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A 15-day adventure by Lee Read more
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  • TravelerPortugal & Spain Sky Princess
    Day 1

    Day 1 Worksop to Southampton

    November 2 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Here we are again, a two week cruise to Portugal and Spain. Hopefully we will be avoiding the awful flooding that Spain 🇪🇸 is currently getting. Early start this morning but a painless drive down. We were very lucky and were on board by 11:10 which was great. Managed to loose my laptop charger somewhere between Newcastle and the ship, I’m hoping it’s fallen out in the car somewhere as I’m becoming quite experienced at loosing them. Hopefully we can buy one when we get to our first stop.

    Sky Princess is beautiful, we have been on her before and it does make you realise how tired the Caribbean Princess was but she was still great. This is another class though, new, modern bright and fresh. Our cabin is lovely, right at the back where we like to be. Slightly larger than last time and certainly a lot brighter.

    As usual we’ve done nothing but eat all day at various areas around the ship as well as unpack, and a little granny nap whilst the boss unpacked. Quite cool outside and very grey all day, the breeze when we left Southampton amplified the cool feeling. A couple of blasts of the ships horn as we left port and we were reminded it plays the theme from the love boat. We did sit out on the deck for the sail-away. There were lots of different areas with seating which were very nice. There are a couple of glass walkways that project out over the ship so when you look down from the high decks you can see the sea. It’s lovely.

    We are currently sat at the back of the ship getting a cuppa and checking upcoming weather - could run in to some challenges around eastern Spain but we’ll see how we get on.    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain Sky Princess
    Day 2

    Day 2 - At sea

    November 3, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌬 15 °C

    A day at Sea today as we sail south down past France. A grey and dull day weather wise, not freezing but not shorts weather.

    Can’t really say what time we got up this morning, both mine and Sharon’s phone times reported different times and still do, although we’ve managed all day. As we’ve been at sea it’s been a busy day doing nothing really. The cruise is called “The Good Food Cruise”. With that comes some celebrity chefs on board. John Torode and Lisa Faulkner are the main attraction and today they did a couple of talks in the princess theatre. Sharon went to one, I did a bit of work before the laptop died. The theatre was very busy and they were very popular. The boss bought the book and later on we went down and got it signed. They were very down to earth people and were very chatty.

    We’ve not really done much more today except wander round the ship, eat, drink and actually relax. We did amble up to the hot tub on the open decks for the film that I was reliably informed (by my director of operations- aka the boss) at 7pm. Misinformed sadly and it started at 7.30. Fast X was the film, it was the latest fast and furious, we managed about an hour but got a bit bored, the special effects although very good were very unrealistic. It was Baltic getting out of the tub !! However once we’d dried off you could tell the temperature is on the increase. The mini bar has been stocked, no prizes for guessing whose drinks are who’s in the picture, and honestly, I do eat more than just cake !!!

    Currently we’re about three quarters of the way across the Bay of Biscay and it’s remarkably calm. Still unsure if it’s 9.15pm or 10.15pm !! I’m hopeful of warmer temperatures tomorrow, I’ve got a £1 bet riding on it. I win if I’m in shorts - might have to pretend if it’s cold and suggest inside activities 😂😂    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain Sky Princess
    Day 3

    Day 3 - At Sea

    November 4, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    More fun and games with the clocks this morning which meant we were having breakfast an hour earlier than we thought, on the plus side it was nice and quiet. This gave us time to explore the ship a bit and we came across the sanctuary, an adults only retreat which is very nice and quiet. So we booked ourselves in for the afternoon.

    After breakfast we went to the cookery demonstration in the theatre with Lisa and John. Although not my thing it was actually quite good. They made it fun and interesting but I’d still not eat any of what they cooked, far too much arsey farcey stuff in it. Definitely worth the visit and they are very nice people to chat to around the ship.

    The whole afternoon was spent in the Sanctuary that we had booked this morning. It’s at the front of the ship and it’s nice and spangly. There was only us and another couple in there so we were allowed to used the private pods free of charge. Sadly the weather was a tad rough, strong winds and heavy rain as we steamed ahead down to the med. However. Right at the front of the ship in this little paradise was a hot tub, covered from the rain and looking straight ahead out to sea. Fab-u-lous, we spent the whole afternoon in there only having to share for about an hour whilst the only other guy in there joined us. The walk back to our cabin was more challenging than you’d imagine as we were now in your very strong winds and it was chucking down. So we stopped for food and drink along the way.

    A quiet evening tonight as the boss is feeling a bit sea sick, still no real clue what time it is but off to bed anyway as we wobble along to our first port of call tomorrow. Wobble being the word !!    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain Sky Princess
    Day 4

    Day 4 - Lisbon

    November 5 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    So an early dock in to Lisbon Portugal this morning and our first sighting of some sunshine ☀️, although it was quite short lived. By the time we disembarked the ship it was absolutely chucking it down. Although the temperature was a reported 20 degrees it certainly didn’t feel like it. The first couple of hours off the ship were a bit poor due to the weather and the streets around Lisbon being cobbled - very slippery and lots of puddles. Sharon stopped for a pasteis de nata at a local shop which is a famous Portuguese egg tart pastry. The very nice man pointed us in the direction of the town. We were 50/50 about getting back on the ship but we decided to battle on. We were soaked.

    The town was only a 10 minute walk from the dock and we weren’t massively impressed by it, but we realised that was because it was so grey and wet. We pooped in and out of a couple of shops and quick as a flash the weather changed. The rain stopped and the sun came out and boom 22 degrees and lovely sunshine. Suddenly Lisbon looked a whole lot nicer. A shop that lured the gaffer in was a Christmas shop, blurting Christmas songs out in Portuguese and lots of smiley people - I waited outside 😂😂. We did however find an electrical shop so yet another new laptop charger purchased.

    As we made our way back to the ship (early departure, had to be onboard for 1pm), we walked by the harbour. Lisbon is actually very pretty and very colourful. The sail-away was particularly good today, we did a turn around on the port and had a running historical commentary from the bridge as we left. We sailed under the famous 25 De Abril bridge (commonly known as The Tagus River Bridge. where the clearance was minimal and brilliant to watch.

    We’re currently forging ahead down to Spain and it a little choppy but we quite like that.    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain Sky Princess
    Day 5

    Day 5 - Cadiz

    November 6 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    By the time we got up this morning we were already docked in Cadiz. And for the first time the weather was beautiful from first off. We were a tad later than planned getting up as we just didn’t wake up until 8. Breakfast on the open deck and then off the ship for around 9.30. Seville is the advertised port but it’s not really close, an hour and a half by train. It was our intention to get the train but, we should have organised it prior to us coming. We did wander to the train station but the trains weren’t frequent enough for us to get there and back without worrying about time so we decided not to bother and to put it on the list for next time.

    So, instead we decided to have a wander around Cadiz in the sun. What a lovely place, nice big cathedral in the square right in the town centre and a very different town. Really narrow streets, very lively and all routes seemed to lead back to the sea so you couldn’t get lost. I have to say, these cruises are great, they always seem to park at the seaside 😂😂.

    We were back onboard early afternoon for a spot of lunch and the ship was very quiet, it was lovely. We jumped in the hot tub for an hour before soaking up some rays. It was so lovely and warm we decided a beer was in order at the back of the ship overlooking Cadiz Port.

    We watched the sail away from our balcony tonight, it was great. A beautiful sunset and a very pretty bay as we sailed away. As it got dark there were hundreds of seagulls following the boat and I mean hundreds as we sailed off in to the med. never seen that before.

    We were grown ups tonight and went to the restaurant in the atrium for dinner and again it was very nice. We are currently in the theatre waiting for some bloke to come on who can play a violin !! We got here early enough and are sat on the end of a row which is in a perfect position. It seems every bugger on the ship wants to be on the row we are sat on. Good job I’m so mild mannered, patient and really enjoying standing up and sitting down like a blooming zebedee !!    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain Sky Princess
    Day 6

    Day 6 - At Sea

    November 7, Alboran Sea ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    Another sea day today as we sail down towards Cartagena. It looked a tad grey and felt a bit cooler this morning first thing (well I say first thing - 9ish) so left the shorts in the wardrobe and reverted to jeans. Up on the deck for breakfast and the sun put in an appearance. So we went and sat out on the poem deck and just took in the lovely atmosphere. As the temperature rise, we made the change back in to shorts and continued to make use of the open deck. The theme continued most of the day to honest, we went on the hot tub mid afternoon and Mamma Mia was on the big screen, fortunately I was stone cold sober so no singing !!

    Formal night tonight so monkey suit for me and posh dress for the boss. Would you believe it, the washers shrunk my trousers !! Oh and the collar of my shirt too ! And today I’ve not had any cake !! Will have to get a new washer and make sure I have cake tomorrow just in case that caused it 😂😂. The food was great in the restaurant and the waiter was lovely.

    The violin bloke from last night was on in the plaza as we came out of the restaurant. He was very good last night and had a huge audience tonight which tells its own story.    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain Sky Princess
    Day 7

    Day 7 - Cartagena

    November 8 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Our port today was Cartagena. We docked very close to the town and it was a lovely port. Lovely views from all sides of the ship. The weather was light cloud, little sun but nice and mild with the temperature in the early twenties. Shorts and T shirt weather which is just fine.

    The town was a lovely little town with two amphitheaters, one an old Roman one and we think the second a bit more recent. We never managed to get in but it’s on the list for next time. There were many nice buildings, churches and squares as we ambled around the town. There was also a medieval food festival on which was brilliant, Sharon asked a local policeman where to find it, he told us but insisted we take a picture of him. When he said to me ah, picture I said no it’s fine - he wasn’t taking no for an answer !! The market was brilliant with lots of food stalls (some quite good stuff not all the usual arsy farsy or green crap). There was a man there making crisps which was fascinating and Sharon just worked her way around the free samples 👍

    We left around 4pm and were out on the open decks for the sail away, once again a great atmosphere and was brilliant to see the ship manoeuvre its way back out to the med. a guy turned up on his motorbike and played his bagpipes to us from the shaw as we sailed away. He got s huge round of applause and cheers from the decks the he just jumped back on his motorbike and off he went. One of the super yachts moored up beside us belonged to Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys and worth a cool $225 million !! His mortals were having a tidy up for him arriving and chucking the jet ski’s in the back !!!

    Sat chatting to a guy on the deck with a drink late afternoon , his wife was from Zimbabwe but they both now live in Rotherham, when we asked where he was from he said “I was born in a small village in Nottinghamshire called Langold”. Would you believe it, either his brother or his uncle (I think he said uncle) owned the sweet shop on White Avenue - Mr Pemberton - I remember him well. Then his wife proceeded to tell us how she loves using Johnson Brothers for Uk breaks - turns out she knows our Arron ! Small world.

    Hot tub tonight to watch Ghostbusters, nice and warm in there but obscured view so didn’t really see what it was about but a chilled night nonetheless.

    Full steam ahead to Barcelona - Adios    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain Sky Princess
    Day 8

    Day 8 - Barcelona

    November 9 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Barcelona today and what a day. We had lovely sunshine as we docked this morning and the temperature was lovely. Although we’ve been here before, we did a few different things today. The port is a very busy working port, as we docked there were 14 ships waiting to get in, not all cruise ships a mixture of cruise and cargo. Even though the port is in the city, it’s huge so we were taken by bus to the bottom of Las Ramblas.

    We saw cable cars as we docked so we thought we would give them a go. We became intrepid explorers. We got the metro to the park and subsequently to the cars which took us up the mountain to the castle. Absolutely stunning views of the city one side and out to sea the other. Once there we had a walk around the grounds in the sun. We realised there was actually another cable car that went right out over the port so we set off to find that armed with Google Maps !! Although we were walking she told us to take the third exit at a roundabout which was confusing as I thought it was a different one. Sharon came up with the answer, had we gone around the roundabout we’d have gone the other way hence it would be correct, Smart arse !! We passed the Olympic swimming pool where there was some controversy one year with a Russian swimmer, a cafe and you could look around so we did !!

    The next cable cars was a bit ricketry and very high but again tremendous views and very quiet as we glided down to the opposite side of the port where we’d docked. We had lunch on the beach before walking around the coast a couple of miles back to the bottom of Las Ramblas. We then went up Las Ramblas and it was very lively and really nice. We visited the food market which I was last in 30 years ago when I won Parts Manager of the year for Priory Rover and they fetched us here for a fancy weekend. I remembered some bits. We went in to the square where we were going to get a drink but I was shit on twice. By this time it was getting on for 5pm so we headed back to the ship.

    It was a late departure tonight, we didn’t leave dock until about 10pm and what a sail away party. It was an 80s DJ followed ha a live band out on the pool decks to play us out. Great atmosphere and quite busy. All in all a fantastic day here in Barcelona !!    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain Sky Princess
    Day 9

    Day 9 - At Sea

    November 10, Western Mediterranean ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    As you’ve probably gathered by now, sea days are lazy days. We were late to bed last night and late up today. We spent most of the day out on the open deck as the weather has been fabulous. Bright sunshine, around 20 degrees and only very light occasional cloud.

    Sadly there didn’t seem to be a minutes silence or anything to mark our fallen heroes which was a bit disappointing, however we have since found out that it is being held tomorrow actually on the 11th. We did pay our respect by ourselves in the main plaza. Also, the Man Utd game was on the big screen on the open deck this afternoon and they had a two minute silence before the game and the decks did go quiet. We then left - no interest in the football really. The officers of the ship were handing out ice creams to everyone, these fancy Tara Banks ones that Sharon babbles on about - they were very nice.

    A very mild evening so we spent it in the hot tub and intended watching the film, we were late so we watched the last half, they play it a second time around 10pm so the first half was just starting as we left 😂😂

    Next stop Malaga tomorrow 👍    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain Sky Princess
    Day 10

    Day 10 - Malaga

    November 11 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Another beautiful day today, wall to wall sunshine all day and a very pleasant 21 degrees. Our first time in Malaga and what a lovely town. The dock is just a mile or so from the town centre so we had a steady walk in this morning. A few more Gin Palace yachts moored up, Sharons new hobby, looking them up to see how much they are worth and who owns them. Our best spot today was one wort $250milion owned by an American businessmen who owned car dealerships !! I don’t suppose he’ll want any Kerridge training 😂😂

    Another cathedral in the town centre which was very impressive to look at, and a very lively town. We sat in a small square for a drink in the sun and watched the world go by. Great for a Monday. We explored the town a bit more before deciding to head to the beach for a late lunch. Another great find with an on beach barbecue. Very busy and quite a queue but certainly worth it. A walk around the beach back to the port saw us back on board by about 4pm, we managed to watch the last hour of Maverick on the big screen just as the sun started to go down.

    As we departed Malaga, we passed two more cruise ships, both been on all day but nobody on board either of them. One Tui and one Virgin. The virgin one was anchored out to sea.

    On our way to Gibraltar now, I suspect the last warm stop of the cruise, forecast good.    Read more

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