Rulocal

Rulocal

A really nice guy who is working relentlessly for world peace (when sober) En savoir plus🇬🇧Ashton-in-Makerfield

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2016 Rhapsody Greek Isles Sept Rulocal
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Jour 8
samedi 3 septembre 2016 à 06:00
🌙 21 °C
Altitude: Niveau de la mer
Grèce Kythira, Corfu Ferry Port 39.63102, 19.9029239°37’52” N 19°54’11” E
Corfu, Greece
3 septembre 2016, Grèce ⋅ 🌙 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.En savoir plus
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2016 Harmony Med Aug Rulocal
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Jour 8
dimanche 14 août 2016 à 05:57
🌙 19 °C
Altitude: 39 p
Espagne Sant Beltrà 41.36138, 2.1798541°21’41” N 2°10’47” E
Barcelona, Spain
14 août 2016, Espagne ⋅ 🌙 19 °C
Well this is the last morning I'm in my usual place in the diamond lounge, having a coffee ☕ and writing this blog.
What are my conclusions of the Harmony of the seas?
Firstly it's a beautiful cruise ship 🚢 with amazing features and dining opportunities, having said that; we only used mainly the Windjammer which was excellent, if a tad small for the size of the ship. Also we had a great meal in Jamie's Italian, and also a great meal in Chops Grill, although our Anna struggled to find something she liked, as she only eats processed meat so real pieces of beef or chicken etc, are out of the question. Although she did say that the Hotdogs in the Windjammer where highly recommended, (processed meat again!)
The entertainment on board is brilliant, with a great comedy club in a place called the Attic, and in Studio B one of the best ice shows ⛸ I've seen.
The girls really enjoyed the pools and Perfect Storm water slides, also the dry slide called the Ultimate Abyss, where you plummet 10 stories from top to bottom.
Officer visibility was good, and we did have a number of officers passing through the lounge, most evenings.
The only real downside was our inside state room, better known as our state cupboard as it was so small. But I suppose this was not actually the ships fault, but the fault of the future cruise guy who booked it for us, telling us that it was a large family cabin and would easily accommodate the 4 of us.
The truth is if there where just two of us in there it would have been a struggle, with the small room and tiny wardrobe which was approximately 30" wide and would have been large enough for one person if they where only staying one week and did not bring many clothes.
The diamond lounge, as I mentioned a few days ago, is beautiful and the concierge Nancy Chu, from the Philippines 🇵🇭 is brilliant, as is her holiday replacement, Mohamed Sayeh from Tunisia 🇹🇳 , who was doing some training with Nancy this week.
Mohamed will be the diamond concierge on the transatlantic crossing in October this year, so that will be good, as a nice and friendly concierge always makes a difference.
So the ship, the entertainment, and the facilities get 10 out of 10. But our state cupboard gets a big fat zero.En savoir plus
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2016 Harmony Med Aug Rulocal
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Jour 6
vendredi 12 août 2016 à 16:56
☀️ 27 °C
Altitude: Niveau de la mer
Italie Porto di Napoli 40.83777, 14.2556740°50’16” N 14°15’20” E
Naples, Italy
12 août 2016, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
First time in a long time I've got off at Naples Italy 🇮🇹, and I'd forgotten what an interesting city it is.
I know it can be a bit rough around the edges and a bit scruffy in places, but there is plenty to see.
Once again you don't have to do any expensive excursions from the ship or even by local taxi or tour operators.
Within 10 minutes walk from the ship you come across Castello Nuovo, which is a medieval castle and museum, the Teatro di San Carlo, which was built in 1737 and is the oldest theatre in the world to have continuously shown operatic performances right up to this day.
Further along from the theatre you come across the
Piazza del Plebiscito, or referendum square, with the Basilica Reale San Francesco di Paola, which is a beautiful Catholic Church, with a dome and pillars reminiscent of the Vatican. On the opposite side of the piazza is the Royal Palace which is now a museum, and for a very reasonable charge of €4, you can wander around the very rooms the bourbon kings and queens of Italy used to live. And my god did they have an opulent lifestyle.
With the fabulous main staircase of carved marble, leading up to the private rooms of the King ♔ and Queen ♕.
These rooms where amazing with the doors being works of art in themselves, with hand painted classical designs.
So once again for not a lot of money and just close to the port, there are lots of beautiful things to see.En savoir plus
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2016 Harmony Med Aug Rulocal
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Jour 6
vendredi 12 août 2016 à 16:50
☀️ 27 °C
Altitude: Niveau de la mer
Italie Piazzetta Santa Maria 42.09311, 11.7891642°5’35” N 11°47’21” E
Civitavecchia, Italy
12 août 2016, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Today we docked at Civitavecchia, Italy 🇮🇹 and the girls wanted to get some souvenirs.
So we took the shuttle bus to the port entrance, where I was surprised to see that we had docked in a different place to the other times I'd visited this port.
I'm guessing that it's because of the size of the ship, after all it is the biggest cruise ship 🚢 in the world.
Anyway with a decent sense of direction and the help of one local, and a brief stop at an interesting little church, well I found it interesting, the girls just sat at the back and waited while I looked around, we managed to find the local market, which is quite a good market, but Aimee and Anna decided that they would get their souvenirs on board the ship.
It was a nice walk out though and the girls can now say that they have been to Italy 🇮🇹.En savoir plus
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Jour 4
mercredi 10 août 2016 à 12:00
🌧 20 °C
Altitude: 10 p
Italie Giardini Pubblici 44.10437, 9.8278144°6’16” N 9°49’40” E
La Spezia, Italy
10 août 2016, Italie ⋅ 🌧 20 °C
Today we docked at La Spezia, Italy 🇮🇹.
But I didn't get off the ship as the weather was awful. It was quite warm, but chucking it down with rain ☔.
So we all spent the morning in the solarium. Sheila and the girls went in the jacuzzi and I read my book.
Later on in the afternoon Aimee and Anna finally went on the water slides, I'll get some photos of them tomorrow.
After a pleasant evening in the diamond lounge chatting to Andy and Claire, a couple from Yarm in North Yorkshire, we went for dinner in Johnny Rockets, which was good, but they don't do the dancing anymore, which is a shame.
We had planned to go to the ice show but it didn't start till 10pm so we gave that a miss too.En savoir plus
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2016 Harmony Med Aug Rulocal
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Jour 4
mercredi 10 août 2016 à 03:33
🌙 20 °C
Altitude: Niveau de la mer
Italie La Spezia 44.10826, 9.8366544°6’30” N 9°50’12” E
2nd Highest Cruisers!!
10 août 2016, Italie ⋅ 🌙 20 °C
Had a nice little surprise yesterday.
We where informed by Ana Maria, the loyalty ambassador, that we where the 2nd highest cruisers on board.
The highest cruiser is a pinnacle member from Japan 🇯🇵 who no one ever sees.
Anyway the upshot was that we were to be presented with a bottle of champagne at the top tier event last night.
We had a good number of officers there, but no Captain, as he was still sorting out the life boat problems, that had caused our delay leaving Marseilles.
It was a shame as it's Captain Johnny, who I've heard lots about, but never met.
Anyway it was a nice surprise, and except for one mysterious Japanese guy, we'd have been top cruiser, which is something that I never thought would ever happen.En savoir plus
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Jour 3
mardi 9 août 2016 à 13:08
☀️ 28 °C
Altitude: 20 p
France Université de la Méditerranée Aix-Marseille II 43.2953, 5.3623143°17’43” N 5°21’44” E
Marseilles, France
9 août 2016, France ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Docked at Marseilles today, went for a walk off the ship but not a lot to see.
It took 20 minutes to walk out of the port, so I decided to turn around and head back.
There were shuttle busses but the queues for them where horrendous so I gave them a miss too.
Why do Royal always dock in these god forsaken places?En savoir plus
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Jour 3
mardi 9 août 2016 à 04:36
🌙 19 °C
Altitude: 3 p
Espagne Plaça de la Drassana 39.5665, 2.6430339°33’59” N 2°38’35” E
St Charles Fortress, Palma de Majorca
9 août 2016, Espagne ⋅ 🌙 19 °C
It's amazing what you can find right outside some of these cruise ports, without having to pay for shuttles into the town centre.
I had planned on walking in to the town of Palma, but just outside the port I came across this military fortress called Fort St Charles.
It turns out that it's a military museum.
So I had a wander into the grounds surrounding the fort which are quite nice, and had a number of WWII
heavy artillery guns dotted around, only problem was any signs explaining thing were in Spanish, and my grasp of the language is limited to ordering a beer!
It turns out that the main part of the museum was closed that day, which was a shame, but the grounds where interesting and the café was open.
My main point is, if you cruise to Palma de Majorca on any day besides Monday and you don't fancy a trip into the town, this museum is right there by the port.En savoir plus
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Jour 2
lundi 8 août 2016 à 03:00
🌙 20 °C
Altitude: 3 p
Espagne Port de Palma 39.56369, 2.6399539°33’49” N 2°38’24” E
Diamond Lounge
8 août 2016, Espagne ⋅ 🌙 20 °C
I must say that the Diamond Lounge on this ship is excellent and the concierge is lovely her name is Nancy Chu.
The only downside, and with Royal, there's always a downside, is that Diamond Plus guests have been downgraded on this ship at least.
In that we are not allowed in the concierge /suites lounge, so if the ship had a lot of Diamond guests on this lounge would be manic.
To be honest it gives you no incentive to progress past the diamond level of the loyalty programme, as there is no difference in benefits between diamond at 80 points and diamond plus at 175 points, and then the next level which is pinnacle is way up at 700 points.
Anyway all that aside, the diamond lounge is nice and as there are not that many diamonds and above on board, very comfortable.En savoir plus
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2016 Harmony Med Aug Rulocal
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Jour 1
dimanche 7 août 2016 à 17:00
☀️ 27 °C
Altitude: 26 p
Espagne Montjuïc 41.3616, 2.1699541°21’42” N 2°10’12” E
Our Royal Statecupboard!
7 août 2016, Espagne ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Well after a good flight from. Manchester, and a quick and efficient check in at the port, we got on the beautiful Harmony of the seas.
That's when it started to go downhill.
The first impressions of the ship were good, until we got to the cabin, or as my mate Roman would call it our Statecupboard.
There are four of us in there, and you'd struggle to accommodate two.
The pull out bed when extended takes up all the floor space in front of the main bed, so if you where in the main bed and needed to go to the toilet, you couldn’t get past, you would have to walk over the pull out bed.
Also the one and only wardrobe is tiny it can't be more than 2.5 foot wide, and would be to small for one person never mind the four of us.
I've spoken to the GSM, Alastair Inch is his name and he said he would try and rehouse us, but didn't hold out much hope as the ship is full.
We'll just have to see what happens.
Below is a photo of the wardrobe.En savoir plus
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2016 Navigator, Med,10 July Rulocal
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Jour 15
dimanche 24 juillet 2016 à 16:55
⛅ 19 °C
Altitude: 197 p
Angleterre Garswood 53.49406, -2.6640653°29’39” N 2°39’51” W
Back Home
24 juillet 2016, Angleterre ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Well that's another cruise completed.
Over all a decent cruise, but mainly due to the friends we have in the diamond and concierge lounges.
Our cabin was a junior suite number 1354 situated close to the lifts on deck 10,so very handy for both lounges and the Windjammer.
One of the down sides to the cruise was the lack of senior officer visibility, and also the suites concierge Naja was not the best, her attitude left a lot to be desired.
Anyway our trip home was excellent and from leaving the ship to arriving at our house took 3 hours 50 minutes and that included a 30 minute coffee break.En savoir plus
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Jour 14
samedi 23 juillet 2016 à 05:02
🌙 14 °C
Altitude: Niveau de la mer
North Atlantic Ocean 44.28787, -10.9704544°17’16” N 10°58’14” W
Last sea day
23 juillet 2016, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌙 14 °C
Well here I am up early again on the last day, and I've just said goodbye to my early morning friends.
They are a group of cleaners all youngsters who start work at 5am and do a 12 hour shift 7 days a week with only a few hours off every fortnight.
One of their few perks is to nip in the concierge lounge very early in the morning and take a nice latte back to their mess room.
Now they are not "officially" supposed to get a coffee from here, and the first morning of the cruise, I'm in my spot writing my blog and having a drink, when the door opens and they all come in.
Now they are not expecting anyone to be in the lounge, so when they see me they all panic, quickly apologise and leave, before I can say anything.
So the next morning I'm waiting for them, and just one lad pokes his head in, to see if anyone is in the lounge.
So I went over to him and said if he's trying to get a coffee, please feel free, as I didn't mind in the slightest.
So they got their coffees, and left. Each morning since if I've been up early enough, I've seen them, and they are a great set of boys and girls, very respectful and always open the door quietly and wait for me to say come on in, by this I mean they don't just barge in.
We've all been complaining about the lack of senior officers being visible, which is true.
But I must say that the general staff, ie, cleaners, bar staff etc, have been lovely and friendly.En savoir plus
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Jour 13
vendredi 22 juillet 2016 à 11:46
⛅ 23 °C
Altitude: 23 p
Portugal Vale de Alcântara 38.70051, -9.1710538°42’2” N 9°10’16” W
Lisbon, Portugal
22 juillet 2016, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Lisbon, Portugal 🇵🇹, and I know I said I was getting off at all the ports from now on, but we docked right down by the 25 de Abril Bridge, 25th of April bridge for the non Portuguese speakers.
And that means a 20 minute shuttle bus ride, at $9 per person, which I refuse to pay, or a 45 minute or so walk into the city.
This really Ps me off when the ship could dock further down where the walk in to the city centre is 5 minutes.
It's all down to finance, it's a lot cheaper to dock in a container port, than the passenger terminal, and the company gets the added bonus of $9 per head shuttle fees! 😤
So I'm afraid there's nothing to report from sunny Lisbon.En savoir plus
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Jour 12
jeudi 21 juillet 2016 à 06:38
🌙 24 °C
Altitude: Niveau de la mer
Espagne Río Guadalmedina 36.7047, -4.4193636°42’17” N 4°25’10” W
Castle Gibralfaro, Málaga, Spain
21 juillet 2016, Espagne ⋅ 🌙 24 °C
Right across from the port entrance you can see Castle Gibralfaro, perched at the top of Mount Gibralfaro which part of the foothills of the Montes de Málaga.
Anyway the castle sits 130m on top of the hill, and I thinking that I'm an intrepid explorer, decides to have a walk up to have a look.
So I set off not realising that the pathway up is about a 1:10 climb! After about 60 minutes and two stops, to let my breathing fall to a more normal rate, I reach a viewing platform which is apparently about 3/4 of the way up. The views I must admit where amazing, you could see right over the port and the city.
Also from here you could look down into the local bullring which from that vantage point looked particularly impressive.
I decided that that the views couldn't be much better right at the top, so that was as far as I went.
Now coming down, although easier on the lungs was murder on the knees.
Having said that I think it was well worth the climb to get the views and pictures I got and to see the beautiful flowers and trees on the way up and down.
When I got back to the ship, someone told me that you could get a bus to the top!
But although that would be less life threatening, it would not be as much fun as the walk lol.
I've put a Wikipedia link below, for anyone interested in reading about the castle.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GibralfaroEn savoir plus
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Jour 12
jeudi 21 juillet 2016 à 05:37
🌙 23 °C
Altitude: Niveau de la mer
Espagne Río Guadalmedina 36.70292, -4.41936°42’11” N 4°25’8” W
Málaga, Spain
21 juillet 2016, Espagne ⋅ 🌙 23 °C
Yesterday we docked at Málaga, Spain 🇪🇸.
It's a lovely city with plenty to see.
Sheila, as usual stayed on the ship and relaxed.
Maz and Sue wanted to do their second favourite thing in port, that is shop at El Corte Inglés, which is a large department store, on the lines of John Lewis in England.
Btw their favourite thing, is finding a Starbucks and having a coffee ☕.
I didn't fancy either so I went for a walk around the city, which as I said is a lovely place.
It has some outstanding buildings.
Across from the port you have the city hall which is an imposing structure with some beautiful fresco work on the outside walls.
Right next to that is the Bank of Espanía with its huge columns across the front.
Then you have what looked to be the oldest of the three buildings, which housed part of the University of Málaga.
This is also a really beautiful building with unusual roof edgings, which I would describe as having external rafters and some beautiful irregular pointed brickwork. You will see better in the pictures below as my description is a bit crap.
Further around from the university building there is a small Roman amphitheatre, which looks like it is still used for plays or small concerts.
Also in this part of the town are lots of the typical Spanish, narrow winding streets, with lots of beautiful old buildings, many of which appeared to be getting renovated.En savoir plus
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Jour 11
mercredi 20 juillet 2016 à 07:10
⛅ 23 °C
Altitude: 20 p
Espagne Río Guadalmedina 36.70524, -4.4261736°42’19” N 4°25’34” W
Remote control from Miami
20 juillet 2016, Espagne ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Martin a friend of mine on board reckons that the ship is being driven by remote control from Miami, as the visibility of any senior officers is nil.
We've not had any senior officers come into either the concierge or the diamond lounges.
At the lunch with an officer that we get for being above 350 cruise points, there where only very junior officers, and assistants.
Even at the meal for pinnacles and suite guests, Maz informed me that it was also very junior officers.
Even around the ship, you never see any officers, and as for the Captain, Staff Captain, or the Hotel Director, I wouldn't know them if I fell over them.
I have found out why this is by the way.
It's basically because they don't have to anymore.
A senior officer that I know on board told me that Miami in their wisdom have stopped scoring ships on officer visibility, so they have stopped being visible.En savoir plus
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Jour 11
mercredi 20 juillet 2016 à 06:43
🌙 24 °C
Altitude: Niveau de la mer
Espagne Malaga Ferry Port 36.71054, -4.4173836°42’38” N 4°25’3” W
Giovanni's Table
20 juillet 2016, Espagne ⋅ 🌙 24 °C
Last night Sheila, Sue, Maz and I went to Giovanni's Table restaurant for our evening meal and it was wonderful.
The fact that it was our complimentary meal from our Mlife accounts, only added to the experience.
In all seriousness, the meal and the service could not be faulted.En savoir plus
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Jour 10
mardi 19 juillet 2016 à 07:04
☀️ 20 °C
Altitude: Niveau de la mer
Ligurian Sea 43.72101, 8.4727643°43’16” N 8°28’22” E
Bernie Flint, a blast from the past.
19 juillet 2016, Ligurian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
For a change last night we went to the theatre and saw the show.
It was Bernie Flint, who was a winner on Opportunity Knocks back in the 1970s.
In fact he holds the record for the longest run of wins in the shows history, 12 weeks on the run he won.
Anyway he put on a good show with a mix of comedy and music, and to me he's another example of these talent show winners making a good living after the shows have finished.
He's never been a superstar, but even after 40 odd years, people still remember his name and he's still travelling the world making a good living.En savoir plus
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Jour 10
mardi 19 juillet 2016 à 06:37
☀️ 19 °C
Altitude: 148 p
Italie Carignano 44.39967, 8.9386144°23’59” N 8°56’19” E
Villa del Principe, Genoa, Italy
19 juillet 2016, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
After we got back to the port on the open top tour bus, Maz and Sue decided to go back to the ship.
I wanted to have a mooch around the town, so I left them at the port and walked to the main road and crossed over.
Within about two hundred yards from where the bus had stopped, I came across an open door, and inside I could see some marble or maybe alabaster busts.
So I wandered in to have a look, just inside the door was a security guard, who informed me that I was welcome to have a look around the gardens, and better still it was free!
I didn't even know that there where any gardens there.
I'd only seen the entrance hall, from the street, so off I go for a walk around the gardens.
Well what a lucky break this was, as the gardens and the villa were beautiful, and only two minutes walk from the port.
The villa itself was also a museum, and for about €10 you could buy a day pass, which would get you in all the towns museums.
But we were only in Port for a very short time, so it wasn't worth it to me, so I just wandered the gardens and a very small part of the house.
The house was called Villa del Principe, and it was build in the 1500s by Prince Andrea Doria. Who apparently was the only Prince of Genoa.
Anyway I spent a very pleasant hour or so wandering around the gardens, and if you are ever docked in Genoa and don't fancy the hustle and bustle of the city, this is a beautiful place to visit and right by the port.

Web page below

http://www.doriapamphilj.it/genova/en/En savoir plus
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Jour 10
mardi 19 juillet 2016 à 06:10
☀️ 19 °C
Altitude: Niveau de la mer
Italie Torrente Bisagno 44.3942, 8.9388944°23’39” N 8°56’20” E
Genoa, Italy
19 juillet 2016, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Yesterday we docked at Genoa, in Italy 🇮🇹.
Sheila once again stayed on board ship, so Sue, Maz, and I went ashore and decided to get the open top bus tour of the city.
Now at €15 each it was a reasonable price, but I'm afraid there's not a lot to see.
Not like Rome with the Colosseum etc.
But at about an hour or so it wasn't a bad ride, and there where some very typically Italian buildings to see, with very ornate brickwork and decorations.
Problem was as with most Italian cities there was also a lot of graffiti, all be it very colourful graffiti, it still tends to spoil the general look of the city.
But as I said for the price, it was not a bad bus ride.En savoir plus
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2016 Navigator, Med,10 July Rulocal
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Jour 9
lundi 18 juillet 2016 à 06:35
⛅ 19 °C
Altitude: 16 p
Italie Bacino Porto Vecchio 44.40905, 8.9171144°24’33” N 8°55’2” E
Diamond lounge
18 juillet 2016, Italie ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
The other night we decided to try the diamond lounge, instead of the concierge lounge.
It's a much nicer lounge, mainly because it has windows and an outside seating area, which is ideal for the weather we have been having.
It's a shame on the suites concierge and the two bar servers down in the concierge lounge, as they have been lovely, but it is so much better upstairs.En savoir plus
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Jour 9
lundi 18 juillet 2016 à 06:27
⛅ 18 °C
Altitude: 13 p
Italie Porto Mediceo 43.54748, 10.3026543°32’51” N 10°18’10” E
Livorno, Italy
18 juillet 2016, Italie ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Got to stop doing this!
Got to Livorno 🇮🇹 yesterday and because it was Sunday, expected everything to be closed.
Guess what? Wrong again.
Martin and Andrew told me in the lounge that evening, that it was a lovely place to walk around and that most of the shops and cafés etc were open.
Then this morning I read a comment that my mate Frank had put on Facebook saying that they have done Livorno up to attract the tourists who don't want to go to Pisa or Florence.
So lesson learned, I think I'll be getting off from now on.En savoir plus
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2016 Navigator, Med,10 July Rulocal
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Jour 8
dimanche 17 juillet 2016 à 06:06
☀️ 15 °C
Altitude: 66 p
Italie Fosso Reale 43.54778, 10.3278643°32’52” N 10°19’40” E
Civitavecchia, Italy
17 juillet 2016, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
When we arrived in Civitavecchia 🇮🇹, yesterday there where six other cruise ships in port. Five of them were our size or bigger, so that would have meant about 15 to 20 thousand people in the town, so I'm afraid I gave it a miss and stayed on board.
I'm guessing that the number of ships was because of the terrible events in Nice and also the attempted coup in Istanbul, Turkey 🇹🇷, the cruises had rejigged their schedules and all decided to do Civitavecchia instead.
Anyway today we are docked in Livorno, so hopefully I will get off for a mooch. We'll see.En savoir plus
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2016 Navigator, Med,10 July Rulocal
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Jour 7
samedi 16 juillet 2016 à 05:33
⛅ 19 °C
Altitude: 30 p
Italie Spiaggia di Civitavecchia 42.08702, 11.8038442°5’13” N 11°48’14” E
Civitavecchia (Rome)
16 juillet 2016, Italie ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
A quick update on yesterday.
With the attack in Nice and the state of emergency being declared in France 🇫🇷, it was decided that, we would not stop at Villefranche for everyone's safety.
So all day and night we've very very slowly sailed on to our next port, which is Civitavecchia in Italy 🇮🇹.
We have actually docked, so I'm guessing everything must be ok in Civitavecchia.
I know Sheila and Sue won't be getting off, but Maz and I probably will.
Oh yes last night we had a delegation go down to the casino to sort out the MLife membership.
Long story short, with an Mlife membership on every ship you travel on you are entitled to a free meal for two in any speciality restaurant, five free drinks in the casino bar and no charge for drawing cash out of your account.
Well obviously once the gang found this out they asked for my help in joining.
Now as diamond plus and pinnacle members they are entitled to the top platinum membership, which gives all of the above benefits.
But Royal Caribbean are saying as new members they are only sapphire level which gives none of the above.
But we have gotten hold of an official Royal membership chart which clearly shows we are correct.
So it's now been faxed to Miami. Exciting times, lol 😁En savoir plus
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2016 Navigator, Med,10 July Rulocal
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Jour 6
vendredi 15 juillet 2016 à 06:54
☀️ 18 °C
Altitude: Niveau de la mer
France Rade de Villefranche 43.69927, 7.3160643°41’57” N 7°18’58” E
Villefranche-Sur-Mer
15 juillet 2016, France ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
After an uneventful day at sea, and quite rough and rocky night, this morning we arrive in Villefranche - sur-mer 🇫🇷.
This is the port for trips to Nice and Monaco 🇲🇨.
Now today there are two problems.
1, the weather, as it's a tender port, if the sea is to rough we won't be able to tender in.
And 2, the terrible events in Nice yesterday, where there was a suspected terrorist attack, and 80 people were killed and many more injured by a truck, which drove into the crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day.
This will put a lot of people off going ashore.
There seems to be no end to the violence and killing, so called in the name of religion.
On a lighter note, soft arse (me) fell over in the cabin the night before last.
I was trying to undo my shoe laces, with my foot up on a chair.
When I did a Del Boy and toppled over and hit my cheek on the table.
Needless to say, alcohol had a big part to play in the event.
Also I swear that the Captain swerved to avoid a fish or something.
That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. 🤕En savoir plus
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Jour 4
mercredi 13 juillet 2016 à 12:14
⛅ 24 °C
Altitude: 33 p
Gibraltar Southport Gates 36.1348, -5.3535636°8’5” N 5°21’13” W
Gibraltar
13 juillet 2016, Gibraltar ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Today we where in Gibraltar 🇬🇮, one of my favorite ports.
We had a nice stroll into town, and after Maz had bought some stuff from the pharmacy just by the square at the town entrance, we decided to have a walk down one of the side streets, as Main St was as usual packed with tourists.
We only walked along the next parallel street to Main St, which was Cannon Lane, but it made for a much more pleasant experience, as there were no crowds and it was quite shaded, which was a welcome relief from the sun.
At the end of the lane we turned back on to Main St and had a drink at The Royal Calpe pub.
It's quite nice in there and we've been a number of times before.
After that it was a stroll back to the ship for a sleep before the evening drinks.En savoir plus
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