As anyone who has ever cruised knows, life aboard a cruise ship is totally self-indulgent . Everywhere, you are faced with temptations, all readily available in excess. Many are included in the cruise, while others can be had with a brief, but dangerous, swipe of your charge card. Unless you can exercise some control, you can do some serious damage to your physical or fiscal health. Our 2 weeks on the Celebrity Constellation made that exceedingly clear. For this time, we were tempted by the finest of food and drink, excellent entertainment, multiple shopping opportunities, wonderful diversions to make the trip across the ocean fly by, all supported by a high level of service from the staff. How can you help but love that? Truth be told, however, over the many cruises we've done, there have been rare instances when we haven’t loved the cruise experience or the ship itself. Our sailing on the Constellation just had so many things going for it, including a nice group of fellow passengers, gorgeous pool weather almost every day, and among the smoothest seas we’ve ever experienced. All worries about a December ocean crossing were for naught .

Rather than discussing the ship, let me tell you a bit about the three ports we visited because each was noteworthy.

Our first stop was Le Havre, a 3-hour drive from Paris. However, having just been there earlier this year, we wanted to explore the nearby Normandy coast. In particular, we were interested in visiting sites associated with WW II, which were located about 2 hours away. We didn’t fully understand why this was so important to us, but it was. We also didn’t know how we would do it (e.g. via day tour, in a group, or on our own). As we got off the ship, we saw a car rental agency, and this made our decision easy—we would do it on our own. It proved to be a day we will never forget. We rented the last automatic on the lot and set off for the day in our little Citroen, following the somewhat vague instructions given to us by the car rental agent. Oddly enough, we found our way, without a wrong turn, to the first of several sites about an hour away . It was a smallish museum in Arromanches, a village near one of the landing sites. The beach and shoreline is still littered by half-submerged landing craft, left there as they were on the day of the landing on D-Day This is truly an eerie sight to behold, and it is haunting. Afterwards, as a diversion, we stopped at a Christmas market at which the local townsfolk socialized and sold gifty-type things, special regional foods of the season, handicrafts, etc. It was completely unpretentious, and Bonnie’s French was really useful as we spoke to people interested in meeting us, the Can-Am visitors. At the museum, we got much better driving directions for visiting other war sites along the coast, and with Bonnie as my trusty navigator, we spent the day visiting various landing sites such as Omaha Beach, where the main US assault took place in what was a very bloody battle. If you’ve seen Saving Private Ryan, you get the picture. Today, the beach is beautiful and serene, the cliffs not seeming so foreboding as they must have been that day and in the days that followed . A monument there left a lump in our throats for the words inscribed on them.

The Allied war effort required a safe port in which the thousands of tons of military equipment and supplies could be brought to Europe to support the troops. In the absence of such a port city, an artificial harbor was created. There are still a few remnants of this huge harbor, which the army engineers designed and built within a ridiculously short period. A monument described how it was built and its importance to the ultimate victory.

We also visited sites where German fortifications and naval defenses were located with well-entrenched concrete bunkers and huge artillery guns. Some still stand today, and we could freely wander into these bunkers, and view the guns. They stand among the trenches and the still-remaining fields of craters that resulted from the intense Allied shelling. Once again, seeing it with our own eyes, it’s not hard to imagine the sheer horror that must have been felt there . Today, it is all green and beautiful, but back then, it was muddy fields and hills, very desolate and windblown.

Nothing could prepare us for the most heart-breaking site of all—the American Cemetery. An exhibit there does a really excellent job of explaining what led up to D-Day and how such a massive military effort was planned, designed and executed. Over 130,000 soldiers were involved. But then, wandering through the thousands of white crosses (and Jewish star) gravestones, all neatly laid out as far as the eye can see, you are left dumb-founded. Visitors were visibly shaken and some were in tears. We felt so fortunate to be able to honour the memory of these heros. In Normandy, we were moved by the many sites we had seen and what we had learned. We agreed that it would probably be the highlight of the trip for us.

We had no definite plans for our next port, Lisbon, but our Portuguese waiter, Luis, suggested a trip to Sintra, a city designated a World Heritage Site, and a mere ½ hour away by train . This was a low-key way to spend the day, and after Normandy, it was exactly what we were looking for. Sintra is located in a mountainous region, and its buildings are built up into slopes. Full of castles and palaces, it was a feast for the eyes. Even the early morning downpour did not detract from the charm of Sintra. We walked the streets. We tasted their local sour cherry wine, and got an education from the shopkeeper who spoke of it in an almost reverential way. Of course, we bought a bottle to share with you. The bulk of our day was spent visiting the major palace in the heart of the city. It was several centuries old, but beautifully restored and furnished in a style which reflected the major influence of Islam on the area over the centuries. We followed a maze of corridors and stairwells in the suggested tour route for the palace. Picture a trip to your local IKEA store. Each room had a story, a history of what had gone on there. It involved tales of love, intrigue, power struggles, religious fervor, etc.

Afterwards, we wandered the narrow streets of the city, some barely wide enough to accommodate walking side-by-side. We followed the sound of a beautifully-played guitar and were rewarded with what felt like a private concert for us since there was no one else around. We nodded our appreciation as we eventually wandered off, and it was met with a return nod and a wide smile. It really encapsulated our experiences in what proved to be a very good way to while away our one day in Portugal.

In our last port, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, we once again had no specific plans for how we would spend the day. As it turned out, it was a national holiday. Most everything was shuttered. So, when things get unbusy, the busy go shopping. We found a street market that proved to be fun and interesting for the people-watching. It was knock-off heaven! We bought a few little trinkets, as we casually made our way through. We had done very little of this type of shopping on this trip, and so it was just fine. We ended our stay with an hour-long narrated bus ride through Santa Cruz, the main city. Tenerife was to be our final port for 8 days, but we were definitely up for the ocean-crossing. If nothing else, it would give us a chance to recover from our intense UK touring.

Our next blog entry is likely to be from N. America, as the Internet rates on board the ship are astronomical.