Day 10 A Force 8 Gale

Here is the weather report. Overnight and earlier this morning we hugged the coast of Sicily and Calabria and headed into a moderately choppy Ionian Sea. We then moved away from the coast to work our way around the ‘heel’ of Italy, before regaining our northerly direction into the Adriatic towards Venice. It has been reasonably sunny, but with 12 foot waves and sporadic giant bursts which engulf our balcony. Chris spent some time on the balcony playing ‘chicken’ with the waves until he got completely drenched. Because the sky is so clear the view of the sea is very dramatic, and I have some amazing photos, but I feel very sorry for people who suffer from seasickness. The buffet was very quiet at lunch.  Having completely missed Malta, the Captain is hoping we will arrive in Venice late afternoon tomorrow ready to disembark for an evening ashore.

The weather has brought some interesting challenges.....how to walk to our cabin without grabbing the handrails....and washing my hair, the latter being achieved only after covering the bathroom floor with foam and water.

We watched a very funny comedian and impressionist last night, Gary T Thompson, apparently sometimes on TV, though I’ve never seen him. Tonight, thanks to our cancelled Malta visit, we get to see our favourite magician again, Andy Leach. He was supposed to disembark in Malta, so is still with us. I wonder if they’ll double his fee.  If I have time tomorrow, I will try and add a few more photos to the Cadiz blog, and download a picture of today’s waves. This is much easier to achieve when we are closer to land.

So hopefully, folks, we will reach Venice tomorrow in time for a couple of much needed hours on land. Wish us luck,

Claire

Day 9 Confined to Quarters

It is 7.45 am ship’s time and we are not allowed to leave our cabins for 2 hours. It was very rough overnight and at 4.00 am this morning a freak wave pushed in 2 windows on deck 5. I was asleep but Chris tells me it sounded like an explosion (we are on deck 9). Sea water entered the piazza and the ship turned South to be closer to the African coast in order  to seek more sheltered conditions so that the windows could be repaired. It is comforting to know that we are now closer to Libya should a further crisis occur.

So this is our current situation......

No one was hurt and we are all safe. The windows have been replaced with metal plate. Decks 5 and 6 are closed while they replace the carpets. The ship is now turning North  towards Sicily in high seas. Everyone has to stay in their cabins as this is a difficult manoeuvre and the ship is rolling unpredictably.....and it IS rolling unpredictably.  I am trying to ignore the creaking and other strange noises. Fortunately, I have my travel kettle and a store of ship’s cookies to keep us going until they let us out.

Sadly we will not now be visiting Malta, but we are allegedly heading past Sicily and straight up to Venice. If I have further news I will add more to the blog later today.

Afternoon Update

The sea is much calmer and we have been released from captivity in our cabins. We will now be arriving in Venice tomorrow afternoon for an overnight stay. The ship is largely functioning as usual minus one bar and some of the central lifts. Shame about Malta, though I understand the weather there would not be welcoming. Might book ourselves an evening trip in Venice when the details are published. Photo of damage below

Day8 Wet and Windy

What a difference a day makes. We are heading due east,  north of Algeria. The clouds have gathered and occasional rain showers are invading the balcony. Chris sat in the cabin for almost an hour watching CNN and waiting for some news of the F1 qualifying. Just as a picture of Sebastien Vettel  appeared on the screen, the rain cut the satellite signal and we lost the picture. When the picture was restored it was baseball. He is not happy!

So it’s a quiet day. I tried to upload some more pictures of Cadiz to yesterday’s blog, but the connection is so slow that I am using too many internet minutes. Some of the photos have landed in the wrong place as well, but I will wait until we are closer to land before I try to sort it.

We don’t arrive in Malta until Monday, so in the meantime here’s a bit more about the ship....

Grand Princess was refurbished in Spring this year. She lost Skywalkers nightclub, which was the large iconic spoiler at the back of the ship. The rear of the ship does look odd now, but as the nightclub used to shake in the wind, I think its demise was probably timely. The atrium has also been reorganised with the addition of an International Cafe, extra pizzeria, and Vines Wine Bar. As we are already feeling excessively overfed, I doubt that the pizza will attract us, but maybe we will feel differently if the rain follows us to Malta!

For those of you who know the Grand Princess, I think the best alteration is the reorganisation of the Horizon buffet. As I already mentioned, there are extra entry points for toast at breakfast and puddings at lunch. This prevents a lot of unnecessary queuing (and people moaning). If the weather is dull tomorrow, I plan to do a photographic  tour of the ship, but it may not be possible to download the photos until our return, depending on the signal. 

This afternoon I decided to burn off a little of the eating by walking around the promenade deck. Each lap is a third of a mile so I went around 3 times at a reasonable pace. On my third lap the sun appeared momentarily and the Algerian mountains rose up on the horizon. We are quite close to the North coast of Libya, but there has been no sign of Colonel G. in an escape boat.

A final note for kindle users...there was a perfect 3G signal in Cadiz, which meant I could read my emails for free.

Day 7 Cadiz

We are sailing due West along the south coast of Spain having spent a very sunny day exploring Cadiz. Occupying a tiny peninsula on the south coast, Cádiz is a set in a beautiful corner of Spain and is well worth a visit. It was founded in 1100 BC, and is the oldest inhabited city in Europe. It has developed through Phoenician, Roman, Cartheginian and Muslim influences, and  as the skyline shows is now an architectural mix of very old and very new.

 The old town is in the tip of the peninsula and is buzzing with beautiful plazas that are constantly full of life. To get there, you must first pass through the new town, an elegant metropolis with excellent beaches.

Not wishing or needing to book a trip, we left the ship at about 10.00 am ready to catch the local ‘Hop on, Hop off’ tourist bus.

 Unfortunately the Costa Mediterranea was berthed alongside us, so the queue for this bus snaked a very long way along the promenade, and we realised we were in for a very long wait.

 But luck came to our aid. Firstly a gentleman who didn’t want to wait gave us his ticket for 2 adults (worth 30 euros) and then disappeared before we could say thank you. If you know him, please thank him on our behalf. Secondly, we realised if we walked back one stop we could avoid the cruise crowds and hop straight on to the bus.We secured a front row upstairs seat and enjoyed the commentary as the bus, unable to navigate the narrow cobbles of the old town, circumnavigated the peninsular. At this point in the blog, I would love to give a detailed historical overview of the main sites, but it was incredibly hot and time was limited. So, in common with many cruise destinations we have visited we simply sampled the highlights with a view to ‘returning one day’.

We loved the views across the bay, and imagined Sir Francis Drake sailing in to secure the trade routes in the 1500s. Known as El Drak in Cadiz, he is not a favoured figure so we kept a close eye on our little duck’s safety.

We also enjoyed the beautifully sculpted seaside gardens full of fountains and Mediterranean blossom.

 

Last night was the first formal Captain’s dinner. Oh no....I thought my dress was unique! 

Not wishing or needing to book a trip, we left the ship at about 10.00 am ready to catch the local ‘Hop on, Hop off’ tourist bus.

 Unfortunately the Costa Mediterranea was berthed alongside us, so the queue for this bus snaked a very long way along the promenade, and we realised we were in for a very long wait.

 But luck came to our aid. Firstly a gentleman who didn’t want to wait gave us his ticket for 2 adults (worth 30 euros) and then disappeared before we could say thank you. If you know him, please thank him on our behalf. Secondly, we realised if we walked back one stop we could avoid the cruise crowds and hop straight on to the bus

We secured a front row upstairs seat and enjoyed the commentary as the bus, unable to navigate the narrow cobbles of the old town, circumnavigated the peninsular. At this point in the blog, I would love to give a detailed historical overview of the main sites, but it was incredibly hot and time was limited. So, in common with many cruise destinations we have visited we simply sampled the highlights with a view to ‘returning one day’.

We loved the views across the bay, and imagined Sir Francis Drake sailing in to secure the trade routes in the 1500s. Known as El Drak in Cadiz, he is not a favoured figure so we kept a close eye on our little duck’s safety.

We also enjoyed the beautifully sculpted seaside gardens full of fountains and Mediterranean blossom.

Last night was the first formal Captain’s dinner. Oh no....I thought my dress was unique! 

 (Photos to follow, having problems downloading)

Day 6 Now We are Platinum

We are heading due South along the East coast of Portugal. I ordered coffee and croissant for 7.30 am this morning and stepped out onto our balcony to watch the sunrise. The temperature had already risen to over 20 deg  so the balcony was warm if somewhat damp with the overnight dew. The cloud masked the outline of the sun, but shades of red were still visible on the horizon.

Later in the morning we went to a presentation on Alaska to give us a taste of next year’s travels. Then, you have to believe it, I went swimming in one of the outdoor pools, empty (except me) very warm and enough exercise to lessen my guilt about the amount of food I am eating

  For the first time in our cruising lives, Chris and I have gone up a loyalty tier with the cruise company.  We have been elevated to the lofty status of ‘platinum’ with Princess. It’s not the top layer. You have to cruise a lot more for that (called elite)  Neither is our promotion  due to an extensive portfolio of cruising experience, but a lucky combination of cruises with both P&O and Princess. Apart from priority boarding, always welcome, the greatest benefit is $100 dollars of internet access each which gives us 500 minutes between us. It sounds a lot but will only just be enough to complete this phase of 17 blog days, especially when downloading photos and on sea days, where the satellite connection takes longer. So, just a few photos will be uploaded onboard, and the rest when we return to the UK. If I have enough minutes I will also update Sir Francis’ website. 

 I took Sir Francis to dinner last night, and thanks to the goodwill of our slightly bewildered dinner companions managed to take a few dining photos of the duck.

 We also went to the show, a very funny comedian, but the theatre was so packed we had to stand at the back.  Please don’t mention it in your comments in case he reads them, but I have noticed there is duck on the menu tonight.  

 Last night we chose.....

Smoked salmon and crayfish tails

Chicken consommé/haddock chowder

Spaghetti Carbonara/ Roast chicken

Pear Souffle/sugar free   blueberry whip

Watch out tomorrow for our arrival in Cadiz.

Day 5

Our First Sea Day

Day 5 of the blog is written on our first full sea day. If you’re into cruises or want to know more about the ship, then this is written with you in mind. If not, then I would skip this bit and wait until day 7 when we sail into Cadiz.

First a bit about our cabin.....sorry ‘stateroom’

One of the things Chris and I like about Princess Cruises is the number of reasonably affordable mini-suites available on Dolphin Deck. Really, they’re just larger cabins with 2 TVs, a proper bathroom and a large settee. The balconies are very spacious, but uncovered so you are overlooked by the upstairs neighbours.  The beds are comfy, but Chris and I still woke up in the early hours. It takes a few days to settle down.

The sailaway yesterday was very calm, good weather too, but during the night the weather moved the sea around somewhat. Nevertheless, we rose this morning to find ourselves on a very smooth Bay of Biscay. We breakfasted in the newly designed Horizon Grill, a major improvement with toast on a separate isle so the bread wars have ceased. Then at 11.00 am we attended a cruisecritic get together. We met some really interesting people, including at least one Crows Nest member, two Australians, two Israelis, various Brits and a few Americans. We all agreed to meet up again for a drink later in the cruise. Today’s film was the King’s Speech,  and we were tempted bit we thought we might nod off in the theatre, so instead we ordered some coffee and sat on our balcony. It was just about warm enough.  Then Chris and I joined a Scottish couple for a team quiz. We definitely helped them lose!

Last night’s dinner....a very chatty table for 10 (bit too big) with really good company.

We chose....

Spring rolls/Lobster pate   Barramundi/Rib of beef  Sugar free mousse/ Cheese Platter  

More tomorrow, Claire

Day 4

We’ve finally made it...Grand Princess and day 4 of my 50 day blog. When I first came up with this idea, I had no idea how many hurdles would need jumping before we reached this point....family issues, bereavement, work changes .....I won’t bore you with the details.

But here we are, in our lovely mini-suite on Grand Princess. As some of you know, Chris is not allowed to drive for health reasons. I despise the drive to Southampton, so  we used our Tesco vouchers to treble our ‘rewards’ and ordered our ’free’  train tickets from redspottedhanky.com. They arrived several weeks ago in a red spotted folder and we felt as if we were getting something for nothing.

We expected a  very straightforward journey, but the train ran out of fuel at Eastbourne and they dumped us all on the platform. (Chris wants to know how an electric train can run out of fuel). Anyway, we did finally reached Southampton, 10 minutes taxi to the port, and thanks to our new ‘platinum’ status priority boarding straight on to the newly refurbished Grand Princess. Now too late for lunch, we consoled ourselves  with our complimentary glass of bubbly following a brief introduction to our steward......our steward is called Aerial....Chris thought of washing powder, I thought of the little Mermaid, but he’s actually a charming Man from the Phillipines who folds pyjamas as if they are the most precious silk.  Tomorrow is one of two sea days. I will use the opportunity to update you on our cabin, the weather, and some general impressions.....See you then!

Claire