was pretty much a waste of time taking photos from the bus with the reflections and glare on the windows; but we did stop to get out of the bus on a few occasions. We also had enough free time for lunch and walking around to make it a pretty enjoyable visit. Plus, it was a beautiful sunny day with the temperature in the 60’s. That is about as good as it gets in London!
We had a very good guide named Robert. He gave us so much information and talked the whole way into London, which made the long drive seem to go faster. He was very knowledgeable and spoke several languages. Just an excellent tour guide and a very nice and helpful person.
Our first stop was near Westminster Abbey. The Abbey exterior is nice; but I wish that we had time to have seen the interior. I have visited there before, but I would have liked for Craig to have seen the site where so many major events have taken place.
Other buildings and monuments in the area were most impressive.
We got back on the bus and drove around some more with Robert pointing out the highlights. We drove past Buckingham Palace, where there were throngs of people waiting to get into the gates. It actually looked more like they were waiting for the Queen to arrive, since they were lined up along the barriers.
Further along we came to a government building that had guards on horseback. They were a very popular photo opp for the tourists.
We stopped for our lunch break close to Covent Gardens. The area was a former fruit and vegetable market and is now a nice shopping area.
We didn’t find any place that appealed to us for lunch at Covent Gardens, so we found an English pub close by for a fish sandwich and of course a pint of beer. They had a nice selection.
Robert had told us that we would have time to walk to Trafalgar Square. We had passed it while on the bus and weren’t able to get good photos of the interesting sites there. After lunch we walked over there and got lots of pics of the National Gallery and beautiful statues.
Craig had to climb up on the four lion statues at the base of Nelson’s Column, like many others were doing. Even though he had just had his 50th birthday, he was able to join the kids that were doing the same thing. His father, on the other hand, had no desire to have his photo with the lion.
The column is dedicated to naval hero Admiral Horatio Nelson, who won major battles for the British. The four bronze relief panels depict naval victories and are made from the metal from captured French canons. I wish that I had my telephoto lens with me to get a photo of Admiral Nelson’s statue at the top of the column.
Another statue that was most photo worthy was the statue The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist. This represents one of the 7,000 artifacts that were looted from the Iraq Museum during the war. It is a beautiful piece.
The buildings on the way to the Trafalgar Square were really pretty. I also got a kick out of a statue of a fellow with a beer keg at the top of a building.
We got back on the bus and headed to our next destination. We passed by beautiful St. Paul's Cathedral. The last time we were in London, we came to St. Paul's to tour the interior; but since they were doing some renovations, we passed on it. Maybe next time.
Before heading back to the ship, we would have one more stop, close by the Tower Bridge. When we drove past it on a different bridge, everyone was trying to take photos of it, so we were most appreciative that we were going to get better photos. We were also able to get pics of the Tower of London on the other side of the Thames River.
As we approached Dover on our return trip, we were able to get photos of back side of Dover Castle. It had turned out to be a better panoramic tour than I had expected. I was so glad that the weather had cooperated.
When we got back to the ship, I was able to get photos of the castle and cliffs in the full sun which was quite different from what we had seen when we arrived early in the morning.
It had been a day of a lot of driving, so we were glad that we were able to get back around 4:00 pm, so we could chill a bit, go to happy hour to chat with our friends and enjoy Jacques restaurant.
Le Havre, France
We had been to LeHavre on three previous cruises but had never gone to Normandy. We had always wanted to go but ended up on different tours for one reason or the other. We had really looked forward to this trip, since we would be going there. As we arrived in port, the multi-colored statue really stood out.
We had booked a tour with a very respected tour company, Overlord Tours (https://www.overlordtour.com/product/tours-from-cruise-ports-9b/). It would be a very long tour, 9.5 hours. In addition to visiting Omaha Beach, we would also visit the towns of Bayeaux and Honfleur on our return to the ship. Our guide was Alan, just a wealth of knowledge about everything about the war and the D-Day invasion. He was just a pleasure to listen to. It is truly amazing how much information he was able to provide us. He gave us a truly awesome tour and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to visit the Normandy area.
The van was very comfortable and roomy enough to move around in.
The drive to Normandy took almost 2 hours, but Alan kept us entertained and informed about what we were seeing. As we approached area, we first saw a memorial statue and then the Overlord Museum. Overlord was the name given to the D-Day operation, which is why our tour company also uses it as their name.
We walked down a peaceful path till we came to the Walls of the Missing in a garden. The names of 1,557 American soldiers are listed on the walls.
At the end of the end of the path is a semicircular memorial with the “Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves” statue in the middle.
On either end of the memorial, there are rooms with maps and narratives of the military operations.
Past the memorial was the reflecting pool with a circular chapel beyond it. It was a lovely setting.
The grounds are just beautiful and so peaceful.
We wanted to first walk out to see the beach where the Normandy landings took place. There was an orientation table to show where everything took place. It looks very peaceful 75 years later.
We walked down the beach path looking for other views of the beach, but the vegetation prevented us from seeing much along most of the trail; but I did finally get one shot.
We headed back into the cemetery where 9,380 of our military heroes are buried. I have been to several of our military cemeteries in Europe. Like the others, it is an honor to walk among those who sacrificed their lives for us to be free. The graves seemed to go on forever.
Near the back of the cemetery grounds are two granite statues representing the United States and France.
In the middle or the cemetery is the chapel that we could see across the reflecting pool. The mosaic on the ceiling inside the small chapel was most appropriate.
After walking around the grounds for a while, we headed back to the van to meet up with Alan and the group. We drove about 15 minutes down the road to a different section of the battlefield. Those steep cliffs must have been so intimidating to the poor soldiers on the beach.
Further down the beach, Alan pointed out the pebble bank. This is the only sector of the beach that has conserved this bank, which previously covered all of Omaha Beach. Soldiers lying on the beach next to it were protected from machine gun fire, but not mortars or artillery shells.
Alan showed us photos while explaining the events that took place at this site. The wind was very strong, and it was a challenge for him to hold onto the book. He pointed out the block house that contained antiaircraft guns and a machine gun pillbox.
We got back into the van to go to our next stop. On the way, we saw another section of memorials on Omaha Beach.
We then stopped at another area where there were more memorials. Very touching reminders of the horror and victory that took place there.
Just behind the memorials was a concrete bunker where machine guns shot at our troops. This was the best preserved one we saw that day.
After finishing our tour of Omaha Beach, we then headed to the town of Bayeaux, where we were going to have lunch. As we came into town, we could see the steeple of the Notre Dame Cathedral.
As we got closer to our parking spot, we could see that this church was probably going to be the highlight of Bayeaux for us, as we saw it from different angles. But it was time for lunch, so we would have to wait to explore. While looking for a restaurant on what appeared to be the main drag, we came upon an Italian place that looked pretty good and wasn’t overly crowded. It was a good choice. The beer and pasta were great!
We passed by a pretty spot on the river while looking for the church.
It wasn’t difficult to find the church, since it dominated the skyline of the small town and was a massive gorgeous building. I took way too many photos of the exterior, since every angle of view was a treat. The cathedral was consecrated in 1077, with William the Conqueror in attendance. After serious damage to the cathedral in the 12th Century, it was rebuilt between the 15th and 19th Centuries. A rather long construction project. But they did do a beautiful job.
The interior is most gorgeous with amazing stained-glass windows, beautiful chapels and some unusual decorations. It was a real treat to be able to visit this amzing church.
Our last stop of the day would be at the lovely town of Honfleur. This turned out to be our favorite French town of our trip. It would be the perfect place to take a vacation to just relax and enjoy the beauty of the area. As we walked into town from the parking lot, we could see that the town was decorated with lots of flowers. They also had a beautiful old merry-go-round.
Honfleur’s old harbor area is well known, as is the rest of the quaint town, since it was one of Monet’s favorite spots for painting.
Walking around this town is such a treat with the narrow streets with the half-timbered slate-roofed multi-story buildings.
Further along our walk we came to St. Catherine’s Church. The church was built in the 15th Century out of wood by shipbuilders, since stone and masons were in high demand. The bell tower is separated from the church.
The interior looks much like an upside-down boat, probably because it was constructed by ship builders. It is quite a unique looking church.
We continued our walk through town enjoying the scenery and ended up back at the dock area. We just sat down and took in the ambience of this lovely place. Being able to be in a town like this in perfect weather is a real treat.
We hated to have to leave, but there were a lot more ports to explore in the coming days. It had been a truly awesome day.
Saint-Malo, France
As we arrived in the port of Saint-Malo, I was impressed with the sunrise glow on the walled city. This would be the first of two tender ports on the cruise. I am always nervous about tender ports, especially when we are doing a private tour. The cruise lines like to put their ship excursions on the tenders first, which can delay those getting off for private tours. But I was feeling good, since we were arriving near the port at 8:15 am for our 9:00 am arrival. Hopefully, all would work out fine.
This port was one of the main reasons that I booked this cruise. The tidal island town of Mont Saint-Michel has been on my bucket list forever. I have seen photos of it over the years standing by itself in the middle of the bay when the tide is up, and on land when the tide is down. The tide can change by 46 feet. One of the couples on our Cruise Critic roll call had set up a private excursion with a company named Westcapades (www.westcapades.com/en/). Our group of eight was meeting in the theater before the actual disembarkation time to get an earlier tender ticket. We got our tickets and waited to be called. 9:00 am came and went with no numbers being called. An announcement came on telling us that they were waiting for authorization before we could leave. The same announcements kept coming and we were getting more and more nervous that we would be able to get off the ship in time for our full tour. Peter had told us that it could take 2 hours for everyone to get off the ship by tender, since it was an almost 20-minute tender ride. We had low tender ticket numbers, but the theater was filling up with a lot of ship tours and others anxious to get off the ship. Finally, about 9:45 am the first tender was called. I was most appreciative that Oceania allowed some non-ship excursion people to get on the first tenders. We were on our van and leaving the port around 10:30 am, about an hour after I had hoped we would be leaving. I was glad that we would be in port until 8:00 PM, so we could do the full tour. We found out later that part of the issue with the late tenders was that they were concerned if we would even be able to use the tenders due to the winds. I was surprised, since it was a very smooth tender ride. I can’t imagine had we had to cancel this port.
The van was similar to the one we had used the previous day and was quite comfortable. Our guide for the day was Marc. As usual, he told us all about what we would be seeing and doing. As we were leaving Saint-Malo, I wished that we had enough time to go into the walled city; but with us running so late, it wouldn’t happen. It did look like an interesting place and those that did visit there really enjoyed it.
The drive to Mont Saint-Michel would take about an hour and a half. On the way we passed by an old windmill. I was pleased to see it, since we didn’t get to see any in the Netherlands.
At about 20 minutes into the drive we could see Mont Saint-Michel way in the distance. Then about an hour into the journey, Marc pulled over so that we could take some photos of it in the distance. It was still too far to get a good photo with the lens I had with me.
Then he stopped again about 10 minutes later at a better viewing point. I was getting excited; but I would have preferred just getting there than stopping for more long shots.
At last we arrived at our parking location. It was across the street from a small shopping area with several brightly colored cow statues.
Marc said that we were parked between the main parking lot and the island, so we could walk there rather than waiting for the free shuttle. But he did recommend the shuttle, since it would be quicker. We all waited, along with a few other folks who had also parked there. When the tram stopped, it was totally full. There was no way even one person could squeeze in. So, we decided to wait for the shuttle leaving the island that was heading for the parking lot, so that we could take it on its return trip. It was a good idea. We had to wait a few minutes at the parking lot; but when we left, the shuttle was once again totally full. We could have been waiting a long time for a shuttle that had room for us had we not got on the return bus first.
The ride to the island was longer than I expected, so I was glad that we passed on the walking idea. I found out that it is a mile and a half ride from the parking lot. In 2014 a bridge was completed that allowed the shuttles to take tourists almost all the way to the island. The shuttle stopped early so that everyone could get off and get photos from a reasonable distance to get the whole island in the picture. It is quite an amazing sight.
After we got off of the shuttle and walked towared the island, we were seeing it from different angles.
When we were planning the tour while still at home, Marc had asked how many people wanted tickets to the abbey at the top of the city. With my knee bothering me, I didn’t know if I would even be able to walk up much of the path itself into the city, much less the abbey; so, I passed on them. Although I knew that Craig wanted to go to the top, he preferred to just stay with me. As we got closer, we could see how steep the walk would be. Marc had told us that there are two trails up to the abbey. The one on the left is easier and there are very few people on the path. The one on the right is where all the shops and crowds are clogging up the street. He recommended going up the left path and coming down the right one, which is what we were going to do. In the below photo you can see the two entrances in the top photo, with the ones below being close ups of the entrances.
For the last few days my right knee had been hurting, but mainly when I climbed stairs or when I stopped walking. So, I decide to go as far as I could go until the pain made me stop. I was quite pleased that the left path was more ramps than steps, which was much better for me. It was a most enjoyable walk. We could look up at the castle or down to the buildings and winding road to the parking lot.
It took less than 15 to get up to where we could go into the abbey. That didn’t take long at all! I was ready to walk a lot more, so we got in the line to buy tickets. We were lucky that the line took less than ten minutes to get through. This part of the walk was really nice in that we were right at the base of the abbey. The view down was also more panoramic from the higher altitude.
We walked up to the west terrace area, where people were relaxing and taking in the views from the top of the island.
We then walked into the abbey church, which was built in the early decades of the year 1000 AD. The roof of the abbey collapsed and was rebuilt in the 15th century. This was a very old church. Although not an ornate church, it was quite beautiful.
The path then led into the cloister area of the abbey. Just a lovely area. I have always been a cloister fan. I would see an incredible one on the last day of the vacation.
The next area was the refectory, where the monks took their meals in silence, while one of them gave a reading from the pulpit.
We then moved down to the Guests’ Hall, which is just below the below the refectory. This room was designed for receiving royalty and nobility.
Our visit continued into the great pillared crypt.
Further along we came to the former monks’ ossuary, where a wheel was installed in 1820 to hoist provisions to the prisoners held in the abbey when it was used as a prison. We had seen the ramp that was used for the provisions while climbing up to the abbey.
We continued through the Saint Etienne chapel. It was the chapel of the dead.
We then got into a delay on a stairwell leading out of the abbey. It was a narrow winding staircase with too many people trying to leave and the line was led by a couple that were not in good enough physical shape to be able to move very fast. But when we did leave the abbey, I was able to get a nice shot of the back of the gold statue of Saint Michael on top of the spire.
We found the road through all the shops and headed back down. As Marc had said, it was very crowded. We had hoped to find a place to eat for lunch, but there were lines at all the restaurants. The old narrow street lined with shops is interesting, but very unpleasant to try to navigate to get somewhere. We were so glad we went up the path less traveled and more scenic.
We got on the tram to head back to our parking area. I took a last look back at Mont Saint=Michel and saw the dam that was built in 2011 to reduce the silt that was building up around the island. I was so glad that I had been able to climb to the abbey of this amazing island town. It made the visit so much more enjoyable.
The tour also included a visit to the walled town of Dinan which was about an hour’s drive away. Marc told us about places we should visit in the town and pointed them out as we were driving in and after we parked the van. The town looked like a treasure trove of photo opps, but we wanted to check out Saint Saviour’s Basilica first. I am a church addict and love to visit and take photos of the them. The church was founded in the year 1000 AD and construction completed in 1120 AD. It is a very old church.
The interior was quite lovely, with gorgeous stained-glass windows and decorations.
Dinan is built on top of mountain and has a great view looking down into the Rance Valley. Along the wall is Saint Catherine Tower. The watch tower was built in the 14th Century and was used to protect the city. Walking out on to the tower provided superb panoramic views of the valley.
We then headed into the medieval town with many half-timbered buildings. I was so glad this town was on our itinerary.
Along the path we came to St. Malo’s Cathedral. It was built in the 12th Century but suffered damage during WW2. It has been nicely restored.
They had a room displaying many of the articles that have been used in the church.
They also had some burial vaults with reliefs of their inhabitants.
We walked around the quaint town some more before meeting the van at our appointed time. It had been just an awesome touring day – great weather at great sites.
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