Thursday 8th December 22
Arrival:
We were the first to arrive at the port soon after eleven in the morning. We waited whilst the staff set up tables as more people started to gather. We were classed independent travellers as we hadn’t arrived in a plane from England. We showed our passports, covid inoculation forms and travel insurance documents before being ushered upstairs to collect our identity cards that would open doors for us to board the ship.
People complained about the slow progress of checking in and ‘why our identity cards weren’t ready for us’. I was new to cruising and so had nothing to complain about as I had no knowledge of the procedure. I was excited about going on my first long distance sailing holiday. Outside the weather had changed and the port of Malaga was grey and cold. It started to rain and the wind was cold as we passed along the winding gangplank to board. Inside I got my first glimpse of the ships interior, one way led to the casino whilst straight ahead fed into a theatre where we would sit and watch a safety film. First we had to wait for our passes. Other passengers swept through, I was told they were ‘package’ and their passes were waiting for them.
‘This has happened before,’ muttered someone and another man wondered how long before he could get a drink. At last a crew member arrived with our cards and we pushed in front of the existing line of people to get processed. Once inside we went into the plush theatre and took our seats to watch the film. There was a hushed atmosphere in the theatre, comfortable armchairs interlinked with a holder for your drinks and plenty of room to lounge whilst concentrating on the screen.
Once the film was over we made our way to the cabins down below. I’m on the third floor, that is three decks below. The lifts are wide and opulent and everywhere Philipino staff greet you with a smile and a welcome. My cabin is not unlike my caravan with a large double bed a small corner settee, a desk and chair and an efficient shower room. There’s a large double wardrobe and my first thought was, ‘that I’m glad that I’m not sharing’. It would have been a tight fit. However, it is an inside cabin and I’m already a bit disappointed that I’m literally ‘inside’ with no outside fresh air.
I met up with friends in the Coffee Port, where I learned that all inclusive didn’t include the cookie biscuit for £2.20, at first I declined but I was hungry and changed my mind deciding to have the overpriced biscuit. We made our way up to the buffet dining room, a huge open space at the back of the ship, it was like sitting in the biggest conservatory you’ve ever been in. No plants of course, just square tables and sensible chairs. I made my way around the islands of food not knowing what to choose but I could smell mint sauce and so I followed my nose and decided on the roast lamb with mint sauce, potatoes and gravy, delicious. The vegetables were lacking, a mix of frozen carrots and cauliflower.
After lunch I wanted to go to the spa to book a treatment. On arrival we were met by several staff and shown around the area. It was luxurious and tempting and I booked myself in for a hot stone massage at 3pm that afternoon. I hurried back to my cabin for a quick shower before returning to the beauty parlour. The ship isn’t particularly large and I’m getting better at finding my way around. There are 1700 people on board,
Friday 9th December 22
At Sea:
The ship sailed around midnight and I was only conscious of moving when I woke up at about five o’clock in the morning. We had encountered bad weather and high seas and by lunch time I was feeling very queasy and took to my bed. A gentle knock on the door and one of the staff seeing me in bed asked if I was alright, she’d come with a bottle of mineral water. I’m ‘premium’ and entitled to a few luxuries, like bottled water and more expensive drinks. I had a glass of Veuve de Verne last night, not quite Veauve Cliquot but very nice.
This morning at breakfast in the restaraunt I sat with a couple from Humberside and Ken, an Indian man from Bolton. They were good company and we chatted easily. Ken had worked on the undercarriages of aeroplanes and I was able to regale my story of the time we couldn’t land in Calcutta because the undercarriage was stuck. There are a lot of northerners on board, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Birmingham. After breakfast I went to listen to a lecture about the history of the Iberian peninsula, something I was particularly interested in. His slides were excellent, the content promising but the presentation was dull, reminding me of history lessons in school and so I left.
By now the ship was lurching all over the place and I was walking like a drunk and so I went and lay down in my cabin. I turned on the television to distract myself but found nothing to amuse.
In the late afternoon I got up and went upstairs to the pool deck where there is a snack bar and I ordered some cooked chicken, coleslaw and chips. It was very nice but the rolling of the ship soon sent me scuttling back down to my cabin where I lay watching Michael Caine presenting a documentary called, My Generation. I saw the end of Bohemian Rhapsody and dozed. At nine oclcok I decided to get up and go to the theatre. I got myself a glass of white wine on the way- it was awful, I must use my premium status in future.
I ventured into the theatre where I met up with my friends, they’d all eaten in the restaurant. Dan Cappa entertained us with songs from the Rat Pack, Frank Sinatra et al. It was pleasant and the antidote to the day that I needed. I returned to my cabin at 11.30 and slept very well.
Saturday 10th December
Lanzarote:
The sea is calm and I slept well. I went to the restaraunt for breakfast and as usual sat at a ‘sharing’ table. The first couple were dull and complaining, they’d never experienced seas like it etc…. The second couple to join us kept up the negative banter and included the level of service and how much everything did or did not cost. I ate my eggs florentine, which were perfect, and left. I’ve met other people who spend the whole conversation comparing cruises, they are inveterate cruise travellers. Another couple I met in the coffee lounge, from Keswick, were quite the opposite and enjoyed the luxury that cruising gave them.
I mustn’t get into, ‘I’ve been to bigger and better places than you,’ conversations. Concentrate on the here and now. I’m going to Lanzarote and looking forward to swimming in the sea.
We piled into two taxis and drove to a lovely beach where I couldn’t wait to strip off my clothes and get into the sea. After yesterdays turbulence it was a perfect day, torquoise sea and sunshine. We swam and lay around for a while before walking along the paseo to find somewhere to eat. We arrived in a ‘made for the tourists’ plaza where we had a very good lunch in an Italian restaraunt. Afterwards we strolled though the streets and when I saw the ubiquitous ‘Chinese shop’ I went in and bought myself a new bikini. What luck, it fitted, and it was cheap. We ate ice creams and then made our way back to the ship. I enjoyed my sojourn ashore and look forward to the next one in a few days time when we stop at the Verde islands.
In the evening we went once again to the theatre for a night of country and western music. It was a micro show of dancers and singers, not as I assumed of guitarists and cowboys. The performance was excellent and ended at 11.30pm. I was very tired.
Sunday 11th December 22
Day at Sea:
I slept right through the night and when I looked at the time on my phone it was 09.05. I was amazed that I’d slept for so long. I got out of bed and dressed having decided that I would give the restaraunt a miss this morning and go to the ‘canteen’ on the top deck where I could choose to eat a bread roll with some jam and butter. But first I walked the mile around the deck, that is, four circuits of the deck. People were already laying out their towels on the sun loungers, clamping them down with absurd looking clips shaped like claws defying anybody to remove them. The circuits came and went and at one stage I was passed by a middle aged couple, she was short and rotund wearing a diaphanous summer top and a head band made up of daises. He strode past confident with one artificial leg. A younger man wearing a camaflouge head band, ran past me three times. Likewise a woman, of a certain age, wearing a shocking pink Lycra top, her blonde pony tail swaying backwards and forwards, I lapped the deck four times to complete my mile.
I went into the buffet breakfast area and helped myself to a couple of bread rolls, butter and jam and a glass of water, I must drink more water, it’s easy to forget. I took my food outside and sat on the top deck enjoying being outside. The couple on the table next to me stopped a passing ships officer and chatted with him and then I heard her say that this was the first time that she hadn’t been able to get her Perrier water on a cruise and she’d travelled with them a lot in the past. I felt sorry for the officer who was polite, diplomatic and courteous.
I sat waiting for my friends before realising that I’d got the time wrong again, because there is no internet the time doesn’t change on my phone and I was an hour ahead. I’d nearly given up when they arrived. We got all but two answers right and so team work does work.
They all went off and I went to my room to change into my new bikini, I wanted to go into the pool. By now the sun was beaming down on us and bodies lay strewn about. The water was lovely and I passed pleasantries with some of the swimmers. When I got out I went and sat on the edge of the pool next to a woman who told me about herself. She and her husband were farmers and she had worked hard all her life bringing up four children, three boys and a girl. The girl at the age of thirteeen was killed in a car accident. Her youngest child was born with Downs Syndrome and was also autistic. She said some of the people on the ship have no idea what hard work was and I don’t think she was just talking about the farm. At three o’clock I went to the Squid and Anchor bar where I joined a group of potential singers. Lois, a good looking black woman was our musical director. I felt a bit awkward at first but soon was in the group and we started singing up and down the scale before launching into ‘Lovely Day’ by Bill Withers. She was encouraging and made us all feel good. On the way out I got talking to one of the women who is here with friends but on her own, like me, and we hope to meet at the drinks party tonight for the ‘solo passengers’ on Deck No 11. Deck No 11 houses the Glass House, which in turn houses the more select restaraunt, steak house and Sushi.
Tonight was ‘dress to impress’ and they certainly dressed up. Sequins glistened all around the ship. The men made an effort with fancy jackets and DJs. The captain gave a talk in the atrium and introduced key members of the crew but first I went to the solos drinks on Deck 11. What on earth was I thinking about? There were already a few people there and we introduced ourselves, what was I thinking of, I had to get out of there. I had two glasses of sparkling wine and began to relax a little. I made an effort to speak to a few people nearby and thought they weren’t so bad. Everyone’s a bit awkward when they first meet. A thin dark haired woman arrived. Two of the crew hosted the event and arranged a table for us in the dining room. I didn’t know where or when I was going to eat and so I went along. I chatted some more and found myself with some interesting people. After dinner I went with a couple of women to the Squid and Anchor where our choir leader was singing with a small band, she’s really good. I was ready for bed but one of them wanted to party so we found where the silent disco was being played out and went there. I stayed for a while to get the hang of dancing to music in my ear phones, before taking my leave.
Monday 12th December 22
Day at Sea:
The clocks have gone back another hour. I’m finding it difficult to keep up with the time changes, i was told that you could buy a watch for £10 in the shop as the iPhones don’t automatically change whilst we are out at sea and out of internet range. When I travelled on the Trans Siberian Railway we went through several time changes going forward, this time we’re going backwards I’ve no idea when to go for breakfast. I don’t even know if it’s light or dark outside. I think I’ll get up early and go and see the sun rise.
I was up and dressed by 5am. Not intentional, I didn’t know what time it was. I went to take the lift up to the top deck, saw that it was so early and retreated to my room. I watched the news on the television, rather depressing and then I dozed off again until what I thought was 8.15. It was 6.15. I went up to the top deck and decided to walk the mile circuit.
‘Hallo Wendy,’ said a voice as a man walked alongside me. But who was he? Did I meet him last night at the singles drinks, or solos as they like to be called. He chatted amiably and then mentioned Jane. Ah, the penny dropped, I’d met them on the first day. As we neared the rear end of the boat he told me that the two sun loungers with cushions on them were his and if I would like to use one I could as he’d also nabbed two poolside chairs as well. This was like one up manship on how many sunloungers you could control. There was a book on one and a bag on the other.
‘I have to carry on walking,’ I said and took off for another circuit. When I came around again I saw him guarding his two pool side loungers and said that I would avail myself of one of the sun loungers. He told me to leave something on one of the seats and it was mine. And so here I recline in my bikini on a sun lounger that’s got a soft mattress on it! It’s the early bird that catches the worm.
Before I came on the cruise I’d been suffering bouts of vertigo. It’s horrible, you feel as if you’re seasick. I have to be careful to only sleep on one side and when I wake up I have to sit up slowly and again think before getting out of bed. No rushing to the toilet or I might stumble and fall. Since being on this ship I haven’t had any vertigo at all. Maybe the gentle rock and roll of the ship compensates for my unsteady gait.
Thursday 8th December 22
Arrival:
We were the first to arrive at the port soon after eleven in the morning. We waited whilst the staff set up tables as more people started to gather. We were classed independent travellers as we hadn’t arrived in a plane from England. We showed our passports, covid inoculation forms and travel insurance documents before being ushered upstairs to collect our identity cards that would open doors for us to board the ship.
People complained about the slow progress of checking in and ‘why our identity cards weren’t ready for us’. I was new to cruising and so had nothing to complain about as I had no knowledge of the procedure. I was excited about going on my first long distance sailing holiday. Outside the weather had changed and the port of Malaga was grey and cold. It started to rain and the wind was cold as we passed along the winding gangplank to board. Inside I got my first glimpse of the ships interior, one way led to the casino whilst straight ahead fed into a theatre where we would sit and watch a safety film. First we had to wait for our passes. Other passengers swept through, I was told they were ‘package’ and their passes were waiting for them.
‘This has happened before,’ muttered someone and another man wondered how long before he could get a drink. At last a crew member arrived with our cards and we pushed in front of the existing line of people to get processed. Once inside we went into the plush theatre and took our seats to watch the film. There was a hushed atmosphere in the theatre, comfortable armchairs interlinked with a holder for your drinks and plenty of room to lounge whilst concentrating on the screen.
Once the film was over we made our way to the cabins down below. I’m on the third floor, that is three decks below. The lifts are wide and opulent and everywhere Philipino staff greet you with a smile and a welcome. My cabin is not unlike my caravan with a large double bed a small corner settee, a desk and chair and an efficient shower room. There’s a large double wardrobe and my first thought was, ‘that I’m glad that I’m not sharing’. It would have been a tight fit. However, it is an inside cabin and I’m already a bit disappointed that I’m literally ‘inside’ with no outside fresh air.
I met up with friends in the Coffee Port, where I learned that all inclusive didn’t include the cookie biscuit for £2.20, at first I declined but I was hungry and changed my mind deciding to have the overpriced biscuit. We made our way up to the buffet dining room, a huge open space at the back of the ship, it was like sitting in the biggest conservatory you’ve ever been in. No plants of course, just square tables and sensible chairs. I made my way around the islands of food not knowing what to choose but I could smell mint sauce and so I followed my nose and decided on the roast lamb with mint sauce, potatoes and gravy, delicious. The vegetables were lacking, a mix of frozen carrots and cauliflower.
After lunch I wanted to go to the spa to book a treatment. On arrival we were met by several staff and shown around the area. It was luxurious and tempting and I booked myself in for a hot stone massage at 3pm that afternoon. I hurried back to my cabin for a quick shower before returning to the beauty parlour. The ship isn’t particularly large and I’m getting better at finding my way around. There are 1700 people on board,
Friday 9th December 22
At Sea:
The ship sailed around midnight and I was only conscious of moving when I woke up at about five o’clock in the morning. We had encountered bad weather and high seas and by lunch time I was feeling very queasy and took to my bed. A gentle knock on the door and one of the staff seeing me in bed asked if I was alright, she’d come with a bottle of mineral water. I’m ‘premium’ and entitled to a few luxuries, like bottled water and more expensive drinks. I had a glass of Veuve de Verne last night, not quite Veauve Cliquot but very nice.
This morning at breakfast in the restaraunt I sat with a couple from Humberside and Ken, an Indian man from Bolton. They were good company and we chatted easily. Ken had worked on the undercarriages of aeroplanes and I was able to regale my story of the time we couldn’t land in Calcutta because the undercarriage was stuck. There are a lot of northerners on board, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Birmingham. After breakfast I went to listen to a lecture about the history of the Iberian peninsula, something I was particularly interested in. His slides were excellent, the content promising but the presentation was dull, reminding me of history lessons in school and so I left.
By now the ship was lurching all over the place and I was walking like a drunk and so I went and lay down in my cabin. I turned on the television to distract myself but found nothing to amuse.
In the late afternoon I got up and went upstairs to the pool deck where there is a snack bar and I ordered some cooked chicken, coleslaw and chips. It was very nice but the rolling of the ship soon sent me scuttling back down to my cabin where I lay watching Michael Caine presenting a documentary called, My Generation. I saw the end of Bohemian Rhapsody and dozed. At nine oclcok I decided to get up and go to the theatre. I got myself a glass of white wine on the way- it was awful, I must use my premium status in future.
I ventured into the theatre where I met up with my friends, they’d all eaten in the restaurant. Dan Cappa entertained us with songs from the Rat Pack, Frank Sinatra et al. It was pleasant and the antidote to the day that I needed. I returned to my cabin at 11.30 and slept very well.
Saturday 10th December
Lanzarote:
The sea is calm and I slept well. I went to the restaraunt for breakfast and as usual sat at a ‘sharing’ table. The first couple were dull and complaining, they’d never experienced seas like it etc…. The second couple to join us kept up the negative banter and included the level of service and how much everything did or did not cost. I ate my eggs florentine, which were perfect, and left. I’ve met other people who spend the whole conversation comparing cruises, they are inveterate cruise travellers. Another couple I met in the coffee lounge, from Keswick, were quite the opposite and enjoyed the luxury that cruising gave them.
I mustn’t get into, ‘I’ve been to bigger and better places than you,’ conversations. Concentrate on the here and now. I’m going to Lanzarote and looking forward to swimming in the sea.
We piled into two taxis and drove to a lovely beach where I couldn’t wait to strip off my clothes and get into the sea. After yesterdays turbulence it was a perfect day, torquoise sea and sunshine. We swam and lay around for a while before walking along the paseo to find somewhere to eat. We arrived in a ‘made for the tourists’ plaza where we had a very good lunch in an Italian restaraunt. Afterwards we strolled though the streets and when I saw the ubiquitous ‘Chinese shop’ I went in and bought myself a new bikini. What luck, it fitted, and it was cheap. We ate ice creams and then made our way back to the ship. I enjoyed my sojourn ashore and look forward to the next one in a few days time when we stop at the Verde islands.
In the evening we went once again to the theatre for a night of country and western music. It was a micro show of dancers and singers, not as I assumed of guitarists and cowboys. The performance was excellent and ended at 11.30pm. I was very tired.
Sunday 11th December 22
Day at Sea:
I slept right through the night and when I looked at the time on my phone it was 09.05. I was amazed that I’d slept for so long. I got out of bed and dressed having decided that I would give the restaraunt a miss this morning and go to the ‘canteen’ on the top deck where I could choose to eat a bread roll with some jam and butter. But first I walked the mile around the deck, that is, four circuits of the deck. People were already laying out their towels on the sun loungers, clamping them down with absurd looking clips shaped like claws defying anybody to remove them. The circuits came and went and at one stage I was passed by a middle aged couple, she was short and rotund wearing a diaphanous summer top and a head band made up of daises. He strode past confident with one artificial leg. A younger man wearing a camaflouge head band, ran past me three times. Likewise a woman, of a certain age, wearing a shocking pink Lycra top, her blonde pony tail swaying backwards and forwards, I lapped the deck four times to complete my mile.
I went into the buffet breakfast area and helped myself to a couple of bread rolls, butter and jam and a glass of water, I must drink more water, it’s easy to forget. I took my food outside and sat on the top deck enjoying being outside. The couple on the table next to me stopped a passing ships officer and chatted with him and then I heard her say that this was the first time that she hadn’t been able to get her Perrier water on a cruise and she’d travelled with them a lot in the past. I felt sorry for the officer who was polite, diplomatic and courteous.
I sat waiting for my friends before realising that I’d got the time wrong again, because there is no internet the time doesn’t change on my phone and I was an hour ahead. I’d nearly given up when they arrived. We got all but two answers right and so team work does work.
They all went off and I went to my room to change into my new bikini, I wanted to go into the pool. By now the sun was beaming down on us and bodies lay strewn about. The water was lovely and I passed pleasantries with some of the swimmers. When I got out I went and sat on the edge of the pool next to a woman who told me about herself. She and her husband were farmers and she had worked hard all her life bringing up four children, three boys and a girl. The girl at the age of thirteeen was killed in a car accident. Her youngest child was born with Downs Syndrome and was also autistic. She said some of the people on the ship have no idea what hard work was and I don’t think she was just talking about the farm. At three o’clock I went to the Squid and Anchor bar where I joined a group of potential singers. Lois, a good looking black woman was our musical director. I felt a bit awkward at first but soon was in the group and we started singing up and down the scale before launching into ‘Lovely Day’ by Bill Withers. She was encouraging and made us all feel good. On the way out I got talking to one of the women who is here with friends but on her own, like me, and we hope to meet at the drinks party tonight for the ‘solo passengers’ on Deck No 11. Deck No 11 houses the Glass House, which in turn houses the more select restaraunt, steak house and Sushi.
Tonight was ‘dress to impress’ and they certainly dressed up. Sequins glistened all around the ship. The men made an effort with fancy jackets and DJs. The captain gave a talk in the atrium and introduced key members of the crew but first I went to the solos drinks on Deck 11. What on earth was I thinking about? There were already a few people there and we introduced ourselves, what was I thinking of, I had to get out of there. I had two glasses of sparkling wine and began to relax a little. I made an effort to speak to a few people nearby and thought they weren’t so bad. Everyone’s a bit awkward when they first meet. A thin dark haired woman arrived. Two of the crew hosted the event and arranged a table for us in the dining room. I didn’t know where or when I was going to eat and so I went along. I chatted some more and found myself with some interesting people. After dinner I went with a couple of women to the Squid and Anchor where our choir leader was singing with a small band, she’s really good. I was ready for bed but one of them wanted to party so we found where the silent disco was being played out and went there. I stayed for a while to get the hang of dancing to music in my ear phones, before taking my leave.
Monday 12th December 22
Day at Sea:
The clocks have gone back another hour. I’m finding it difficult to keep up with the time changes, i was told that you could buy a watch for £10 in the shop as the iPhones don’t automatically change whilst we are out at sea and out of internet range. When I travelled on the Trans Siberian Railway we went through several time changes going forward, this time we’re going backwards I’ve no idea when to go for breakfast. I don’t even know if it’s light or dark outside. I think I’ll get up early and go and see the sun rise.
I was up and dressed by 5am. Not intentional, I didn’t know what time it was. I went to take the lift up to the top deck, saw that it was so early and retreated to my room. I watched the news on the television, rather depressing and then I dozed off again until what I thought was 8.15. It was 6.15. I went up to the top deck and decided to walk the mile circuit.
‘Hallo Wendy,’ said a voice as a man walked alongside me. But who was he? Did I meet him last night at the singles drinks, or solos as they like to be called. He chatted amiably and then mentioned Jane. Ah, the penny dropped, I’d met them on the first day. As we neared the rear end of the boat he told me that the two sun loungers with cushions on them were his and if I would like to use one I could as he’d also nabbed two poolside chairs as well. This was like one up manship on how many sunloungers you could control. There was a book on one and a bag on the other.
‘I have to carry on walking,’ I said and took off for another circuit. When I came around again I saw him guarding his two pool side loungers and said that I would avail myself of one of the sun loungers. He told me to leave something on one of the seats and it was mine. And so here I recline in my bikini on a sun lounger that’s got a soft mattress on it! It’s the early bird that catches the worm.
Before I came on the cruise I’d been suffering bouts of vertigo. It’s horrible, you feel as if you’re seasick. I have to be careful to only sleep on one side and when I wake up I have to sit up slowly and again think before getting out of bed. No rushing to the toilet or I might stumble and fall. Since being on this ship I haven’t had any vertigo at all. Maybe the gentle rock and roll of the ship compensates for my unsteady gait.
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