2017 Independence Med May

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Trip start
May 1, 2017
2017 Independence Med May Rulocal
The new diamond lounge
May 1, 2017, English Channel ⋅ 🌬 9 °C
Well I must say that the new diamond lounge is beautiful, with a huge bank of windows, and a nice outside area.
The old one was good but a bit small considering the amount of diamond and above passengers we get nowadays.
Problem is that the pinnacles and suite guests still have the quite comfortable but totally windowless concierge lounge on deck 10.
You would have thought that they would have moved the concierge lounge up to the old diamond lounge, thereby giving the higher level guests some daylight.
I know that we can also use the diamond lounge, but with 800+ diamonds on board, it gets full quickly.
Anyway moan over.
I have a feeling that this is going to be a good cruise, we have lots of old friends on board and some nice ports to visit.Read more
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2017 Independence Med May Rulocal
Amazing who you meet
May 2, 2017, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Last night in the concierge lounge I met a very nice guy from St Thomas in the west Indies.
He was sitting with our group in this wonderful military dress uniform, complete with medals and white gloves.
It turns out that he's Sir Clive Bamford, and what an interesting guy he was.
Needless to say, at the end of the evening I managed to knock my glass of wine 🍷 over him! But he was fine about it and laughed it off.Read more
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2017 Independence Med May Rulocal
Gibraltar
May 5, 2017 in Gibraltar ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Nothing to report on Gibraltar 🇬🇮 I'm afraid. Did not get off the ship as the weather was overcast and chilly.
Well I tell a lie 🤥 I did go to the duty-free in the cruise terminal, but that was it.
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2017 Independence Med May Rulocal
Barcelona, Spain
May 6, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
It was a beautiful day in Barcelona, so I decided to have a walk off the ship.
We where docked as usual at the Adossat Quay terminal A, and although the walk into the city is not that far, I opted for the very reasonable €4 return on the local bus. The bus drops you off right by the Christopher Columbus at the bottom of La Rambla.
But instead of the usual walk up La Rambla, which I've done many times, I decided to have a walk along the harbour front up to Port Vell, which took me past the Maremagnum shopping centre and up to Port Vell and the aquarium.
I then crossed over to the Passeig de Colom, which is the wide tree lined boulevard running from the Columbus monument to Port Villa, and headed back in the direction of the cruise port.
That whole area of the city is called the Gothic Quarter, and is very interesting with its narrow winding streets, where the balconies above look as if you could reach across and shake your neighbours hand, they are that close.
Anyway when I finally reached the Columbus monument, I noticed that the military barracks just by the monument had an exhibition on and best of all it was free entry.
It was interesting and passed half an hour or so.
Then it was back on the bus and back to the ship, after a very pleasant couple of hours in Barcelona.Read more
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2017 Independence Med May Rulocal
Villefranche-sur-Mer, France
May 7, 2017 in France ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
I'm probably getting a bit blasé about some of the ports, as I didn't bother getting off at Villefranche, couldn't be bothered with the tendering. But I have been a number of times and it is a beautiful little town.Read more
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2017 Independence Med May Rulocal
Civitavecchia, Italy
May 8, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
Civitavecchia is the port for Rome, but as Rome is an hour or so away by train, I decided to have a stroll around Civitavecchia instead.
It's actually a place I like to visit, with its vibrant market and its many bars and cafés.
It may be a bit run down in places but that's the same in most of the places in Europe nowadays.
Anyway I took the free shuttle bus to the port gates, which by the way drops you at a different gate from the one we used to get dropped off at, so you now have a 10 minute or so walk in to the main part of town, but it's not that bad.
So I spent about an hour mooching around the market and the back streets, where I came across an interesting memorial to the people killed in the bombings during WWII. It is the end of a building which I'm guessing was bombed during the war, it has been left derelict and had silhouettes of bombs falling on people. To me it is an ingenious and quite moving memorial.
I decided to walk back to the ship using the port gate we used to be dropped off at and there is an impressive old fort at the gate, but you cannot go inside which is a shame.
There was a three masted sailing ship in the port which I decided to have a look at; and it turned out to be quite interesting. It was called the Cuauhtémoc, and it is a Mexican navy training ship.
As I approached I could hear music coming from the ship, and could see the crew with their striped shirts on the deck, so I took a video of it all but only one photo! What a numpty!
Anyway it all made for a lovely morning off the ship.Read more
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2017 Independence Med May Rulocal
Valencia, Spain
May 10, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
The port authority put on free shuttles from the ship to the port gates, then if you want to go to the old town you just cross the road and pick up the No4 bus, the fare is €1.50 each way and the journey takes about 30/35 minutes. Or you can take the ships shuttle which costs €10 return.
I opted for the free port shuttle to the gate and then walked around that part of town, but I wouldn't recommend it as there is sod all to see.
I did find a couple of nice buildings and a small church but that was it.
So next time I come here it's the free port shuttle then the No4 bus to town.Read more
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Málaga, Spain
May 11, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Last time I was here in Málaga I had a walk up towards Castel Gibralfaro, I say up towards, as I never made it to the top! For a change I listened to my body and the slight pain in my chest was saying that's far enough you old fart. Anyway while I was taking in the beautiful views I noticed a bullring down below, and today that's what I set out to find.
It's actually called "Plaza de toros de La Malagueta" and was built in 1876, and is designated a Spanish cultural building, which I suppose is the same as a listed building back in the UK.
Even though I'm not a blood sport type of person, it was still an interesting place to visit.
For the princely sum of €1.80 you could go in to the arena and also visit the small museum.
It all made for a very pleasant morning off the ship, and once again proved my point that in most cases you do not have to travel far from the ship or pay for expensive tours to find interesting things in most ports.Read more
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The old Legend of the seas
May 11, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
When we docked in Málaga, there where two other ships in, one was the Rhapsody of the seas, and the other was the old Legend of the seas, which now has a new life with Thomson cruises as the new Discovery 2.
It was really nice to see her all decked out in her new livery, and it's amazing how quickly it was done, as we were sailing on her for her last voyage as a Royal Caribbean ship only 6 weeks ago.
Anyway as I said it was nice to see her again, and I hope she serves Thomson cruises as well as she did Royal Caribbean. I'm sure she will.Read more
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Cádiz, Spain
May 13, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Last stop before 2 sea days back to Southampton, but I once again didn't bother getting off.
Maybe next time.
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2017 Independence Med May Rulocal
Afternoon tea
May 14, 2017, Celtic Sea ⋅ 🌧 11 °C
Today all the pinnacle members were treated to a wonderful afternoon tea in Chops Grill.
I was a very civilised way to spend an afternoon, and thankfully there was no alcohol served, as I personally have had all the booze I can take, well maybe until tonight... LolRead more
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Trip end
May 13, 2017