2015 Quantum Barca, Dubai

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Traveler 2015 Quantum Barca, Dubai
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- May 9, 2015
- ⛅ 9 °C
- Altitude: 187 ft
- England Ringway Manchester Airport 53.358803, -2.2727353°21’32” N 2°16’22” W
Day 1
Manchester, Now that's a good deal
May 9, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
Just got in the line for Monarch at Manchester airport, when one of the staff came up to us and said are we interested in extra leg room seat upgrades for £5 each?
Well after we'd snatched his hand off, we found that he would check us in, so no queue and to top it all we get priority boarding!
Best tenner I've ever spent lol.
Hope this good luck continues for the rest of the trip, I'll keep you posted.Read more
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Traveler 2015 Quantum Barca, Dubai
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- May 10, 2015
- ☀️ 23 °C
- Altitude: 59 ft
- Spain Catalonia Barcelona Gothic Quarter Plaça de la Vila de Madrid 41.385064, 2.17340341°23’6” N 2°10’24” E
Day 2
Barcelona, Silken Diagonal Hotel
May 10, 2015 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
The pre cruise hotel we stayed at was the Silken Diagonal and it was excellent, clean, friendly and very modern.
The only thing I didn't like was that the bed was a bit hard, but everything else, especially the breakfast was top notch.
We went for a walk in the afternoon and found a lovely little tapas bar called Lemoncello, where we had a drink.
We ordered a couple of large beers for Maz and I and half a carafe of wine for Sue and Sheila, while we were chatting the chef sent across to us a small pizza for us to try, free of charge, which was a nice touch.
The bill only came to €13 which for Barcelona we thought was excellent, so much so that we went back there in the evening for a meal and a few drinks.
This time the owner sent across a round of shots free of charge.
Well the girls didn't want them and Maz only wanted one, so as not to be rude I finished the other three, Needless to say I went straight to bed after the meal, not that I was drunk or anything!
Just very tired, LMAO.Read more
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- May 13, 2015
- ☀️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 59 ft
- Spain Catalonia Barcelona Gothic Quarter Plaça de la Vila de Madrid 41.385064, 2.17340341°23’6” N 2°10’24” E
Day 5
Quantum ots, first impressions
May 13, 2015 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Not really seen much of the ship yet, but first impressions are good.
It really is different to other Royal ships, in layout and the atmosphere on board is different, it seems much more relaxed.
The concierge and diamond lounges are both very nice and decent sizes, as with all ships if you where on a transatlantic crossing they would not be able to accommodate the large number of diamonds and above who travel on the transatlantic cruises.
Also the concierge lounge is in a weird place right at the back of the ship, but the view is brilliant.Read more
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Traveler 2015 Quantum Barca, Dubai
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- May 13, 2015
- ☀️ 23 °C
- Altitude: Sea level
- Iberian Sea 40.289051, 2.14502440°17’21” N 2°8’42” E
Day 5
The usual furniture removing
May 13, 2015, Iberian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Had a great night in the concierge lounge last night.
With lots of old friends the company was so big we did our usual furniture removing getting chairs from all over the lounge.
A quick name check, there was Egbert and Christiane, Larry and Phyllis, John and Janice, Eddie and Janice, another guy named Clyde and his wife whose name I've to my shame forgotten and of course Maz and Sue and Sheila and I.
Also on board is Eric and Doreen but they were with other friends.Read more
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- May 14, 2015
- ☀️ 23 °C
- Altitude: Sea level
- Iberian Sea 40.289051, 2.14502540°17’21” N 2°8’42” E
Day 6
Devinly Decadence
May 14, 2015, Iberian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
This is one of the free speciality restaurants and I must honestly say that the food was just about the best I've ever had on board ship.
I had a sort of surf and turf, of filet mignon and crab cakes, with asparagus, broccoli and creamed potatoes.
The crab cakes were delicious and the filet could be cut just by looking at it, it was that tender. Also the service was excellent with a friendly and very competent waiter.
Along with great company it was a lovely evening.
Also but they were there was a drunk American lady who was about 75 years old who kept coming across and telling us she was from Boston, she asked my name and when I said it was Dave, she kept doing part of the Cheech and Chong sketch, saying "hey man it's Dave I've got the stuff".
Don't 't know if you remember them but they were quite big in the 70s.Read more
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- May 15, 2015
- ⛅ 22 °C
- Altitude: 56 ft
- Italy Latium Civitavecchia Parco del Pincio 42.092424, 11.79541342°5’33” N 11°47’43” E
Day 7
Civitavecchia
May 15, 2015 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Been here lots of times, and it's a lovely place but today the weather was crap, so we stayed on the ship.
So I'm afraid there's nothing to report.
Other than that we slept a lot in the Solarium.
Tomorrow is Naples, so we might get off weather permitting.
Then again, anyone who knows us will know that we quite often stay on board the ship on these cruises, as the travelling to places is sometimes better than the places themselves, if that makes sense lol.Read more
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- May 17, 2015
- ⛅ 26 °C
- Altitude: 66 ft
- Italy Campania Naples San Carlo All'Arena Piazza Garibaldi 40.851775, 14.26812440°51’6” N 14°16’5” E
Day 9
Didn't get off in Naples either
May 17, 2015 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
The weather wasn't up to much again today, so we stayed on the ship, been to Naples a few times before so not missing much.
Had a good walk around the ship, and it's a beautiful ship.
We went to look at the bumper cars, but didn't get to try them out, as that's one of the things being worked on.
We were told in advance by RCL that a few things would be closed as they are getting the ship ready for China, we were all given $250 as compensation so that's fine.
We did get to ride on the North Star, which was nice, you got brilliant views of Naples.
Later on Sheila and I went to the American Icon restaurant for lunch, and we had one of the best burgers we've ever had, it was almost as good as my own home made burgers lol.Read more
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- May 18, 2015
- ☀️ 27 °C
- Altitude: 56 ft
- Greece Attica Piraeus Piraeus Center Piraeus Municipal Theater 37.942986, 23.64698337°56’35” N 23°38’49” E
Day 10
Piraeus, Greece
May 18, 2015 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Just Maz and I got off today just to stretch our legs.
Didn't bother getting the bus to Athens as we'd both been before, anyway it was too hot.
There was not a lot to see in Piraeus but we did find an impressive church, with beautiful painted ceilings, but as I said we only got off for a bit of exercise rather than the local culture. Yesterday was Christiane's birthday so six of us had booked Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant last night to celebrate.
I must say I was impressed with it, both the food and the service where excellent.
Later we all went to the theatre to see a Motown and Soul group called Emperors of Soul, they were good considering that it was the late show and the theatre was half empty.
After that it was off to bed, well I mean, it was 11.30pm! and for me nowadays that's LATE!Read more
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- May 18, 2015
- ☀️ 27 °C
- Altitude: 174 ft
- Egypt Ismailia Markaz al Qanţarah Sharq 30.510583, 32.44530930°30’38” N 32°26’43” E
Day 10
Suez Canal
May 18, 2015 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Just started the Suez transit, it's 5.30am so we should be out the other end about 6.30pm. Then the next day we dock in Aqaba Jordan, after which we sail on to Dubai.
Just before we pass between Aden and Somalia we will have the pirate drill, "Operation Safe Haven".
Having done the trip a couple of times before we know that there is nothing to worry about, as we are to big, to fast and have to many people on board to be of any interest to the pirates. But there are a few passengers, mainly American who are a bit worried.
We're the 3rd ship in the convoy of six ships in our time slot, and apparently the Egyptians charge by the tonnage and our cost is $500,000 and the other cargo ships look huge too so just for our one convoy they will make the best part of $3.000,000 not a bad little earner.Read more
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- May 21, 2015
- ☀️ 33 °C
- Altitude: 49 ft
- Jordan Aqaba Ḩayy aş Şafā Aqaba Marine Park 29.53192, 35.00608429°31’55” N 35°0’22” E
Day 13
Aqaba, Jordan
May 21, 2015 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
Today we are docked in Aqaba, and most of the ship will probably be going to the ancient city of Petra.
But with the temperature due to be in the 40s, I'll be giving that one a miss.
Also the trip takes about 12 hours in total, and it's a lot of walking over quite rough terrain.
Anyway if I do decide to get off the ship for a walk, Aqaba itself is quite nice, and there are some ancient ruins of the old town which you can visit and they've been quite well looked after and most importantly they are free of charge lol.Read more
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