Jellifer

Nearly forgot the photos from dinner that night

I walked laps on deck 10 (14 laps = 1 mile, every little helps!) after breakfast and then spent some time by the pool where there just happened to be waffles and gelato served…. Well it would have been rude not to! I watched the sail in to Nice from my balcony. We docked at the Quai du Commerce, a short walk into the town and to the train station, for those still wanting to make their own way to Monte Carlo (I believe it was just a couple of euros each way) We planned to get the HOHO bus which should have arrived at a quarter to the hour according to the flyer we were given and the website but it never turned up so we just walked to the Promenade Des Anglais instead. Weather was glorious and I really enjoyed my time in Nice. The show tonight was the Captain’s toast, followed by Kristian Grey a magician and comedian. Not really my cup of tea so we went to the Living Room after dinner for some drinks instead.

Cruise day 2 – Monte Carlo nope make that Nice We weren’t due to arrive in Nice until 1pm so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in Discoveries. I don’t often have brekkie at home but I really enjoy it when I’m on holiday. The menu was extensive but only seemed to highlight the special dishes. Things like pancakes, waffles, bacon etc were not mentioned but it did say to ‘inquire with your server about our classic breakfast items’ I kind of wish they would just write them down as we didn’t want the waiters to have to reel off a long list of everything. We got there in the end, and it was all lovely. Orange juice was freshly squeezed & tasty. The only minor issue we had was the toast was barely toasted – first world problems! We soon learned to ask for it to be well done.

Yes Derek was excellent! For some reason there were a LOT of scots on board so he was in good company, including his parents!

Yes these are the opening times for embarkation day Let me know if I can help with anything further! I’m not on board any more sadly but happy to help if I can, you’ll have a great trip!

The show tonight was at 9.15pm and was the Cruise Director’s welcome and then a show with the entertainment team called ‘The Night Spot’. Our cruise director was Emily Love, a lovely lady from Leicestershire. She is quite low key and unassuming and very funny. Quite the performer too having gone to ballet school and then performing in the West End . She gave us the breakdown of there being 569 guests on board with the majority from USA, UK, Canada and Australia. The show was great – they have 6 performers who sang and danced their hearts out. I am not a night owl so went to bed after the show. The daily ‘Insider’ schedule was on my bed and had been amended to reflect our new destination of Nice. There were also some hastily arranged shore excursions on offer. I slept so well, the Azamara beds are SO comfy! Hilda had also found me a memory foam pillow which was perfect.

We went to the Discoveries restaurant for dinner. It is open dining, so you don’t have a reserved time, you just turn up when you like and request a table for however many people you need. There are also 2 speciality restaurants, the Italian ‘Aqualina’ and the ‘Prime C’ steakhouse ($30 charge) but the food and service in Discoveries was so good that we didn’t use them this time. On the first night we were shown to the perfect table for us under the care of Elmer and Ramel, both from the Phillipines. They were so friendly and attentive that we aimed to dine with them each evening and Anna at the desk remembered our favourite table number. It started to get a wee bit rocky during dinner and the captain announced that it would be rough conditions to tender in Monte Carlo tomorrow, so he had made the decision to book a berth for us in Nice instead. Good decision. Nice was a new port for me so I was happy. Sorry for all the shadows!

Azamara cruise fares include drinks and tips but some higher end drinks have an upcharge. You can either pay as you go for these or upgrade to one of the drinks packages. We spent some time exploring the ship. I’ve decided I definitely prefer small ships and was pleased that the layout was so similar to the Quest, so it felt familiar to me right from the start. Weather was glorious so we enjoyed some drinks by the pool, followed by some tapas light bites in the Living Room during sailaway. Cases arrived quickly and were soon unpacked and stored under the bed.

I’d booked a V2 Balcony cabin on deck 7 and my friends were just a few cabins down the hall. The room was lovely with plenty of storage. The bathroom was nice and well laid out, but the shower could have been bigger. I didn’t have any fights with the clingy shower curtain but can see how people do! Shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and lotion were provided, as well as bars of soap. In terms of power sockets they had US, UK and European in the desk area and the bedside lamps had USB sockets underneath them. Bath robes and slippers were provided, in fact the slippers were 2 different sizes which was a nice touch. There was an umbrella in the wardrobe but thankfully that was not needed. There was a fridge under the desk – the soft drinks were included but I I’m not sure about the other drinks (I don’t drink so didn’t take any notice) Here are the room service menus

Our driver arrived early and was very friendly. It was only a ten-minute drive to the port and he said he had been there 13 times that day so far, picking passengers up as they disembarked the various ships in port, and then dropping off new passengers like us. Our ship the Azamara Pursuit was the very first ship we saw, docked nearest to the city at the World Trade Centre Port. During online check in we’d selected the earliest available boarding time of 2pm but these were not checked. We dropped our luggage with the porters and headed into the terminal at around 1.30pm. Boarding had not yet begun and there were quite a few people in the waiting area but the queue to check in moved quickly. We showed our boarding passes, passports and covid immunisation documents and were given our room keycards and assigned tocheck in group 3B. After about half an hour it was our turn to board. We were led up the escalator and then after a very short walk we were on the ship. Our cards were scanned and we were taken as a group to our muster station for the mandatory safety briefing. There are only 2 muster stations – people towards the front of the ship go to the main theatre and those towards the aft go to the discoveries restaurant. We were met with a glass of fizz or juice and then one of the entertainment staff gave the instructions, and 10 mins later we were free to go to our cabins and explore. Easy.

The next morning we were up and about early walking Las Ramblas to see the sights. This was my 3rd visit to Barcelona in 12 months, so I felt I’d covered most of the sights previously so this time an amble to the ‘La Boqueria’ market was in order. It’s just off Las Ramblas and a fantastic assault on the senses. Stalls draped full of Jamon hams, fruits and vegetables that you’ve never even heard of, chocolates, olivesand then as you venture further, the meat market and fish stalls selling strange sea creatures. We stopped at a stall selling nougat and made some purchases as gifts and then stopped to admire a chocolate stall. Everything looked amazing and we were offered a bag to fill with our selections but at €92 per kilogram we decided to just treat ourselves to one each! They worked out to be approx. €2 each and were yummy. We also stopped for a quick coffee and juice at one of the stalls, which was very inexpensive. I figured it was best to get there early to beat the crowds and I was right. As we were leaving at approx. 11am, hordes of eager tourists were flocking into the market – some self-explorers, others on an organised tour following someone with a flag. There were several ships in port so some of them may have been on a cruise excursion. We ambled back to the hotel to pack any last bits up before our 12 noon check out time. The reception staff happily stapled our cruise luggage tags where needed and stored the cases until our 1.30pm transfer. Still tittering to myself at the thought of 'Sea Hedgehogs'

I flew from London Heathrow to Barcelona on Sept 29th and my friends got the same flight after connecting from Glasgow. The flight was delayed a couple of hours and they ended up towing an aircraft to the gate which didn’t inspire much confidence but it was fine. It was my first time travelling with Apple Airtags in my luggage and I was happy to see that my case had made it to Barcelona when I checked my phone after landing. The TA had booked private transfers and even though we were 2 hours late the driver was waiting for us in arrivals. It only took about 30 mins to get to the Hotel Espana, just off Las Ramblas in a great location. The hotel was wonderful, an historic building with lots of nice touches. We asked about dinner in the restaurant, but it was a set menu for €72 and we were a bit tired for a formal meal so Oscar on reception recommended the hotel’s rooftop bar to us, Alaire, instead.The menu was extensive and reasonably priced with tapas, salads and the like but we went for a 5 course tasting menu for €29 including a drink. The food was SO GOOD! And there was a lot of it!

My friends and I booked a cruise with Fred Olsen for July 2020 to Norway, all travelling in solo outside cabins on deck 4 of the Balmoral. Obviously Covid then happened, and we pushed the trip back a year. We then pushed it back another year when cruises were still being cancelled. Fred then cancelled the July 2022 sailing we were booked on and we switched to a French Rivers cruise from Rosyth (Edinburgh) leaving on 29th August 2022. All was well, no further changes and we started to plan and get excited. We booked excursions and parking at the port – one of our party had her suitcase collected from home on the 23rd to be transported straight to the ship. I was winding things up at work and getting ready for a well needed break when I got an email on 25th from Fred Olsen advising that the cruise was cancelled! The Balmoral had a broken propeller and was limping home to be fixed. The email asked us to ring a helpline to confirm that we had received the cancellation notice and none of us were able to get through. The email gave us the option of 50% off a cruise leaving from Dover later that same week or 20% off any cruise in 2022. We decided to go with a full refund which took about a month to come through. So we were all feeling disappointed and dispirited. There was lots of chat about where we could go instead but it was hard getting dates that were good for everyone. I had annual leave days from work that needed to be taken sooner rather than later so I decided to book a trip an if other could join me, great, but if not, I was more than happy to travel solo. Looking at dates, I decided that 2 cruises with Azamara would best suit my requirements, so I asked my travel agent to price up some packages. I’d cruised once before with AZ on the Myanmar Mysteries cruise in 2019 so knew that both trips would be fab. The TA came back with good deals for both cruises, but the one I eventually chose had better flight times so I went ahead and booked the Azamara Pursuit ‘Amalfi & Dalmatian Coasts’ for Sept 30th from Barcelona to Ravenna. I let my friends know and 2 of them were happy to join me on the trip.

3rd October Ship: Pursuit Captain: Mikael Palmroos Staff Captain: Kosmas Monas Hotel Director: Ngawhira Fleet Cruise Director: Emily Love Executive Chef: Nathan Shijunnath

Yes I was meant to be on that sailing too… absolutely gutted. Apparently Balmoral has a cracked propeller. Not been able to get through on the phone yet to find out the price of the Dover cruise to see if it’s even worth the hassle.