Greetings from 40,000 feet above Spain 🇪🇸! As I begin to wind down this latest hiatus, I’m trying something I haven’t done before: a trans-Atlantic repositioning cruise. 

After landing in Barcelona this morning, I’ll spend the day doing some sightseeing, stay the night, then board the NCL Escape tomorrow. The cruise makes a couple stops in southern Spain before heading through the strait of Gibraltar en route to the Portuguese island of Madeira. 

Following Madeira is a bit of an endurance test – 5 consecutive days at sea. I used to dread sea days, but lately I’ve gotten better at making use of the time onboard. I have a few books to read and Rosetta Stone French on my tablet, so we’ll see how productive I can be. 

After crossing the Atlantic, the 14-day cruise makes stops in Antigua, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and finally Miami. Ahoy! 🚢