So where exactly to begin, we booked the cruise at the last minute, and to get all the benefits we had to book it through the US, as we couldn’t get the UDP and the UBP and the OBC and the Suite we wanted through the UK office. We travelled to Rome with British Airways and were very disappointed to learn that they had remodelled the aircraft and effectively all seats were economy, whatever you had booked and paid for. Having lost my walking stick in Rome Airport, and had a comfortable night at the Hilton Garden Inn, we made our way to the ship via ESA Transfers and were soon meeting old friends and discovered our Butler would be Roshan who we had travelled with before. He soon had us settled in the Star Bar where we met Leah Rodriguez, Concierge, and following a good lunch at Cagney’s and the mandatory drill were settled in 10664, at the stern. We had an invite for a VIP sail-away party, something we had not had before, and this was a great success and I had soon met a number of the Senior officers including Jovo Sekulovic and his delightful Secretary, Stephanie, Deepak Punia, Food and Beverage Director, Cesar Benedict Connor, Executive Housekeeper, Esteban Chorro, Restaurant Manager and Archie Archbold who I would be doing a couple of talks for. Dinner in Cagney’s using both the UDP and the UBP and we were soon settled back in the Suite.

The 11 day Western Med is a very port intensive cruise with the first sea day near the end of the cruise, so it was off to Florence using the Easy Florence tour, ashore at Nice as it was too stormy for Monte Carlo, and then ashore at Toulon and Barcelona. We did Easy Valencia which was very good, followed by the first sea day, then Easy Cagliari which was a slight disappointment, followed by another sea day and then Easy Palermo which was interesting as the Fire Department was having industrial action and the centre of Palermo was blocked. We didn’t go ashore at Naples having been there twice before so had a lazy day on board, and enjoyed the UBP benefits.

We put our names down for Dining with the Officers and drew Michael Scott, aka Scottie, ex Royal Navy and an excellent host and we had some interesting dining companions with us in the Grand Pacific restaurant. The food on the ship with one exception was excellent and we dined at Jasmine Garden, Le Bistro, Cagney’s, Cucina and Moderno eating more than once at all bar Moderno. Breakfast and lunch in Cagney’s was always good and we soon made friends with all the staff, who looked after us extremely well. We did not attend any of the shows; we just enjoy meeting and chatting to people, and to enjoying slow leisurely meals being looked after by excellent staff that cannot be faulted. Read more