THE SCOTTISH ADVENTURES OF A CRUISE SHIP ADDICT

As I mentioned in the previous blog, I spent part of my summer holidays lecturing on a ship bound for Spitsbergen. If I had actually looked at a map before I got on the ship, I would have never gone (seasickness), but when my Agent phoned with the list of cruises he wanted me to consider, I asked my husband "Baltic" or "Spitsbergen". I was promptly told Spitsbergen! Fred Olsen's Braemar was amazing. A tiddler of a ship - 20,000 tons - but a really classy lady. I must admit I wasn't sure what to expect as I am so used to travelling on the bigger ships. But Braemar not only lived up to my high standards, she exceeded them. The food was the second best I have ever tasted on a ship (the first being Saga Rose), the accommodation was very comfortable, and the staff made you feel as if you were part of the family. There were so many highlights to this trip I could go on for hours, but I'll highlight a few: Liljehook Fjord: Picture it... midnight... 79 deg

IMAGES TO FOLLOW - CAN'T SEEM TO UPLOAD THEM! Waking up, it felt like a major decision... Amsterdam... or not! The answer came in the form of my legs. They went NO! In capitals, emboldened and underlined. Definitely not! We could have. The ship had buses running to and from Amsterdam all through the night, and staff were taking full advantage of their time ashore. I bet there was quite a few sore heads from passengers and crew in the morning!    So today was spent in the vicinity of the ship. After breakfast, Evie decided she wanted to go to the beach. Last night, we saw a big sign saying 'Beach, Marina'. Perfect! However, the walk to the cruise terminal and then out to the signs was enough for me. I got some photos and very slowly wandered back to the ship. It's amazing how quickly I learn where the rest spots are! My gallant efforts were rewarded with a Costa iced decaf coffee!   Eating on board the ship is like an Olympic sport. As well as the usual breakfast, lu

Finally in Amsterdam! Evie agreed to wake me in the morning, but forgot that her alarm was set on UK time, not European time, so we were a hour late waking! No time for breakfast, it was up and out...   The shuttle was just nicely busy at 8am with no queues and not a long wait. Luckily Evie had snaffled some biscuits from the room, so this was a rather impromptu brekkie. P&O lied! In their on board programme it said the transfer time was 50-60 minutes. Actually it was 30 minutes. The shuttles are running frequently between the Cruise Terminal and Amsterdam for most of the day and evening. Then tomorrow we can do it all again as we are staying overnight.   We were dropped off just down from Central Station, next to the River boats. That was a fascinating experience. There must have been about 30 river boats there. On seeing them, Evie wants to go on one. We walked to Central Station, couldn't find how to do bus tickets and left. My health hasn't been too good and I can&#

I was a bundle of nerves approaching Dock Gate 4. So much so, I went in the wrong entrance! Luckily some of the natives pointed me in the right direction.   Cruise Passenger Services were wonderful with the car handling. I waved Helga the Merc off on her holidays for a week, with Squeak the Mouse and the Pink Panther keeping her company, and quickly transferred through the terminal. It was such a difference to when I was transiting through the terminals in the 1980s. Nowadays it is such a HUGE and sophisticated operation.   Rather than explain what Ventura looks like, I'm attaching some photos:  And our cabin:   When we were leaving, we saw Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and 'the other ship' (as she was commonly referred to...) Celebrity Edge. We checked Evie into H2O, the teens centre, and she disappeared off there after dinner. I felt quite lost to begin with! What do I do with all this time? Off to the pub, off to the Tamarind Lounge to list

I forgot to take my camera with me today, so unfortunately there are no photos! At day at sea! How relaxing! Not for me!   The most relaxing part of the day was breakfast! Then it was off to the Tamarind Theatre for a talk on Acupuncture. Then I just stayed on as there looked an interesting talk on diamonds. I know know about Cut, Clarity, Carats and Colour. However, it was the Guest Speaker I was interested in seeing. We had Gary Coniff, who gave a fascinating talk on The Royal Yacht Britannia. Gary had worked on her back in the 1980s and I loved hearing about all the different aspects of the Yacht. I really must visit her sometime!   In the evening we had the Captain's Welcome Party. Captain Willard seems such a lovely and amiable person. He had previously worked for Cunard at some point. The Captain says we were travelling at 9 knots, but by this afternoon we had only reached Dover! I think we had secretly dropped anchor somewhere for a while. However, it was lovely seeing a

Arsenal The side of the Town Hall Cartagena is a strange town. I thought we were going to a small place, but actually it is quite large with universities and an Arsenal. Mum and I got off the ship early and I wanted to go to the Roman Amphitheatre, but we arrived too early and went shopping instead. Half the ship ended up in the same little shops along the main street. Mum wanted to go on the bus tour, and actually, it was relatively inexpensive compared to Barcelona. Segways When the bus tour finished we went back to the ship to have lunch, a sleep, and we started our packing. It seems strange to pack four days before the end of the cruise, but I’ve learned that if you don’t pack on a ‘land’ day, then you run the risk of packing while feeling sea sick – not a good idea. The Bay of Biscay is unforgiving and has laid people flat (and green!) in the past. Better packing before you’re laid out than trying to pack in a swaying ship. Leaving