I have returned from a long journey to many far off places: Dubai, Madrid, Malaga, Tangier, Madeira, Santa Cruz, San Sebastian, Tenerife, San Juan, New York and more.

Internet reception was very difficult at sea, so you will be reading about my adventures now as I write of my experiences with the assistance of the many thousands of photographs I have taken.

Due to our desire to visit some ports not on our original itinerary, my wife Sandra and I went on two back-to-back Seadream cruises.

My first series of blogs will cover our crossing of the Atlantic, from Tenerife in the Canary Islands to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Seadream I – an eleven-day sea voyage.

I must admit that I occasionally get seasick in very heavy seas and I had heard many horror stories about how rough Atlantic crossings could be. That said, there were actually passengers on board who were looking forward to a bit of rough weather! The seas, however, were calm and the weather perfect – not a drop of champagne was spilt.

Seadream II, however, following two days behind, apparently experienced rough seas.