Beyond The Maple Tree

We never thought we’d be cruising so frequently, but with the advent of low-orbit internet satellites, we can now work on a cruise almost as efficiently as we do at home. It’s not always perfect, and we’ve had some close calls, but overall the internet works fairly well. This cruise was with Jen's parents and their friends Lloyd and Colleen.

We began our journey in Miami, where we boarded the Oasis of the Seas. It's a huge ship and until recently, it was the largest ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet. It’s hard to put into words just how massive and impressive it is, so take a look at the photo and try to imagine it for yourself.

Our final stop was Barcelona, where we didn't linger long. We headed straight to the airport for our next adventure: biking in Mallorca.

During one of our previous cruises, we received some onboard credits that had to be used by the end of 2023. After searching for options within our price range and coming up empty, we were ready to let the credit go. Then, just two weeks before this trip, we stumbled upon a transatlantic crossing with cheap flights to and from the cruise. So, on October 13, we set off on a $290 CAD red-eye direct flight to London, ready for our next adventure aboard Anthem of the Seas.

Each ship has its own unique offerings, and Anthem was no exception. During our time on board, we tackled an escape room and even tested our archery skills. One of our favorite experiences, was when the cruise staff acquired local delicacies and served them at the Windjammer. For example, after our visit to Lisbon, we got to enjoy some pastel de nata. At the Canary ports, we sampled local cheeses and cured meats. Following our stop in Halifax, we were treated to Timbits, poutine, and Montreal smoked meat. On these port days, the staff also set up small stands along the promenade offering local drinks. This is not usual, but was a welcome addition on the Athem

When working on the ship, we’d love to work from everywhere. However, the lack of power outlets and the noise level in most common areas mean we usually end up working in our room: Jen on the bed, and Dom taking over the couch (or the bathroom for some meetings). We do try to get a bit of work done outside of our room, but once our batteries run low, we have to head back.

The primary goal of this trip was to work on the ship, rather than explore new cities or have new experiences. That being said, we still went ashore at each port and took some time to walk around and take in the sights.

We arrived in Southampton a day early, and during our time there, we mostly walked around the old city.

Next, we stopped in Vigo, Spain. Here, we wandered around town and went up to Monte O Castro, the highest point in the city, to visit the remnants of the old castle and take in the view of the city.

We then arrived in Lisbon and set out on a quest to rediscover our favorite Pastel de Nata spots. Surprisingly, they didn’t impress us as much as they had on our first trip. They were still good, but we remembered indulging in so many of them back then. This time, after just a couple, we had already hit our sugar limit. However, Dom did rediscovered Pão de Deus at A Padaria Portuguesa, a delicious Portuguese coconut bun.

We did two stops were on the Canary Islands. Our first stop was at Arrecife on Lanzarote, a charming small town with an old and relatively small castle. As usual, we explored the town on foot and made our way to Islota de Fermina, where we discovered a beautiful white resort and an interpretation center. The center provided us with valuable insights into the local history, enhancing our visit to this picturesque part of Lanzarote.

We made two stops in the Canary Islands. Our first was in Arrecife, on Lanzarote, a charming smlatown with an old and relatively small castle. As usual, we explored on foot and made our way to Islote de Fermina, where we discovered a beautiful white resort and an interpretation center. The center offered valuable insights into the local history, enhancing our visit.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife was our second stop in the Canaries. Surprise, we walked around town. 😄

Our last stop before reaching New Jersey was supposed to be Bermuda for two days. However, with Hurricane Tammy also heading that way, the captain made a small change to our itinerary, and we ended up in Halifax, Canada instead. We were a bit disappointed since we had just been in Halifax four weeks earlier, but we definitely preferred calm seas and a return to Canada over rough waters and a windy, rainy Bermuda.

We are already looking forward to the prospect of working remotely from a cruise ship again in the future.

• Barcelona 
• Civitavecchia (Rome)
• Naples
• Athens
• Aquaba
• Dubai

The rest of the time we kept busy with multiple activities. Here are a few that we enjoyed: 

• Progressive Trivia: Every day, we participated in a trivia contest that tested random knowledge. We learned a lot about South Africa (since that's where the trivia host was from), a lot about different phobias, and what random groups of animals are called.  Did you know that a group of owls is called a parliament?

• Flow Rider: Yay

• iFly: No better way to dry out your gums 

• Fencing: This was their first attempt at having this activity on a ship, so the experience was pretty short, but it was fun to give it a try since neither of us had ever tried fencing before.. plus there is nothing like being equipped with a sword and saying, "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!" 

• North Star: The North Star is a big bubble on top of the ship that gives you a bird's eye view of the ship. It seemed like a silly idea at first, but in the end, we were surprised at how impressive the view actually was.

• Morning Yoga: Every other day they had free yoga classes :)

• Comedy, Music Shows, and movies on the top deck: At night we had a variety of entertainment opportunities with semi-known performers.

• Sevilla is the capital of Andalucia and its main industry is tourism
  
• The Moors were in Sevilla for around 500 years - it only took them 10 years to conquer the area.. it then took the Christians 500 years to take it back. 
• When Columbus left to discover America, his departure port was from Sevilla.  
• The city is covered with orange trees. The oranges are very bitter (which is why we didn't see anyone trying to pick/eat them) and are used for 2 things: 
• Making marmalade for the UK (yep, we confirmed this with our UK friends)
  
• Making a very sweet and delicious orange wine (vino naranja)

• The University of Seville is located in what used to be the Royal Tobacco Factory (Real Fábrica de Tabacs) 
• Traditionally, tobacco was ground up very fine and "sniffed" or shot up into the nostrils with a device
  
• The gypsy woman character in the opera "Carmen", by Bizet, is a worker at the Real Fábrica de Tabacos. 

Seville was host to the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition (world fair).  In order to promote the city and tourism, they built the massive Plaza de Espana.  Unfortunately, the Great Depression began just months before the expo began, resulting in the exposition being a bit of a failure.  The expo building still remains and is a very impressive site to visit!

• The Catedral de Sevilla is the third largest cathedral in the world
• It was built over-top of the previously existing mosque
• The cathedral tower has 34 ramps (instead of stairs) that were used during mosque days by the muezzin, who would ride a donkey to the top of the tower 5 times a day to perform the Adhan (call to prayer)
• Columbus is buried in the Seville Cathedral. Rumours say that Columbus did not want to be buried on Spanish soil, hence why his tomb sits in the cathedral atop 4 statues.

Just across the river from Sevilla is a neighbourhood called Triana.  People from Sevilla say that Triana is where the Gypsies invented Flamenco (... apparently there are several cities in Andalucia who also claim to be the "birthplace" of Flamenco :) )