World Cruise: May 2026 Spain to London

Day 133: 05/01/26 A Caruna, Spain

A Caruna is a city in Galicia, Spain. It has a well-preserved wall that built as a fortress to protect the south of Spain.

Plaza De Maria Pita: City Hall and Maria Pita, a heroine in defense of A Coruna against an English armada attack upon the Spanish mainland in 1589. The English already had control of the lower city and breached the old city. Maria Pita was assisting her Army Captain husband in manning the defenses. After her husband fell mortally wounded, she snatched the spear carrying the banner from an English Captain (allegedly the brother of Admiral Francis Drake) and killed him with it. The English troops of 12,000 men were demoralized and began to retreat. Maria Pita then appeared on the heights of the wall herself shouting "whoever has honor, follow me!"

The Roman built Tower of Hercules, is a lighthouse that has been in continuous operation since ~1st century AD. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The tower structure was rebuilt in the 18th century after it was falling into disrepair.

Friends Jody and Joe with the Atlantic Ocean behind us. Jim posing with a statue that is actually supposed to be King Charles III of Spain.

The Octopus sculpture of Paseo Maritimo is a work of art that is displayed along the promenade. 

Day is May Day in Spain. It is also known as Labor Day. It is a public holiday and there are always organized demonstrations/protests being held. This one was from a socialist/communist far left-wing group with signs saying "down with populism/capitalism/etc."

The Jardines de Méndez Núñez park has several sculptures. There is also one of John Lennon sitting and playing his guitar. The gardens lines along the Avenida del Porto da Caruna.

We had dinner at the Chefs table with Guest Chef Karen S. Burns-Booth's fixed menu. She used her mother's original recipe for Irish soda bread.

Jim's vlog: It's May Day in Spain. What would it be without a few demonstrations?

Day 134: 05/02/26 Day at Sea

Chef Kadek is one of my favorite Chefs. He gave me a great spice called Bon Cabe. It is a level 10 and I can't wait to get home to try it. 

Jim's vlog: Last at-sea day!

Day 135: 05/03/26 Le Havre, France

Country #28 (France)

Le Havre, France is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We walked around town and saw the war memorial and city hall. We walked through the open market which was full of locals shopping for clothing, purses, fresh fruit and vegetables and dining.

Jim's vlog: Market, park, memorial and French food makes for a pretty good day.

Day 136: 05/04/26 Dover, United Kingdom

Country #29 (United Kingdom)

Approaching the White Cliffs of Dover! The cliffs are a composition of chalk with streaks of black flint. They mark the point where Great Britain is closest to continental Europe. On a clear day, the cliffs can be seen from France which is ~20 miles across the English Channel. The cliffs were of symbolic importance during WWII of Britain's resolute defense and a welcome site for evacuees from Dunkirk.

Dover Castle is the largest castle in England. It was founded by William the Conqueror in 1066 and rebuilt for Henry II, King John and Henry III. It is known as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history.

Driving from Dover to Canterbury we saw these beautiful yellow fields. These are rapeseed fields which are a plant in the mustard family that canola oil is produced.

We took a tour to Canterbury a UNESCO World Heritage City in Kent. The Canterbury cathedral is the church of the Archbishop of Canterbury who is the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The cathedral was founded in 597 but completely rebuilt between 1070 and 1077.

The town is a huge tourist destination and very cute. The Canterbury Tales pub gives a nod to Geoffrey Chaucer for his 24 short stories written 1387-1400. The tales are about fictional storytelling contest held by a group of pilgrims traveling from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.

The Ducking stool was a chair formerly used for punishment of disorderly women, scolds (public nuisance) and dishonest tradesmen in medieval times. If you look closely, you can see it just above the boats.

Jim being Jim! Bulkhead statue by Rick Kirby. Posing with Dave Lee, a renown entertainer and comedian (1947-2012) made of bronze on the park bench.

Ina does love spice in her life and food! Sambal complements of the crew!

Jim's vlog: Finally made it to England. Ina has to have hot sauce (sambal) on everything.

Day 137: 05/05/26 London (Greenwich), England

We sailed down the Thames river and moored at Greenwich. The river becomes too shallow for our ship to go much further. We transferred from our ship to the clipper boats for a short ride to the shore.

The Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship built in 1869 to be the fastest tea shippers. She was names after a fictional witch in a Robert Burn's poem (Tam O'Shanter) published in 1791. The poem is about a witch who wore only a short shirt (cutty sark) who ran after Tam O'Shanter who was fleeing on his horse and caught the horse's tail at the Brig O'Doon.

The Royal Navy College was established between 1873 and 1998 to provide courses for naval officers. It was originally the site of a royal palace, the Palace of Placentia, from the 15th century and birthplace of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The National Maritime Museum was behind this square. We did not have time to tour the museum today.

The Queen's house sits in between the 2 buildings in the back. It is said that Queen Mary would not allow them to "ruin her view" of the Thames so they split the building. A fox sitting in the garden at the back of the Royal Navy College seems unafraid of all the people walking by.

This Observatory (dome building) was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II on the hilltop site of Greenwich Castle. Sir Christopher Wren who is credited with discovering the Meridian and GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). 

We strolled the streets around Greenwich. Very cute little town. No shortage of pubs/taverns.

The Trafalgar Tavern built in 1837 sits on the edge of the Thames River and is the "heart and soul of Maritime Greenwich". The statue of Lord Nelson (erected 2008) sits outside the tavern commemorating the Battle of Trafalgar (1758-1805) in which Lord Nelson was fatally wounded but did not succumb to his injuries until he has successfully commanded the victory. The plaque reads "time is everything, five minutes makes the difference between victory and defeat". We had lunch at the tavern. We opted for the "whitebait" as this was the popular dish during the Victorian era in which fresh whitebait were caught in the Thames. Whitebait is a collective term for immature fish (1-2 inches long) that are caught by net in the rivers. The fish are fried and eaten whole.

We took the Uber water boat to the "Embankment" West End of London (Theatre district). Saw lots of iconic sites including the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

We took the Uber water boat to the "Embankment" West End of London (Theatre district). It was a short walk to the St. Martin's Theatre to see Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. It is now in it's 74th year (first performance 03/25/1974) and the longest running show in history. We attended performance number 30530. 

Walking out of the theatre we came upon a random siting of Cynthia Erivo, in Dracula. She just happened to walk out of the theatre to her waiting car as we passed. Her exit was too quick for us to get a snapshot. We grabbed a taxi back to the clipper boat to take us to our ship. More iconic sites!

We enjoyed this band for the past 4 months! Arvin Orilla and Eza Bravo vocalists, Carlo on drums, Miguel on bass, Booths on guitar and Joel the bandleader on keyboards. Fellow passenger, Greg Boyer, sat in on drums almost every night for a song or two.

Jim's vlog: Cutty Sark, Naval Museum, Queen Mary house, Greenwich Observatory, water taxi to West End, now at theatre to see The Mousetrap.

Day 138: 05/06/26 London Heathrow to Miami

We had to meet at 2:45am for our ride to Heathrow for a 9:50am flight. We flew British Airways business class Heathrow to Miami without drama.

Jim's vlog: Final day and heading to London Heathrow to fly an A380 to Miami. The big question is: Who's going to serve our dinner to us when we get home?

Reality of life returns. 2 hour uber drive from MIA to home, car batteries dead, domestic chores return including cooking, dirty dishes, laundry, unpacking, grocery shopping, filing taxes, mail, pool cleaning, and yardwork! However, an email from Viking gave us a credit voucher for 15% of our cruise cost to use towards our next cruise. Hmmm...where to next?