Oceania Sirena visits Villefranche

Saturday 26 September 2026. It's early morning and the colours are muted still as we gaze out over the ship's rail at the French resort of Villefranche which sits neatly between Nice and Monaco's Monte Carlo.

It is, I think, our fifth visit to this lovely village on the Frenh Riviera. It has a wide bay but a shallow harbour and so we are anchored safely in the bay whilst the ship's tender boats take us into the harbour, weaving through the moored fishing boats and pleasure craft to drop us conveniently at the western edge of the village.

I know that plenty of passengers look upon the prospect of getting on and off these smaller boats as something of an ordeal, but the crew will tell you when to stand still and when to step on or off and hands are waiting to ensure you make it across safely. Grasp at forearms not at hands to make it as easy as possbily. Yes the boats can move up and down quite a bit relatively to the ship's gangway, which will follow the side of the ship, not hang out over open water. But follow instructions and you will soon find yourself on or off the boat.

We have for the last few visits, made our way along to the opposite end of the attractive seafront to the very last cafe before you reach the railway station. The cafe was there but shut. And from the state of the interior, it didn't look like it was about to open soon as boxes and chairs were stacked on tables and the place looked somewhat deserted.

But almost the entire seafront is lined with cafes and tables and we had no trouble at all in finding somewhere to sit, which action soon brought forth a waiter from the cafe across the road.

And then to our surprise, there came the sound of laughter and an accordion and a small group of folk dancers appeared along the seafront road.

Stopping not far in front of our table, they did a short sequence of dance moves without a single hobby horse, wave of hanky or banging of sticks and then turned off up a narrow street where a series of steps led up into the town proper.

We made our way back towards the maritime building but stopped for almost an hour on a bench on a raised platform of land that on a previous visit had housed a collection of market stalls and where my mother had wandered off heading in the opposite direction to that which we had told her. Luckily I spotted her, just about to disappear into the town and had to go running after her... I did 75% of the pencil sketch whilst we were sitting there then finished it later in Baristas.

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Hidden Gems Cruise - Santa Margherita, Italy

Saturday 21 September 2019. Today requires a tender operation to get us to shore. By which I don't mean that the crew of the ship are any more caring than they usually are, but that we are unable to dock at Santa Margherita. The ship anchors just off the coast - we know this because our cabin is near the front of the ship and the anchor chain makes an unavoidable noise as the anchor goes down!

Then we take to the ship's tender boats for a transfer from the side of the ship to the small harbour. I always enjoy these little boat trips though it can challenge some people. However there are always crew members to help you onboard.

One lady was obviously very nervous and every time the tender bobbed up or down she backed away. But she eventually managed to step from the side platform of the ship onto the boat - true bravery; being very scared of something but doing it anyway.

And today's port of call is well worth it anyway. We came to Santa Margherita in 2008 on a cruise with my Mum. This time Fran and I are on an excursion to Portofino. First though there is a walking tour of Santa Margherita.

We cross this road by the crossing to a tiny park, not much more than a traffic island. The guide we were with watched as someone had to dodge something falling from a tree and then proceeded to talk for ten minutes about the tree... Followed by five minutes on the unification of Italy and then said "Now we are going to walk to the town centre." In other words, leaving the beautiful scenery of the sea front behind. We and several others just asked when and where to meet for the ferry to Portofino and left her to it. Why do guides always feel the need to bore the pants off people? We are there on holiday, we are not on a history course... If we look at a castle I like to know the (brief) history of it and maybe a small history of the actual place but not the entire history of Italy.

There is a castle. Or a small fortress at least. It was built in the 16th century as the Mediterranean coastal towns were being regularly attacked by pirates from North Africa. The doorway under the ramp to the right of the fort leads to public conveniences - of much more relevant interest than the breeds of nearby trees...

We strolled back along the seafront past the harbour and looked round a series of market stalls. We bought a couple of small pottery dishes and the inevitable fridge magnet.

Then we found somewhere just to sit and admire the view over the marina for ten minutes until it was time for the ferry.

The ferries to Portofino depart fairly regularly, the trip taking roughly 20-30 minutes. As members of an organised tour we were allowed to board before other passengers, although the arrival of another ferry boat meant that they were not all that disappointed. In fact they boarded and left while we were still being herded on...

The Marella Dream's tender boat waits for the other ferry to leave the harbour wall before depositing another boat load of passengers onto dry land.

And we're off! Portofino, for us, was the most anticipated destination of the cruise this week. See you there on the next page!

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Calling at Korčula, Croatia

Saturday 22 September 2018. The ship has sailed overnight to Korčula in Croatia and we are anchored offshore which means using the ship's tender boats to get to shore.

Transferring at sea from ship to tender boat is not as bad as it might sound. You walk down the usual sized gangway but instead of stepping onto land, you step onto a square platform against which the tender boat is securely tied, so tight that it is a simple step onto the smaller boat. Crew members are there to help and you are normally onto the small boat without even realising it!

The tender boats reward you with the best view you will get of the ship. Here is Marella Celebration looking much larger from the waterline than it does from a dock!

As we head into the landing stage, Korčula entices us onwards with some lovely scenery.

Onto dry land and the scenery does not get any less spectacular! Korčula is a medieval town and so built on the summit of a hill. We are walking around that hill here with a view to seeing bits we missed when we were here last in 2009.

One of the narrow streets leading to the old centre of town. We will see it later on!

Carrying on, we come to a couple of guns. These are evidence of the need to protect the island in the past from pirates and the Ottoman Turkish empire.

Around the corner from the gun emplacement a small harbour witnesses the sailing of a ferry to the many Croatian islands of the Dalmatian Coast. There are plenty of people still queueing.

Following the path round from the harbour brings us to the opposite side of the old city and the magnificent gateway with its sweeping staircase. The Venetian winged lion is carved into the gateway - the Venetians were here before the Ottomans and their emblem can be seen all over the Adriatic and Mediterranean.

We head down the hill rather than up the staircase and arrive at a sun trap with a view of the Marella Celebration swinging gently at her anchor.

Another change of direction brings us to a museum to Marco Polo, the explorer who lived / visited here. There is a claim he was born here, though most sources favour Venice as his likely birthplace in the year 1254.

Our route brings us back to the same bit of seafront and we have a drink in a pavement cafe with plenty of fellow travellers to talk to. Then I find a bench and spend another hour scratching away with the pencil.

Then we climb the main street and the staircase to pass through the gate into the medieval city.

There are cafes, bars, restaurants, a cathedral and as many gift shops and museums as you could wish for. There's another Marco Polo house, a restaurant with a sign that he found both "food and great love" within. Good job his wife never found out...

We get back to the ship to find Tomas and Maris doing a spot on the Lido deck. Lunchtimes onboard for me are usually catered for with some melon and pineapple and very little else. Cooked breakfasts are our usual start to the day even if only one slice of toast with a few beans and the evening meal in the waiter service restaurant usually defeats us. I can't eat huge amounts any more alas.

It is Maris's birthday tomorrow. To celebrate we have booked a table for the four of us in the Kora La restaurant for our final night.

The evening comes. Tomas has been keen to hear me play something by The Shadows. I play a Fender Stratocaster guitar at home with my duo Creeping Bentgrass and am not sure how it will sound on Tomas's guitar which has a more acoustic tone and has no tremolo arm or whammy bar to bend the notes down. But I play Wonderful Land and it gets a huge round of applause so it must have sounded alright! King, the guitarist/singer from Hemingways bar on Deck 5 had come up to listen too - agh, the pressure, the pressure LOL.

I follow it with a crowd pleaser - Manfred Mann's Doo Wah Diddy Diddy. There is no way that an audience who lived through the sixties can stay quiet through that one and I am able to leave the appropriate gaps for the audience to sing (sing? roar!) out the responses and chorus lines.

King joins Tomas and Maris to sing Wonderful Tonight to Maris for her birthday.

Midnight comes and with it Maris's special day. The Horizons staff bring out a cake and two glasses of some fiery spirit!

I'm not sure what time this was, but somewhere around 12:30am. We are in Hemingways Bar to catch King's last session and are happily messing about taking photos when Fran nudges me. "Your name's being called!"

So now I find myself doing a spot with just my own backing on guitar, no backing track. I do three numbers, True Love Ways by Buddy Holly, followed by Tell Laura I Love Her by Ricky Valance and finally Eddie Cochrane's song Three Steps To Heaven. The grin afterwards is sheer relief...!

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Thomson Majesty at Mykonos

Sunday 14 June 2015. Today is the first of our ports of call. We are anchoring off Mykonos Town on the isle of Mykonos. Called Chora by the locals, its harbour is too small for Thomson Majesty so to David's delight we will be tendered in by small boat.

We had arranged to meet David and Jeannie up on Deck 10 bright and early to watch the ship's approach. We set our alarm for 6:30am, groaned at the thought and went to sleep without turning it on...

When we woke up around a quarter past seven, the ship was already swinging at its anchor. We dragged ourselves into the shower, grabbed clothes and went up on deck. This was our first view of Mykonos. It's our second visit here and we are looking forward to the day.

We spy David and Jeannie waving at us from Deck 11 and climb up to meet them, by which time David has already taken (I kid you not) 76 photographs including the one of us walking along the deck towards him... Any untoward comments and I might have to publish them all here. That'll teach you...

We decide to have breakfast in one of the two self-serve restaurants on Deck 10. Piazza San Marco is at the back and the Cafe Royale is forward, both sharing the same menu. I opt for a couple of boiled eggs and a croissant to go with them. Coffee from the machines in ships' restaurants tends to be strong, working on the basis that you can add hot water to taste but can't add coffee to make it stronger. We like our coffee weak so a splash of coffee, topped up with hot water and then a good splosh of milk makes it just how we like.

Then we go down to the gangway which leads, not to the dock but to a small motor boat, bobbing up and down a little at the ship's side. This was a local boat - presumably a requirement of the harbour to guarantee work for the locals. Given what is happening over there at the moment I don't begrudge anything this might have cost us. We were shown nothing but kindness and a welcome by the locals throughout the week and the food we had in Greek Restaurants was mmm... but we'll come to that!

The boat dropped us off at the harbour wall and we set off to explore the town. Miss Franny and I found ourselves a little in front of the others as the Clicky-Monster was again living up to his name and anything that moved, spoke, barked, splashed or simply stayed put because it was inert, was photographed for posterity. Nothing could stop him. Not even that little van charging up behind him. It had to wait until he'd taken his photo before he noticed it half an inch behind him with the driver hunched incredulously over the wheel. Then he gave a sort of little nonchalant wave and sauntered slowly out of the way. First potential injury of the week avoided...

Turning up away from the sea, we come to the narrow streets of this part of Mykonos. Everywhere are whitewashed buildings with woodwork painted mainly in the blue of the Greek flag, but with an occasional turquoise or maroon. The streets are so narrow pavements are impractical. In the streets wide enough for a car you simply move to one side into a doorway or round a corner until it has passed.

Miss Jeannie admires a gorgeous Bougainvillea tree that helps support the balcony of the house it grows against.

The path we are following brings us back to the shoreline and emerge out into the narrow walkway along the sea wall that is lined with tables and chairs of the small cafes. This area is known as Little Venice because of the way the houses overhang the water. It is a beautiful part of Mykonos and not to be missed.

From the same spot, having turned to face the other way, we can see that we are heading for the famous row of six windmills that appear on many postcards of Mykonos.

To get to them we must climb the hill by the side of Zorbas Bar - now there's a name guaranteed to conjure up a tune, a row of dancers side by side and perhaps for people of a certain age, the face of Anthony Quinn. In reality though he was Mexican born rather than Greek. We'll come back to look at Zorbas Bar (I'm not sure whether there should be an apostrophe or not - I guess so but we'll go with how it's presented on the bar itself!)

Here we are looking back down the hill past the bar (on the left of the white van) and towards Little Venice.

We were climbing the hill for a closer look at the windmills. They are stone-built with white stucco, lower than our old English windmills and they have a different sail format. Instead of the heavy wooden sails we are used to they held up to twelve sails of triangular canvas.

We can sneak a look at some local souvenirs to get an idea of how they would have looked when working. Hard to do a model with 12 sails so most of the souvenirs have eight instead!

Just look at that! The colours of the Greek flag are used all through the town. The blue and white go so well together and without the heavy industry that would soon turn the white to grey, the island looks clean and sparkling and fresh.

We are all enjoying ourselves, just wandering about the streets, looking at the shops and colours. But it's hot work!

We might have to make our way back to Zorbas Bar and sit down for something cool and refreshing!

In fact, it's a lovely place with a great view of Little Venice. The sketchpad might have to come out!

We ordered some drinks from Dimitra who came over every now and then to look at the drawing I was working on. I asked her if she had an email address and she said yes, so once we got home I was able to send her a copy of this sketch and another that I did of the bar itself.

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