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Published: September 1st 2008
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Hi everyone
As it's quite expensive to spend any time logged on to the internet during this cruise, I've had to condense things a little!
Sunday 24 - Monday 25th August: Barcelona was a fabulous place to visit. Such a gorgeous city and lots to see and do. We visited the usual tourist spots and were finally very excited to boarding the great ship!
Wednesday 27 August: Our first port of call was Monaco.Because it is only a small harbour, we had to board the ship’s tenders each holding 75 passengers, which took us to the marina. We then boarded our tour bus and drove to the bottom of the ‘old rock, or old Monaco. We visited the square outside the Palace as well as standing above the most magnificent sea below us. From there, we travelled on the bus to Nice where we enjoyed a lovely few hours swimming in the blue sea, and then we travelled on to Aix, but the weather was so hot we didn’t feel like climbing up the mountain to see the town on the top. Then, back to the bus and to the dock from where we boarded the tenders (small
boats) to get back to the ship.
Thursday 28th August: We sailed overnight to reach the port of Livorno, Italy. PJ and I were just too tired to move after our first big bus trip yesterday so we decided to stay on board and enjoy the ship. Peter had to go with the tour group. In the afternoon, PJ and I decided to catch a tender out to the shore to visit the town, however, everybody sleeps from 1.30 to 4.30 so the shops were all shut an unfortunately we couldn’t do anything much at all, so we just returned to the boat after an hour. It was very hot weather.
Friday 29th August: We sailed overnight to reach the port of Naples, Italy. The ship was able to dock at this very large port, and from here we boarded our coach to the historic ruins of Pompeii. This was an amazing sight - unbelievably beautiful city buried under lava for well over 1000 years. After a few hours here, we hopped back on the bus for a short journey to the seaside town of Sorrento. This is a really scenic bus ride high on the cliffs overlooking
the resort towns below and of course the beautiful blue sea. Sorrento is a bustling little tourist mecca full of gorgeous alleyways and many shops and restaurants. We really loved this place and swore we’d return here for a holiday one day!
Saturday 30th August: We sailed overnight to reach the port of Valetta, Malta. The island port was big enough to accommodate our large ship so we could just walk down the gangway onto shore. This island is an amazing example of exotic landscape. All the buildings are made from the particular pale orange limestone quarried on the island. The city of Valetta is surprisingly cosmopolitan but the British influence can be seen everywhere, as it was part of the Empire for around 50 years. Coming into the port of Valetta was a most amazing spectacle as you can see from the photos. Truly jaw-droppingly beautiful - forts and curtains of brick walls surround the island.
Back on the boat - it was Abba night in the disco, so I partied until about 3 am with a bunch of ladies and girls that I’d never met before. Peter was tucked up in bed by 10pm!!
Sunday
On the stairs at Gueill Park
Creatd by famous spanish architect/designer Gaudi 31st August: We had a full day of sailing, so we could enjoy the boat. We spent lots of time just lazing by the pool, having a haircut, getting ready for yet another formal dinner. Our large group photo was taken tonight - all 95 of us in a photo on the grand staircase of the ship. It should be amazing! We were right in the middle in the front row, so we will be easy to spot. Peter also had to make a ‘lecture’ to the group and about 75 people turned up to hear him speak about his 30 years in the media. I also spoke for a little while about this and that.
Monday 1st August: PJ’s 9th birthday today! What a lovely day we had. We bought him an Adidas digital watch when we were in Malta and a toy bus for his collection plus some Ben 10 collector figures. Today, at breakfast our whole tour group of nearly 95 people sang him happy birthday! Then we spent the day swimming on the island of Crete in the Mediterreanan. We also went on a semi-submarine ride to see the fish under the sea. While on
the beach, we took some bread and fed the fish that were swimming around us - we had goggles on so we could see them. A parrotfish kept nibbling at my heels everytime I stood in one place for too long. Then, when at dinnertime, a birthday cake arrived for him and the waiters all sang happy birthday. Then, when he went to the kids club, they had a pizza party for him, plus a huge birthday cake and more singing, and a nice present. He has met a very lovely English boy (1 years) who is very good friends with PJ. They both wear their suits around and they do look alike so people are always confusing them and calling them the wrong names! Very funny!
The wind was quite strong today - about 40 knots on the open sea - so the tenders had quite some difficulty in returning to the boat and coming alongside to be winched back on board and tucked back under the deck. We were meant to sail at 4.30pm but were still packing away the tenders at 6pm. A lone dolphin found this all very amusing and kept the last two tenders
company as they motored around the side of the ship for over an hour waiting for the right opportunity to come alongside. The dolphin ducked and dived and kept us all amused as we watched from the upper decks.
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