Eddie99

Do you have an estimate for completion date Michelle? Whatever, this is a one and done and will be great for you

More memories of Cartagena - Are you a coffee drinker? Have a cup at the on site coffee shop and maybe buy some beans to bring home? Stunning! We enjoyed the biggest G&Ts we’ve ever had somewhere around the complex Also - fish cerviche from a cart (possibly the same one as the G&Ts, and possibly the downing of the giant G&Ts gave us Dutch courage for the fish 🤣). Ohmygoodness it was good. And we lived to tell the tale! They can’t really afford to poison the tourists There were a pair of delinquent red parrots walking round, undoing peoples’ rucksacks and investigating the contents, chewing the wood supporting the seating, and reacting badly if challenged 😱 Have I mentioned that it was very, very, hot? Enjoy!

Morning all. It’s dry and our forecast predicts a maximum of 12C today, so the forces of nature are being very kind in letting us settle back in to good ole British weather (well, southern softie version) No plans, no ‘must do’s, no cruise log to write! 🙂

I hope you’ve cast off and are making good progress back to Blighty Beach House isn’t my favourite. If we hadn’t enjoyed the “beer can chicken” so much last visit I’d have said I wouldn’t care if we never went again. I agree about the portion sizes and food quality, in general. If you do go again, the crab tostadas are a nice starter - just 3 canapé sized nibbles, and we enjoyed the roasted pineapple with mojito sorbet pudding Smooth seas. Enjoy the brown boobies and the flying fish

Morning Selbourne You’re teasing me with that Sea Bass on a banana leaf again. I was looking forward to trying it but the menu never changed in the Iona Glasshouse. Front page of tapas, second & third pages ‘mains’, comprising three dishes each, on the beef, chicken, pork, fish and vegan themes. Nary a banana leaf I hope your dry throat is just that - something aggravated by the a/c. Are you taking any C* precautions? You’d probably laugh and/or roll your eyes if I told you how we tried to avoid the bugs. However, it’s our third day back and all seems well 🤞 Enjoy Cartagena - be prepared for it to be very, very hot. It is a sleepy place in the morning - Spanish influence showing. The aviary at the dock is, indeed, a nice facility to simply enjoy viewing. I hope Lady S enjoys it

The Epilogue - Part the Second Friday we checked our account and found a balance in our favour, so went shopping! Lovely l’Occitane products, retail value (apparently) £55. After our ‘last supper’ at Sindhu we ended up with a final cruise bill of £12someting, reduced by 10% peninsular discount, and the return of the £1 P&O took to verify the credit card. Our cruise cost us the base price, plus £9-ish, and we had £55 of l’Occitane 😳. Crazy. This all goes back to that booze package gift, which skewed our financial planning - though in a good way! It does make planning and budgeting any future cruises a bit odd though Our cabin helped our enjoyment - 4452 for those who asked. So much space, making, for instance, eating breakfast there a simple, pleasant, experience, rather than an exercise in juggling trays and plates. Obviously we didn’t have the outside space of a balcony, but I think there were limited times when we could have used a balcony with reasonable comfort. There was always space on the prom deck, just 4 flights up, when/if we wanted. We barely went above the prom/deck 8 - just Epicurean and Beach House visits. Didn’t see the pools etc There was a tremendous amount of the ship we never used - so much to enjoy at some other time, perhaps? I’ve brought back all the Horizons, if anyone has an questions that might be answered therein. Ask me soon - they’ll be in the bin in a while So, we had a lovely time, at very reasonable cost. I’m not sure when/if we might cruise again. We’ve agreed we need time to process our thoughts and memories The dog was very pleased to see us home, though she had some nice adventures with her minder whilst we were away I’m happy to try to answer any questions but basically, that’s it. Thanks for coming with me. Thanks for saying nice things about my ramblings 🥂

That all looks yummy! It was lovely to meet Graham & Pauline. I looked and looked at the gent in the navy polo shirt. Thought “I think it is. There’s been posts on the daily board suspecting the Grapaus are on a jaunt. But how embarrassing if not. But that lovely little blonde lady must be Pauline. It must be them”. By that time the moment had passed … However, I decided that I’d keep an eye out and if I should see them again, I’d say Hello. So I did, and I did 🙂 Lovely to meet them and to see, in person, people you do the forum chat with most days Happy to hear you’re safely home Graham. I have been waiting for you to check in. You have a long drive - we had a simple hour-ish taxi. Our man was waiting for us at 7.45 and we were home by 9

The Epilogue (🤣) So, Thursday and Friday were those quiet(er), winding down, going home days. The weather was kind, the Bay of Biscay was benign. Thursday morning brought out *Trek the Deck* folk circumnavigating the promenade deck … as we discovered when we went out for a dutiful 10k steps 😳. We did our usual exit near the ice cream parlour and turn left, which was our first mistake, as the trekkers were circling in the other direction. Quick 180° turn required, then a few hundred of us continued our stepping. The organised people had Trek the Deck t-shirts, so I’ll assume there was some charitable fund-raising going on amongst the fun. We went to a mdr for the first time (other than embarkation and loyalty lunches) for a quick, eclectic, lunch of tandoori platter followed by baked rice pudding (a Great British Pudding). It was very pleasant, so we decided to return for dinner, which, it being Burns Night, contained haggis (Mr Eddie is of Scottish persuasion, originally, though a southern softie for many a year now) The restaurant booking, via the My Holiday route, was simple and efficient and we enjoyed our *sanctioned by Marco Pierre White* menu. Haggis to start, roast lamb for me, turbot for him, and cranachan for both (actually that was awful - base like overnight oats, which were fine, but the alleged raspberry sauce was soooo terribly sweet and didn’t taste like it had a lot to do with natural raspberries We had room service breakfast every day between the start and this Thursday (having decided to try out the Keel and Cow for our last breakfast aboard.) We’re not huge breakfast eaters, and £2.50 per day seems a small price to pay for a peaceful start to the day. We has the same sweet little girl every day, and she soon became a favourite, happily providing us with toast and bananas. On the last Thursday she started to tell us that there was no room service on Saturday morning but I butted in to say that this would be our last one, because of the Keel & Cow. Her little face fell (not because she thought she’d lost a tip - we gave her some cash one of the port days when she said she would have some time ashore) and she said Oh, ma’am. Can I give you a hug? So we hugged. She was such a little thing; no bigger, probably smaller, than my 13yo granddaughter Last Day - Friday Ah, last day 😕 Quiet seas, and the cabin tv showed us getting closer & closer to home Started online queuing for the Keel & Cow just after 9 and we’re invited there after about 10 minutes. The breakfast offering is good, other than the foul *free* coffee. It made a nice change. Very good “build it yourself” breakfast Benedict, where you chose your base and whether to add extras. You can see I have avocado and salsa. Yum. Mr Eddie had the full English but said it was too much (he ate it all though!). The breakfast breadbasket, or similar, is very good value at £1.50 for two half slices of toast, butter & marmalade, mini croissant, cinnamon bun and pain au chocolat, and full size blueberry muffin Then .. packing 😕 Everything fitted fine, including 2 bottles of Marabelle gin, which basically took the place of the defunct size 11 trainers 😉 Then - time to walk. We started walking and then found that, although the air temperature was stated as 11°C, the direct sun on the (unattended) Sunset Bar was wonderful. So, circuits were interspersed with periods of sitting, faces to the sky like sunflowers! 10k steps and 2 hours of vitaminD therapy can’t be bad This is so long, I’m going to have to do an epilogue Part 2, to cover the final evening, disembarkation, the cabin, the booze package, the purchases, future cruises, life and everything Sorry everyone; I really thought your pain would be over with this post …

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY AVRIL & FRANK

What a lovely morning for our first ‘normal’ day back It’s almost Spring like (oh, I know - don’t tempt fate!)dry, mild, weak sunshine, but the hedges are alive with birdsong We’ve finished the holiday washing, walked a nice walk and now watching our recording of the India v England cricket. Tense stuff! Apart from that, I’ll join the Sunday Potterers team, with nothing to do bar heat/cook a very rare Tesco Finest meal deal (and enjoy the included bottle of rosé. Will make sure we savour that. It’s dry February for me, and dry Mon-Thurs February for himself)

Scientific proof of genetics

Poor you. You have my sympathy If it’s any consolation (I hope it is), when we were delayed on a Thompson flight heading to P&O in the Caribbean, P&O we’re super. (So were Thompson, but that’s another story) We were delayed from about 9am till about 7pm (I don’t remember exactly) Once we got to Barbados everything worked like clockwork. It was in pre-Covid days, so we were dreading having to wait till the whole plane-load of pax arrived to attend the old fashioned muster but no, we were spoken to in busload sized groups, during which time our luggage got to the cabins. There was *an enhanced buffet* available for those who wanted … and after we had fallen into our bed and had a few solid hours sleep, hey, guess what, we were on a lovely liner, cruising in the Caribbean That’ll be you this time tomorrow And you can look forward to €600pp (iirc) compensation, as long as that’s still around post-Brexit

*blush* - and thank you! We’re safely home, unpacked, the first load of washing (of only 2) is on and - most important - I’ve collected the dog from the minder I promise I will do The Epilogue, as Beckett calls it, tomorrow. For now it’s feet up and relax (and read Selbourne & MrsGoggins when the day catches up with them I’ll join everyone hoping that kalos & Mrs kalos are enjoying a break in the sun somewhere lovely Also, I’m looking forward to hearing how the Presto’s trip to the Caribbean went. They’re not even on the plane back yet, so I don’t suppose they’ll be posting till tomorrow I

5.22am & I hope you’re sleeping soundly Captain Dunlop has brought Iona safely home for you. We’re in Southampton waters but not tied up yet. Official ETA is 6am Have a lovely cruise. It’s certainly smooth seas to begin with, so let’s hope all those named storms stay away

Apologies.

Thanks Here you go Concha d’Ouro(?) Golden Shell(?) Dont ask me the street name but it’s a cross street between 2 of the 3 which run up from Black Horse Sq, about level with the Belim Tower Our bill was €86 for bread, olives, fresh grilled fish, enormous heap of fries, plate of mixed veg/boiled potatoes, desserts, espressos, bottle of decent vinho verde

If people willing good stuff to happen could work, you & Lady S would now be sitting on deck in calm seas, a tiny zephyr of a breeze gently caressing you as you sipped a cheeky piña colada 🙄 How close is that to the realité?

Thanks The booking office in the pics is actually for the Lisboat(?) service, on the waterfront, right next to the docked liners Well, here we are, last day. We’ve pretty much made our way round the BoB, without incident or discomfort, and I think we’ll soon be changing course for the Channel approach I’m a little bored/fed up with writing this now. Probably not with getting the account written but with playing about with the technology etc, so I’m going to finish up tomorrow or Sunday, when we’re home & back to relative normality Just a note about Mr Eddie’s trainers. I can’t remember if I’d written that the soles and uppers were parting company, somewhere about GrannCanaria. He’d pulled these trainers out from the stash under the bed, declaring they would be “perfect” for the trip. How long had they been under the bed? Well, since our last cruise 4 years ago 🙄 So - they made it - Just! Our cabin steward removed them this morning. We really wondered if we’d be shoe shopping in Cadiz or Lisbon (if you gotta do it, they’re not bad paces to do it) but we made it by a whisker Here they are, in all their glory! (White is where the sole is missing 🙄) See you tomorrow/Sunday for the final reckoning

It’s a pity I lost a lot of text from my first attempt at the last post. I’ve never been a typist, or needed to type, so I am painfully slow (and I get cross when my efforts don’t work) Anyway, it’s all quiet here, so here are more Lisbon pics, including what may well be the most beautiful ticket office in the world

This will be briefer than what I’ve tapped and lost Did you ever have lunch served by a waiter in full tux? Fish and crème brûlée complemented the vinho verde very nicely Then we mooched around more. This, in a shop window, reminded me that I’m missing my little dog I’ll do some more Lisbon pic’s tomorrow. After all that we just had a snack-ette in The Glass House. Olly Smith was there & said Hello Final part of this tomorrow

Moving on … I’ll remind myself that today is Thursday - but I need to tell you about yesterday, Wednesday. One of the cruise days to stay in the memory. Sometimes the memory is a once in a lifetime, like the Panama or Suez Canal, or watching bears in Alaska eating salmon; sometimes it is simply a nice day and either a memorable encounter with someone, or good food 🙄. Yesterday was a food day! I’ve been bemoaning the lack of tourist catering provision in ports when the behemoths arrive. That’s not the case in Lisbon, I’m delighted to say. The bars, cafes and restaurants swallowed Iona’s 5000 with no problems Back to the beginning. I was awake as we travelled the Tagus towards Lisbon but didn’t take Captain Dunlop’s advice to be on deck when we passed under the 25 April bridge. I’ve done that before, probably in warmer days than late January. It was a pretty sail in though, starting with the communities on the river just showing as lights in the darkness, then becoming easier to discern as we neared the city. We weren't in and ready until just after 9. A new (to me) air bridge made walking off easy for those on the higher decks, as it was a simple walk-off from deck 6 (albeit that the tos & fros of the bridge gave everyone a few hundred of their daily steps without really going anywhere. Those of us on the lower decks exited via a stepped gangway on deck 4 The improvements to the dock and surrounding area which were nearly complete when we were last here (goodness knows when - 2018 perhaps) have been finished and it’s a pleasant simple walk in to Black Horse Square. With no plans for the day (what’s new?) we strolled and found our bearings again. Coffee and pastel de nata were a must-do A walk to the lovely railway station, with a hot chestnut seller outside. Lisbon is looking so much happier than say 10-15 years ago when much of the city centre was in a sorry state. There’s still plenty to be done - some buildings are shrouded with signs announcing improvements in progress; others are still awaiting their transformation and renovation. It is such a pleasant city one imagines that there would be demand for residential accommodation above the shops and offices So, finally, we had a choice of lunch venues. Should we stay in one of the main streets running back from Black Horse Square, or perhaps go to one of the side streets, connecting them? We opted for the busy streets, so as to people watch along with our lunch. Mmm, I need to do some more techno-jiggery-pokery to get pics taken on my phone onto this iPad. P&O are so mean, only allowing one device online at any one time Watch this space …

Morning all. Here we are en route home but 48 hours of Iona enjoyment still to come. However, let me tell you some of my memories of Tuesday and Wednesday Cadiz We docked quite late, about 9am, in the usual city centre berth. There was another big vessel in, but she had been allocated the further berth. A blue funnel in a ‘fish tail’ design - is that Celebrity perhaps? Anyway, we got the good place so nah, nah, nah to them 🙂 Love Cadiz. We did our usual walk around the walls to the cathedral and enjoyed spotting people, dogs, birds, including sandpipers and parakeets, and the cat colony of Cadiz, who all seem in very good condition and happy with their life in the little shanty town ‘over the wall’. It’s all very photogenic, and the weather was perfect Orange anyone? Managed to squeeze into a bar in ‘fountain square’. We’re rewarded with a welcome (free) tapas of potato salad Once again, I bemoan that the arrival of the mega ships leaves the arrival port a little swamped and the potential consumers being unable to find a spot to consume. We would have lunched out had there been any spaces when we looked. I’d hoped Cadiz could accommodate us but no - or not without going rather off the tourist beaten track. So, back to Iona for a quick forkful of salad from the Quays and then a return to the city. More strolling and sightseeing, and a seat and drink outside a nice bar/restaurant. The waiter arrived with the paper tablecloth, anticipating we were eating, but no, it was after 2pm and at a time when enjoying a relaxed Spanish lunch would have killed our appetite for 6pm at Sindhu So, talking of which, Sindhu was very good. Different from how we remember, with 3 courses at a standard price, but we found it nice to be able to chose just what we wanted to have, and to avoid (and avoid paying for) unwanted additional courses. As it happened we just about managed 3 courses, and were quite happy not to have the nibbly seeds and biscuits at the end. We enjoyed a couple of glasses of the Gewürztraminer, which is a pretty much perfect wine for curry Puri Vegetarian thali Beautiful ‘deconstructed trifle’, with delicate hints of exotic fruits & spices So that was Cadiz. Another 9am arrival in Lisbon to come. Captain Dunlop will be at the gangway, as ever, for those who wish to shake his hand I’ll write up Lisbon later. Time to hand over the internet access 🙂

It’s Wednesday (I think) and we’re sailing up the Tagus river and approaching the April bridge. Forecast is for 18-20° and clear skies. Sounds perfect I will clear up this report - which sounds more like a gastronomic tour, as we’ve avoided shows/talks/cinema/crowds - tomorrow and Friday as we send our way back to Southampton, but I thought I’d report on our second visit to The Beach House before my memory gives out completely And I should say, dear reader, that I saw that CC celebrity again, gathered my courage and went to say hello! Squeeeee, they’re as lovely as you would imagine. Very pleased So, The Beach House - well, it was as nice as the first visit was meh. We had a lovely table, at the far end of the restaurant and against the window, so that was a good start. We went early, so it was quiet initially, and never got too busy. We decided on the “beer can chicken” to share, at a £4 total supplement. I was apprehensive at how much there might be but it was actually a pretty small chick and nicely cooked. Comes “jerk-rubbed” but I removed the skin, as I do when eating chicken anyway, and I didn’t get any heat from the spice. Pictures below Crab tostadas - a nice light nibble Chicken Roasted rum-rubbed pineapple, mojito sorbet & something or other poke pie Our waiter took one of the nicest pictures we’ve ever had of ourselves on a cruise, so that’s a nice memory I still need to tell you about Cadiz yesterday & Lisbon today, but that’s for another time

Oh Selbourne, we’re currently sailing along the Tagus river about to dock in Lisbon. It’s 7.36 local time, almost fully light and we’re nearly at the bridge. It’s so lovely I’m sad for you that the fates, and your miserable captain have conspired against you, to put a mighty damper on the majority of the first part of your cruise. You’re right - things can only get better. You have missed extreme cold and 2 winter storms at home. You’re not having to do any meal planning, shopping, cooking or cleaning. That’s all good Thanks for your continued interesting reports. 🤞 that New Orleans will knock your socks off