Sorry folks have tried to send the blog but the ship's internet is rubbish!! Haven't had time to send it from port. We are now in Monaco having spent yesterday in Rome. Have written up about it but it's refusing to send everything so maybe it'll allow me to do this small amount. Will send the final part of the blog tomorrow from home. As they say "All good things must come to an end". Sadly I am now going to do final packing and get ready for final night out onboard ship. ... read more

It’s now 31st March and I am laying in bed typing this. It’s so sad that it’s now soon to end, we can’t believe how the time has flown and we have had a ball – and still are doing except for the counting down! Although, having said that, we are looking forward to seeing all our mates and family again soon but would prefer it if they could come here rather than us back to reality. Phuket was great fun. We arrived in the morning and were moored out to sea so tenders into the town which was fun. We had begun the day with a huge breakfast on board with our pals before going to get tender tickets and the wait wasn’t long. Once we reached land we were plagued as usual by taxi ... read more

March 16th Another early start as we were to arrive in Shanghai at 9.00am. This wasn’t quite achieved as the port was extremely busy and it took longer to get to the dock than had been anticipated so the usual queues formed and the “signing in” for the tours began. Fortunately the sun was out and the biting wind had calmed down a little. There was another lengthy hold up as, once again, Chinese officialdom kicked in and it took them an age to clear the ship and its passengers and once again we had to be sure not to carry anything that might be offensive or harmful to the Chinese Peoples Republic. The arms and drugs are understandable … but an orange? Nearly as neurotic as the Americans!! Anyway, leaving the ship about 45 mins ... read more

Had a wonderful time in Auckland – a really nice place, seems very laid back and some very pretty parts. Got off the ship and took a “hop on, hop off” tour bus around the city, hopping off in a very nice part called Parnell Village. There were some lovely quaint shops and lots of nice bars and restaurants. After this we hopped back on the bus and went into the main part of the city, getting off at Sky Tower with a plan to walk around the top of it. Unfortunately this was when Scott’s bank card stopped working – the Fraud Department at the Royal Bank of Scotland had stopped it as they saw money coming out from different parts around the world – despite the fact we had told them this is what ... read more

Fremantle was a really nice place – the stops never seem long enough to do everything we want and there certainly wasn’t time to get into Perth itself. It was a shame we were late arriving because of engine problems but they did decide to tag two hours on to the return time. Oh well there will just have to be a next time. As we arrived in port there were lots of people welcoming the boat in lining all the jetties along with lots of small boats and a couple of helicopters. Always find this quite emotional but not sure why as it is really just like train spotting and that has never given me cause to well up! It was very hot and as usual there were long queues to get off. On this ... read more