- Saturday 19th May (Leaving port)
Left home at 12:25 to drive to Southampton. Journey was fine until we got within 3 miles or so, so it took about 1 hour to do this last part of the journey ! It took another hour to get on board once out of the car, but overall was quite a smooth experience so far. Slight annoyance was that the documentation said to arrive at 2pm (hence the huge traffic jams) but we could actually have boarded at 1pm
The room was nice and the balcony definitely a bonus worth having. To my surprise we had the lifeboat drill whilst still in port, but at least it got it out the way (good idea really) Had a walk around the ship to explore.... it is a HUGE ship, and has lots of stairs. Saw the ship out of Port then went to the cafe type restaurant (called the Windjammer) which is on Deck 11 with a lovely view looking out from the stern. Saw the Welcome Aboard show, which was very good (amazing acrobats) then by the time we had a drink in the plaza bar, were worn out so had early night.
- Sunday 20th May (at sea)
Woke after a slightly restless night. Squeaks and rattles in the room, caused by the choppy conditions in the Bay of Biscay. Ship is still rocking and Lynn has slight queasiness due to the sea conditions. Had a nice breakfast then as Lynn needed some air we had a wandered around, but is quite chilly outside.
Went for coffee in the Promenade Cafe (deck 5) which is all indoors and looks like a village street with all the other shops and large space. Lots of stuff going on around the ship, so attended a cosmetics talk at 11am, Discover Shopping show at noon (where to shop in Gibraltar and France) then a seminar on "Eat more to weigh less" at 1pm (very relevant on a cruise!) then found there is a series of talks from a Poker professional on improving your Poker at 2:30pm , so went to that.... difficult to fit in all the eating and drinking as we then went to an Ice Show at 5pm but this got postponed due to the choppy conditions, which gave us time to get a coffee and cake :-)
Then went for a game of putting on the 9 hole putting green, before having a rest in the Sun. Out of the wind and with the Sun now out, it was actually pretty hot now.
After a nice rest it was time to get ready for Dinner (Formal night tonight) We had the late sitting which was normally 8:30pm (or 8:45pm some nights) which seemed a little late to eat, but the alternative was 6pm, which seemed a bit early ! We were on a table of 10 people, with 2 elderly ladies (who were a hoot) an elderly lady with her daughter, an older scottish couple and one couple a little nearer our own age (but were probably late 50's) All were very pleasant and talkative so although the meals were around 2 hours, it went quickly and the food was excellent.
After dinner we went to the "American Drifters" show, which was OK but not great (was never a fan of the drifters really) then had to go to the Casino ! The Casino was quite large, with three or four Blackjack and Roulette tables, plus a couple of Stud Poker games as well as one Cash Texas Hold'em table (but this never got going until Midnight most nights) Managed to loose about $100 so went to "The Dungeon" which was the nightclub and had good atmosphere despite never being busy when we went there. After a few drinks and dances, managed to crawl into bed around 1:30am !
- Mon 21st May (at sea)
Woke up at 10:15am and went to Breakfast. Then found spot to lye on deck, but was cloudy and cold. Decided to make our video of the ship (as requested by Julie :-) ) and it took around 75 mins to quickly go around the ship. After lunch the sun had come out so sat in the Sun until it was time for my Poker lecture. Sat in Sun for a while after, then had a swim in the pool. The pool is quite small but is salt water so easy to just float about cooling off before going into the sun again. Then Lynn decided we needed to go to the Gym! The facilities are good, with a lot of running machines, bike machines and weights. They also have separate room for the various fitness talks and classes they run
The show tonight is before dinner, so time for nibbles just before the show which was very good. Popped into the Casino again but only lost $40 (and Lynn lost $10) Dinner was very good, then there was a 70's street party after which we went back to The Dungeon but got to bed not too long after midnight
- Tuesday 22nd May (Gibraltar)
Woke up about 9am and had breakfast. Went for long walk into Gib, up to park by the cable car, but decided not to see the monkey's Walked back via Museum and popped into various shops but didn't buy anything. Mainly cloudy today but with sunny spells, so quite nice to be out and about. Late lunch today (3:30pm!) then went on deck to watch the ship depart. Went to see the delayed Ice Show, which was spectacular and great stunts (probably good job they didn't try to do it with ship moving around a lot) Went to cabin to have a cup of tea and another well earned rest, as we are always using the stairs rather than the lifts to get around.... and we are on the 9th deck !
Decided to have dinner in the Windjammer then catch a movie "Talladega Nights" which was quite funny.... then went to the Casino and lost $50 on Blackjack :-( We were both tired after our excursion and exertion so ended up having an early night
- Wednesday 23rd May (At sea)
Woke up early (8am) and after breakfast went to the In-Line Skating for Beginners, but due to the high winds it was cancelled. Tried to walk around the running track on deck, but going round some corners was tricky as the wind really was strong. Tried sitting by the pool, but a bit windy and got a bit cold so had to move to a sunny spot a bit more sheltered. After lunch (and another rest) had a swim, then went to the Poker lecture, then had another swim and rest in the sun until time for a small snack and game of putting (busy, busy)
Time to get ready for Dinner (formal night) Ready a little early, so did a quick bit of shopping and quickly lost $20 in the Casino ! After dinner went back to Casino and had a longer session, turning my last $75 into..... $75 ! Yes my luck is turning... I managed to walk out the casino not loosing anything.... ! Getting up early tomorrow for a trip so get to bed around 11:30pm
- Thursday 24th May (Villefranche, France)
Up early (7am) and had breakfast in the room. Fantastic views of the land from the ship so looking forward to getting out. Got tender across to the coaches and onto Nice first for couple of hours.. it's VERY hot Walked up & down through market and along coast. Had nice coffee and saw roadies putting together the stage for a Motorhead concert that evening... shame I will miss it ! Went onto Cannes where the film festival was in full swing so very crowded and still very hot. Had expensive lunch (but nice) then wandered around the shops. Only had 3 hours so soon had to go back to the coach.... where obnoxious car park attendant insisted everyone walked around his little part of the car park, and objected to some people sheltering under the the bus stop for relief from the sun.... was quite funny to see him getting so excited about his job.
It was so hot, once back on ship just had time to glug some water before jumping into the pool to cool off.... it was great ! Then had another game of putting which I won (Lynn is still beating me 2-1 on games so will have to play some more!)
Decided to have dinner in Windjammer before going on deck to watch us leave port. It was beautiful to see the lights of the village as we left, but the photo's look rubbish. Popped into Casino to loose $25 then back onto deck for the midnight buffet. We weren't hungry so just took some photos.
- Friday 25th (Liverno, Italy)
Woke up early (8:15am) had leisurely breakfast as our trip wasn't until after lunch. Wandered around for a bit before having a rest in the Sun. Had early lunch then went to Pisa on organised trip. It was baking hot, so not great to be out walking.. Very commercial by the monuments with lots of traders selling stuff, but the buildings are spectacular to see. You don't believe how far over the tower does actually lean, seems to defy gravity. Decided not to go up the tower as it was hot, crowded and expensive (and limited time) but got some good photo's from the ground. Back on board, we had tea then I went for swim to cool off again... good job the pool is there....
Saw the ship leave port then went to Windjammer for dinner. Popped into Casino with $50 and played roulette for a while. Had mediocre luck until decided to load up number 8 and it came in !! Went away with $140 so a good night at the Casino at last ! Went to show at 9pm then went to watch rock band "Adams Rib" who were pretty good (although killed Pink Floyd number) Went back to Casino and played Texam Hold'em for half hour ($2/$5 cash game) and ended the session $14 up Got to bed around 1am in the end
See the next installment in General: Cruise holiday round the med (week2)
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