Sunday – May 10, 2026 – at sea to Civitavecchia (Rome) day 2
To the best of my memory, I don’t believe our family has been away from home on Mother’s Day – or if we have, it has been a long time. Many times, on that day we gathered with my sisters and my mom to celebrate the day – usually to share a meal. This year it is the 3 of us sailing in the North Atlantic. Today’s photo is Jan and Kelsey sharing the day in our cabin.
We are in the “home stretch” of our voyage. We are turning the corner on Africa and will soon enter the Mediterranean Sea to reach our last (and first) country – Italy. Today we sail through the Canary Islands which we visited in 2025. This time there is a sense of hesitance as we approach them because the cruise ship with hantavirus has stopped there to offload passengers. They are near Tenerife which is about 150 miles to our West – so no real danger of coming in contact. We will sail on the West of Fuerteventura Island, which is the island we visited last year. There are several screenshots in the gallery to show our progress through the area.
Not a lot to report for today. We have begun to pack the remaining suitcases to be sure we don’t need another (I hope not). We would only have a chance to buy a suitcase while in Civitavecchia on 5/14 or Livorno on 5/15 – the 2 stops before we disembark in Genoa on 5/16. On the first of those days we have a 9-hour excursion which doesn’t allow much (if any) time for shopping.
Tonight we were entertained by a group that played last year – Beatles Celebration. They play “live” instruments and “Paul” even plays a left-handed bass and the piano like the real Paul. They put on a good show – you’ll see stills and a video of them in the gallery.
This week is bittersweet for us. Lots of fond memories of the cruise but we will be separating from friends we have made over the last 4 ½ months. Many of the passengers will disembark in Civitavecchia 2 days before we leave in Genoa (Carl, Yvonne, Edgar, Cuca to name a few).
Photos and video here.

One response to “Mother’s Day At Sea”
Great Mothers Day photo! I would have loved to see the Beatles play. Just checking in. I know it is probably hard to say goodbye to friends you have met on this cruise. We never know what tomorrow brings. Enjoy the rest of your time until you disembark from the boat. Have a safe trip home. Take care and safe travels