'The Maiden Passage'. Venice - Ft Lauderdale on the Royal Princess

On 20th March 2012, we were both oblivious to a cruise known as the 'Maiden Passage' and all the double entenres and inuendoes I could look forward to!!! 24 hours later we had paid our deposit and yet another trip was marked on to the calendar. Again, quite diverse from any other cruises we had taken thus far. On 21st March 2012, Chris received an email from our friends who reside in Kansas, USA. It told us that they were in the process of booking a trip from Venice to Fort Lauderdale on 9th October 2013. It is the Maiden Passage of the Royal Princess and it would be fantastic if we could join them. Roisin and I venture out yet again on our final cruise of the year. It has been almost 18 months after conception. Where has all the time gone! The Royal Princess is the latest ship in the Princess fleet and was only completed in early 2013. The ship was Christened by Kate, Duchess of Cambridge in June 2013 before her summer season cavorting around the Med (the ship, that is, not the Duchess!!) The re-positioning cruise in October 2013 will take the 'Royal' (the ship again!!) across the Atlantic to start the Winter in warmer climes.This is the vessel's inaugural trans Atlantic crossing (Maiden passage). After looking in to the viability (cost, leave etc...) we decided to get in there quick as this it the type of voyage that doesn't stay available for long and I am proud to say that we will now be part of this historic event. In the mean time, I entered a photo competition and from 52,000 entries, I received a letter late last year to announce that my 'effort' was in the top 1,000 and as a reward will be displayed on board the Royal Princess...Deck 12 midship, starboard. Here is a link to that photo: https://royalprincessphotocontest.brandmovers.net/page/photo/3164 Feel free to leave a comment. We start our journey in Venice. From there we visit Messina in Sicily, Naples, Civitavecchia (for Rome), Cannes (France), Barcelona (Spain), Madeira (Portugal) and then a 7 day crossing of the Atlantic arriving at Ft Lauderdale, Florida, USA at the end of October. We then stay a few days down in the Florida Keys before heading back home. I am hoping that this cruise will yet again provide a host of diverse experiences and I won't have to resort to churning up the same old jokes!! Although we have visited and I have written about some of these destinations before I will try to keep both the info and humour fresh!! The same rules apply as always: 1. Take everything I write in the spirit it was meant, 2. We love reading your comments so please keep them coming. I'll try to respond to as many as I can; 3. Enjoy the photos; 4. Sit back, have fun..... So, fasten your seat beats, make sure you tray is folded away and your seat is in an upright position, you could be in for be a hum-dinger, roller-coaster of a ride. On the other hand have you actually ever watched paint dry??!!! Best regards Chris & Roisin x

Planned Dates

Oct 09, 2013 to Oct 27, 2013

Countries

7