December 29, 2003
Return of the King
Well Christmas has been and gone - went well, a few good presents (not many 'cus of the cruise)...
Saw the final LOTR yesterday - very very good. OK so it rearranged some of the stuff from books one and two into the third film and bits were changed and left out again, but who cares really... it was fantastic anyway. Well worth watching.
Film rating: 5+/5
December 18, 2003
Cruise Update
Final day today :-(
We arrived at lunch time in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. With limited time we took a walk around the streets and ended up finding the beach on the other side of the island - a nice cold beer on the beach was certainly needed by that point...
At 28 degrees it was getting a bit hot to stay out too long, so a look around the town led us back towards the ship and left us with enough time to watch the rehersal for the night's show (since we wouldn't be there for the real performance). Got to the airport to discover a minimum of 2.5hrs delay and ended up spending over 5hrs waiting for our 4hr flight. Finally got home about 6am (19th Dec). Oh well, not the perfect end to the holiday, but the end of a great holiday all the same.
December 17, 2003
Cruise Update
Today was Funchal, Madeira. Very nice island, and although we got a quick shower whilst in the tropical gardens it rocketed up to 24 degrees before the end of the day. The cable car ride took us up to the top of the mountain and enabled us to have a tobbaggan ride back down again - something that you just have to do...
Back at the bottom we looked round the embroidery factory before spending time walking around the city and doing a bit of shopping. With a great show again today was probably the most enjoyable so far.
December 16, 2003
Cruise Update
Yesterday, we visited Casablanca, Morocco. Not bad, very far from the british setting of Gibraltar. The weather was a little foggy, but still quite warm for this time of year. We saw the famous Hassan II Mosque, one of the King's many palaces and visited a city market (among other places) where we were offered many of the local speciality - including pick-your-own live tortoise off the stalls!
A chilled out evening included a rock n' roll show followed by a 70's themed night back in the 'Spirit bar.
Today see's another day at sea, and so far we're planing to catch a film in the on-board cinema and see tonights show. Oh yes and yesterday we took a look at the show facilities with a backstage, control booth and dressing room tour... very informative ;-)
December 14, 2003
Cruise Update
Well the show last night was pretty fantastic (selected photos on when I get home) and today's docking at Gibraltar was quite cool too.
The weather got nice during the morning and ended up a nice sunny day. The trip this morning took us to see all the major places - Europa Point, St Michael's cave and a play with the Barbary Apes on the way back down the rock. A chilled out afternoon wandering the coast and visiting the botanical gardens followed.
Have set sail again and cruising along the coast of Africa, next stop Casablanca, Morocco. More tomorrow!
December 13, 2003
Cruise Update
Ooo... look at this, blog updating via a satellite link... nice ;-)
Well we've had still less than a full day yet, but already had a great first evening and a rather entertaining emergency lifeboat drill this morning. Today is a full day at see, but it's formal evening tonight and the entertainment is a special rendition of 'Moulin Rouge' performed by the Thomson entertainment crew. The first few trips have been booked and we'll let you know how we got on tomorrow night!
December 12, 2003
Off again...
Well i'm waiting in Birmingham airport again, this time with sis, on our way to a cruise! Only an hour till we're properly on our way... Look out for updates over the next week!
