Blog 4........ Impressions of our cruise ship...
The Magellan was built in 1985, so she is quite an old ship. She started life with another cruise company, then CMV bought her and she was refurbished in 2014. I must say that everything on board is spotless and in good condition. She's a medium sized ship with around 1300 passengers and 600 crew, although when you first board you think you are never going to find your way around, with the endless similar looking corridors and 12 decks. But in reality, you just need to know how to find your cabin and where the bars and dining rooms are.....
We went for a visit to the bridge, with about 15 other people. Unfortunately we didn't see the actual Greek captain, but one of the bridge crew showed us round. He didn't speak English very well, and didn't explain things too clearly, and I think most of the visitors were underwhelmed by mention of radar, AIS, GPS and UTC. But as we are familiar with these things on boats we thought it was really interesting. We looked at their weather forecasts, and their actual navigation charts. I offered to plot our position but he wouldn't let me. He told us about the stabilisers and he let me stand at the helm. I guess the most difficult thing is docking the ship when it comes into harbour; there was an extra steering position at the extreme port and starboard sides, with a small glass floor so they could see when the ship was lined up with the quay. Also on the bridge were some large plant containers with tomato plants growing! I wonder if they were Greek tomatoes!
At dinner you are allocated a table with either four or six random people. For breakfast and lunch you can sit anywhere in either of the two dining rooms, but we usually go to the buffet Bistro, which is a bit of a bunfight when you need to find a table. The buffet is an amazing spread, and of course some people pile their plates as high as they can and come back for seconds! I haven't actually felt the need to do that, although I thought I would, before I boarded. I think my food intake has been quite restrained so far..... Despite some poor reviews about this ship regarding the food, which I don't agree with, i think the food is excellent, very good standard, fresh, well presented, good choice of dishes on the menu. In the formal dining room, we decided that if you ate out in a restaurant of this standard back home, it would cost at least £30 or more, for two, without drinks, so for a 15 night cruise that's equivalent to at least £450! That shows how good value a cruise is, and also how much restaurants rip you off with regards to their prices!
Each evening in your cabin they give you a new schedule of the next day's activities - what's on and where etc. They also state the dress code for the evening. Last night was formal, as there was the Captain's cocktail party and gala dinner. So I donned my best eBay black lacy frock, and Tim wore his freshly laundered multi purpose grey suit. Of course, he accidentally or maybe on purpose left his newly bought £3 Tesco navy tie at home, so he had to go to the ship's boutique and buy himself another, at some exorbitant price..... We both agreed not to go to the actual shaking hands with the Captain and cocktail party held in the theatre, as it seemed to involve a lot of standing around and queueing, so instead we had a cocktail to celebrate our anniversary and a nice comfy seat in a bar where there were two girls playing violin and piano, who were amazing, followed by a fabulous dinner.
As we have three continuous days at sea, you find yourself seeking out activities to while away the time, particularly if the weather isn't pleasant enough to sit on deck in the sunshine. So far, I have participated in three quizzes (3rd, 2nd and 3rd) and we won the Scattergories game. We went to a lecture on the History of Gibraltar, saw a cookery demonstration, and I also watched some staff fold towels and napkins into bizarre animal shapes. I have been to the gym three times, but have given the line dancing and bean bag bowling a miss......
The Magellan was built in 1985, so she is quite an old ship. She started life with another cruise company, then CMV bought her and she was refurbished in 2014. I must say that everything on board is spotless and in good condition. She's a medium sized ship with around 1300 passengers and 600 crew, although when you first board you think you are never going to find your way around, with the endless similar looking corridors and 12 decks. But in reality, you just need to know how to find your cabin and where the bars and dining rooms are.....
We went for a visit to the bridge, with about 15 other people. Unfortunately we didn't see the actual Greek captain, but one of the bridge crew showed us round. He didn't speak English very well, and didn't explain things too clearly, and I think most of the visitors were underwhelmed by mention of radar, AIS, GPS and UTC. But as we are familiar with these things on boats we thought it was really interesting. We looked at their weather forecasts, and their actual navigation charts. I offered to plot our position but he wouldn't let me. He told us about the stabilisers and he let me stand at the helm. I guess the most difficult thing is docking the ship when it comes into harbour; there was an extra steering position at the extreme port and starboard sides, with a small glass floor so they could see when the ship was lined up with the quay. Also on the bridge were some large plant containers with tomato plants growing! I wonder if they were Greek tomatoes!
At dinner you are allocated a table with either four or six random people. For breakfast and lunch you can sit anywhere in either of the two dining rooms, but we usually go to the buffet Bistro, which is a bit of a bunfight when you need to find a table. The buffet is an amazing spread, and of course some people pile their plates as high as they can and come back for seconds! I haven't actually felt the need to do that, although I thought I would, before I boarded. I think my food intake has been quite restrained so far..... Despite some poor reviews about this ship regarding the food, which I don't agree with, i think the food is excellent, very good standard, fresh, well presented, good choice of dishes on the menu. In the formal dining room, we decided that if you ate out in a restaurant of this standard back home, it would cost at least £30 or more, for two, without drinks, so for a 15 night cruise that's equivalent to at least £450! That shows how good value a cruise is, and also how much restaurants rip you off with regards to their prices!
Each evening in your cabin they give you a new schedule of the next day's activities - what's on and where etc. They also state the dress code for the evening. Last night was formal, as there was the Captain's cocktail party and gala dinner. So I donned my best eBay black lacy frock, and Tim wore his freshly laundered multi purpose grey suit. Of course, he accidentally or maybe on purpose left his newly bought £3 Tesco navy tie at home, so he had to go to the ship's boutique and buy himself another, at some exorbitant price..... We both agreed not to go to the actual shaking hands with the Captain and cocktail party held in the theatre, as it seemed to involve a lot of standing around and queueing, so instead we had a cocktail to celebrate our anniversary and a nice comfy seat in a bar where there were two girls playing violin and piano, who were amazing, followed by a fabulous dinner.
As we have three continuous days at sea, you find yourself seeking out activities to while away the time, particularly if the weather isn't pleasant enough to sit on deck in the sunshine. So far, I have participated in three quizzes (3rd, 2nd and 3rd) and we won the Scattergories game. We went to a lecture on the History of Gibraltar, saw a cookery demonstration, and I also watched some staff fold towels and napkins into bizarre animal shapes. I have been to the gym three times, but have given the line dancing and bean bag bowling a miss......
I am so pleased that you are enjoying yourselves and will resist from saying that I told you so. Cruising is such good value for money and I am sure that this one won't be your last.
ReplyDeleteSounds brilliant - and yes, good value!
ReplyDelete