Azamara Journey, Day 6: Sicily to Sorrento
Best of the Best was a memorable dinner, hosted by Captain Ikiadis, cruise director Eric De Gray (very funny guy), hotel director Scott Daniels and chief engineer Evangelos Miskedakis. It was served in the Drawing Room while we sailed through the Strait of Messina...
Radiance of the Seas, Day 6: Panama Canal
For cruise traditionalists the three “must do” voyages are an Atlantic crossing and the two great canals – the Suez and Panama. I’m determined to savour every minute of the Panama Canal. But there’s a timelessness in an inside cabin so my alarm bleats in the dark. I turn on the TV and the bow cam shows we are approaching the entrance of the Panama Canal and it’s bright daylight outside. That certainly galvanizes me into action and a few minutes later I’m dressed and on the bow with a few hundred others. Looking up I see similar crowds on the open spaces facing forward on the upper decks.
Radiance of the Seas, Day 5: Colon
For most of us, Colon is just a jumping off point to the nearby feature synonymous with the whole country of Panama – the Panama Canal. There are some human achievements that show that grand plans can come to fruition and we should be proud of what we can achieve. In an age when laying national broadband cables seems all too difficult, it’s hard to imagine looking at 77 kilometres of mountains and disease-ridden jungle and picking up pick and shovel and thinking “we can dig a ditch through this and link two oceans”...
Azamara Journey, Day 5: Taormina, Sicily
We had booked a day-long 4WD trip to the lava fields of the 10,800ft high volcano but as there were not enough takers it had been cancelled, so we set off for Taormina to see if we could find a local tour operator offering something similar.
Radiance of the Seas, Day 4: Cartagena
Not visiting Colombia in general and Cartagena in particular is one of the regrets of my travel life. I’ve seen Romancing the Stone and remembered the dramatically beautiful scenes around the port of Cartagena.The first port of call on this Radiance of the Seas voyage is Cartagena, so one travel regret is about to be redressed.
Radiance of the Seas, Day 3: Exploring the ship
I expect there are people who walk on to a ship for the first time with a deck plan etched into their brains. Not me – I read the reviews and get a feeling for the ship but I love the joy of discovering things for myself. It’s even better if the journey of discovery finds enough hidden nooks and crannies that it continues for a few days.
Radiance of the Seas, Day 2: At sea
My alarm went off at 8 am and I woke to complete darkness. There was a moment of fear. Had Cuban pirates boarded the ship in the night and consigned me to a barrel?
Tales from the river bank: Why I’m a river cruise convert
I am not speaking of the cute British kids’ television series from the 1960’s in which Hammy Hamster, Roderick Rat and GP the guinea pig had amazing adventures, but the increase in the popularity of river cruising......
Radiance of the Seas, Day 1: Boarding in Tampa, Florida
Why is the start of a relaxing cruise invariably so stressful?
Azamara Journey, Day 4: A wander around the walled city of Valletta
Here’s Azamara Journey docked in her port of registry, Valletta, the capital city of Malta. This 16th-century city is a living history lesson and the guided walk we took around the streets and key sights was well worth the $41 charge.
Azamara Journey, Day 3: At sea, Santorini to Valetta, Malta
As the editor of P&O Cruises’ in-cabin magazine Pacific (as well as Cruise Passenger of course), I recently commissioned a feature on the theme of “How To Do Nothing On A Cruise Ship”. A sea day on this cruise is the perfect opportunity for me to practise what we preach. I could now leave this page blank while I do nothing at all ... however...
Azamara Journey, Day 2: At anchor, Santorini, Greece
Early spring in Europe is proving to be a very cool affair. As soon as we boarded the tender to take us from the ship to the island this morning, I wished I’d taken my jacket with me.
Azamara Journey, Day 1: Greece
We left Piraeus at six o’clock last night after a seamless boarding process, during which we discovered we’d been upgraded to the top-of-the-range Club World Owner’s Suite – an amazingly spacious suite at the aft of the ship on Deck 8 that comes with the services of Sooria, our Indian 'English' butler.
Al the fun in the world on Carnival’s newest ship
It’s been an epic week since my last blog, with the joy of the Royal Wedding over in the UK on Friday night, capturing the attention of millions of people across the globe, then the historic news about the demise of Osama Bin Laden yesterday......
Captain Cook Murray River Cruise – Part 4
We spent most of our on board time in our new favourite place, the bar lounge, where we could sit in comfort on large leather chairs and watch the fantastic scenery drift slowly by.
Why you should consider upgrading to a luxury cruise line
I was discussing the real benefits of splashing out on a luxury cruise with a newbie cruise fan recently, and the question was inevitably asked: do you really get more bang for your buck if you splash out on five-star?
