Dinner with Dolphins.

Tonight was the last formal dinner on the cruise and therefore was the traditional Beef Wellington followed by Baked Alaska. As always this was preceded by the parade of chefs around the dining room, it's quite amazing how many people it takes to cook the food on board.

We also took the opportunity while the official photographers were otherwise engaged to use their props to take some snaps of our own. Firstly Sylvia and I with flowers in the Atrium.

Notice the nice new snazzy bow tie!

We then found a nice backdrop of the ship.......

......where we all posed for photos.

The last two nights our dinner guests have been great company, on Thursday the entire table, except Sylvia and I, had Wolverhampton connections. In fact one lady seemed to know relatives of almost everyone else on the table. Tonight we share a window table with a couple from Hull, with which Win & Jim shared many reminiscences of their university days. The dinner conversation was temporarily interrupted by the appearance of a large pod of dolphins dancing for us as we sailed along. P&O pull out all the stops for entertainment!!

I haven't talked much this cruise about the quizzes on board, this is because they were far and few between. The main ones were the Progressive Quiz, which takes place on every sea day with the scores being accumulated throughout the cruise. Sylvia and I entered this as "The Village People" and at the time of writing , with two results to be posted, we are leading the field. The other quiz that I have taken part in is the traditional late night Syndicate quiz. This is a team event with the night's winners being penalised the following quiz, if you win two nights running its minus two points and so on. I teamed up with a couple from Stafford and despite the handicap system we have managed to win on six nights being beaten on tie breaks on two other occasions. Several bottles of Oly Smith's wine is having to be carefully packed.

Overall this cruise has been excellent with the weather, aside from a little drizzle in Cadiz and the thunder storm in Ajaccio, being superb. The food as always has been very good with lots of choices of venues to eat in.The scales are probably in for a shock when we get home!! The highlights of the ports we visited were Barcelona, much better in the sunshine, Cannes and our personal favourite Cartagena. This is a beautiful city with plenty to see and do and I'm looking forward to returning next year.

This will be the last post, I hope that you have enjoyed travelling with us and look forward to the next time. Whenever that will be.

 

 

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Gibraltar and the Great British Sailaway.

There are two reasons why I don't look forward to calling into Gibraltar, firstly, I can't stand the macaques and secondly it means the cruise is nearly over as this is traditionally the last port of call.

We arrived in port this morning at around 8am and as the ship was due to leave at lunch time we decided to go ashore at the earliest opportunity. Having visited Gibraltar on several previous cruises we attempted to get to the Moorish castle located high up on the Rock.

Despite climbing several such flights of steps as these the castle seemed as far away as it did from the bottom, so we cut our losses and headed back down.

Walking through the town I was determined to get some photos of the macaques to add to the blog but we could not find any. Perhaps these notices which I had not noticed previously meant that they now stuck to their homes on the rock.

In fact the only apes that we spotted were Aaron's favourites hanging in the shops.

P&O cruises are famous for their sailaways and the one from Gibraltar has to be seen to be believed containing as it does patriotic songs from all four corners of the United Kingdom. With the entertainment team leading from the stage the passengers join in with gusto, giving the bar staff a great opportunity to sell more drink and the photographers to take more snaps.

Two more days at sea until we arrive back in Southampton on Sunday.

 

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Cartagena

I was woken at 6.30 this morning by Sylvia describing the magnificent morning light on the mountains as we entered Cartagena harbour.

Once up we had an early breakfast and watched the ship pull into it's berth and took in the glorious views of the town from the upper decks.

Cartagena has a wealth of history from being the base for Hannibal in 200BC, through the Roman occupations to the glory years of 16th century Spain. Remarkably many buildings from each of these periods are still visible today including many fine examples of Roman architecture.

Although we had left the ship some time before Win and Jim we came across them in the amphitheatre which gave a perfect photo opportunity.

And to prove that Sylvia and I do travel together.

In addition to the amphitheatre the town boasts some Roman baths and several large churches with magnificent altar pieces, but the amphitheatre is probably the most photogenic.

We walked around the town for around two and a half hours, up many steps and down again, stopping occasionally to take in other sights such as this tree in one of the large squares.

On a hot and sunny day Cartagena was a beautiful city to visit and I am certainly looking forward to returning here next year. Poppy & Joseph will love it.

Tomorrow is our last stop, just a morning in good old Gibraltar, and then back across the Bay of Biscay and home.

 

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A Quiet Day On Board

After four ports in four days it was quite nice to have a sea day today. There is always plenty to do on board a cruise ship and today's programme contained such diverse items as a behind the scenes look at the theatre, a talk on Nelson's Women, a juggling workshop, a seminar about detox for health and weight loss and various sports and games throughout the day.

After our normal post breakfast game of table tennis we took in a Macmillan coffee morning. Here there was an auction for various ship memorabilia including an exclusive visit to the bridge with an opportunity to ring the ship's bell. We narrowly missed out on that but had fun trying.

Tonight was formal night, another excuse to put on our posh clothes.

After yet another fine meal we were entertained by comedian Josh Daniels in the Manhattan lounge.

A quiet day but with everything to see in Cartagena tomorrow it was good to have a rest.

Sorry for the late posting but the internet seemed to be broken last night!!

 

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Ajaccio, Napoleon's birthplace.

Ajaccio is only a small town but as the ship approaches through the small harbour one get superb views.

The ship's captain in his morning announcement promised us a fine day with temperatures hitting 30C. As we caught the open top bus, for a tour of the town and the nearby La Parata National Park, the sun was shining brightly and it was already getting quite warm. The route took us out of the town and past the area that Napoleon went to school that now houses a monument to the Emperor.

As we continued towards the National Park the wind began to rise and the sky began to cloud over, perhaps the captain had been wrong. Les Iles Sanguinaires are located here and are reminiscent of the Needles stretching out into the sea. Their name is derived from the red colour of the islands at sunset and they contain lighthouses and watchtowers that have protected Corsica for generations.

The tour continued past the Cathedral and Napoleon birthplace and returned to the stop near the market. After a wander through the shops we returned to the ship for lunch.

The weather was now beginning to look a little threatening but I decided to venture out once more to get some more photos, declining Sylvia's advice to take a cagoule with me. This was a decision that I almost came to regret as on my way back to the ship it commenced to thunder, rolling around the mountains that surround the town. Suddenly the heavens opened just as I was passing by an umbrella shop, but by the time I had purchased one the rain had ceased. The short shower had cleared the air and the temperature started once again to rise and the sun emerged from behind the clouds, perhaps the captain was right!

We were due to set sail at fiveish but with the sail away party in full swing the captain informed us that there was a problem with one of the engines. This required a full safety check which would take a minimum of two hours to carry out.

We eventually got away at just after 8 and started on our journey to Cartagena . Tonight's towel art were two little ducks.

Tomorrow will be a sea day.

 

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Civitavecchia and a taste of Italy

The port of Civitavecchia is not the most beautiful stop on this trip but as the closest port to Rome it is very much the gateway to the capital. When we visited last year we made our own way to the Vatican using the public train system. This time however we felt that the already unreliable Italian rail network would be too risky on a Sunday and so decided to stay local and explore the town of Civitavecchia.

We first walked along the sea front reading the story of Italy's first real seaside resort, Pirgo. With the advent of steam trains the people of Rome discovered that they could easily reach the coast on a weekend and similar to Brighton in England, the seaside was born. Although much of the original structures were destroyed in the war and by a subsequent high tide the town is trying to revive it's popularity and have constructed a nice walkway all along the front.

The old town contains many historical buildings with the fort and sea defences still very much in evidence.

Further in the town the old infirmary, constructed in 1523,is still in use as the city archives.

Other more modern buildings are painted in really bright colours that are vibrant under the hot sun.

This evening we dined in the Italian restaurant, Verona, sitting down just as the ship was departing from it's berth.

I started with mushrooms in a cheese sauce while everyone else had the prawns. For the main course Win went for pizza, Sylvia for a chicken dish and Jim for tuna. I decided to go for the sirloin steak cooked at the table on a hot lava stone, it literally melted in my mouth.

Tomorrow we visit the lovely town of Ajaccio in Corsica.

 

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Cannes in the sun.

Arriving in Cannes with the mountains in the background covered in cloud we could have been coming into Porthcawl.

The two towns have many similarities; both have harbours full of luxury ships, lovely beaches and are famous for their festivals. Cannes has it's film festival whereas Porthcawl has it's equally famous Elvis festival every September. Perhaps that's where the similarities end.

Cannes is the only port on this trip where we have to be tendered ashore, a process that can sometimes be quite tedious. Today it was very well organised and by 10.00 we were ashore and phoning Helena and Victoria under a beautiful blue sky.

People had commented that there was little to do in Cannes, with many from the ship opting to take the organised trips to Monaco and other locations along the Riviera, we decided to stay local and explore. We walked along the quayside viewing the yachts ,many of which were registered in London, towards the Conference centre, the home of the famous film festival. Many of the movie stars had their hand prints in the pavement similar to the Hollywood walk of fame, we spotted Meryl Streep and Michael Douglas among others.

We then doubled back on ourselves and headed up a large number of steps.........

....towards the old town and spendid views across the bay.

The shops in Cannes were a mixture of high end stores, such as Gucci and Rolex , inter mixed with the normal touristy t-shirt and souvenir shops. We window shopped in both and also visited the local market. The weather was getting hotter as the day progressed so we made our way back to the ship.

After a light lunch Sylvia decided to have a go at painting a scene from our morning's expedition. As she was showing me the finished article on our balcony people from above commented how good it was. I think you'll agree.

Tomorrow we visit Civitavecchia, the port for Rome.

 

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Cannes in the sun.

Arriving in Cannes with the mountains in the background covered in cloud we could have been coming into Porthcawl.

The two towns have many similarities; both have harbours full of luxury ships, lovely beaches and are famous for their festivals. Cannes has it's film festival whereas Porthcawl has it's equally famous Elvis festival every September. Perhaps that's where the similarities end.

Cannes is the only port on this trip where we have to be tendered ashore, a process that can sometimes be quite tedious. Today it was very well organised and by 10.00 we were ashore and phoning Helena and Victoria under a beautiful blue sky.

People had commented that there was little to do in Cannes, with many from the ship opting to take the organised trips to Monaco and other locations along the Riviera, we decided to stay local and explore. We walked along the quayside viewing the yachts ,many of which were registered in London, towards the Conference centre, the home of the famous film festival. Many of the movie stars had their hand prints in the pavement similar to the Hollywood walk of fame, we spotted Meryl Streep and Michael Douglas among others.

We then doubled back on ourselves and headed up a large number of steps.........

....towards the old town and spendid views across the bay.

The shops in Cannes were a mixture of high end stores, such as Gucci and Rolex , inter mixed with the normal touristy t-shirt and souvenir shops. We window shopped in both and also visited the local market. The weather was getting hotter as the day progressed so we made our way back to the ship.

After a light lunch Sylvia decided to have a go at painting a scene from our morning's expedition. As she was showing me the finished article on our balcony people from above commented how good it was. I think you'll agree.

Tomorrow we visit Civitavecchia, the port for Rome.

 

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