Highlights of the Mediterranean

Saturday 18 May we were up at some awful time in the morning to pick up David and Jeannie and head to Manchester Airport.

This would be a first. Several firsts... David and Jeannie had never done a cruise before (although David did nine years cruising with the Royal Navy). We had never gone away on holiday together before. In fact Fran and I, at least, had never gone on holiday with anyone but family before. But hey - we spend so much of our time together anyway what could go wrong...? Creeping Bentgrass do Europe...

We call David "The Clicky Monster". Ever since he got his camera he has never had it out of his hands hardly. I struggle to stop him taking photos of the audience at gigs. Unsuccessfully most of the time... So whilst I came home from the week with what I thought of as a respectable 365 photos on my camera - one for each day of the year, you will note! David came home with over fourteen hundred... So there are quite a few more of his than mine. The above two are his, the mountains belonging to the Pyrenees as we flew (thankfully) over them.

It was "Smile and hold your glass up!"
"But you've just taken one of me..."
"You've had a sip since then..."

The plane chucked us out at Palma, Majorca and a short coach ride later we were at the port and going through the embarkation building to board the Thomson Dream. Which is not the little yacht seen here, but the one I was standing on to take the photo!

So here are the protagonists of the week. I'll show the ship in a bit more detail as we go through the story of the week. We were a bit gobsmacked at the ship moored at the next berth to ours on the opposite side of the pier we were on.

The Norwegian Epic looked fairly epic. Looked downright floating skyscraper on it's side really. We agreed we wouldn't want to be on something so big as

1. it wouldn't feel like a ship
2. we'd get lost...
3. it just doesn't look right!

Our opinions only of course - I'm sure the people aboard her had a good time walking up all those stairs and pretending they weren't on a ship.

Anyway Jeannie took one look and spluttered "Just look at the size of that!!!". Unfortunately at the time really, because we were negotiating some sun seekers on sun loungers on the Promenade Deck and at least one looked up indignantly...

Ok, we've found our cabins, had a walk round the Promenade Deck on Deck 8 - David insists this was the "waist" not a deck. Actually he insisted on calling the pointy end the "bow" too and loads of other stuff. Honestly I don't think he's all that familiar with boats...

But he was well prepared to get familiar with the cocktails! Cheers everyone!

To come: a day at sea, Corsica, two ports in Italy, Puccini's house and lake, Pisa, Villefranche, an unfortunately unsteady frenchman and a dish of olives, a force eleven sea (the frenchman was on land and couldn't use that as an excuse!), Barcelona, and Fran's attempts to swallow a tree (well a bit of one...) Successfully too I might add - though it was touch and go as it lodged in her throat... anyway mustn't give the game away, you'll just have to come back and read more! Bye for now.

Highlights of The Mediterranean Cruise Index

Mediterranean Explorer, August 2006

The year before I started this blog, we took our first cruise on the Island Star on a tour called the Mediterranean Explorer. I say "first" because it was the first of four cruises we took on this ship. Whilst more seasoned cruisers were calling this ship "tired" or "old" and even "small", it was total luxury to us. We had taken two cruises before, both on the six-deck Carousel. Island Star had twice as many decks almost and more waiting staff than I've seen since on a ship. You only needed to look up for a waiter and one was there. We flew out to Palma in Majorca on 5 August 2006. My camera had died the previous week and I had a new digital Canon SLR which I'm still using now. It took my old lenses, bought in the days when I had a Canon AE1, one of the most popular 35mm SLR cameras ever. Some scroat had nicked the camera during a burglary in the mid 1990s and I sincerely hope it somehow exploded and did painful damage to them... Anyway, now we are onboard we are naturally thinking about food - something which is abundantly plentiful on a cruise ship! Miss Franny here is nursing a glass of wine, probably not her first and we are eagerly awaiting a meal after finding our way around the ship. To come during this week are trips to Monaco, Florence, Marseilles, Barcelona and Ibiza. After the meal we took the (pitiful) remains of the bottle of wine up on the rear deck and drank whilst watching the evening grow darker. As the street lights came on and lights on the marina piers lit up, Palma was transformed into a fairyland of lights set against an orange sky.

Return to Mediterranean Explorer 2006 Index

More Mediterranean High Jinks

Saturday 23 August 2008. Yes I know I've been quiet for a week. I've been anything but quiet actually but we've been off on our travels again, taking our second cruise on the Island Star this year.

We took Mum along with us, which meant a bit less walking about than usual and I was able to take the opportunity to do a few sketches on this holiday - something I really enjoyed! As we went through the embarkation routine, Karrin, the masseuse recognised me and as other staff members recognised us and said "hello" (it is only six weeks since we were last onboard!) Mum started to feel like she would enjoy this!

We had an early morning flight from Manchester out to Majorca, where we boarded the Island Star in Palma de Mallorca. Here Mum enjoys a spot of lunch out on the open deck. She's been looking forward to this for ages, but perhaps with a tinge of apprehension. It doesn't take her long however to start feeling at home!

I seem to take the same photos every time we go to board a ship in Majorca, but at least there were a few different yachts to look at this time!

We booked into the Steakhouse Restaurant for our first evening meal and whilst our previous waiter Ronnie had taken some leave and had left the ship only two days ago, Vivian, his Assistant Waiter had now been made up to full Waiter and recognised us and came over immediately to welcome us back. He showed us to our favourite table and he gave us great service throughout the week.

Mum's under doctor's orders not to drink more than one or two glasses of wine - but she doesn't think it will be a problem...

We're down on Bronze Deck, on level 4 but have outside cabins with a porthole and for now it's time to lay back on the bunks and let the waves rock us to sleep!

Return to Mediterranean Essence Cruise Index Page

Last Hours on the Island Star

11 July 2008.

The Island Star leaves Barcelona and we go for a final meal in the Steakhouse restaurant. We asked for a window table and sat near to the salad buffet, idly watching the occasional ship and the endless movement of the waves whilst we ate and talked about what we had seen and done on the holiday.

There wasn't any great sense of it coming to an end because we are already booked to return to the Island Star later this year, this time taking my mother along. That could be an experience in itself. I might ask the captain if he has a plank he can stick out from the side, or should I take my own?

We went to the Ocean Theatre and watched the show, then wandered for a while, taking in the ship for one last time. The Pub, the Bounty Bar, the casino, the shops and "Harbour Walk", the decks and the Beachcomber Restaurant for a late night coffee.

The following morning sees us back at Palma in Majorca.

Fran does the usual squinting from the decks to see if she can spot our suitcases which have been taken off the ship and lined up with about a thousand others waiting for us to collect them and take them to our coach for the trip to the airport. The ship has fooled her this year - they are inside one of the buildings on the portside.

The trip to the airport is uneventful and the flight is on time. Manchester is grey, cold and wet. Not much new there perhaps, but enough to make us shiver!

We arrive back at home and make a fuss of the cats who waver between being glad to see us and a desire to ignore us as punishment for leaving them behind. Gill and Eddie have been taking good care of them though.

And that's the end of the holiday. For now. Can't wait for the next...