What did I get up to on my Cruise?

I have added a few sections below on the ports etc. on my cruise so I have fun reading all about it!

Galley Walk through and Chocoholics Buffet

Another event for a sea day is the Galley Walk through which is followed by the chocoholics buffet.  The Galley on Aurora is pretty big and they had signs up to tell us what happens where.  Not much was going on in there apart from someone making some dough which probably became the rolls we ate at dinner and someone on a computer in the small office.  The chocoholics buffet is something lots of people look forward to as there is a massive display cakes and other goodies laid out and it looks impressive and you get to pick a load and eat it.  I managed to find lots of white chocolate goodies which I enjoyed with a couple of cups of coffee.

Ice Carving

On the way back to Southampton from Palma we had a few sea days and during this time the ice carving took place.  A large block of ice (made from distilled water to make cracking less likely) is brought up onto the deck by one of the swimming pools.  The ice is left for a few minutes before the carving starts.  During the carving one of the Entertainment Crew (Mal) was reading various facts about ice carving, the galley and Victor, the guy who was doing the carving.  The carving took about 20-30 minutes and for quite a while it was not clear what the sculpture was but slowly it became clear that it was a dolphin.

Palma

We arrived in Palma at about 2pm where we joined Oceana one of P&O’s other ships.  We waited a while before getting off the ship to avoid the mad rush and caught the shuttle bus round to the area by the Palace and the Cathedral.  Last time I was in Palma we went around the Cathedral and next time I will think about going around the palace but this time we just did a bit of shopping.  I found the shop that I liked last time which is a bit of a cross between Claire’s Accessories and Accessorise and bought a few things in there.  Mum got some bit too.  It felt really hot in Palma as there was little or no wind and the sun seemed to bounce of everything including the pavement. 

 

We were back on board in time for dinner.  We sailed away at about midnight and we went up on deck to watch as we sailed out.  The Palace and Cathedral looked beautiful all lit up

Corfu

After our two busy days of walking in Venice and Dubrovnik we didn’t really feel like much walking in Corfu so we had a quick look around the rather dull archaeological museum and then just had a nose around the shops.  There were loads of shops including M&S (Dad wasn’t impressed when we went in there).  We didn’t buy much just a few bit and pieces.  If I was to come back I would have a look around the old fort as it looks pretty imposing, but our feet just were not up for it!  There were some pretty gardens just by the old fort which we has a short wander around.

 

I spent the afternoon lazing in the sun and reading my book. 

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik was another of the ports that I was looking forward.  We caught the shuttle bus to the old part of the city and went in through one of the main gates where which opened onto a small square where there is a large fountain.  I got some Kuna from the cash machine (we all only had Euros) and then we paid for our tickets to go round the walls. 

 

The walls go around the whole of the old town area and are pretty impressive.  Some areas are quite steep which steps going up to towers and other areas are very narrow making it hard to pass people going the other way round.  All the way round the views were amazing and I took loads of photos.  On the way round we met the couple that Allan and Laura shared a table with at dinner, they had walked from the ship and it had taken them quite a while and they wanted to know how long we had taken to walk round the walls, it took us about 1 hour 20 minutes with lots of photo pauses and we later learned that they did it in about 55 minutes.  It was quite hot up on the walls and we were glad that we went round in the morning.

 

After that we walked up the main street which is incredibly clean and shiny and apparently rather slippery when wet.  Part way up we stopped and had a drink at one of the bars.  We sat outside looking towards the tower at the end of the street and got chatting to a lady who was visiting from America.  Went we were fully refreshed we had a look around the marina area before heading back to the main street and getting some very tasty ice creams, I had a scoop of blueberry and a scoop of pineapple in my cone and strangely they actually went quite well together.  The I went in a shop and bought some towels that have fish and stars on that I fell in love with and some other bits and bobs.  Finally we bought some drinks to use up what was left of the Kuna before heading back to the ship

Venice

Venice was the highlight of the cruise for me.  I got up a 5:30am and went to Café Bordeaux with Allan for some coffee and a muffin before heading up to the Lido deck to watch as we sailed into Venice.  We met Mum and Dad up there and Laura appeared not long after.  We were a bit disappointed that it was a bit misty but the sun rise was beautiful and the mist cleared a little as we got further up the water ways.  We passed St Mark’s square and the entrance to the Grand Canal before getting into the harbour area.  We then had a quick breakfast and some coffee before going on our trip.

 

Our trip started by taking us to St Mark’s square on a small pleasure boat and the guide pointed out places on the way.  We saw the bridge of Sighs and admired the columns at the water side of St Mark’s square and the outside of the Doges Place before going in where we were taken on a tour including some the rooms and then going over the bridge of Sighs into the prison for a quick look before passing back over the bridge to the place and out to go into the Cathedral.  The tour then went back to the ship but we stayed in Venice and looked at the museum in the Cathedral before wandering towards the Rialto Bridge.  On the way to the Rialto Bridge we stopped for lunch in a small café and had lots of pizza and calzone.  We then came to the Rialto Bridge where Mum and I got some Murano glass pendants and Allan and Laura bought and Murano glass plate for Laura’s Mum.  We then had a bit more of a wander and got some ice cream before wandering back towards the Rialto Bridge where we caught the water bus back to the Plaza Roma, where the shuttle busses for the ship were going from, and back to the ship.

 

In the evening there was a formal night and a Venetian Ball where lots of people wore masks that they had bought in Venice

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Korcula

This was the second and last of our tender landings.  The tender took us in to Korcula right by the city walls and we walked up some steps and came out in a square opposite the church (you can see the bell tower of the church on one of the photos).  We then walked all around the walls to the main gate entrance into the town and went through that back to the church.  Then we headed back to the harbour area where we spotted lots of small jelly fish in the water and bought some post cards and bits and bobs in a shop before heading back to the ship for a bit of lunch and another afternoon of sun by the pool.

Cephalonia

Cephalonia was the first of our tender landings.  The wasn’t a great deal to look at here so we just had a wander along the harbour a bit looking at the fishermen’s catches and admired some of the yachts then we had a look around the shops.  Then we got the tender back to the ship and had lunch and I sunbathed by the pool all afternoon.  Allan and Laura went on a trip to some caves which they enjoyed

Messina

We arrive in Messina just in time to hear the clock chime and then play Ave Maria.  Then I had to go and get ready for our trip to Taormina.  The coach trip there wasn’t very long but the roads were interesting, there where loads of tunnels and bridges and one bit that looked like a piece on Scaletrix sticking our the side of a cliff!  When we got there the coach parked up and we got in a lift to take us up to the edge of the town we then walked along past the cathedral and several churches to the Greco-Roman Theatre which is what we had gone to see.  The theatre was very impressive and we went all around admiring it and the views, unfortunately it was a bit cloudy and we couldn’t quite see Mount Etna but we could just about pick out where snow was glistening on the top of it.  As we walked back to the meeting point we looked in several of the shops and I got some biscuits and a guide book on Taormina and Dad had an ice cream.  Then we sat around the fountain by the small seahorse drinking fountains waiting for the guide to take us back.