Another word for escape
Thursday, June 25, 2026 Kenna and I woke up extra early today so that we could have our bags packed and placed outside our cabin door by 7 am. We beat that schedule by a few minutes, which gave us time to take a final stroll around the Sea Cloud II and get some coffee. [ ]
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 The last full day of our cruise was spent not actually cruising, but docked at Valletta. Due to an enormous (over 6000 passenger) cruise ship, the Sea Cloud II was forced to dock some distance from the cruise passenger terminal, which meant that we had to take shuttle buses to get [ ]
Tuesday, June 23, 2026 After an overnight cruise from Sicily, we arrived at the second-largest island of Malta, Gozo. Unlike most of our earlier port calls, we anchored offshore and used tenders (lifeboats) to reach Mgarr, the primary port city. After arriving at the port, we boarded buses to travel to the Gjantija Temples, which [ ]
Monday, June 22, 2026 Today we explore the last Sicilian city of our tour: Siracusa (Syracuse). After breakfast, we boarded buses to go to the Archaeological Park, which includes some large ancient caves where prisoners toiled and were imprisoned. The park also includes both a Greek theatre and a Roman amphitheatre. We learned two significant [ ]
Sunday, June 21, 2026 This morning the Sea Cloud II passed through the Strait of Messina separating Sicily with the Italy mainland. We disembarked nearby at Messina, and took a one-hour bus ride to the town of Taormina. Like Erice, Taormina is another city situated well above the coast for defensive reasons. We were given [ ]
Saturday, June 20, 2026 Today is our second day at sea as we travel along the north coast of Sicily. Kenna and I took advantage of the morning light exercise and stretching that was offered. After breakfast, guests that had pre-qualified for physical readiness (primarily stair climbing and balance) were given an opportunity to climb [ ]
Friday, June 19, 2026 Overnight, the Sea Cloud II took us to the northwestern Sicily city of Erice. Erice is a historic triangular-shaped city situated high on a hill, with commanding views of the surrounding countryside. The main church (duomo) was notable for its intricately carved ceiling, and was generally lighter in color and brighter [ ]
Thursday, June 18, 2026 This morning we docked at Port Empedocle in southern Sicily for a short bus ride to the Valley of the Temples in nearby Agrigento. “Valley of the Temples” is really a misnomer; the temples were built on a ridge looking down on the surrounding landscape. We walked a mile or so, [ ]
Wednesday, June 17, 2026 Our first full day aboard the Sea Cloud II is an “At Sea” day as we sail from Malta to southwestern Sicily. It was also the first opportunity to deploy the sails and actually sail without benefit of the ship’s engines. We began with a detailed description of the sail deployment [ ]
Tuesday, June 16, 2026 Today is the last day of our pre-trip, and in the afternoon we will board the Sea Cloud II. We boarded a small bus, traveling to the south side of Malta’s main island. We were scheduled to take a boat into the Blue Grotto there, but weather conditions didn’t permit that, [ ]