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RulocalRulocal
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A really nice guy who is working relentlessly for world peace (when sober) Läs mer Ashton-in-Makerfield, United Kingdom
  • ResenärSymphony OTS Med June 2018
    Dag 1

    Day 1 on the new Symphony of the seas

    10 juni 2018, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    First impressions of the ship are good, it's just like the Harmony of the seas.
    The only place we've really seen up to now is, surprise, surprise, the Suites/Costal Kitchen Lounge, which is fabulous, and for me the best thing about the "big" ships.
    These huge floating theme parks, are amazing, but imho, they are really designed for families and young people, which is not a problem, as there are lots of "smaller" ships for old farts like me to pick from.
    But back to the Symphony, as I said it is huge and accommodates 6800 passengers, and something like 2500 crew, which is bigger than the population of Garswood, the area I live in!
    Having said that, there is plenty of space for everyone, and the ship never seems to be overcrowded, although there are lines for some of the attractions, which is only to be expected.
    All the staff we have met upto now have been very helpful and friendly, especially the two concierges Raj and Rahul.
    Raj in particular is brilliant. I have known him for a number of years now and he has always been great, and, definitely one of the best concierges in the company.
    Anyway that's all for now, more about the ship to follow.    Läs mer

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  • Resenär2 day freebie on the Indy May
    Dag 1

    Somewhere near England

    13 maj 2018, English Channel ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    After a nice drive down to Southampton with Maz and Sue, we boarded the new and improved Independence of the seas.
    I must say that they have done a great job with the refurbishment.
    Nothing that I can see has been done to the cabins, but the public areas have been greatly improved.
    With one or two brilliant additions, first being the new Suites lounge, which replaces the old concierge lounge on deck 10, that, is now cabins.
    The new lounge is on deck 14 opposite the diamond club lounge. It is brilliant, with a wall of windows and very nice furniture.
    The other addition is the new Playmakers Bar on deck 4. This is a cracking sports bar with what seems like 100s of tv screens, showing all manner of sports. There are pool tables, and bar games on the tables, along with some basketball machines if you want to shoot some hoops.
    Outside at the back of the ship are a new water slide, a kind of kids climbing setup and The Skypad, which is apparently a bungee simulator, where you get strapped in and sort of bounce on a trampoline, while wearing a VR headset.
    All in all from what I've seen upto now, they have given the Indy a great new lease of life, and imho, they are definitely on to a winner, especially with the younger cruisers and families.    Läs mer

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  • ResenärMariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018
    Dag 15

    Chania (Souda), Crete Greece

    4 maj 2018, Grekland ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Today we arrived at the Greek island of Crete. The itinerary says Chania, but we actually docked at a place called Souda, which is about 5km from Chania. There was a local bus service into the town, but the queue for tickets was long and I couldn't be bothered to wait, so I had a walk through the tiny town up into the countryside, which was nice.
    I came across a tiny chapel type building, very similar to the one I saw in Piraeus, last year.
    I'm guessing this type of chapel/Church is peculiar to Greece, as I've not seen the like anywhere else.
    Further on up the lane, I came across a beautiful cemetery, where most of the graves were above ground tombs.
    All in all it was a nice couple of hours stroll, and was different from the usual trip into town that tourists usually do.    Läs mer

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  • ResenärMariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018
    Dag 14

    Jerusalem, Israel

    3 maj 2018, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Today we docked in Ashdod, Israel 🇮🇱. We should have come here a couple of years ago, but we couldn't dock as there were missiles being fired at the Town, so sailed on up to Haifa, so I didn't get to see Jerusalem that time.
    This time everything was fine, so Nic and I did a ships tour to Jerusalem. It was only a half day tour so we only saw a small part of it, but it was well worth going. Without getting into the politics of the whole Middle East thing, it's such a shame that they can't all live together in peace. Because there are parts of Jerusalem where it happens. Our guide pointed out one particular area where Jews, Muslims and Christians all live together, with churches, Synagogues and Mosques. She said that the Catholic Church held concerts in its grounds at times, so you would find Jews Muslims and Christians going to the church to hear a concert, then going to the Arab restaurants after.
    Anyway back to Jerusalem, we visited the Western Wall, which used to be called the Wailing Wall, I suppose it should still be called the wailing wall with the amount of people crying, our Nic included, lol.
    After that we went to the Holocaust Museum, which was very moving, we didn't have anywhere near enough time to see it all, so it would definitely be a place I would visit again.    Läs mer

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  • ResenärMariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018
    Dag 13

    Aqaba Jordan

    2 maj 2018, Jordanien ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    Today we docked at Aqaba in Jordan, this must be my fifth visit to the port and I've still not done the trip to Petra. Two main reasons are firstly the price its so bloody expensive from the ship. And secondly if you do it privately it's a 2.5 hour drive each way, so if you have any delays then you could miss the ship. 20 years ago that wouldn't have bothered me, but nowadays I'm a bit more cautious, lol. OK, OK, it's mainly the price.
    Anyway I had a walk around the town, with Nic, Joe, and John & Mable. And as none of them had ever been inside a mosque, we decided to have a look around the nearest mosque to the bus station, which is the Sharif Hussein bin Ali Mosque.
    As we entered the grounds of the mosque, there where a couple of guys, who were sort of security, they were very polite and helpful, they gave the women some cover up garments. It is quite a nice mosque, and the locals were friendly, when we got in side the building our Joe ran about a bit and I was trying to stop him, when a guy doing some repairs to the mosque smiled and signaled to me that Joe was fine and doing no harm.
    After we came out of the mosque John & Mable went back to the ship as the heat was a bit to much for them. Nic Joe and I set off to find the ruins of the old town which are quite interesting.
    That was after a quick stop at Macdonalds to get a cold drink and to feed Joe. We were lucky in Mackie Ds, as we only had English money 💷 which they didn't take. But a very nice Scottish bloke standing at the counter said to order what we wanted and he'd lend us the money, till we got back to the ship.    Läs mer

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  • ResenärMariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018
    Dag 11

    Suez transit

    30 april 2018, Egypten ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    This morning we started the transit of the Suez Canal. I have done the transit 5 or 6 times before, but it still amazes me.
    The manpower it must have taken to dig out what is essentially a massive trench between Suez and Port Said, is gobsmacking.
    Here's a quick fun fact about the canal...
    A fleet of ships was once stranded in the canal for more than eight years.
    During June 1967’s Six Day War between Egypt and Israel, the Suez Canal was shut down by the Egyptian government and blocked on either side by mines and scuttled ships. At the time of the closure, 15 international shipping vessels were moored at the canal’s midpoint at the Great Bitter Lake. They would remain stranded in the waterway for eight years, eventually earning the nickname the “Yellow Fleet” for the desert sands that caked their decks. Most of the crewmembers were rotated on and off the stranded vessels on 3-month assignments, but the rest passed the time by forming their own floating community and hosting sporting and social events. As the years passed, the fleet even developed its own stamps and internal system of trade. The 15 marooned ships were finally allowed to leave the canal in 1975. By then, only two of the vessels were still seaworthy enough to make the voyage under their own power.    Läs mer

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  • ResenärMariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018
    Dag 7

    Pleasant and uneventful trip so far.

    26 april 2018 ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    It's been a nice uneventful trip, and as usual we've made new friends and met a lot of old ones.
    Joe's been a star and everyone loves him.
    Not been anymore complaints about him being in the lounge but as I say he's allowed in and he has been very well behaved. Speaking of the lounges, the ships management have got the diamond free drinks time very well organised. With there being so many diamonds and above on board, they have opened the Viking Crown lounge and the card rooms as well as the diamond lounge its self, just for the members, which is brilliant. But when you show your card in Boleros, and the Schooner Bar during the free drinks time, you can get unlimited drinks in there also. As well as 4 drinks each night in any of the other bars and restaurants during this time. This is the first time I have experienced this on any ship, when there are so many members on board.
    Well done the Mariner staff.    Läs mer

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  • ResenärMariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018
    Dag 4

    $32.99 !! Wtf!

    23 april 2018, Arabian Sea ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We took Joe into the pool today, and he loved it. The lessons he had off Emma have paid off in spades, he's totally confident in the water and is swimming like a fish. At one point he actually jumped in the pool and swam a width easily. When he goes in today we are going to see just how far he can swim.
    The only problem was the water in the pool is sea water and very salty, and it was stinging his eyes, so I nipped down to the shop on deck 5 to get him some swimming goggles, and the only ones they had where $32.99! Lucky he's worth it 😁
    He's been a star in the evening as well, everyone loves him. But the concierge told Nic that one person complained about him being in the lounge. You will always get one moaner, but he's allowed in and he's behaving, so stuff them.    Läs mer

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  • ResenärMariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018
    Dag 2

    Dubai

    21 april 2018, Förenade arabemiraten ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    The hotel we stayed at was nice enough, with exceptional staff most of who came from Nepal 🇳🇵.
    Nic and I went out to see the Burj Khalifa, while Sheila stayed in the hotel with little Joe who was knackered and fast asleep.
    We were only out for about 3 hours as we didn't want to leave Sheila to long with Joe incase he woke up, we were both tired anyway and after our trip to the top of the Burj we jumped a taxi back.
    We were going to go out and get a bite to eat, but, I didn't particularly fancy another taxi ride in to the city, so, I suggested having a meal in the hotel, which had 3 restaurants.
    It turned out to be a good idea as we had a brilliant Jalfrez and a few 2 for 1 drinks served by some amazing Nepalese staff, who were among the best we've met.    Läs mer

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  • ResenärMariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018
    Dag 1

    And we're off.

    20 april 2018, England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    The Emirates flight from Manchester to Dubai, was ok and uneventful, except for the father of the family in front of us trying to steal our Joe's colouring books and pencils.
    It had slid under his seat, and instead of asking who they belonged to, he put them in his bag in the overhead locker. Anyway when Nicola asked him if he had seen them he said he'd put them in the overhead locker for safekeeping, when he opened the locker they had mysteriously slipped into one of his bags!Läs mer

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