Things I have learned on the cruise ship....

As we didn't fly, you can take unlimited luggage.   We were constrained by how much we could carry on the coach on the way to the ship, but could have easily taken another bag.
I left most of my summer clothes, sleeveless tops, shorts, sunhat, sun lotion, flip flops etc on our yacht Fandancer when we left Greece.   I could have made use of more of these items.  I definitely missed a hat and sun cream. I had my swimming costume but never wore it.   My face is a very attractive lobster red!   And no, I didn't want to pay extortionate prices for a tourist sunhat or sun cream when we went ashore..  I suffered in silence...

You are told each day if the dress code is formal (dinner jacket or suits for men, cocktail or long dresses for ladies), informal (jackets but no ties for men) or casual (anything goes but no shorts or sleeveless tee shirts in evening dining room).    We did find that these rules were not stuck to religiously, and if you don't want to bring suits and jackets it doesn't really matter, you can always go to the serve yourself buffet on the formal evenings instead and wear practically anything.   One guy on our evening dining table that we christened Cabbie Barry, never wore a jacket or even a smart shirt the whole time he was in the dining room, just a dark tee shirt, much to Tim's disgust, who put up with a shirt and jacket every evening, God bless him!

Be prepared to be seated each evening with the same bizarre table guests for the duration of the cruise.   We were too scared to ask to change tables in case they hunted us down and wanted to know why we had deserted them, but at least they weren't  totally doolally, gaga, dribbling, partially deaf or completely senile.     At lunchtimes you can choose to eat in any restaurant or the buffet, and the staff seat you at any table, so you get to meet different people.  Today we have a day at sea, so for lunch we decided to go to a restaurant (basically as it was only ten steps from where we had been sleeping... I mean sitting, and couldn't be bothered to walk up one flight of stairs to the buffet.... We were seated with the old, posh, well to do couple on the ship who had the highest grade cabin with posh balcony (I know this as I spied them sitting out on it one day), also on our table were an ancient Welsh couple who were hard of hearing, the wife had huge flying bouffant hair like long cotton wool, and they were always one sentence behind when they answered your conversational questions, like that Two Ronnies Mastermind sketch....

It is important to be able to find your way back to your cabin from any point in the ship.  It is surprisingly difficult to know which side of the boat is which, and whether you are walking forward or aft, especially when dark, and can't see out of the windows, when you can't even tell which way the ship is sailing!   Even Tim finds this difficult and he knows  everything about boats!

It is not compulsory to eat every single dish at any mealtime.   But strangely, most people, including us, leave this bit of their brain behind and feel compelled to load their plate with every food on offer.   Even though you swear to yourself when you wake up each day that you won't have a full English breakfast every morning, you don't need anything more than a small salad or fruit at lunchtime, you definitely should forego the afternoon tea, and maybe you could just have three courses in the evening not five - your brain shuts down and you find yourself acting as if it is your last ever meal and load your plate at the breakfast and lunch buffet with as much as will fit on it, and in the evening recite the whole five course menu back to the waiter......

If it's Sunday it must be Gran Canaria....

Just a quick update on Arrecife and Santa Cruz

If this was your first ever trip to the Canaries, I think you would be disappointed by what you see on this cruise.    Arrecife seems to be a fairly large town with over 200,000 inhabitants.   When we got off the boat, it was a short walk into the town, and there is a pleasant area around a sort of tidal inland harbour with lots of local boats.   The surrounding buildings are painted blue and white and it is an attractive area.   We decided to walk past this relatively touristy part and not go in the first bar we came to, as they were bound to be full of other cruise ship people and probably sell expensive food and drink.    So instead, we thought we would be clever and find a more authentic bar, and walked about half a mile right up to the top of what was described as the Main Street which had a bit of an incline.    But not one local bar or restaurant did we find!   Now, if this was Greece, there would be some sort of taverna every fifty paces!   There were hardly any proper shops either, quite a few cycle shops, hairdressers, and a few local businesses.    That'll teach us!   We walked all the way back down to the seafront, and found quite an attractive area in a courtyard behind the bus station, where we did get a small beer, as by now we were hot and tired out.    After a brief recovery, we walked back in the direction of the blue and white buildings at the harbour, and guess what, we ended up eating lunch very close to the first bar we had seen!

Santa Cruz on Tenerife was slightly nicer, and a much bigger place.  From the boat the next morning, it looked a very busy town, spreading right back into the foothills.   Mostly 1960s and 60s square blocks of apartments, with just a few much older buildings hiding between them.    A short walk from the ship brought us to the main square, with a huge artificial lake and some interesting buildings.    We walked up what was obviously the main shopping street, it was fairly busy.   I didn't get to go into any shops.  
Tim's idea of shopping is waiting outside for me, so I feel guilty at this, so I frantically rush in, have a quick look round and then out again, usually without buying anything.   He hates shopping, so I don't bother either, I much prefer to wander round by myself and take as much time as I like.   But that won't be happening on this trip.  Then we found a cafe where we had a quick beer and a peruse of the map, and then continued our perambulations.  We found a wonderful park, with amazing trees and plants, fountains and sculptures.    There were also wide streets or 'Ramblas' like they have in Barcelona, with a wide pedestrian area with trees between the traffic.
Around the town there are many lovely statues and sculptures, ranging from classical to very modern.  It gave the town quite a sophisticated feel.   We explored some mega posh roads with amazing mansions with lovely ornate architecture and windows...... More news soon....

More info about the ship....

More about the boat and passengers.....

We left Gibraltar as dusk was falling and there were some amazing views of the rock as all the lights in the town came on, and the ship gradually inched away from the port.  It took a whole day and a half to sail to our next destination, which was Arrecife in the Canary Islands.  We arrived early morning, and were already docked when we emerged from our cabin for breakfast.    We have an inside cabin with no window, and I would say that this is the only thing about the whole trip so far which I would change.  We didn't have a choice of cabin, as we booked very late, and the actual cabin size is excellent, with lots of storage and a really good, hot and powerful shower in the ensuite bathroom.   But I do miss not being able to look out of a window when I wake up and see what the day is like.  
We are on deck 5, there is another deck of cabins below us, and also on 6 and 7,then deck 3 is the medical centre and one of disembarkation areas, and I guess it's also the crew area.   Deck 8 and 9 is where the restaurants are, and deck 10 has bars, the Bistro buffet, a library, small casino, the spa centre, small number of expensive shops, and the theatre.   There is also a small outside swimming pool, hot tubs, lots of deck space for sitting or sunbathing, deck 11 and 12 is mostly outside space, bars, more small hot tubs, the gym.
I really detest sitting in a row of deckchairs squeezed closely side by side, but there's plenty of space and you can usually find somewhere to sit away from the masses.     There's a lovely sun deck right at the back of the boat which has artificial grass, some nice plants, nice comfy conservatory furniture,, which is sheltered from the wind but still sunny, that's my favourite spot.   Also, we are not really on this cruise to soak up the sun, we've had enough of that in Greece from April to October this year.   Clearly some people are here for some winter sun and expose their bodies at every opportunity, but to be quite honest, we've only had one completely hot and sunny day, but it is always warm and pleasant, but a few clouds.

Now - the clientele.    This is a no children boat. I have no objection to my own children and grandchildren, but have found other people's  kids to be not always well behaved and too noisy.   On the other hand, most people who go on cruises are mostly retired, like us.   So we expected a lot of olds, and indeed there are.   We have seen only a few couples who are clearly younger than us, but most are the same age as us, I should imagine, and we have tended to mix with this age group at dinner or in the bars, or when sitting around doing not much.   Then there is a very large number who are clearly very much older, by at least 20-25 years!    And some of them are very decrepit, as you can imagine.    It's like an old peoples home!  This is what I am going to be like in 25 years, shuffling along very slowly, walking sticks, walking frames, oh what an exciting life to look forward to.........