Day 13 Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca, Spain

Happy Birthday Emma, 35 years young today!

Our last port visit and a new one! Arrived at sunrise to see a harbour full of yachts and backed by high rise building.

View from our cabin

So off the ship by shuttle bus around the harbour front to the drop off point near the amazing Gothic Cathedral. We wanted to go in the Cathedral which was not open when we arrived so a look around the main town area seeing some impressive old buildings like the Grand Hotel

The Grand Hotel

and nice tree lined roads with a wide central pedestrian area, this had stalls which were all selling flowers: perhaps as it was near the hospital!

La Rambla

Back to the Cathedral which took four centuries to finish and is one of the largest in Europe.

 

Then back on the shuttle bus to the ship for lunch and yet another lazy afternoon. Again the weather has been hot and sunny and so far this has been the normal for the cruise: not a drop of rain!

Tonight we have our last formal dinner and Gary Lovini, a musical show with a difference! We are not holding our breath.

Then our last day at sea tomorrow, before coming home on Wednesday.

Day 12 Barcelona, Spain

Despite the fog horn on the ship sounding for an hour at 3 in the morning, we arrived in a sunny and warm Barcelona. Barcelona is not a pretty port being mainly commercial and industrial , and there were another four large cruise ships in as well as Ventura: a total of 16,598 passengers!

View from our cabin

A good reason to be on the first shuttle coach from the port to Barcelona. This is our fourth visit to Barcelona so we decided to have a quick look up La Rambla, the main street of Barcelona before going up to see the Olympic Stadium by funicular and then cable car.

La Ramabla

So we eventually found the base station of the funicular only to see it replaced by a bus service; so plan B!

Boat Show

We decided to go and look at the beach area which we have never seen. It was a pretty long walk around the harbour area, made a little longer due to the Barcelona International Boat Show! The beach is long and sandy and really not that far from the city centre.

Beach

Back to the pick up point for the shuttle and then back for lunch and our normal afternoon of just lazing with a bit of swimming.

Impressive Water front

Another Headliners show tonight which we will go to despite having seen it last year on Arcadia! Then off tomorrow to our last visit in Palma de Mallorca, and then a day at sea before we arrive in our final port of Malaga from where we fly home on Wednesday.

Day 11 At sea on our way to Barcelona

We needed a relaxing day and that is we have had. The day has been spent eating, drinking, swimming, listening to a talk on the Concorde crash in 2000, walking, reading and importantly relaxing! And it is still hot, clear and sunny!

Our third formal evening with the obligatory beef Wellington and baked Alaska and Jimmy James in the Theatre which we may well not see.

Day 10 Toulon, France

Arrived in the dark to the vast natural port of Toulon, where the French have their Mediterranean fleet. As Ventura is a large ship it has to berth on the western side of the harbour at La Seyne-sur-Mer. So we had a 15 minute boat tide across the harbour to the main town of Toulon.

So as usual we were on the first shuttle and arrived in Toulon as the brilliant market was just getting going.

We walked up the long street with fresh food on display: the sights and smells were fantastic. The fruit and vegetables were all the right colour, shape and especially smell!

Then we explored further seeing the Place de Liberte with its fountain and the impressive Grand Hotel.

Then on to the railway station which so successfully blends old with new: just like St. Pancras but on a less grand scale! We passed through this station on our way to Nice a few years ago and did not realise what a nice place it was.

So back again into the old town and to the shuttle pick up for our journey back to Ventura.

An afternoon in the sun with this being the hottest day of the cruise with it nudging 30C!

Last night we enjoyed Tom O'Connor(note from Jack – Alan put Ted Rogers but I think he's dead!), he started slowly but seemed to get going as the show progressed. He must be in his mid 70's and is showing signs that he could be past his best! However he still has some of his old charm and sparkle. Tonight is another Headliners show which we are looking forward to.

So we now have and day at sea tomorrow before visiting Barcelona on Sunday. Five ports in a row is a bit tiring so we can relax tomorrow. We hope this sunny and hot weather continues as sea days are much better in the sun!

Day 9 Monte Carclo, Monaco

So we have had two firsts today: our first cruise call at Monaco and the first time we have been here without the Grand Prix paraphernalia. Our previous two visits have been by train and we never have had this wonderful view of Monaco from the height of a cruise ship! Another wonderful sunny, clear and warm day!

Arrived at 08 00 and it was still dark so we did not have the views along the coast that we would have had in daylight: the disadvantage of a late October cruise!

So off the ship after breakfast to explore seeing Port Fontvieille which is obviously the poor relation harbour as the yachts are are slightly less impressive than those in the main Port Hercule!

 

Then off to see the Place du Palais where Prince Albert lives,

and then past Place Saint Devote and up the hill of Avenue D'Ostende (part of the Grand Prix circuit) to Casino Square (Place du Casino) to see the Monte Carlo Casino

 

 

 

 

and back to the ship through a bit of the famous Grand Prix tunnel.and then around the harbour side.

Last night we were entertained by the soul singer Jimmy James who we should have heard of as we recognised many of his songs! Tonight we are looking forward to seeing the comic Tom O'Connor: yes the TV star and not a look alike. He must be in the twilight of his career slumming it on Ventura!

Day 8 Genoa, Italy

 

Genoa is the half way port of our cruise but also a changeover port for some of our fellow passengers. Because of this we docked at 05 00 in the morning and we were woken by the noise and vibration of the rear thrusters! We like watching the ship come into port, especially new ones to us like Genoa. However at 05 00 in the dark we gave this a miss this morning!

With so many leaving we knew breakfast would be a scrum so left it a bit later than usual as we did not have to be off early as we had book an organised tour, our only one this cruise.

So we joined the coach which took us to the scenic fishing village of Camogli, with is pretty harbour and colourful buildings. Genoa is on the Ligurian coast with mountains behind and the autostrada is built into the mountains, with tunnels and bridges.

 

Camogli

 

 

 

After a good look around what is now a tourist resort we joined a boat for the short ride along the Ligurian coast to Portofino an upmarket former fishing village and now a superior resort. There we had time to explore but decided not to spend in the many designer shops.

 

 

Then back on the boat to Santa Margherita, where we boarded our coach and drove back to the ship in time for a late lunch and swim.

The weather is still fantastic; no rain and mainly warm and sunny. Today was no exception with the temperature well into the low to mid twenties!

Day 7 Ajaccio, Corsica, France

Ajaccio is our sort of place, dock in the town with no tender or shuttle bus: just get off the ship and walk around.

Nice late arrival so plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast and watch the arrival in daylight.

So off the boat as soon as we were allowed and after a quick look at the town we walked around the waterfront to see the beach front area. This beach looked nice but the sand was very coarse.

But these two were better sand.

 

 

 

So back to Ventura for lunch and an afternoon of sleeping, drinking, eating, swimming (even IG went in today as it was well warm!) and just looking around the ship!

Nice early departure so as with the sail in we had good light to see the views. We have a starboard cabin and so far this has been perfect for all the ports, so we watched Corsica sail by as we sipped our complimentary champagne: perfect!

As we sail up the western coast of Corsica we see how mountainous the island is with stunning scenery.

This is the end of the first week so we say goodbye to one of the three couple we have had as dinner companions and we start the long task of interviewing replacements! This will be difficult as we have all got along really well and had some great discussions. We are often the last to leave and the waiters are getting restless as they have to get the table relaid for the second sitting!

Day 6 Civitaveccia

 

Civitaveccia is the Southampton of Italy, a major starting point for cruises and the nearest port for visits to the capital city.
As we have been to Rome on the last two visits we decided to stay more local this time. So we took the port shuttle bus into Civitaveccia and walked

 

 

 

 slowly through the shops to the railway station where we caught a train to Santa Marinella, a journey of only 6 minutes and E1.10! S. Marinella is a beach resort popular with Romans and we had a good look around this town and seafront. We were surprised as it was more Seaton (Dorset, home of FBB!) than Brighton!

 

 

 

So, S. Marinella done, back on the train ( took 10 minutes as it cannot speed into the terminus platform!)

 

 

 

 

 and returned along the impressive seafront

and along the Medieval walls past the Fort Michaelangelo

to the shuttle bus station and then back to the ship.
Just in time for a later lunch and our normal lazy afternoon: well earned as we walked a fair few miles ( or should we say kilometres) in the morning.

The weather was a but dull today with rain close but we missed it. However the temperature was still in the low to mid twenties.

Yesterday P.S.

Really enjoyed the 'Stage Door' Headliners show last night: so much better than their first show.

Day 4 Corfu and Day 5 at Sea

Day 4 Corfu

As usual up early to see us sail down the coast of the island of Corfu into Corfu Town Harbour. This time we were prepared and got the first shuttle bus into town. A good look around the narrow old streets,

 

a look at the waterfront and Old Fort which we have been around on a previous visit.

 

We found places we had not seen on previous visits like the open air food market,

and the New Fort which gave great views over the town. The New Fort was built in the 16^th century so is not that new!

So back to the ship by shuttle bus in time for our normal mix of eating, drinking, lazing, exploring and swimming.

Nice sail out past Corfu Town and then we were followed out by a helicopter which circled the ship for around half an hour: we suspect it was part of the filming for the advert.

New Fort
 

And as the sun set on a great day we went to another show from the Irish comic which we enjoyed more than the show the night before.

Day 5 At Sea

We quite like days at sea as we can just relax around the ship. An added attraction was passing between mainland Italy and Sicily and then past the volcanic island of Stromboli.

We have been on this class of ship four times before and always thought the observation deck above the bridge was crew only but it seems this is now public and gave us a great view going through the Straights of Messina.

 

We could have bought some tack at the 'everything for £7.99' stall, bur decided against!

 

 

 

We did have a look at the ice sculpture,

 

 

interrupting our usual sea day routine of swimming, walking, relaxing, eating and drinking.

Another show from the Headliners tonight which we hope will be better than the last one! We are now going into a run of five ports in a row with no sea days!