22nd July

New London Sunny Temp 27c

Overnight we crossed through the of the year advised NOAA (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration) seasonal management area for the protection of Right Whales, with the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, towards New London. Compliance with the restriction in the area involves vessels of greater than 19.8m to proceed at a speed of not greater than 10 knots during times of the year when Right Whales to be present. As a result of this plus quite a lot of fog along the route we were late getting into New London. This caused a problem with the ships tour because they were also now late leaving. However the Captain arranged for us to stay 1 hour longer in port so most tours did not need to be cut short, including ours. In New London we were able to dock were as when we were last in this area we had to tender in Newport. We chose to do the Breakers Mansion and Newport tour. It was due to leave at 10.30am but because of the delay we sat in the Princess Theatre for over an hour waiting for us to dock and be sent on our tour. Coral did the same tour so we were able to go together. There was a 1.5 hour drive to get to Newport but the route was very scenic and dit was good to get out in the countryside. On arrival at Newport we first went for a tour around the town which is not very large then out along what I would call Millionaires drive as we drove past some magnificent summer homes of the rich of a bygone era. We saw the church where Jacqueline and John Kennedy where married. We saw the mansion once owned by Jacqueline’s parents. Plus a farm still run by the family to look after endangered species. Finally we were taken for a tour of the Breakers which was the summer house (mansion) of Cornelius Vanderbilt who made his wealth owning railroads. The mansion had to be seen to be believed it is reminiscent of one of Europe’s Royal Palaces. Built at a time when most houses only had one bathroom it has 20 and there are 36 bedrooms. We were issued with audio units which gave you a description of what each room was used for which made the tour that much more interesting. If you had the time there was also additional recording giving details of the lifestyle of individuals but we did not have the time to listen to them all. You could easily spend a day exploring the mansion. At the end of our tour of the house we went back to Newport town where we had 1.5 hours to explore on our own plus have a very late lunch. We had been to Newport before and it all bought back happy memories. Betty actually went to see a mansion last time but it was the Elms so it was different this time. I went for a sail on an America Cup boat. We just made it back to the ship before sail time as we head to New York.

Tonight there was another Crew Talent Night were some of the crew showed us there other talents that of entertaining. Again they were all really good and could have careers in the entertainment industry if they desired.