Arcadia Baltic Cruise

We are off on our travels again: this time a Baltic cruise on Arcadia

Arcadia is one of our favourite ships: large enough to have good facilities like its covered pool

but small enough not to feel too crowded!

This is Arcadia on Ocean Terminal at Southampton: we will be leaving from Mayflower Terminal.

Southampton is very busy on Saturday with 5 ships in and we hope to get a good view of the others as we leave, if we go first we have to pass all the others as we leave!

               Ship                                               Arrival                                               Departure           Berth

on Saturday afternoon we will be waving goodbye to Seaview and off to all new ports.

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!