Rulocal
A really nice guy who is working relentlessly for world peace (when sober) Read more🇬🇧Ashton-in-Makerfield
  • Easier than expected!

    November 5, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Well the disembarkation from the Harmony and the Ft Lauderdale immigration check went far easier than I expected.
    Being pinnacle helped as we bypassed all the lines.
    The Alamo bus was right outside the terminal, so we boarded it straight away, and about 30 minutes later we were in the queue for the hire car.
    Everything went smoothly even the drive up to Orlando and Port Canaveral only took about 3 and a half hours with a coffee stop. The weather was beautiful except for one short rain storm, that as we later found out, was travelling away from Orlando down to the Ft Lauderdale, Miami area.
    At the cruise terminal, the pinnacle thing worked again and we were on board the ship in about 20 minutes.
    The only problem we had was that the check in girl had some how duplicated my cabin key and given it to Sheila. So the system showed me boarding twice, lol.
    Anyway, long story short, guest services, and Georgi from loyalty sorted out the mix up, and we were good to go.
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  • 3 Sisters

    November 4, 2016, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Well that was amazing and quite a privilege.
    The 194 pinnacle members where invited to go out on the helipad for an historical photo of the largest amount of pinnacles on board one ship.
    And the icing on the cake was we got to see the meeting of the 3 Oasis class ships, together for the first time ever, up close and personal.
    The temperature was in the 80s! But it was well worth putting up with it to be part of this historic event.
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  • Pinnacle Presentation

    November 1, 2016, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌙 7 °C

    Last night we were invited to a special dinner for all the pinnacle guests.
    At the meal Sheila and I were presented with a bottle of champagne, a commemorative certificate in a beautiful silver frame and our stratum.
    To be honest, before we went to the meal, I didn’t think much about us reaching pinnacle status, after all it's just a loyalty program.
    But the amount of strangers who congratulated me and shook my hand saying "welcome to the club" amazed me.
    And to be quite honest touched me.
    I suppose really it is quite an exclusive club, as the Crown and Anchor society has about 6 million members, of which only about 1500 are pinnacle members.
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  • Pinnacle party to remember!

    October 29, 2016, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    What can I say. I knew Sue was arranging a small party to celebrate 🎉 Sheila and I reaching pinnacle status. I've been to many of the others that she's arranged, and they've all been brilliant.
    But seriously, this time she surpassed all of them.
    Not only did we have most of our cruise friends there, but she got Karl and the boys from Beatles Celebration to do a spot for us. It was brilliant.
    She also made me a huge pinnacle badge, complete with diamontes, which I promised to wear in the evening in the pinnacle lounge.
    Well I did as I said I would, but Sylvain and Karl had other ideas, and decided that we should go to the other lounges on the ship as well.
    Obviously alcohol played no part in this idea 💡!
    Lol.
    I felt like a bride on her hen night but instead of a big letter L around my neck I had the pinnacle badge.
    We even walked down the promenade on deck 5, and the amount of people who stopped me for a photo was unbelievable.
    Anyway I had a brilliant laugh with Karl and Sylvain.
    And a brilliant day all told.
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  • Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    October 24, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Well the free tour of Palma, turned out to be a visit to a Flamenco show, then a visit to Bellver Castle for a photo opportunity.
    The flamenco show was brilliant, well I thought it was, some of the others thought it was to long.
    As well as the show we got some tapas and a jug of sangria. To me at least it was a nice way to spend an hour or so, especially as it was gratis.
    Then again I personally love any kind of dance, from breakdancing to ballet, so I'm probably not the one to ask if I enjoyed it.
    After the show, we drove up to Bellver Castle, as I said for a photo opportunity. I didn't get off the coach to take some photos, as I was here on my own, only a few weeks ago, when I walked it from the ship!!
    The exclamation marks are not really for the walk from the ship, which was quite pleasant, but for the fifty million steps up to the castle itself.
    I may be slightly exaggerating saying 50 million, it's probably only 49 million.... Lol.
    I did have to stop about 4 times for a breather on the way up, but it was worth it.
    Anyway back to yesterday.
    The tour was great, and much appreciated.
    I must say that I am pleased with the way the ship's management is handling the massive amount of C&A members that are on board, especially in the lounges during the evening drinks time.
    All the overflow lounges are packed to the gills, but the service is excellent, so as long as you can get a seat 💺 there are no problems.
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  • Pinnacle Privileges

    October 24, 2016, Iberian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We have had a pleasant surprise on board, as our pinnacle privileges have kicked in straight away.
    We don't actually turn pinnacle till Wednesday and even then the benefits shouldn't kick in till next cruise, but, the loyalty ambassador has obviously put ours on straight away.
    So we have free Internet for the cruise, and have also been invited to the pinnacle only free tour of Palma de Majorca.... Result.
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  • Barcelona, Spain

    October 23, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Well, after a pleasant flight and an easy transit through Barcelona airport, and transfer to the ship.
    We arrived at Barcelona cruise terminal.
    In my opinion it's one of the best to sail from, and this was no exception.
    From arriving at the terminal to getting on the ship took 15 mins tops.
    So it was off to the Park Café for a bite to eat, then a snooze in the cabin till the muster drill, after which Maz and Sue went upstairs to a pinnacle do and Sheila and I went to the diamond lounge.
    As this is the inaugural transatlantic cruise for this ship, there are hundreds of diamond and above members.
    In fact there are 180 pinnacles, over 800 diamond plus members and over 1500 diamond members.
    So you can imagine how busy the lounges are. In fact for the pinnacles the have opened Dazzles bar as an overflow, and the three lounges in the entertainment area on deck 4 are being used for the diamond and diamond plus members.
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  • A Coruña, Spain

    October 11, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Raining ☔ so I didn't get off again.
    Not been one of the best cruises for visiting the ports, either the weather was not good, or sometimes I just could not be bothered to get off the ship as I'm all cruised out to be honest.
    Getting these last few points for our pinnacle status has actually been hard work.
    I know I probably sound ungrateful, as some people cannot cruise at all, but we've just done to many to quickly.
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  • Teneriffe, Spain

    October 8, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    My god did I over indulge last night or what?
    We got a deal for chefs table, so six of us went.
    The way it works is you have about six courses and with each course you have a different wine to compliment the food.
    The food was nice, but the wine was brilliant.
    But now I am rough and feeling sorry for myself, lol.
    Needless to say, I didn't get off at Santa Cruz, Tenerife today.
    As with the other ports I've missed on the trip, I've been many times before, so nothing really missed.
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  • Las Palmas, Canary Isles

    October 8, 2016 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    Although a lovely place, the city of Las Palmas, in Gran Canaria was not that interesting.
    Maybe if I'd hiked the 5km down to the cathedral it might have been a bit more interesting.
    But having said that, it is a nice, clean, and I thought safe place to wander around.
    It's just me wanting historical stuff to see.
    Speaking of history, there is a replica of the Nina right by the port.
    The Nina is one of the ships that Christopher Columbus, sailed to discover America, not that he was planning to discover America, he was just going to see what was there.
    I do know that there where three ships on the journey, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria.
    Anyway the one by the port is a replica of the Nina as I said.
    And when you see the size of it you realise that the people who sailed it across the Atlantic where either very brave or completely nuts, I personally think that they where a bit of both.
    Surrounding the Nine there are lots of palm trees 🌴 and there was an old bloke throwing rocks at the branches. I went over to see what his was doing and it turns out that he was knocking the palm fruit out of the tree and collecting it.
    I asked him what it was, but he didn't speak English.
    Using sign language and a couple of English words, I got to understand that the fruit was good to eat.
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  • Darren Day, what a revelation!

    October 6, 2016, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Last night Sheila and Sue decided that they wanted to see the headliner act in the theatre.
    It was Darren Day, who as you might know had a very bad reputation a few years ago.
    Anyway off we trot to the theatre to see him.
    He was brilliant! He was very open and honest about his past, and said that this was a second chance for him, and he was grabbing it with both hands and not going to make the mistakes of his past.
    It turns out that he's a very good singer, he did some swing stuff and some musical theatre stuff, all of which was great.
    But to me his impressions are his real talent, they are mainly impressions of singers, and he did everyone from, Sammy Davis Jnr, to Liam Gallagher from Oasis.
    He told some fascinating stories about his career and his showbiz life.
    He also told some funny and moving stories about the Big Brother house and especially David Guest.
    The hour long show received a well deserved standing ovation
    All round one of the best shows I've seen on Royal Caribbean.
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  • Southampton

    October 2, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    As we are on a back to back cruise out of Southampton 🇬🇧 we decided to have a walk over to the city centre, which looks like a nice shopping area, with the new West Quay Shopping Mall, and the busy main street which is mainly pedestrianised, which is a plus.
    I didn't get a really good look around as Sheila was with me and she can't walk far.
    But I did notice some parts of the old city walls that have been discovered.
    So the next time I get a chance, I'm definitely going to explore Southampton a lot more.
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  • Cádiz, Spain

    September 29, 2016 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    Now here is another city that I'd been to before but never really explored.
    Cádiz in Spain 🇪🇸 is a fascinating city, rich in history and is the home of the Spanish navy.
    The old town is very Moorish in its design with lots of horseshoe arches and winding cobbled streets that open out in to tree lined squares.
    It is a walled city and it was really nice to walk along the wide 17th century bastions. Some parts of which still have the old cannons pointing out to sea.
    After walking part of the walls, I headed into town and found the Cádiz museum/art gallery.
    The entry was free, which is always a bonus.
    It covers four floors and has items from prehistoric times right up to the modern art of the present day.
    One of the things that always fascinates me with these old towns is, that you look at the outside of some of the apartment buildings, and they are old and crumbling, but if you look inside the open front doors, most of which are left open, they can be beautiful, with gorgeous tiled hallways and what look like communal areas.
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  • Palma de Mallorca

    September 25, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Got off for a stroll as I'd not been to Palma de Mallorca 🇪🇸 for some time.
    I didn't bother going in to town as most places, where closed because of the festival.
    So as I can use my phone Internet in Spain I decided to use Google maps and find my way to Bellver Castle.
    It was quite a pleasant walk until I got to the steps that lead up to the castle itself. There must have been 1,000,000 of them. OK that's probably a slight exaggeration, there is about 500,000. Lol
    OK not that many but a lot.
    When I got to the top, after about 4 rest stops. (I am getting old you know) it was worth it as the views where spectacular, and the castle itself was interesting, also as it was the festival weekend, entry was free!
    The castle was built in the 14th century and was residence for the first kings of Majorca.
    In later years it was used as a military prison.
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  • Barcelona, Spain

    September 25, 2016 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    I'm afraid I didn't bother getting off at Barcelona.
    The main reasons where that the weather wasn't brilliant, and threatened rain ☔.
    Also there was some kind of festival going on so most places were closed.Read more

  • Cartagena, Spain

    September 24, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    What an interesting city, so much to see and so little time.
    Cartagena was apparently founded over 2000 years ago, and has a rich history. In particular Roman history, there are many archaeological sites dotted around the city. One of the most impressive is the Roman amphitheatre, which costs €6 to visit or as in my case €5 with the senior discount, lol.
    The amphitheatre is a very impressive structure, which has been restored to give you a real feeling of what it must have been like when in use all those years ago.
    After the amphitheatre, I had a gentle stroll through the town which is typically Spanish with many narrow streets complete with Juliet balconies and many bars and restaurants.
    I also came across a pleasant square with some interesting mangrove type trees.
    I came across a park at the back of the town, it turns out that it is an archaeological park, free to enter and has many Roman ruins, and a great view over the city. The park is still undergoing excavation and restoration, and when finished will show a Roman forum and baths.
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  • Gibraltar

    September 23, 2016 in Gibraltar ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    I've been to Gibraltar 🇬🇮 many many times and I love the place, but this time I decided to give the old town a miss.
    On the walk along North Mole Rd, which takes you from the ship right in to the old town, I turned right at the first traffic island, that's the one with the statue commemorating the evacuation of the civilian population of the rock in WWII.
    There is nothing of any historical interest down there, but it was nice to get away from the tourist magnet of the old town.
    It is basically just a residential area, where I passed, the local Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall, and the local swimming pool, this as well as the indoor pool, has two outdoor pools fed directly from the sea.
    Further along the road is the very British Morrisons supermarket along with the obligatory McDonald's.
    Next came St Bernard's hospital which looks very new and modern.
    Finally I came across a lovely little park with views of the cruise ship and part of the port, quite an industrial view but nice all the same.
    On the way back to the ship I crossed over to the other side of North Mole Rd, to another residential area which overlooks the other side of the harbour and the end of the airport runway.
    It was quite exciting to see the planes takeoff, but it must be very noisy for the residents.
    So that was about it for my stroll around this part of Gibraltar, it did make a nice change from the old town, and was interesting in its own way.
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  • Indy 2nd day

    September 21, 2016, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Well we're on the 2nd sea day out of Southampton, headed for Gibraltar 🇬🇮 our first port of call.
    This is my first time back on the Indy since she came back by popular demand from the US where she was supposedly supposed to stay.
    Anyway the whole crew has changed, no one that I recognise is still on board not even Joff Eaton the cruise director, who had been on here for years.
    Having said that, the atmosphere is good.
    Talking about people I know, when I walked in to the concierge lounge last night, there was a couple we'd met on the Navigator last year when we went with Nic and Joe.
    Lovely old couple name of Geoffrey and Mila Barnes.
    Geoffrey is an older chap who walks quite slowly with the aid of a stick, and on the Navigator he really took to our Joe, who then had only just started walking. And Geoffrey would take his hand and walk Joe up and down the lounge.
    I think he would struggle to keep up with Joe now, as he's like a little rocket.
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  • Corfu, Greece

    September 3, 2016 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    This is the one Greek island 🇬🇷 that I had visited before, but it was 30 years ago and I only visited Corfu Town where we are now docked on a day trip from the town of Gouvia where our apartment was.
    So consequently I couldn’t remember anything about the town except for the cricket 🏏 pitch which is lined on one side by bars and open-air restaurants.
    We actually found the pitch and it was exactly like my memory of it.
    Just for future reference, the ship was charging $12 return for the shuttle in to the old town.
    Where as we took the local bus 🚌 which is right by the ship's shuttles, and this cost less than $4 return.
    In fact if you are feeling energetic the walk in to the town is only about 20 minutes.
    Once in the old town you are met with the typical small winding streets as in most towns in this part of the world.
    And again like all the places we've visited on this trip the town is interesting and quite beautiful in parts.
    Maybe not as stunning as Santorini, or as pretty as Mykonos, but in a more historic way still beautiful also a lot cheaper with a larger variety of shops than the other two islands.
    To round off the visit to Corfu perfectly, the hotel director Peter suggested we have lunch in a little local taverna that he knows right by the port.
    The meal was fabulous and completely authentic, with not one tourist to be seen.
    On top of that two local fishermen came into the restaurant to sell some of their catch to the owner, who then came out of the kitchen with two freshly caught fish, a grouper or a wild Sea bass both line caught about an hour earlier, we opted for the sea bass, which when served was amazing, as was the rest of the meal, which consisted of the most beautiful local produce perfectly cooked.
    Prawns cooked in a spicy tomato sauce, Greek salad, caviar taramala, fresh bread and calamari.
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