The last time Lyn and I spent a night in a hotel in Bournemouth was in 1987 in the first blossoming of our romance and a week after ‘The Great Storm’. This was back in a time when I could get away with a ‘holiday’ being few nights in a seedy hotel on the south coast and not every bit of wind got a name. I quite like the coincidence so here’s to another 35 years. We didn’t really want to spend a night in Bournemouth but unfortunately cruise flights are early and at the moment they still require y

In the evening the tannoy bonged with an announcement that the captains had changed. For the first time in my admittedly brief experience the new captain gave a demo of the emergency alarm! After explaining what you should do (I’m sure it’s middle aged fat men first) he then did a smooth segway into the fact that the trip to Tenerife would be rough! This was probably the most movement (so far) we’ve experienced on a cruise. An almost continuous swaying which would be followed by a shudder like s

We didn’t leave port until nearly 11pm. I know this because we’d not long gone to sleep when we were woken by a tannoy announcement and the captain doing his ‘this is what the emergency alarm sounds like’ speech again. The ship had taken on 800 passengers in Tenerife (there are 1400 in total out of a possible 1800) but quite a few had been very late boarding. I’d spoken to a member of staff earlier who was sat at a muster station and who gives out cabin cards to new arrivals. She told me that Ma

Last night we had dinner in Vista, the Italian part of the main restaurant and had a pleasant chat with a couple on the next table. Go us for being sociable! This was aided by the fact they were from Cornwall and I didn’t have to strain so much to understand what they were saying. Because of my increasing deafness any accent north of Watford is an effort for me to comprehend. Chuck a mask on top and the fact I didn’t bother packing my hearing aid and for the most part it just sounds like a mumbl

Last night we had dinner in the Dining Club. This is the poshest restaurant on the ship. Apparently it’s French cuisine which uses molecular something or other and a fusion of something else that I didn’t pay attention to. It’s £35pp (it would probably be twice that on land). If you want to eat there on the ‘dress to impress’ night they charge you £45pp! I don’t see why it should cost you an extra £10 to put on your poshest cloths especially when the dress code in any case is ‘smart’. For men as

Even in the dark as we approach Madeira I knew this would be more like it. Just the shape of the island and the way the city of Funchal was lite up and clung to the side of the island gave me a good vibe. We had a tour booked and our trip would start with a 15 minute ride up to the top of the city in a cable car and then a 2 kilometre ride down in a wicker basket (this cost extra). Unlike Gibraltar they didn’t cram people on in the cable car and we got on with just 2 other people who, while they

For our evening meal the previous night we thought we’d try Tapas @ The Mediterranean. Lyn has been very good with regard to food this trip. She even tried the amuse bouche when we were in the Dining Club and this was tomato based thing but tomato dialled up to 11. The expression on her was like she’d just eaten some sick… someone else’s. But at least she tried which is way more than she would have a couple of years ago. Good girl Lindy! You’re supposed to select just 3 items each from the tapas