I’ve been remiss and not caught up for a couple of weeks, happy hols OGF, we too have not cruised, hubby is not keen (and I can see I would have problems with him being unsociable too, hadn’t thought of that, and he hates having to dress up). I look forward to hearing about it in due course. Hope the change to your exercise routine doesn’t prove a problem you’ll have to do lots of turns around deck, can you still do that? I had some long trips on troop ships as a child…
Off to Crete for two weeks on Tuesday, looking forward to some warm sunshine! Here’s to June everyone!
Entry:-280515-The Cruise - Day One
After starting the day with a six mile run, I returned to enjoy a Buffet Breakfast in the hotel, it cost a fiver with no eggs or bacon, just some French pastries called croissants? Anyway, not very filling. There are four of us taking the cruise and repacking all the luggage in the car was like taking part in the Krypton Factor.
Now I’m not too fond of Sat Nav, but the young lady did us proud today by finding the way to the long stay car park, even recalculating our route when the road was closed and we had to make a diversion down some country lanes.
We have passed all the relevant checks and have walked the plank and entered the ship. It’s awesome, about the same size as Sheffield, rooms not ready yet so have been sent to the restaurant for lunch. I will spend the rest of the cruise here!
It is quite Expensive to post so I will just try and keep it to a minimum,miss you all already, have a great time in Crete Penny.
First glimpse of the ship…
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The Cabin…
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Goodbye Southampton - the champagne party…fiver a glass…
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I’m sorry if I don’t answer any replies, internet is so slooooow on here, I will get back to you when we return…
It all looks very nice Bob 
are you going to having your daily run on the ship
The Cruise – Day Two.
The Ventura is a beautiful ship, plenty to do on those days when we are at sea. We left Southampton around 4:30pm and after celebrating its departure from port we dressed for the evening meal. Just casual dress tonight, it will give us time to iron all the creases out of the posh stuff. The meal was delicious with things I can’t even pronounce, but tasty all the same. [You can take the bloke out of Yorkshire, but you can’t take Yorkshire out of the bloke].
There were stirrings around 4:30 this morning as we entered open sea around the Bay of Biscay, the wife has not found her sea legs yet as we hit some swell, and had to force herself down to breakfast, the other lady in our party decided to cancel Friday and stayed in bed. It’s windy and overcast at the moment, but the sea is not what you would call rough [although my O/H might give you an argument] I think a sailor would refer to it as ‘A Swell’ and its quite difficult to walk a straight line.
Just visited the Gym to see if I can make sense of the running machines, and I’m glad to say it will be business as usual on Sunday morning. There is also a very well stocked art gallery on board, and my friend, who actually is an artist had to be subdued in order to remove him. Well its getting past my lunch time.
It’s black tie night tonight, so its best behaviour. Off to give wife a wake up call now to see if she wants any lunch……should be interesting….bye for now….
Did I mention the Ventura carries three thousand passengers, and they all decided to have breakfast at the same time as us. The Holy Grail would have been easier to find than an unoccupied table……The food is glorious, if you can find somewhere to eat it.
As we left Southampton the Cunard ship Queen Victoria followed us out to sea, the picture is a bit fuzzy because she was so faraway and my camera doesn’t zoom in very well.
http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=812&pictureid=6128
The Cruise – Day Three – Saturday
After cruising through the night we arrived at Vigo in northern Spain at 9:00am. I visited the Gym first thing and did a hard five minutes on the exercise bike, followed by a healthy, Sausage, Egg, Bacon and Tomato breakfast….
We left the ship and climbed to the highest point, a ruined fort. As we ascended the steep steps another large vessel steamed into the extremely large natural harbour and tied up beside the Ventura.
I hadn’t realised how beautiful Vigo was, and it looked even better under the clear blue skies and comfortable 24 degrees C. We decided to return to the ship for lunch, but so did everyone else, and we had to queue for an hour to board. [Won’t fall for that one again]
After lunch we sunbathed on the deck while the ship was cast free, and at 4:30pm it sailed out into the bay and on towards the next destination – Lisbon.
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The Ventura.
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Its lovely to read all about your travels Bob, you sound to be having a fab time.
The cruise ships are so big and luxurious aren’t they, and the staff, mostly Filipino on our cruise, work very very hard to make the cruise experience a good one. It helps if the weather’s good too. Wet here yesterday but sunny and warm today.
Your cruise looks fantastic Bob, hope your wife is feeling better now that the weather is better and the sea will be less rough.
Will enjoy hearing about the rest of the trip.
You are a lucky man Bob it looks great…
Don’t you go eating too much on that cruise, I have heard all about them 
Looks great Robert (sorry, I find it difficult to call you Bob. I don’t like shortening names). You will have a ball. I can’t get over the size of those cruise ships. Massive. Your cabin looks so nice. Enjoy every minute.
Looks like you’re having a great time Bob, fantastic view from where you are.
Thanks for all your replies…will talk more when I return home…
The Cruise – Day Four – Sunday
I could only manage four kilometres on the running machine this morning in the ships Gym, far too hot to run indoors. I returned to the cabin dissolving as I walked. It was a fast turnaround, so there was no time to spare. It seems that 8am is the optimum time to find a table for breakfast, so I was still sweating as we made the long walk from the very front of the ship [our cabin] to the very back [the cafeteria].
Did I mention that the food is outstanding, but despite that, I settled on beans on toast this morning, to give my system a rest, there is a limit to the number of fried breakfasts you can eat. The ship docked in the port of Lisbon while I struggled on the treadmill [the gym is at the very front of the ship, only the captain on the bridge has a better view] so after breakfast we disembarked and took the shuttle bus into the city centre.
As we alighted the bus, I noticed a castle on a hill, I suggested that we should climb the hill and explore the castle, but the wife suffering with a bad back from carrying my luggage, and the other two members not feeling up to it decided to ‘do the shops’ instead, so I went solo. There were plenty of steps as I made my way through the cobbled streets and took any route that went up, even had they been up to it, I don’t think that they would have enjoyed the climb.
I arrived at the gate to the castle and it was crowded with tourists, I discovered from a Geordie bloke that it would cost 5 euros to enter and it was just for the view. He declined, but I reached into my back pocket for my wallet….It wasn’t there, and I realised I had left it back on the ship in the safety deposit. I turned and started the descent, disappointed. As I wound my way through the narrow back streets of Lisbon I gave way to old woman coming in the opposite direction with a shopping basket, she smiled and thanked me in Portugese and then gestured to an opening in the wall, she lifted her arms to imitate taking a picture, I passed through and what a surprise……I took these shots…
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With no money, and no phone, I returned to the ship on foot and wrote this blog.
Glad to hear that you’re getting some exercise to counteract all that food Mr Fox. Hope Mrs Fox is feeling better and enjoying it too.
Wonderful photos and interesting to hear how the other half lives…
Cheers Anzac…
The Cruise – Day Five – Monday
Not being much of a drinking man and used to going to bed at eleven, for me, the nights are not as good as the days, so once dinner is out of the way I look forward to relaxing and some interesting conversations with fellow travellers until tiredness cannot be ignored. Alas, there is always something happening aboard ship, and it usually involves a few drinks, so I must go along with majority decision and last night it was to sit through an evening with a mediocre singer belting out Tamela Motown hits……Whatever.
While trying to keep up some sort of exercise regime, I meandered down to the gym this morning to do five ‘eyeballs out’ minutes on the exercise bike while the captain parked the ship alongside the quayside at Gibraltar. After breakfast we all disembarked and set about seeing as much of Gibraltar as we could in half a day. My first impression of Gibraltar was how big it was, so having made it to the first harbour side café we admitted defeat and settled for a coffee.
The weather has been outstanding these last couple of days with clear blue skies and temperatures of 24 degrees C, so my face is taking on the appearance of a well smacked bum. It’s a day at sea tomorrow, with Monte Carlo being the next port of call, so after overseeing the delivery of fuel by a passing tanker, and making sure the captain is aware of the route, I can relax with a ham sandwich and cup of tea before the wife gets back from the sun deck. [she looks more like Dianna Ross every day].
After running on the treadmill and nearly dissolving in a pool of sweat the other day, I’ve found a deck that you can run all the way round, so I’ll give that a go in the morning.
Team Fox…
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Taking on fuel…just bill it to my room…
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Farewell Gibraltar…
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Looks great Bob keep up with the running 
I find your journal really interesting Bob, particularly as we went to a few of the places you mention on our last cruise. We did find Gibraltar very English and not nearly as clean as the Spanish areas but the best place by far was your next port of call, Monte Carlo, which is fabulous.
It’s very fascinating following daily news of your cruise, Bob … the added pictures make it all the more interesting 
Thanks for comments, I get time to read them, but not reply…
The Cruise – Day Six – Tuesday
A sea day today and a good opportunity to try out running around the promenade deck 7. From our deck [14] I took the stairs all the way down to 7 as a sort of warm up; each deck has a name, and it’s interesting to note that there is no deck 13, I suppose if there was it would be called the ‘Titanic’ deck.
It was 6:45am as I stepped out into the fresh sea air, a deep red glow filled the eastern horizon, and the rest of the sky was cloudless. Water was rushing by as the ship continued to make progress towards Monaco, the sea was flat calm with just the wake of the ship stretching for miles behind. The only sounds were the splashing of waves colliding with the ship’s hull, and the soft padding of feet as a couple about my age jogged past.
I had stepped out on to the Starboard side close to the bow, so I jogged up to the steps that led to a small raised area that took you round the front of the ship, but the way was barred by a ‘No Entry’ sign so I turned and started the watch. I jogged the full length of the ship, round the back, and down the deck at the other side until I reached the same steps on the Port Side, I tripped the lap counter, and returned. ‘There was no way that I would return running in the gym on the treadmill’ I thought, as I started to push the pace with the wind caressing my face.
After eleven laps in ever decreasing lap times I stopped the watch at 38:18. I then took the lift up to deck 15 [the buffet restaurant] and sat alone in an almost empty café and sank a large glass of freshly squeezed orange……It doesn’t get better than this…….
Life on the ocean wave, just passing Ibiza…
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Nice to get your feet up with a cup of tea after a run.
Majorca is on the horizon now…
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The Cruise – Day Seven – Wednesday
We steamed through the night and arrived in Monaco early this morning. The Cunard ship ‘Queen Victoria’ arrived just behind us, but the Cunard ship got priority use of the dock, [apparently they always do, seniority and all that] so we had to park out in the bay and be shuttled across to the harbour side in on one of Ventura’s tenders.
We dashed up the steps to the palace just in time to watch the changing of the guard, and so did ten thousand other visitors. There is nothing flat or cheap in Monaco, but after scaling some rather steep roads [how they race round here at two hundred miles an hour is beyond me] up to the casino’s, we managed to find a hideaway little café that produced a rather fine Panini at a reasonable price.
With not much time to do anything else, we had a steady meander back to the dockside to catch a tender back to Ventura. High cloud blocked most of the sun’s rays, but the heat was overpowering so afternoon tea and cakes back in the restaurant was delicious……Life on board can be so hard at times.
Four busy days await us now, with tomorrow being the first as we have booked on a guided tour of Florence and Pizza, so it will be an early start, but not before I have completed about twelve laps of the deck first thing……
Climbing the steps to the palace, Queen Victoria nearest, Ventura on the extreme Right.
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A thousand spectators watching the changing of the guard at the palace.
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No good me going in there, I can’t even win the lottery.
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Just had two very hectic days, we sailed from Monaco to Livorno, Italy and had to rise early to catch the tour bus to Florence…
After a guided tour conducted by Mo Farrah under the midday sun [30 degrees C] we were set free to explore the city…
Here is Ponte Vecchio Bridge…
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We only just made it back for dinner, and after steaming through the night to the massive port of Civitavecchia, it was an even earlier start for the tour of Rome…Amazing…
Here is the Altare D Patria, I’ve seen it on the telly, but it didn’t prepare me for this…
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And finally, After catching our breath, this morning we arrived at Ajaccio in Corsica. It was only a half day visit, and by the time the tender ferried us across to the harbour for a cappucino, we had to return to the ship to start our return to Southampton via Cadiz on Monday. Just had time for this photo on the harbour…That’s the Ventura in the distance…
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I will post more detailed reports when I return to Blighty, where the internet is cheaper and better connected…Bon Voyage for now…