Canada and New England: Oct. 15, 2009

Thursday, October 15:
On Thursday, we arrived in Nova Scotia, in Halifax. Halifax is the capital of Nova Scotia and the largest city in Canada’s Atlantic Provinces. The Auburn flag is still flying on top of our ship and with more Canadian flags today. When we entered the harbor/port, three other cruise ships were there. It is cold but sunny, and the temperature is 43 degrees.
We visited Pier 21, Halifax’s Ellis Island and loved the Pier 21 marketplaces. It was wonderful to find arts and crafts that are actually made in Canada! Robert and I were immediately drawn to the Canadian people with their warmth, caring and friendliness. We took a tour, “Coastal Drive to Peggy’s Cove,” that lasted between three and four hours. We visited Peggy’s Cove, where a lonely lighthouse stands atop a granite outcrop lashed by the sea. It is a scene that has inspired artists and photographers for decades. We traveled the scenic lighthouse route with picturesque fishing villages and coves and also took a tour of highlighted landmarks, etc., in Halifax. We saw the three cemeteries where victims of the Titanic are buried.
We continue to be impressed with the generosity demonstrated by the Canadians from Halifax following the 9/11 and Swiss Air disasters. The scenery was breathtaking and the fall foliage was in full colors! We loved Nova Scotia and wished we had more time to stay and visit. Nova Scotia is a highlight for any tour!
We continue to meet passengers who love the War Eagle Travelers. Many have noticed our orange AU flag flying. Again, we were serenaded by bagpipes as our ship left the Halifax Harbor. We ate dinner tonight in the Island Dining Room, a formal dress night, and had lobster. Our server even cut our lobster and we had outstanding service! Following dinner, we saw the show in the ship’s theater, Piano Man—an outstanding performance. Tonight, I placed Auburn Creed magnets in the stateroom door boxes of our War Eagle Travelers.

By: Nancy and Robert Fortner

Canada and New England Oct. 14, 2009

Wednesday, October 14:
On Wednesday, we awoke in Canada, in Saint John! After room service, Robert and I took multiple photographs of the AU flag flying on top of the ship. How cool is this? The temperature had dropped and was 39 degrees with biting wind! Robert and I took a tour, “Saint John Highlights,” and the tour lasted approximately three hours. Saint John’s history began in 1604 when Champlain landed near the present-day city on the feast day of Saint John the Baptist. We visited the oldest farmer’s market in Canada and watched the tides of the Bay of Fundy actually make the St. John River flow upstream. We also visited Cartelon Martello Tower National Historic Site. Again, on the bus tour we made more Auburn connections. A lady on the bus from Florida loves Auburn football and still thought that Tommy Tuberville was the head coach. We were serenaded with bagpipes as our ship left the harbor in Saint John at sunset.
Tonight, Robert and I again ate at the Crown Grille, had seafood, and wonderful service from our waiter/server Juan and the restaurant supervisor. Afterward, we attended the evening show in the theater, “The International Crew Show.” Prior to the show, the ship’s crew passed out balloons already blown up, and there were literally hundreds of balloons being batted around by the passengers. It was really fun and I made a mental note to use this activity again in a future event. It goes to show that there is a kid in all of us! Tonight I placed Auburn Alumni Association notepads in the stateroom door boxes of our War Eagle Travelers.

By: Nancy and Robert Fortner

Canada and New England - October 13-2009

Tuesday, October 13:
On Tuesday morning we awoke in Bar Harbor, Maine. The ship anchored in the harbor and passengers took the ship’s tenders ashore for tours and excursions. Robert and I took two tours: “A Walking Tour of Victorian Bar Harbor” and the “Acadia National Park Scenic Drive.” Both tours lasted about three or four hours. It was pouring rain but the rain didn’t dampen the spirit of the tours and day in Bar Harbor! On our walking tour we passed a bed and breakfast inn and a car was backing out of the driveway. Would you believe that the car had a Dothan, Ala., car tag with an Auburn tiger tail hanging out of the trunk and magnetic AU stickers on the sides of the car? I walked up and tapped on the window and when the window rolled down I saw three ladies who were on a fall foliage self-tour to New England. I said that this was indeed a War Eagle moment and said War Eagle! We took photos and introduced ourselves. You just never know when you will run into Auburn alumni, do you?
On the walking tour we toured St. Savior’s Episcopal Church, which has multiple Tiffany stained glass windows, and saw the exclusive shops and Victorian mansions that survived the Great Fire of 1947. Bar Harbor was one the most exclusives resorts in the world prior to 1947. In between tours we ate lobster bisque and lobster rolls at a small seaside restaurant. Would you believe that our waiter was from Montgomery and his father had attended Auburn!
On the bus tour to the Acadia National Park our tour guide was a retired Park Ranger who had served his last 24 years of service at the Acadia National Park. Norm Dodge was a treat and we learned so much about Acadia. The tour traveled a 27-mile loop road to Hull’s Cove and Cadillac Mountain, Ocean Drive with view of Acadia rugged coastline, and Thunder Hole. The scenery was just majestic, with views of the bays from the coastlines along with breathtaking fall foliage! Acadia National Park is a must-see for any tour and I took many photos to help me remember the beauty of this national park.
Tonight our entire War Eagle Travelers met for dinner at 6 p.m. in one of the reserved dining rooms, the Coral Dining Room. Our group had different seating times, from early to late to anytime seating, so this was the first time we all had a meal together. Eduardo was our waiter and the service was just wonderful. The camaraderie was just wonderful and we had a great time being together. The Maitre d’ also gave our table special service.
I received good news! I had requested to our cruise liaison, Hugo, that our Auburn orange flag with blue AU fly along with the other flags on the top of the ship. The first answer was a no, that only maritime flags could fly on the ship. I told Hugo I was very disappointed and he went all the way to the captain of the ship, who made the call. He said yes! So beginning on Wednesday, our Auburn flag will fly along with the Canadian, Great Britain, and Princess Cruise Line flags on the top of the ship. How neat it was to see the Auburn flag flying in Canadian ports as the ship entered the harbors each morning! War Eagle!!! All of our travelers got some great photos of the flag flying and, as we said, the Country of Auburn is well represented! We went to a piano bar following our dinner and loved the pianist. Tonight I placed Auburn Alumni Association pens in the stateroom door boxes of our War Eagle Travelers.

By Nancy and Robert Fortner

Cananda and New England October 12, 2009

Monday, October 12:
Monday morning we awoke in a new harbor: Boston! Robert and I love room service and after our breakfast on the balcony, I met with Hugo from Passenger Services. We set up final plans for our Auburn Reception, and Hugo volunteered to help me decorate! He put me in contact with the group photographer and the Maitre D’.
With plans set, Robert and I took a tour of Boston, the “Scenic Boston and Harbor Cruise,” that lasted approximately three hours. The tour was of Boston by land and sea, with a narrated panoramic tour of the city sights and a harbor guided cruise. The harbor cruise offered a view of the USS Constitution, the Old North Church, Bunker Hill Monument, and where the Boston Tea Party took place. The land tour visited Boston’s Back Bay district, Victorian brick brownstone mansions, Newbury Street, the Old State House, and Quincy Market. You definitely got a snapshot of this historic, lovely city. Every step is a historic one! Robert particularly enjoyed seeing the new Boston Garden where the Celtics play! On our tour we met some Kentucky alumni and more passengers with Auburn connections.
Tonight was our Auburn Reception that Robert and I hosted for the Auburn Alumni Association. It was held in the Wheelhouse Bar, and Hugo and I had fun decorating with the Auburn balloons, pennants, etc. I taught him how to say War Eagle! All 21 of our War Eagle Travelers came, plus other Auburn alumni on the ship. One of our travelers, Von Johnson ’64, became our tour’s unofficial recruiter. He found four other Auburn alumni on the cruise and we invited them to our party to meet the other travelers. We had so much fun with a go ’round where all of the travelers introduced themselves. Several were recognized for being the alumnus who traveled the most on association tours, the oldest alumnus (class of 1951), etc. One of our travelers, Hilton Green ’67, celebrated his birthday on the cruise. There’s nothing better than meeting and getting to know alumni and friends!
At the close of the party we had a group photo taken with a large orange Auburn AU flag. We ended our night with Bill Murphy ’51 leading us in a War Eagle cheer! You just wouldn’t believe the attention our cheer brought from other passengers! Many starting coming up and telling us their Auburn connections and, would you believe, we met another Auburn alumni couple from Birmingham. We also met the executive director of the University of Georgia Alumni Association, who was traveling with her mother. She found us as we sounded off with our War Eagle cheer! Robert and I ate dinner in the dinner buffet and sitting next to us was a retired educator and her husband from Phenix City. She is also a tour guide and gave me lots of tips for cruising. Tonight I placed a list of contact information for the War Eagle travelers along with an orange and white Auburn Alumni Association bookmark in their stateroom doors. Tonight I made the tour to the staterooms in one hour! I am learning my way around the ship.

By: Nancy and Robert Fortner

Canada and New England Oct. 11, 2009

Sunday, October 11:
Sunday we awoke and had room service overlooking Newport Harbor in Rhode Island, which had a lovely suspended bridge and lighthouse. We took a tour to Newport, “Best of Newport with Lunch,” that lasted approximately four hours. We boarded the ship’s tenders and traveled to the harbor’s docks and boarded a bus for our tour which traveled through the quaint village of Newport and along a scenic drive on the famous Ocean Drive for a spectacular view of Newport’s rocky coastline and a visit to the Elms—one of the grandest villas ever built in the United States—followed by a catered lunch at the Elms Carriage House courtyard. We saw the church where Jackie and John Kennedy were married and their summer White House, which was, ironically, next door to the summer White House for President Eisenhower. The magnificent house on the rock was one of my favorites. On our tour bus we met the president of the University of Southern Mississippi Alumni Association, along with his wife. We had fun sharing experiences of being president of our respective university alumni associations. As the ship sailed away from Newport, my last visual of Newport was the lovely harbor with so many sailboats docked in the harbor.
Sunday was a formal dress night, and we attended the Captain’s Party and Champagne Waterfall Party. We had dinner at the Crown Grill and I believe I ate the best steak I have ever had. The service was terrific! We kept running into other passengers from Alabama, and this night we met a group of 14 senior citizens from Hoover, many with Auburn connections, plus a group from Columbus, Ga., who also had multiple Auburn connections. I met with Hugo from Passenger Services, who was our tour liaison on the Caribbean Princess. Hugo is from Italy and we became fast friends as we talked about events for our War Eagle Travelers. We set a time for a Monday morning coffee meeting. On this night Robert and I took the cruise “prom photo,” as I call it, and I placed in each of our travelers’ stateroom doors an AU lapel pin and an association bookmark. By: Nancy and Robert Fortner

Canada and New England Tour Oct. 10 - Oct. 17, 2009

Nancy Fortner Journal for AAA New England and Eastern Canada Cruise (October 10-17, 2009):

Saturday, October 10:
Robert and I arose at 3 a.m., loaded our SUV with six pieces of luggage, and headed from our home in Huntsville to the local airport, where we parked and boarded a 6:15 a.m. flight through Charlotte to New York’s LaGuardia Airport. At the Huntsville Airport we met five of our other 21 War Eagle Travelers who were on an earlier (if you can believe it!) flight: Adam ‘62 and Joan Williamson from Huntsville, and Helen Haynie ’57, Betty Jolley, and Diane Prickett, all from Albertville. We immediately bonded.
When our flight arrived at LaGuardia it became a tour adventure to find the Princess Cruises representative assigned to lead us to the shuttle that would ferry us to the ship. After Helen, Betty, Diane, Adam and Joan shared with us that Richard Gere was on their flight from Washington to New York—we agreed that our trip was off to a grand start.
We found our Princess representative at the Delta terminal, loaded our luggage and were off through Brooklyn to the pier and finally to the Caribbean Princess. As we headed for the ship and got our first glimpse, we were just in awe! The Caribbean Princess is the largest ship in the Princess line and is more than 950 feet long (more than three football fields) and 18 stories tall! The ship holds 3,100 passengers and more than 1,000 cruise staff.
We began the process of embarkation, eventually entering a large room and waiting for our number to enter the ship. Because the tide was higher only one gangplank could be used so it did take some time, but it really gave all of us time to meet and greet. Debbie Shaw, executive director of our Auburn Alumni Association, kept texting us the score updates from the Auburn-Arkansas game and you would hear cheers throughout the room as we made our comeback! We not only found most of our War Eagle Travelers but we met alumni from LSU, Georgia, Mississippi State and Florida. When we boarded the ship we met our steward Garry, who was from the Philippines. Our stateroom had a lovely balcony. As Garry showed us around our room we went out to the balcony and we were just across from the Statue of Liberty—just a lovely postcard view!
We quickly unpacked and went to the top decks of the ship for a sail-away party as we left the New York Harbor at 5 p.m. We watched New York disappear in the sunset, then the skyline lights as we sailed into the Atlantic Ocean. It was just breathtaking. I had never seen the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from an ocean view, and I imagined what it must have been like for so many of our ancestors as they arrived in America! The entire ship of passengers attended a muster to go over safety tips and if one was a bit nervous they would have been immediately at ease with the safety plans. I sat by a passenger from New Jersey who had been on so many cruises he could have conducted the presentation!
Robert and I had the “anytime dining” plan so we could go to eat at any restaurant without a specific seating time. Our first night we ate in the Coral Dining Room with a table of delightful travelers from Puerto Rico, Texas, Florida and Long Island. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing their cruise adventures as they all had cruised extensively. After listening to a jazz group after dinner we set out to discover the gist of the ship in terms of where the key areas were located. I must say I never totally mastered maneuvering around the ship because it was so large, but there were always stewards and staff to help. I set out to find the staterooms of our War Eagle Travelers who were located throughout the ship. This first night it took me more than two hours to find their rooms, and by the end of the cruise I was down to about 45 minutes in my nightly visits to their staterooms. Each night I put something Auburn Alumni Association/Auburn University in their room-door box. The first night I taped an orange and blue pennant to the door along with a sign identifying them as War Eagle Travelers, plus they received their lanyards, and Auburn Reception invitation. By: Nancy and Robert Fortner

Mediterranean Rivieras Cruise

July 14, 2009
Leaving the ship – not fun and sad to say goodbye to new friends. Our bags were already on the dock and we had to go and find them, then get them to the bus for the airport. The Rome airport is not great. Security was backed up. The restrooms were dirty. It was crowded. Always hard to end a fabulous vacation! I’m so glad I went!!!

By: Mary Baird