This is our first fly-cruise, and because we had a lot, and I mean a lot of bags, we had decided to stay in a hotel at Gatwick, dropping our bags off the night before which would allow a fuss free journey to the plane via security in the morning. It all went well until I took my phone out at reception only to find I didn’t have it on me. Find my iphone dot com said it was back home, so at least I don’t have the worry that it’s gone.After a terrible night’s sleep, me not the hotel,

Read More

We were woken at 06:30 by the screeching of a pump of some kind just outside our stateroom. I had an alarm set as we had an early start with a tour out to Old Antibes at 08:45 but this was just a bit too shrill and early for me. It did give me a chance to get out onto the balcony and watch the sunrise over the Ile Sainte-Marguerite Suitably showered and now awake I headed up to breakfast with Jane in  tow, I had Swiss bircher Muesli  yesterday so changed it up to smoked haddock and poached eggs

Read More

We woke up late today, 8am which I would like to think is unlike us, but I’m sure as the cruise progresses it will become the norm.The view from the stateroom window was far more industrial than yesterday’s as I could see nothing other than cranes and shipping containers. I dithered around until Jane said it was 09:15 and if I didn’t get a move on we’d miss breakfast. Suitably focused we were in the PG restaurant well before it closed and ordered up our breakfast while we decided what to do. We hadn’t any trips booked as I didn’t

Read More

I woke at 07:15 with what looked like bright sun piercing the stateroom curtains, so I hopped out of be to capture this morning’s sunrise only to be told to shut those curtains, Jane is not a morning person. We went up to the PG restaurant for breakfast where I was undecided on what to have. I would like a fry-up but my waistband really can’t handle it every day, so it was a compromise with a mushroom, cheese and chilli omelette and a Cumberland sausage on the side. Nice. After breakfast we hurried off the ship as there were

Read More

I hopped out of bed to catch the sunset this morning but alas we are on the wrong side for it today. We are in Valencia today, we were here in November where we went on a tour. We didn’t plan on going on a tour but we’d decide we fancied getting the shuttle ashore at breakfast. It turns out there is a world triathlon event in Valencia today and the shuttle has a transfer time of 40 mins so that put paid to any thought of going for lunch ashore. Instead it was decided that we’d do the laundry

Read More

It was all a bit noisy this morning with the hustle an bustle of disembarkation for the guests who’s cruise had finished today. Jane had decided that she was having a lie in so it was breakfast for one for me up in the PG restaurant. Breakfast finished early today at 09;00 so by the time I had arrived at 08:45 it was very quiet and I opted for a granola yoghurt pot with compote and a mushroom, cheese and chilli omelette. I grabbed a granola pot and a banana for Jane back in the room so she had something

Read More

After a terrible nights sleep, plagued by indigestion which I blamed on a breakfast bagel, we were woken up by the screeching of the tenders being lowered ready for ferrying guests over to the port. We didn’t have any trips planned for today so it was a leisurely breakfast – no bagel for me today, We’d had a chat with the head waiter Vitali who suggested getting the train. So we discussed whether to go to Monaco as Jane hadn’t been there before so we got the tender over to Villefanche Gare where it was 12 Euros for a return

Read More

We had to be out on our tour to Rome by 08:00 so we missed breakfast in the PG restaurant and ordered room service instead. I had a bagel, risky I know, and bacon and scrambled eggs. It was all very nice apart from the tea, the water in the pot was lukewarm, so I boiled a kettle and all was good again. We had expected the coach to take about two hours but it was just over one. We got off the coach near the Marcello’s Theatre and was looking to get a hop and stop tour bus, but

Read More

Another day another tour, we were going to visit Pompeii this time. It was an early start, not as early as yesterday’s Rome trip, but we had to be at breakfast in the PG restaurant when it opened at 08:00. We had to to be out and in the Queen’s room for 08:30 so we had a quick breakfast of omelette and crispy bacon. Pompeii bans tour stickers so no yellow 10 badges for us and  we headed out to the coach ready for our trip. Yulia was our guide and on arrival in Pompeii she shepherded us to the

Read More

We had nothing booked in Palma so had a lie in and a leisurely breakfast in the PG restaurant before heading down to the gangway on deck A to go ashore for a wander around the city. We got the shuttle bus which dropped us off near to the Cathedral. It was a short walk to the Cathedral itself for a few photos but being a Sunday and there being services on we decided it best not to go inside but to carry on our stroll around town. Walking through the medieval backstreets you could be forgiven for thinking you

Read More