Day 6 and 7 - Friday 27th December and Saturday 28th December - Just Cruising

The wind has finally calmed down to a force 5, and the sea is classed as "moderate" which means it still rocks you, but nothing falls off the tables.......  most of the time.

Our days have started by getting up late - because we can and also because the room is so dark we have no idea whether or not it's night or morning.

On the Saturday morning, we had breakfast and pottered around working on forms and stuff for Peter's classes. We've been having difficulty getting into the dining room at 12.30, and in the end we had no choice but to set the craft room up first and then dive into the Bistro for the quickest lunch ever, just 5 mins.

In the afternoon, Peter ran his classes while I sat outside, chatting, typing the blogs up, playing cards etc. In the evening we had our meal in the Bistro as usual and then went to the lounge to watch Mel Harvey, the magician. He was actually very entertaining and we really enjoyed his show.

Sunday was almost a repeat of Saturday, with one vital difference.......... We'd missed breakfast, and after a potter on the rear deck we went to the Bistro early, about 12.15, keen to make sure we got a place for lunch. We waited till 12.30 and couldn't understand why the buffet wasn't open yet? And even more puzzling, none of the passengers seemed concerned. At 12.45 were still waiting, so I decided to go check with reception. It was then we discovered that we'd not put the clocks back as per instructions in the daily blurb. Doh! I blame Peter of course, he's in charge of those things. Starving as we were, we had to wait another 45 minutes for food.

The classes went well Sunday afternoon, and in the evening we had dinner and we watched the show. Sea days are falling into a bit of a pattern.

Tomorrow we arrive in Tenerife for a long day. I am really looking forward to it.

Day 5 - Thursday 26th December - Boxing Day in La Caruña

Cannon in the old wall of La Caruna.  We came across this on the way to the little castle.

Another leisurely start, but we were off the ship to have a look round the old town of La Caruña by about 10 am. The ship leaves at 1pm, so we only had a couple of hours. This time we headed right, to the Castelo De San Anton. You can easily see this little castle from the ship as it stands guard across the sheltered bay of the port, and with me and himself have a thing about old ruins, it was an easy point to head for.

The little fortress was originally built in the 12th century, but has been adapted and added to since. Like many fortresses, it's use changed over the years, and as well as a defensive point, it has been a prison, and now houses the Museo Arque-ologico. As a museum it is full of Egyptian and Roman artifacts, as well as loads of military items like swords, sabres, pistols and armour.  Normally, we don't have a great deal of interest in this sort of thing, but there was so much, and the items were so complete, even we were impressed.

Pictures taken from the highest point in the castle, looking out to sea, and then inland.

It only cost a couple of Euros, and we spent a happy hour wandering around. The only thing we should of thought of was to get an English guide book (we didn't even check to see if there was one), with so many interesting things to look at, including a leather ship, it would have been nice to have a bit more information about them.

Leather Ship inside the fortress

From the fortress we took a wander through the old town of La Caruña. A pleasant wander, with nice little plaza's and a few impressive buildings. We got back to the shopping centre just as it was time to go to the ship, so unfortunately, I didn't get to spend any money.

Plaza de Santo Domingo

Plaza de Santa Barbara

Back on board, the ship set off and Peter got the first of his two classes up and running. As the ship moved out of the sheltered bay, the rocking began again, but now, although we had to zigzag our way from one place to another, it was nowhere near as rough as previously, and people started to settle and feel a whole lot better about the trip.

Unusually for us, we spent the whole evening in Scotts bar, first enjoying a quiz that we would've failed miserably at if it wasn't for Chris and Mick who kept us company all night, and finishing up by listening to the ships female show singers, Ecaterina and Kate, sing their Diva numbers. A good night actually.

We're back at sea now for a few days, making our way to Tenerife. Thankfully, now that the sea has calmed down, we can settle into the normal cruise routine of activities. All we need now is for the weather to warm up a little.

Day 4 - Wednesday 25th December, Christmas Day in La Caruña

We woke to stillness. Our cabin is pitch black when the lights are out, and in the darkness, nothing moved......... Absolutely bloomin' marvelous!

We were late up and missed breakfast, but it didn't matter. Just outside was La Caruña. The ship docked early and we went up on deck for the first time this cruise, to look out on the quiet and still city in appreciation. The weather forecast was 7°C, cloudy, with the chance of rain. It sounded wonderful.

We stayed on board to get a hearty lunch and then went out to explore. It was nice that everywhere was closed, we could walk easily through the streets and the traffic was quiet. With tourist map in hand, we planned a pleasant walk to blow away the cobwebs. We planned to make our way across the peninsula to a beach on the other side, and then walk around to the Tower of Hercules and back to the ship.

And it was a nice walk, although blowing away cobwebs was a little bit of an underestimation. The wind was quite fierce, and when we reached the beach we were fascinated by the size and ferocity of the waves. We were also very relieved that we weren't still out there sailing on them.

A fountain on the beach promenade. 

Huge waves being blown in from the ocean

From the beach, we turned to walk along the coastline, enjoying the fresh air and solid ground until we came across the Domus (House of Man), one of the museums in La Caruña. Like everywhere else, it was closed, but we loved the bronze statue outside.

We walked a little further, battling the wind to move forward. Suddenly, it got even stronger, and we had to hide behind a building for several minutes as a squall came ashore and hammered hail in sideways from the sea. The ground turned white with stones, (white Christmas?) and then just as suddenly as it arrived, the squall was gone, leaving us to walk the rest of the way in blustery peace.

The Tower of Hercules

The Tower of Hercules is the oldest lighthouse in the world apparently. Set in what is now a park, it's a pleasant (but windy) walk up to the tower, where you can enjoy the views all around. Again, it was closed, but when it's open, you could climb the 220 steps inside to get to the top and enjoy even more views. We were perfectly happy with just the park.

Views from the Tower of Hercules

The site is now a park

 From there we made our way back through the city to the ship. Another bronze statue caught our attention as we walked, we have no idea who or what he is supposed to represent - quite fascinatingly bizarre.

Bizarre!

We also came across this bronze in the Plaza de Maria Pita, a local heroine

 - I looked her up, her story is here: Wikipedia - Maria Pita

And then it was back to the ship. It was a formal night, much to Peter's dismay, but he got into his tux somewhat belligerently, and we enjoyed Christmas Dinner, a show, a quiz and the company of like minded film buffs Chris and Mick.

Tomorrow we stay in port until 1 pm. This means that the ship will stay level for a bit longer. Yippeeeee!

Day 3 - Tuesday 24th December - Christmas Eve

Finally the lurching about has started to ease off.   That is, the wind has reduced from gale force 9-10 to a mere 7! By lunchtime I was able to sit up and leave the cabin. I even managed to help Peter with his first class. Once the group was in and Peter had started, I sat outside, too tired and nauseous to do anything more.

The ship had stopped lurching back and forward, which was good. Sadly however, it now seemed to prefer to throw its contents side to side. Weirdly, this seemed easier on the stomach, and more and more people were emerging from their cabins. Thing is, the sea and ship were lulling us into a false sense of security, and although it seemed that the rocking and rolling was beginning to calm down, it was actually getting worse. Every so often the ship would be caught in a massive wave or dip, and everyone and everything inside was tossed around like washing in the dryer. I was thrown out of my chair to skid along the carpet into the craft room door, (carpet burns to prove it). On another occasion, nearly every chair in the Columbus Lounge slid across the floor, hurling the occupants into a pile at one end. These chairs were followed by a globe centre piece, which must have worked loose of its fixings, skidding its way across the centre of the room to topple onto one of the fallen passengers. Quite scary!

The Columbus Lounge

Luckily no one was seriously hurt, and the concerned crew soon cleared the area so that no-body else could have a go at the helterskelter, but sadly the problems didn't stop there.

Everywhere around there were crashes and clatters as equipment and breakables were thrown about by the ships' movement. Peter watched a cleaning trolley hurtle down a passage, closely followed by the three cleaners chasing it. I made it to dinner, and watched bemused as plates, glasses, cutlery and food trays slid from the tables and shelves they were resting on. Passengers, waiters and kitchen staff grabbed wildly at whatever they could stop, but the carpet definitely got more than its fair share of the dinner that evening. It sounded like the kitchens were losing just about every piece of crockery the ship had, judging by the smashing and clattering going on behind closed doors, and we saw one of the passengers be thrown across the room, fall over the dinner table to crash into the floor. The poor lady had to be stretchered away.

But as the evening wore on, it began to get better, true, we were still being thrown from side to side, but not quite so severely and people were getting wise to it. As we sat in the Captains Club, everyone periodically grabbed their drinks as the bottles behind the bar clattered in their racks and the floor tilted to another precarious angle.

The Captains Club

All in all not a good Christmas Eve. In fact, the last couple of days have been so bad that management have decided to change the itinerary. They've worked out that we won't get to Gibraltar or even Lanzarote on schedule and it would be much better if the ship could put into port and everyone could eat a Christmas dinner that wasn't trying to escape the dining table. So instead, we're going to La Caruna, Spain. We'll arrive about 11 am tomorrow, and we won't leave until 1 pm Boxing Day. I am so looking forward to the floor staying level for a short while. Bliss! I'm sorry I'm not going to see Gibraltar though.

Canaries Cruise Day 1

Canaries Cruise - Day 1, Sunday 22nd December - All Aboard!

It all started so well.  The drive to Tilbury was easy and straight forward, and we arrived at the ship well in time.  We met the new Cruise Director, Frankie Anderson, who warned us that things were a bit chaotic, and were shown to our cabin in the bowels of the ship.  We like this one though, it's nice and big.

The warning signs appeared straight away though.  Just as we were putting our first bags in, an engineering type bloke in oily overalls appeared and immediately battened down our port holes.  Great big metal covers over our daylight!  Three days of bad weather was the whisper.  O Oh!

Marco's Bistro

It wasn't too bad today though to be honest.  We enjoyed lunch on board, got all Peter's stuff into the craft room, got to know the other crafters and managed to work out how the classes were going to pan out.  An evening meal the Marco Bistro, and although the ship was beginning to move a little I felt fine.  The ship began to move a little bit more by the time we'd got to bed, but not to worry, it just rocks you to sleep.  Peter won't have a class tomorrow, they'll have a sort of registration session.  That should be fun.   

Day 2, Monday 23rd December - Up and Down

Main Foyer

I woke several times last night, feeling the ship lurch forward and back. the sick bag fairy made her rounds and "do not disturb" signs appeared on the cabin doors as more and more people succumbed to the effects. I went up with Peter to the main foyer and helped with the registration session I managed to make it through to lunchtime, but the nausea was getting more and more persistent and in the end I too added my "do not disturb" notice to the row along our corridor.

And it just got worse.  As I laid in bed, the wardrobe doors would fly open and all four drawers slid out of the unit like something off a disney cartoon.  Then they would all slide back in again and the doors would slam shut.  The ship was lurching up and down like a seesaw, first the front end, then the bow.  Not comfortable for my stomach at all.

I stayed prone for the rest of the day. If I so much as sat up, wave after wave of nausea soon made sure I laid down again. The sea got rougher, the drawers and doors flew open with more voracity, and all I could think of was the promise that it would get better.  Peter came in and out, checking on me.  I just moaned.  Then the captain announced it was going to get worse, rising to gale force 9-10!

Me and the bed stayed close until morning.