31st March 2016 Last night, we packed our suitcases and left them outside the cabin at 11 pm, ready for the ‘Luggage Fairy’ to whisk them away. With the cabin needing to be vacated by 8 am, we had an early start with a 7 am wake-up for breakfast. We anticipated a busy breakfast service… Continue Reading

30th March 2016 We didn’t berth in Livorno until 10 am, by which time Sue and I had already finished breakfast and were up on deck, watching the proceedings. It was another beautiful day, with clear blue skies and a perfectly calm sea. The ship smoothly manoeuvred into its moorings amidst the many large and… Continue Reading

29th March 2016 What a lovely sleep. No hurry to get up, and no one rushing to catch an early departure excursion to disturb our slumber. After recovering from the shock of the searchlight of the window and my eyes focused, another lovely cloudless day was revealed. Little islands began to slowly slip by on… Continue Reading

28th March 2016 With the clocks going forward one hour, a lie-in seemed unlikely, and that proved to be the case. Those who had booked excursions were up and about, rattling doors and talking in corridors, ensuring that those not on a trip were awake. Peeling back the blinds, we were surprised to find that… Continue Reading

27th March 2016 Yesterday, we noticed snow on the mountain tops in the distance, yet we had a lovely warm day. Today, we expected Kalamata to be cold and cloudy, as forecasted, but once again we woke to clear blue skies, and it was warm (20°C by lunchtime). We would spend a full day in… Continue Reading

26th March 2016 Another slow start to the day. Looking out of the window, we didn’t have the stunning view of a medieval castle to admire; instead, we faced acres of uninspiring tarmac, covered with stacks of containers in all colours. The ship’s excursions had long since departed by the time we emerged onto the… Continue Reading

25th March 2016 What a wonderful day! It began when we opened our blinds to reveal the castle of Rhodes, resplendent in the sunshine, with the Greek flag flying proudly. I had visited Rhodes before, with Nan, Sarah, and Jamie. Sue and Charlotte had stayed at home due to the scheduling of the British examination… Continue Reading

24th March 2016 We entered the port of Limassol on a lovely, warm spring day. Watching from our little window on the world, we saw the town gradually come into view before heading up for breakfast. From the restaurant windows, we could see that our ship had berthed alongside another cruise liner, the ‘Spirit of… Continue Reading

23rd March 2016 This morning, through our window on the world, we gazed out at a flat, calm sea. A few hundred metres away, a misty desert landscape slowly passed by, along with lane markers drifting aft. A variety of commercial ships lay at anchor, sliding into view as we readied ourselves for breakfast. We… Continue Reading

22nd March 2016 During the night, we headed south, leaving the Gulf of Aqaba before re-entering the Red Sea and continuing our journey north towards the Suez Canal. We slept soundly throughout. At 7:30 a.m., we were awakened by the sound of clattering and banging outside our cabin door. Later, when we left for breakfast,… Continue Reading