6am flight from Cardiff,all went smoothly,we were the 2nd bus to arrive at the port .Ross was on duty and welcomed us....much quicker booking in than on previous cruises....we were given cabin 5036 so just a shortish walk down the corridor and we were in.Had packed a change of clothes in hand luggage so after a quick freshen up and change our bags arrived ....10 mins later we were all unpacked and on our way up to the Mirage bar.....Jason the barman served us with a very welcome Bon Voyage and a pint(in 2 glasses but nevertheless a pint) after 2 more we decided to go ashore.Made our way up to the Porto Pi shopping centre to stock up on duty free booze for taking home.....fabulous shopping centre but disappointed with the Carrefour hypermarket....they didn't have Jack Daniels,Amaretto or Malibu in 1 litre bottles so we ended up just getting 2 bottles of vodka at £5 a bottle not bad....back to ship and after stashing our purchases back up to Mirage for a couple more cocktails.Life boat drill at 5pm then back down to the cabin for a siesta and a wash and change ready for the evening......Big queue outside Island restaurant so we opted to eat in Beachcomber.....lovely meal beef carvery was lush as were the puddings....decided to give the show a miss tonight so headed straight for the Sundowner Pub.....lovely evening in there listening to the 2 resident singers Billy Deen and Chris Barton.Then up onto deck for the sailaway party...where we stayed until 12 ish then back down to the pub to finish off the evening ...Off to bed 2am later than planned but hey we were on holiday

Day 2

At sea today....managed to get the last 2 sunbeds on deck 10...phew that was lucky.Him indoors likes a cooked breakfast and I'm not fussed but there was plenty of choice for the 2 of us at the Beachcomber....spent the day in and out of the pool.....my only gripe for this holiday....too many kids in the pool even during the adult swim time....a lot of nervous swimmers said they wouldn't go in for fear of being dive bombed by kids....that is my only complaint....no one poolside to enforce the swim time and stop the kids from jumping in and pushing each other in....accident waiting to happen. Ate at Island restaurant this evening and the food was superb then mixed the night up at the Bounty Lounge watching the resident band The Switch and The pub. Read more