Monte Carlo and Milan, where I was heading for Fashion Week, may look just a couple of centimetres apart on the map but the 5-hour  train journey seemed to take for ever! I passed the time reading the absolutely massive September issue of American Vogue, texting Tara Matthews and catching up on my emails.

A very pleasant surprise was a message from a friend Sarah Jane, formerly a sales director at Anya Hindmarch, whose gorgeous kaftans will be stocked at CLICKINI.com from November onwards. SJ has just relocated to Japan and filled me in on her summer adventures in the Land of the Rising Sun:

Hey Jonathan, greetings from Tokyo!!!! How are things with you and how's the website going?? All good I hope? I presume you are in the middle of a busy buying season - how is London Fashion Week? I'm actually coming back next week as Anya wants me to help with Paris......

I am totally in love with my new life out here, we all are. Just had the best weekend down in Shimoda (Toyko's answer to the Hamptons). About 20 of us went down and took over a ryokan all to ourselves
- lots of activities to which I joined in with none, others did the Kayaking etc I just lazed on the beach eating Lobster Rhamen. It was a bank holiday weekend as it was the festival of the tiger so there was a village celebration with stalls and processions and lots of sake. We took a boat out to see the phosperesence at night (or however you spell it) and found the most darling little karaoke bar with three old locals who we made join in with us. We tried to sing with them in Kanji - so funny. I tried my first onsen too.....

Will you be coming to Paris at all? We could meet for a drink? SJ xoxo

SJ, I will indeed be coming to Paris, but have to get through a busy flying visit (by train!) to Milan first! :)

Jonathan

The weather in Monte Carlo, to where I headed south from Paris for the Monaco Yacht Show, was much more to my liking, with the boats at Port Hercules positively gleaming under the Mediterranean sun. It was heavenly sitting on the terrace of the Lanson champagne bar, watching the world sail by.

I mostly stayed on dry land however, catching up with old friends from my days at Yacht Premiere magazine in Milan, as well as newer friends from The Yacht Report, with whom I collaborated on the book IDEAS. Also in town were friends from the Junior Senior agency and we chatted about ideas about doing some CLICKINI.com promotional events along the Cote d'Azur next summer, and a friend from London whose private banking work at SG Hambros involves a lot of yacht financing. It was her first time at the yacht show, but she still seemed to know more people there than I did!

Although the atmosphere dockside at Port Hercules was very relaxing, my time in Monaco was rather constrained. After a charming farewell lunch on my aunt and uncle's Monte Carlo balcony, overlooking the yachts in the harbour below, it was time to move on to the next destination...Milan.

Jonathan

Il 18° Monaco Yacht Show è tutto esaurito con 7 mesi d’anticipo sul calcio d’inizio!

Dal 24 al 27 settembre 2008, le più grandi società della nautica da diporto e del lusso si daranno appuntamento al Port Hercule di Monaco per il 18imo Monaco Yacht Show.

Con sette mesi d’anticipo sull’inaugurazione, il salone è già tutto esaurito : un tasso rilevante di rinnovo delle presenze e un vero e proprio assalto di nuove richieste per gli stand risultati disponibile a inizio gennaio.

I professionisti della grande nautica da diporto internazionale non si sbagliano, posizionando il MYS come leader mondiale dei saloni degli yacht di grandi e grandissime dimensioni.

Questo offre loro la garanzia di entrare in contatto con una clientela internazionale di professionisti e privati di alto livello: 500 espositori e 28000 visitatori sono attesi nel 2008.

Negli ultimi anni, grazie a un mercato in piena espansione, la presenza al salone per le società leader nel settore è diventata imperdibile, traducendosi in un aumento delle richeste di posti barca, in particolare per le grandi unità.

Il MYS riflette senza dubbio questa tendenza del settore; nel 2007, il salone ha proposto una flotta notevole di 97 super yacht fino a 90 metri, una taglia media record di 42 metri e 40 yacht lanciati in anteprima mondiale. Circa 50 yachts stazionavano al largo della rada di Monaco. L’edizione 2008 si annuncia altrettanto eccezionale!

Sponsors di prestigio

La maison svizzera di orologi da polso Blancpain ribadisce il suo affetto al salone per il nono anno consecutivo.

Non è da meno la Compagnie Monégasque de Banque, instituzione di riferimento sulla piazza finanziaria monegasca e internazionale, sponsor ufficiale dal 2005.

Il gioielliere Van Cleef & Arpels riconferma la sua associazione con il MYS per il secondo anno consecutivo, entusiasta della riuscita della loro prima esperienza nel 2007.

Servizi d’alta gamma

Gli organizzatori del MYS mettono a disposizione dei participanti delle prestazioni per facilitare la loro visita in un atmosfera raffinata ed euforica: gli spazi Lounge Stampa e Press Center in collaborazione con gli specialisti delle assicurazioni Only Yacht, il Business Center ING, il ristorante Lenôtre sono alcune delle aree di servizio a disposizione dei partecipanti.

Un impegno sociale per il futuro

Il MYS sostiene l’Associazione Monegasca contro le Miopatie dal 2001 organizzando di opere di beneficenza d’eccezione: il 20 settembre 2007, la vendita all’asta Only Watch ha consentito la raccolta di oltre 2.7 milioni di euro. Inoltre, ogni anno, il salone versa all’associazione il 50% del costo del biglietto d’ingresso.

Dal 2005, il Monaco Yacht Show è certificato Carbon Neutral et si è impegnato a versare una eco-tassa per finanziare dei progetti d’ecologia internazionali in associazione con Camper & Nicholsons.

Da metà maggio alla fine di agosto, puoi venire a La Note Bleue alla spiaggia del Larvotto per i suoi affascinanti programmi di concerti Jazz ogni settimana dal mercoledì al sabato. La prima metà ti accompagnerà nell’aperitivo tra le 18.30 e le 19.30, il suono della musica Jazz riprenderà alle 21.00 stregando magicamente il pubblico fino a mezzanotte.

Un menu completo dal cocktail ai numerosi piatti offre la possibilità di passare una serata davvero speciale!

Monaco is one of the most beautiful, romantic and captivating places to spend a great vacation or a weekend. I fell in love with this magical place at first sight. There is a lot of art, culture, outstanding cuisine and high-adrenaline activities like the Formula One Grand Prix, casino gaming, land and water sports and exciting nightlife.  

Some interesting facts about Monaco:

Nice-Côte d’Azur International Airport is a 30-minute drive, or Heli Air Monte Carlo takes 10 minutes, cutting across the Mediterranean. Non-stop flights to Nice: 7 hours from New York, 10 from Tokyo, 2 from London; excellent connections through European gateways. Trains arrive at the new Monte Carlo station, blasted out of the mountain.

Where is it?

 Monte Carlo is on the Riviera between Provence and Italy, close to the museums of Nice (Matisse, Chagall) and the glamorous shopping boulevards of Cannes. The Picasso Museum and world-famous Maeght Collection are nearby, as well. Trips to the medieval villages of St. Paul de Vence or Eze, the perfume factories of Grasse, Italy’s ski slopes and the boutiques and markets of nearby San Remo are memorable events, as are private parties at Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild in St. Jean Cap Ferrat or La Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu.

Where to stay:

Hotel de Paris

Hotel Hermitage

Hotel Metropole Monte Carlo

Fort Palace

Le Meridien Beach Plaza

I recomend you to go and see Giselle, the ballet of the Parisian Opera.

Deadline: October 17-19, 2008
Place: Grimaldi Forum
Web site: www.grimaldiforum.com

Formula 1

There are many people selling tickets on the streets around the authorized ticket booths, but try the ticket booths first. Be sure to get a map of the circuit so you can see the spot where the seat is located. The best sections are A1, A4, V, Z1, Z2 and O. Many Monaco residents rent out their terraces for the event and prices range from about 8000€ to 140,000€ for the four days. These renters advertise in the International Herald Tribune and the Nice Monaco Matin newspapers. In addition, restaurants and hotels along the course offer special lunch menus that include watching the race from their terraces. This is a way to get a seat for the race and eat a meal. Prices range from 90€ to 500€ on race day.

Hotel rooms are hard to come by during the Grand Prix. Most rooms are booked on a yearly basis, so either reserve as much as six months in advance or stay in Menton, Nice or other nearby towns and take the train or bus in. There is boat service from St. Jean Cap Ferrat (France) port. Under no circumstances try to drive into Monaco during the four days of racing. Access is very restricted and parking is non-existent. Another option is to book a stay through one of the Grand Prix tour operators.

Straßenkarte für Kalifornien, div. Reiseführer, Tasche für Kamera

Also ... für über die Weihnachtsferien, im Jahre acht nach dem Millenium-Bug, wurde durch ein paar entrückte Jungs und mich eine kurze Reise in das "home of the brave" und das "land of the free" (oder umgekehrt) angesetzt.

Starten werden wir unseren Trip in Nevada. Genauer gesagt im weihnachtlichen Las Vegas. Dort werden wir im Monte Carlo Hotel absteigen und es hoffentlich nach Silvester wieder unbeschadet, und mit noch ein paar Dollars in den Taschen, verlassen.

Natürlich werden wir mehr oder weniger versuchen auf den Spuren meines Mentors, Hunter S. Thompson, zu wandeln. Mehr mit mehr Alkohol und weniger mit Drogen. Aber zumindest die Schauplätze seines Romans "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" gehören zum Pflichtprogramm.

Dann geht's mit einem Mietauto weiter nach Kalifornien. Dort stehen San Francisco, San Diego und Los Angeles auf dem Besichtigungsplan. Diverse Zwischenstopps in Bundesgefängnissen und so weiter sind noch nicht eingerechnet.

Die Planung läuft auf Hochtouren und wir merken immer mehr, dass die Zeit über dem Teich viel zu schnell verinnen wird. "Tempus fugit" halt. Wir sind aber zuversichtlich. Reicht das als Abschluss?

Ich halte Sie über dieses Vorhaben natürlich auf dem Laufenden. Mehr lernen Sie in meinem nächsten Eintrag. Hawedere.

Mónaco es un país increiblemente cuidado, máxima expresión del lujo refinado de la "belle epoque", llaman la atención sus jardines, entre los que dejan asombrado a cualquier visitante el jardín exótico y la gruta del observatorio, que acondicionado junto al peñon es digno de admiración por su belleza, amplísima variedad de plantas y la gruta prehistórica que se encuentra a sus pies a 60 metros bajo tierra. El jardín japones, con su montaña, su colina, su cascada, su playa y su arroyo respetando los principios más estrictos del pensamiendo zen. Fotvieille y la Rosaleda de la princesa de Gracia, un pequeño lago rodeado de palmerales y olivares perfumado con más de 4.000 rosales. Los jardines de San Martín, colgados de la fachada sureste del peñón. El parque princesse Antoinette, con su majestuosa entrada está decorada con una espectacular cortina de buganvillas, es el reino del árbol sagrado, el olivar.

La oferta de museos es amplísima: El Museo de Antropología prehistórica, el Museo Oceanográfico, con una colección de fauna marina inestimable donde destaca la laguna de los tiburones, el Museo de Recuerdos Napoleónicos y Colecciones de los Archivos Históricos de Palacio, el Museo Nacional de Autómatas y Muñecas de Antaño, la exposición de la colección de coches antiguos de el Principe de Mónaco, el museo Naval, El Museo de los Sellos y Monedas, El Camino de las esculturas.

El Casino de Monte Carlo, obra maestra del arquitecto Charles Garnier, construido en 1863, es espectacular la costrucción, sus jardines y la salle Garnier, un teatro revestido de rojo y oro réplica de la Ópera de parís.

Las mejores zonas de compras con las más conocidas marcas de lujo y las últimas creaciones modistas son El Cercle d´or de montecarlo y los escaparates del refinamiento.

Es un lugar ideal para prácticar deportes como el golf, el tenis, se encuentra a una hora de 8 estaciones de esquí francesas e italianas, y para recuperar la energía nada mejor que Les Thermes Marines de Montecarlo, un balneario impresionante.

Eventos deportivos internacionales

- El Gran Premio de Formula 1 de Mónaco es uno de los eventos deportivos más seguidos en el mundo entero, tiene lugar todos los años durante 4 días en el mes de Mayo.

- El Rallye de Montecarlo, que tiene lugar todos los años por las carreteras de los Alpes.

- El Tennis Masters Series de Montecarlo, organizado por el Montecarlo Country Club en el mes de Abril.

Mónaco también destaca por sus acontecimientos artístico-culturales,  con la celebración de la Printemps des arts, festival cultural único que se desarrolla cada año en torno a un tema central, festival internacional de escultura de montecarlo, cada 2 años en los jardines del Casino. La Orquesta filarmónica de montecarlo ofrece numerosos conciertos durante el verano. El festival de televisión de Montecarlo. El Bal de la Croix Rouge, gala benéfica que reune a la alta sociedad a nivel mundial.

Sunday 3rd August : Rhondda and Gatwick Airport (Day 0)

Packed and Ready to Go
People develop their own foibles and pointless little rituals as they grow older.  For me, the last thing that ever goes in my suitcase before it is finally sealed up ready for the journey is my toilet bag.  I have to have a shave before I leave home. Don't ask me why because shaving is a thing I would never do for pleasure, it is a necessity because I look like such a numpty with a beard.  Eleven o'clock arrived and I was ready to start the journey to the Cruise.  The previous evening my mother had checked that my case contained more than enough shoes, socks, t-shirts, shirts, trousers, shorts,  polo shirts, underpants and swimming trunks for the 12 days I would be away. It is nice to have someone watching your back, extra insurance against things going wrong.  Thanks Mam.  She also made sure that my Dinner Suit was pressed and packed for the two formal evening aboard the Emerald Princess.

Packing for holidays is made doubly difficult by the fact that there is a strict limit on the weight  of the luggage anyone can take on an aeroplane.  For this holiday, I was allowed to take up to two suitcases weighing a combined total of 25 kilogrammes. Everything fitted into a single suitcase that weighed-in at 23 kilos. The case was an old one that has been around the globe many many times.  Not only does this case have sentimental value, it is also considerably lighter than the newer cases I use when sailing from Southampton.  My newer cases are better suited for the rough and tumble of the hold of a modern aircraft, but that automatically makes them heavy,  even before an item of clothing goes in them.  So what I gain from durability, I think I lose in actual functionality.

Departure
Staterooms aboard luxury cruise ships are either two berth or four berth, so as there are five people in my elder sister Janet's family things would be a wee a bit awkward . So I got invited to join them.    Not that there was any possibility that I would have said no,  I had no problem being there to make up numbers and fill the empty berth in the second cabin. The party for this cruise consisted of myself, my sister Janet, her nine year old son James, her husband Andy, his nine year old son James a.k.a. JimBob and Andy's fifteen year old son Thomas.

We had booked this cruise, as usual, through the Porthcawl based travel agency Traveland, who specialise in selling cruise holidays in the South Wales area.  This meant that travel to and from Gatwick Airport was covered.  A minibus would pick us all up from Janet's house in Cwmparc at 12.30pm on the day before we flew to Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport at Fiumicino.  The original plan was that after the trip up to Gatwick, we would spend the night at the Copthorne Gatwick Hotel., before heading over to the airport to check-in for our 9.30am flight at 6.30am.   The reality of the situation was that, a few weeks before the  holiday, we all received a letter telling us that the flight had been moved forward to 6.15am.  This really put the cat amongst the pigeons because the first shuttle bus from the Copthorne Hotel to the airport was at 5am, which would have been well after our checked-in time.  The practical upshot was that we would only spend a few hours at the hotel and then catch the last shuttle bus of the night, at 12.05am, a good six hours before our flight.

As it turned out, the one room at the Copthorne would have been plenty big enough for our revised needs of all six of us, so I effectively had a room to myself.   I decided a nice long soak would be a relaxing  way to take my mind off the horrors of spending six hours in an airport departure lounge.  And after my bath, I was able to have a nice nap.

Monday, 4th August : Gatwick and Civiteveccia (Day 1)

Airport Hell
Airports are supposed to be as functional as possible to facilitates the movement of as many people as possible through them.  This is no help if, like me, you arrive at the airport at the end of one working day, and have to wait until the start of the next.  Things did not improve once we had all passed through check-in as all the shops and restaurants in the International Departure Lounge were closed, so we still had nothing to do, although watching the sun rise over Gatwick Airport had a certain charm.  It was also interesting watching the Airport come alive again, as more and more people checked in for later flights, and the shops opened at 4am.

Then Janet and Andy vanished for half an hour.  They told me that they needed to get some stuff from Boots and that they would not be long, so I was left in charge of the boys and all our carry-on luggage.  James and JimBob were asleep at this point, and Tom is old enough to look after himself, so it was no real hardship.  When Janet and Andy reappeared, we all headed off into the McDonald's for something to eat.

So it was we boarded the Titan Airways flight from London Gatwick International Airport to Rome Lenonardo da Vinci Airport at Fiumicino.   The breakfast that was served on the flight looked a bit soggy, but tasted good, much better than some meals I have had aboard planes. I assume that it was an uneventful trip, as I used the opportunity to have catch some more zeds.

Whilst waiting to check in at Gatwick, a representative of Princess Cruises came around to collect forms for some public health issue or other.  He told our party and others waiting in the queue that once we had checked in our luggage, that would be the last we would see of it until it was delivered to our stateroom aboard the Emerald Princess.  This did not ring true to me, so I asked him to confirm the fact that we just had to walk out of Rome Airport without a worry.  This he did with a smile.  It turned out that Andy had also asked the Princess Cruises representative to confirm this a few minutes earlier.  Neither of us really believed this statement, especially given the way security has been tightened up at airports since 9/11.  It did not help that the captain of the Titan Airways flight generated a fair amount of confusion aboard when he announced that we would have to pick our luggage up at the carousel upon arrival at Rome.  So on arrival at Fiumicino, we went in search of another Princess Cruises representative.  I suggested to Andy that maybe only one of us should leave the Baggage Carousel area to find a Princess Rep, and the rest of us should wait to see what happened.  This turned out to be a good idea because shortly after Andy headed out through the double doors, someone from the cruise company's agents, Alochi Bros. arrived and told us to wait and collect our luggage.  The problem was, Andy could not now return to the Luggage Carousel Area, he could not leave the terminal either, as he did not have his Passport, so basically he was stuffed until we came and rescued him.  It was a good thing we had  not relied on what we had been told by that bloke back in Britain, who proved to be as reliable as a Chocolate Teapot.

All Aboard!
The transfer to Civiteveccia took about half an hour.  The autostrada between Rome and Civiteveccia is on a hill above the port town.  It was from this vantage point  that I caught my first glimpse of the vessel that would be my home from home for the next 12 days.  Dear God that was a big ship.  Absolutely massive, it dwarfed all the other ships in the harbour.  When people think about large ships, they usually think  naval vessels like aircraft carriers.  I am reliably informed that at 113,000 gross tonnes, the Emerald Princess is three times larger than anything that sails under the white ensign, carriers included. I dread to think how many times the old Cunard Crown Jewel, the first ship I ever cruised on, would fit into this leviathan.

I noticed that the ship was docked at the Rome Cruise Terminal, and it had the letters RCT plastered all over the building.  It was just like being at home, as I work for the Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council, an organisation almost universally known as RCT.

The immediate priority was checking-in to the ship.  As I am a Platinum member of the Princess Cruises' Captain Circle scheme, as is my sister, we got  the Preferred Check-In.  Swiftly shepherded through the process of getting my cruise-card and registering it with my credit card, instead of queuing with the hoi-poloi.  The only problem was I encountered my second chocolate teapot of the day, as the man who checked me in took everything from me, including the voucher for my return flight back to Gatwick.

Once I was aboard, I discovered that I had been issued with a Gold cruise-card, instead of a Platinum one. Oh well, I would be able to sort that out with the Captain's Circle representative after the ship had sailed. Except the representative decided to be awkward.  Despite the fact that I had the series of emails between myself and Princess confirming that I was Platinum printed out and in my hand, she really did not want to upgrade me.  She tried to say that I should have cleared this up earlier, because she already had her list of Platinum Members and did not want to change it now.  Well tough, that is your job dear, so I got a bit bolshy, insisting that I should be upgraded.  So I got my shiney new grey card.

Then aboard the Emerald Princess for the first time.  I love Princess cruise-ships,  the layout and the décor, the way the ship smells.  Emerald Princess was no exception, which made me feel right at home.  However I think that there must have been something about the size of the ship that really confused my usual sense of direction aboard this sort of ship, as normally after a few hours I can find my way around the vessel blindfolded.  This cruise, I got lost going from one end of the ship to another, for the duration of the cruise.

Phoning Home
The thing about cruising is there is food available virtually 24/7.  So having got safely aboard the Emerald Princess, the whole party made its way up to Deck 15 and to the Horizon Court self service buffet.  With everyone settled, I decided to phone home.  I have never used the international roaming facility on my mobile before, so it was quite an experience.  Unfortunately, my mother had been sitting out in her garden, totally unaware that her telephone was ringing, and on the first three attempts I connected with her answer phone.  Eventually I got through and had a quick chat with her before handing the phone over to Janet.  I know that my mother was more than a little surprised  to hear from us all, but none the less pleased that we had made the effort.

We Are Sailing
Just after 6pm local time, the Emerald Princess under its master, Captain Giorgio Pomata set sail on voyage E821, leaving Civiteveccia for the port of Monte Carlo, Monaco.  However, if I had not been up on deck to see the ship moving off, I would have had no idea that I was now travelling, it was such an obscenely smooth ride, which is not surprising considering the size of the Emerald Princess.

Dining in Style
There are three dining rooms aboard the Emerald Princess,  both the Da Vinci and Michelangelo are open sitting, whilst the Botticelli dining room has traditional closed sittings.  As a family, we prefer the traditional closed sitting for our evening meals, so we were in the Botticelli.  This dining room is at the rear of Deck 6.  There was no direct route from my stateroom to the dining room.  I had to go up two decks pass the Explorer's Lounge, through the  photo gallery and then down a deck to the dining room.  The reason being that the Galley sits monolithically between the Da Vinci and the Botticelli on Deck 6, so I had to go up and over.  Not a difficult concept to grasp, but as I have said earlier, the size of the ship was doing something to my sense of direction, and I don't think I walked to the restaurant without getting lost once during the whole cruise.

For the duration of the cruise, we had been assigned to table 114 and our waiter was Raoul from Mexico, and his assistant was Sampong from Thailand.  A good waiter can make or break the whole cruise experience.  There is an art to waiting on tables, a good waiter delicately balances the interaction with the people he is serving.  He should be neither  "In Your face"  during the whole meal or  "Robotically Functional" to the point of invisibility.  The waiters this time were a bit too jobsworth for my liking, they did the job with the minimum of interaction.

Tuesday, 5th August : Monaco (Day 2)

The Monaco Enigma

I really don't understand why a twelve day cruise of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Greek Islands had to visit Monte Carlo in Monaco. Yes it is a nice place to visit, but it is very definitely in the Western Mediterranean and a bit of a detour really.  I would personally have prefereded it if instead of going hundreds of miles out of our way, we had missed the Principality out completely and later in the cruise used the extra day to visit Istanbul in Turkey instead, or failing that arrive at Venice earlier so that I could spend a day and night in la Serenissima.

Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo was bloody hot. Even the locals were complaining about the heat, that it was a lot warmer than  even they were used to. Could it be that the British Summer has got lost in the post and Monaco is getting two lots of summer sun? I suppose that it was a good way of acclimatising myself to the even hotter weather that I would encounter in the Greek Islands.

The whole party went ashore, which was fun because it involved tendering, travelling by boat from the ship to quayside.  After getting off the tender we all walked along the harbour, we spent  some time admiring the conspicuous wealth in the principality.  Looking at all the luxury yachts and the expensive cars, then debating which one we would buy if we won a multiple roll-over on the Lottery was fun.  It would definitely have to have a helipad as well so that I could fly myself to and from the yacht whenever I wanted.   The body of many of the yachts in the harbour were different pastel shades of gold or blue or green etc but Iam of the opinion that coloured yachts are a bit tacky.  The classical maritime simplicity of  white appeals to me more.

I saw some wonderful cars in Monte Carlo.  As we were leaving the Harbour, I spotted a red Ferrari, followed by another red Ferrari, and another and another.  I thought I had died and gone to automotive heaven, but no, some enterprising individual had set up  a business in which you could be driven around the the course of the Monaco Grand Prix in one off these dream machines.  I suppose that only in Monaco would I have seen the ridiculous and the sublime side by side.  My nephew JimBob is standing next to a sublime yellow Ferrari, and in the background is a smart car, the "Noddy" city car that Mercedes released in a moment of madness.

There was one hell of a view of the bay and the beautiful blue Mediterranean from the Casino.  The gardens were quite spectacular as well.  Definitely worth the climb up from the harbour.  On the way we passed through the famous tunnel on the Grand Prix circuit.   Andy spotted  a speed limit sign which Michael Schummaker and colleagues who live in Monte Carlo have to obey for most of the year, and must take  pleasure in ignoring  during the race.  Unfortunately because it was a Monday, the Casino was closed, and I would have liked to have  seen inside it.  Oh well, maybe next time.  Not that I would have been mug enough to gamble in it.

One of the shops down in the harbour was called Ubaldi.  It was an electronics shop, what a pity it was not a barbers.

Lunch
Call me a bit stuffy if you like, but I can eat at a serve yourself buffet any time of the year.  So after returning to the ship, I went to the Da Vinci dining room for a lunch served by attentive waiters at a nicely laid table with good quality tableware.

I was escorted to a table for two by a window, and handed a menu whilst the other place setting was removed.  Personally, I have no objection to sharing a table with complete strangers and having a pleasant chat with new and interesting people.  However, if my fellow diners don't want to mix, then so be it.  So much choice, I could either have a late-riser's breakfast, a selection of burgers or a four course meal. I cannot see the point of having a burger and fries (which are available all day on the Lido Deck (Deck 15)) when  there was such an interesting selection of food available elsewhere on the menu. Occasionally, if the menu was interesting  enough, I would have a full house, but most days I would just have a main course and a desert, but today I decided to have a starter, main course and pudding. I have to say that I found the meals available at lunchtime even nicer than what was on offer for evening meals.

I have long since given up trying to stop the waiters putting an excessive amount of ice in my glass when they fill it with water to drink with my meal.  Princess is an American company, and Americans are obsessed with having more ice in their glass than drink.  I really don't understand this, as it makes the water as it is poured almost undrinkable.

Mystery of the Missing Cuff Links
Each stateroom has a safe for the storage of valuables.  I decided to put my cuff links in it, so I slid my case out from under the bed, and to my horror, could not find them.  I knew that I had packed two sets of cuff links, the blue ones that my sister Carolyn had bought me for Christmas and the yellow Murano Glass cuff links I bought the last time I visited Venice.  So where were the bloody things.  The little pocket in the lid of the case was as empty as its main body.  Surely I had not left them in the hotel at Gatwick Airport.  I had briefly opened the case there to rescue the athsma pumps that should have gone into my hand luggage.  It looked as if I would have to email the Copthorne at the earliest possible opportunity, in the hope that they had turned up there.

Sorted
On arriving back at my stateroom, I found a letter in the box.  It was from the Captain Circle's representative, listing all the cruises I had done with Princess and with P&O.  Definite documentary proof of my Platinum status.  Nice to have that sorted.

Wednesday, 6th August : Livorno (Day 3)

A Day Aboard
Livorno, the port for Florence and Pisa.  I had decided to stay aboard as I had been to Florence and Pisa before. First thing to do today was to have another go at finding my cuff links.  I reasoned that if I had opened the case to retrieve my asthma pump, the cuff links should not be far away.  This meant that I would empty my flight bag again.  I planned to tear the damn thing apart if needs be.  That drastic course of action proved to be unnecessary as I found the little side pocket, and at the bottom of that pocket the little black leather covered box that contained my two pairs of cuff links.  I am sure that that particular side pocket is like the Room of Requirements from the Harry Potter novels, only appearing when it is needed, because I could not remember it being there the previous day.  Well, it is either that, or I am a careless dimbleberry.  You decide.

I never get very brown on holidays, I always come home with a rubbish sun-tan. This time I was determined it would be different and I would  get a good suntan.  With so many people off the ship visiting Florence, there would be plenty available sunbeds.  So on went the Riemann P20 sunscreen and I went up to the Horizon Court for a coffee and a late breakfast before going out to get some rays.

In the Horizon court they had sushi, lots of sushi, so I got a nice big plateful.  A few years ago I would never have imagined settling down to a breakfast of raw fish and pickled rice, accompanied by shōyu (soy sauce), wasabi and gari (pickled ginger); eaten with chopsticks.  Well travel does broaden the mind and the palette.

It was hot, but that is exactly what I was paying for and I was enjoying every second of it.  Somehow, I managed to get a sunburnt bellybutton.  How did that happen, I thought that I had rubbed enough P20 on my skin? I should obviously have taken more care with the little nooks and crannies.  I think I should also have taken a dip in one of the icy cold swimming pools to cool myself off before lunch, but I was being a bit lazy and did not want to go back to the stateroom to change my long baggy swimming trunks, that could just about pass as a pair of shorts, before  heading down to the Da Vinci dining room for lunch.   So the resulting discomfort for the next few days was all my own fault.

I was sitting next to a very cosmopolitan old couple at lunch.  She was from Belgium and he was from Germany.  At first she was under the impression that one side of the menu was for lunch and the other was a preview of what was available for the evening meal.  It was not until they heard me ordering my meal that she realised her mistake.  They were not happy, as their luggage had been lost en route and they would have to wait until the ship arrived in Naples the following day before they could get it back.  I felt quite sorry for them, as they were obviously in their eighties and this was spoiling their holiday.

The  daily "Afternoon Trivia" quiz took place in the Wheelhouse Bar on deck six.  I have always been a magnet for trivia,  silly little bits of information stick in my memory, so I usually do well in the trivia quizzes on board. Over the course of the twelve days, I did six afternoon  quizzes with Janet and Andy, and we won four of them.  We also won a Broadway Musicals trivia quiz and came second in a Rock Music trivia quiz on two of the evenings.  Today was one of our winning days and we won some really snazzy black Princess Cruises baseball caps.  I came to the concussion that the prizes at the quizzes were discontinued lines  as over the course of the cruise, I never saw any of our prizes on sale in any of the shops aboard, and the luggage straps we had won on the last cruise were no longer available.

It was definitely a good afternoon, as in the Explorer Lounge they had set up a Nintendo Wii and were playing Wii Bowling.  Normally I am rubbish at video games, but Wii Bowling is the exception that proves the rule.  In the last game of the afternoon, I scored 185, which is one of my best scores yet, winning by a margin of 30 points.  So as you can imagine, I was really pleased with myself.

Vive la France
Every Princess and P&O cruise I have ever been on has done a French Night in the restaurant, where the classics of French cuisine dominate the menu.  This cruise was no exception.  I had actually been expecting it the previous evening, as we had been in French territorial waters after leaving Monaco.  This had always been one of my father's favourite nights in the restaurant.  He especially loved the French Onion Soup with the crouton covered in melted cheese.

I decided to have the Frog's Leg  as my main course, why not as I was having Escargot au Beure,  Onion Soup and Crème Brûlée for my other courses, why not be completely clichéd.  The  last time I had Frog's Legs, I had not been overly impressed.  It had been in a restaurant in Wales, and I had been presented with half a dozen little legs that tasted like rubber bands and had the same texture.  Tonight's however were delicious, they had the texture of chicken but a completely different flavour that I could not quite recognise, somewhere between pork and beef.  What made it stand out was it was the only moist main course of the entire cruise.  It is currently fashionable to serve food Au Jus, with a tiny little bit of thin sauce, and this is not to my taste at all, it makes the meal far too dry.

This particular meal contains my all time favourite dessert, Crème Brûlée a rich custard with a crispy coating of caramelised sugar.  I enjoy cracking the crisp smooth coating to get at the custard beneath.  It is a bit like breaking glass.

Thursday 7th August : Naples (Day 4)

Herculaneum
On my last visit to Naples two years ago, I had visited the remains of Pompeii and hiked up Vesuvio.  One of the things I was looking forward to on this cruise was visiting the ruins of Herculaneum when the ship docked in Naples.  The tour departed at 1.30pm, so it was a quiet morning aboard the Emerald Princess, followed by a hectic afternoon ashore.

Herculaneum was a town on the western slopes of Vesuvius  were it reached the coast of the Bay of Naples.  The two towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were like chalk and cheese.  Pompeii was a busy cosmopolitan port that was a hive of industry and commerce.  Herculaneum was a posh holiday resort, where rich Romans had pleasant villas on the gentle slope down to the beach.   Whilst the people in both towns were killed by the poison gasses in the Pyroclastic Flow from the eruption, the manner of their final destruction differed. Pompeii was destroyed directly by the  force of the erruption, Herculaneum was destroyed indirectly by the products of the eruption. The manner of the destruction has resulted in a different degree of preservation, the ash and pumice that fell on Pompeii caused the buildings to collapse as the roofs caved-in; at Herculaneum the flow of mud from the mountainside filled the buildings and then buried them to a depth of 20 metres before cooling into solid stone.  As a result, more is still standing at Herculaneum, so the ruins are more impressive than Pompeii.  Of  course this preservation comes at a cost, as it is much harder to excavate the ruins at Herculaneum than Pompeii. Herculaneum was uncovered after years of delicate mining, with men carrying out precious historical artefacts instead of minerals.  I dread to think what the dust from this mining must have done to the lungs of those excavating the site, especially in the early days of the excavation, before the advent of modern health and safety regulations.

Walking down the ramp from the visitor centre into the ruins was like walking backwards in time.  Andy, who is fascinated by Greek and Roman history was loving every second of it.  Myself, Tom and Janet found it engrossing.  Even James and JimBob were suitably impressed. Modern Ercelano perches precariously over the ruins of the Roman town. It would be nice to think that the modern town was somehow connected to the ancient ruins, however until 1969 the town was called Resina but changed its name to a modern Italian equivalent of Herculaneum as more and more tourists came to visit the ruins.

Before returning to the ship, the tour visited a traditional cameo workshop, where craftsmen carve away the layers of seashells to make beautiful jewellery.  It was here that I bought my mother a small present, a cameo in a silver setting that could be hung on a silver chain.

On returning to the ship, James and JimBob were dispatched to the kid's club and Janet and Andy made preparations to celebrate their second wedding anniversary.  They were heading to the Crown Grill restaurant on Deck 7.  I went down to the Botticelli dining room for my evening meal as usual.  I am glad that Tom also decided to go and have his evening meal there, as I would have felt mighty lonely on that big old table, all by myself.

After my meal, I had to pick the younger boys up from the kid's club, as I was on child minding duty that night.  I took the boys to the show in the Princess Theatre at the front of the ship.  I don't usually see many shows when I am aboard, but tonight was the exception because the  star of the evening's show was Kelly Monteith, the American stand-up comedian who used to have a series on BBC Two in the early 1980's.  Dear sweet lord, was it really nearly thirty years ago that I thought this man was the funniest person on the planet.  His show  old BBC show was brilliant, the perfect combination of stand-up, sitcom and Gabrielle Drake.  Even though his material was orientated towards the America audience, I still thought he was incredibly funny.

Friday 8th August : At Sea en route to the Santorini Archipelago (Day 5)

Stromboli
At 1.35am the MV Emerald Princess made its closest approach to the island of Stromboli in the Tyrrhenian Sea between Italy and Sicily.  This meant for the second time in 24 hours I had seen a volcano.  However, whereas Vesuvio has been dormant for the past 64 years, Mount Stromboli has been anything but.  For the past 2000 years the volcano has been in  a state of continuous eruption.  On my last cruise two years ago aboard the Grand Princess I had gone up on deck in the early ours of the morning to see the volcano, but it had been in a particularly placid mood at the time, and the ship sailed past without me seeing anything.  This time I was not going to bother, as I was sure that there would be nothing to see again. Then I thought to myself I had nothing to lose and might as well go up on deck.  Almost as soon as joined Thomas and Andy on the starboard side of Deck 15 of Emerald Princess I saw a small spark of orange in the distance.  Over the next twenty minutes each successive spark got brighter and brighter until eventually at 1.35am we could see each gout of eruptive material in all its glory, and hear the distant rumble of the eruption at the summit of the mountain.  I am so glad that I dragged myself out of bed to see it.

Formal Night #1
Not an awful lot happened  during the rest of the day.  It was a leisurely day at sea, relaxing.  The first of the formal nights was in the evening, so here are some photos of us all looking posh.

1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

7. 8.

Saturday 9th August : Thira on the Santorini Archipelago (Day 6)

Sunrise
Watching the sun setting over the Caldera of Santorini is said to be a great experience.  Unfortunately, the Emerald Princess would be long gone by sunset, but sunrise there is said to be just as spectacular.  So, I was up and about at 7.30am along with Andy, to see if it was as impressive as people say.  The answer to that is, a thousand times yes.

1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

1. Andy at dawn at Santorini
2. Dawn at Santorini
3. Me at dawn at Santorini
4. Sunrise over the Caldera
5. Andy taking a photograph
6. Other people up at this ungodly hour

Quickly Up, The Frescos and Slowly Down
Santorini (Σαντορίνη) is the site of a volcano that famously exploded in the Bronze Age. Before the eruption there was a single island with a smoking mountain at its heart.  After the eruption, there was an archipelago four small islands and a flooded lagoon where the smoking mountain used to be. It used to be believed the eruption took place in 1500 BCE and lead directly to the collapse of the Minoan civilisation in Crete and the Aegean. However, geological evidence suggests that the eruption took place a century earlier, and whilst the Minoan civilisation survived, it did not prosper and eventually collapsed.  Andy was itching to see the ruins of the ancient buried Minoan city now known as Akrotiri.  Unfortunately this is no longer open to the public, so another highlight of the day would be seeing the facsimiles of the frescos discovered there, which are housed in the Conference Centre in Thira, the main town on the main island, also called Thira. During the Middle Ages the Venetian Republic ruled the islands, dedicating them to Saint Irene, which is why these Greek islands have the Italianate name of Santorini.

Once he ship had docked in the middle of the lagoon, a tender vessel took us to the main island of Thira.  Don't ask me how, but I was the only person present who had any Euro notes and coins with them.   It is all very well having cards, but if the shop will not take it, and you cannot find an ATM, then going ashore without the physical currency of the country being visited is a bit silly. James and JimBob did not stay ashore very long, and went back to the ship with Thomas, leaving the adults to explore the island.  There are three ways from the base of the cliff to the town of Thira, on foot, on donkey or by cable car.  We opted for the whizzy cable car up, and a walk down the precipitous cliff-face path later.  I was looking forward to visiting Santorini as I have a number of pictures of its famous white buildings with blue domed roofs and the windmills of Oia dotted around my house.  It did not disappoint, and the view of the lagoon from Thira was stunning. Yes, that toy boat behind me is the 113,000 gross tonnes leviathan that is the Emerald Princes, dwarfed by nature's grandeur.

The Frescos on display at the Conference Centre in Thira are life sized 3D facsimilies of the ones found on the walls of buildings at Akrotiri.  The real things are in a museum in Athens as they are too delicate to go on display in Thira.  Whilst they are very good copies, it is a shame that the real things are so far away on the Greek mainland.  The art of these frescos is bizarre to say the least; the depiction of human figures in the frescos is in no way naturalistic, but the fresco featuring  line drawings of antelopes shows wonderfully proportioned depictions of animals that have never lived on the island/archipelago before the eruption or since.  My supposition, based on no evidence what so ever, is that just as some cultures have a taboo on photographs, fearing they steal the subject's soul, the Minoans had a taboo on acurately depicting humans incase it stole their immortal souls away.

So after seeing the Frescos, we decided to return to the ship.  Having used the whizzy cable car to get from the quayside to Thira, we were walking for the return.  Every silver lining has its cloud, nothing is perfect and Santorini is no exception.  The one thing that all the pictures of Santorini in my house do not depict is the smell from all the donkeys.  Donkeys are remarkably stupid creatures; every so often a group of donkeys would come up the hill to meet us and if we moved to get out of their way, the stupid creature would inevitably follow.  I came to the conclusion that the best way to deal with a donkey heading towards you is to stand still and the dozy creature will walk around you.

I could learn to live with the smell, and  buy myself a season ticket for the cable car if ever I wanted to make Santorini my home.

Back on Board the Emerald Princess
I had another delightful lunch in the Da Vinci dining room.  Not a lot to do, so I went and found myself a shady spot overlooking the lagoon and had a bit of a nap.  Even though all the previous afternoon trivia quizzes has been at 4pm, I had convinced myself that today's quiz was at 4.30pm so I strolled into the Wheelhouse Bar at 4.25pm, just as the winning team was announced.  Janet and Andy had teamed up with another couple, and they had won again.  So not only had I missed the quiz, I was not even needed to make up the numbers.  Oh dear.

We all decided to  forsake the delights of the Botticelli dining room that evening.  The menu was a selection of the Executive Chef's favourite meals, and we did not fancy any of them.  Up stairs in the Café Caribe, the self service restaurant they were serving a "Curry Night".  Basically the Americans don't have a clue about proper Indian Food.  They are at the same stage as the average Briton was thirty years ago, when a Vesta curry kit was the height of culinary excellence with curries.  All the right bits were there, but it just did not taste right.  Still, everybody has to start somewhere I suppose.

Sunday, 10th  August, 2008 : Kuṣadasi for Ephesus (Day 7)

Kuṣadasi and the Ruins of Ephesus
The town of Kuṣadasi sits on the Turkish end of the Great Silk Road, on the shiny Aegean Sea.  It rocketed in size in the late twentieth century thanks to tourism.  This is the second time that Princess Cruises has brought me to this charming resort.  The last time I spent a lazy day aboard,  and regretted not visiting Ephesus. Today I was going to make up for lost time. Andy had not enjoyed his last visit, a combination of the heat of the afternoon and a poor guide had marred the experience, so he was hoping he would enjoy it more this time around.

The tour  Tom, Andy and Myself had booked on was in the morning, so it meant being up by 7am to be ready for the 8.30am departure from the dockside.  The trip through the beautiful Turkish countryside took about 30 minutes.  We arrived at the ruins and the guide explained that these were the remains of the third city to bear the name Ephesus, that existed for seven hundred years and was influenced by both Greek and Roman culture.  It is hard to believe that Ephesus was once a thriving sea port, as deposits of silt from the local river has moved the coastline five miles from the ancient port.    It is however fascinating to imagine what this city must have been like in its hey day, with all its glorious marble buildings still intact.

I have often wondered what was the origin of the name Odeon, that is used by the cinema chain.  This mysetery was solved when I saw the ruins of the Odeon at Ephesus. An odeon is much more of what we would recognise as a theatre than the great amphitheatres of the ancient world, as it was used for indoor performances of plays and music, whereas an amphitheatre is an open air structure.   So as an odeon is something like a theatre that is not exactly a theatre then it is a perfect name for a chain of cinemas, as a cinema is like a theatre but not exactly a theatre.  Although in Greek/Roman Ephesus, theatricality was a secondary use for the odeon, as it was mainly used as the municipal council's debating  chamber.

I could not come to Ephesus and not have a photograph of myself by the remains of  the Library of Celus.  Built as a memorial to Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus by his son Giaus and  completed in AD 135  by his grandson, in the commercial heart of Roman Ephesus.  The tour guide said that it was the third largest library of Antiquity, behind the libraries at Pergammon and Alexandria.

Cannot say that I was overly impressed by the Amphitheatre were it is alleged that Saint Paul  converted the city to Christianity.  Yes nice to see, but I thought the Library had been more impressive.

Then it was back to the ship, but I was duly impressed by the ruins.

The Bazaar at Kuṣadasi
Having returned to the ship, I was determined not to go ashore again.  However, I remembered that there had been a branch of The Body Shop on the quayside, and as my shaving kit needed replenishing I decided to pay it a visit.  In the intervening two years the shop  had closed and was replaced by a bakery, oh well, such is the vagaries of commerce.  Janet and Andy had taken themselves of to visit the castle on Guvercin Ada, the peninsular at the end of the bay, that I had visited with Tom two years earlier.  As I was ashore, I might as well have a wander around the Bazaar on my own. The bazaar at  Kuṣadasi is the second largest in Turkey, only the Bazaar in Istanbul is larger.

It struck me that Carolyn and Gary would like one of the Turkish tea sets that seemed to be on sale in every other shop in the bazaar. The only problem was the shop I went into buy the set would not take credit cards and as I had not planned on going ashore again I had neither Turkish Lira or Euros on me, so it looked as if Carolyn would be disappointed.  Fortunately  I bumped into the returning Janet and Andy outside the shop and did not have to go back to the ship empty handed. The man in the shop insisted on packing the gaps in the box  for the lilac and gold tea set with the most disreputable looking bubble wrap I have ever seen in my life.  As soon as possible I discarded this manky wrapping as the box itself was sturdy enough on its own, and it only distracted from the present.

Broadway - Name That Tune
That evening, Eric Stone the pianist in the Crooners bar and Colin one of the Assistant Cruise Directors ran a themed trivia quiz based on Broadway Musicals. Not exactly sure how we managed to win that one, with a score of 19 out of a possible 30, but we did. Our prize consisted of two bottles of sparkling wine, which Colin and Eric were joking about all evening.

Tonight was the only night that it felt as if the ship was travelling.  The quay at Mykonos only has a birth for a single cruise ship, which is strictly first come, first served, and there were three due to dock there the following day, the Emerald Princess, The Splendour of the Sea and a Costa line ship.  Two of these ships would have to tender the following day and Captain Pomatao was determined that the Emreald Princess would not be one of them.   Naturally the Costa Line tub had no chance of getting the berth, so Captain Pomata was in a race with the Master of the Royal Caribbean Line ship the Splendour of the Sea.  Not that there was any real competition, as the Emerald Princess was the larger and newer ship and easily won.

Monday, 11th August, 2008 Mykonos (Day  8.)

Ceramics at Sea
Again another quiet day where I stayed aboard the ship and topped up my sun tan.  Except even with a liberal dose of Riemann's P20  I was starting to itch from over exposure, so I decided to try my hand at the ceramics painting that was taking place in one of the shaded spots on Deck 15. For a small fee I got a blank mug access to an unlimited supply of glazes to paint on it and the firing of the mug at the end of the week.  I had suggested to Janet that maybe I could paint the TARDIS and a Dalek on a mug, but in the end I decided that I would paint the Greek Key style pattern, which is one of my favourite geometric designs, on the mug in blue and then the name of the ship and date of the cruise on the front.  I had more fun painting the mug than a 41 year old man has any right to have.  This really appealled to my inner five year old.  One lady sitting next to me complimented me on my design.  I felt such a fraud as my clumsy meandros was nowhere near as complicated as the design she was putting on her plate, and I told her so.  However she replied that everyone's design took a  fair degree of patience to achieve, so everyone should be pleased with themselves.  Anyway, as I thought  there were still two more days after today to finish my artwork, I left after an hour to go down to the afternoon quiz.

I think that the cruise staff were out to get us today, as our continued success was starting to get boring for the other passangers.  Fair enough I suppose, so I decided that I would give the quizzes a miss from now on.  Despite the fact that I was the only person in the room who knew that the Japanese for three diamonds was mitsu bishi, which is why Mitsubishi Motor Company has three interlinked diamonds as its badge; , Janet, Andy and myself were royally stuffed in today's quiz.

That evening in the glacially slow and frighteningly expensive Internet Café on the Plaza deck, I discovered that Steven Moffat's episode of Doctor Who from Series Three [29] Blink had won the HUGO Award for Best Short Form Dramatic Presentation at this year's World Science Fiction Convention in Denver.  However, not only did this make it it a hatrick of HUGOs for  Steven Moffat, the new boss of Doctor Who, Paul Cornell's Human Nature had come second in the ballot behind Blink.

Tuesday, 12th August, 2008 : Piraeus/Athens (Day 9)

Acropolis Now
Another day aboard the lovely MV Emerald Princess, having a relaxing time.  Not that I needed to go ashore, as from Deck 15 of the ship the Parthenon and all the other buildings of the Acropolis in Athens are clearly visibible.  After all, Athens is only five miles from Piraeus.

I decided to give the quiz a miss this afternoon, as I wanted to finish painting the mug.  It turned out that today was the last day of the Ceramics at Sea program and everything would be fired in the kiln that night and would be ready for picking up at Corfu.  So I finished the Greek Key styled design on the top of the mug and decided to outline the blue pattern with teal glaze using one of the little glaze pens.  Next in the same blue as the pattern I painted, in large friendly letters, the name "Emerald Princess" again outlining in Teal.  Finally using the teal glaze pen I wrote "4th to 16th August, 2008" on one side and "John Campbell Rees 12-08-08" on the other.  It was finished by ten to five, and I was looking forward to seeing the finished product.

First Class Pizza and Top Gear Burgers?
As I have said, food was available 24/7.  By the Neptune's Reef Pool on Deck 15, the Lido Deck, there were two food outlets, towards the aft, by the panoramic lifts was the Ice-Cream and Pizza Bar, on the otherside of the pool next to the Mermaid's Tail Bar was the Neptune Grill.  I never had any ice-cream up on deck, but most days I would have a slice of that days "Special" pizza.  I use the word slice advisedly, as these pizzas were proper thin based pizzas and at least thirty inches in diametre, so by the time the person serving had cut a liberal peice from one of the gargantuans, I would have on my plate the equivalent of an individual  nine inch pizza from somewhere like Pizza Hut.  This was considered a snack, no wonder I gained eight pounds whilst I was away. The pizza I had aboard the Emerald Princess has to be some of the best pizza I have ever had anywhere.

The burgers and hot-dogs from the Neptune Grill were also out of this world.  On the first day of the cruise it occurred to me that the man serving behind the Neptune Grill reminded me of someone, and it was not until today that I realised who.  The man was the spitting image of motor journalist and Top Gear presenter Richard  Hammond.  So this is what the Hamster does when he is not recording Top Gear is it?   OK, maybe not.

Watch This Space
Back in 2001, when I went on a cruise aboard the P&O Arcadia, Citizen Watches were launching their new range of Eco-Drive wrist watches.  At that time the range was definitely at the high end of the price spectrum at over a thousand pounds each.  So when I saw that there were now far more affordable Eco-Drive watches on sale, I decided to go for it.  So after the evening meal, I asked Janet and Andy what they thought of the watch I had chosen.  For some reason, they thought I was pointing to the horrible divers watch with a bright orange strap and a big white face.  They said why didn't I try the chronograph watch next door to it.  I did, but I don't really see when I would need an accurate stopwatch, so I went for the watch I had originally chosen, and Janet and Andy's misconception came to light.  Honestly, do they think that I have no taste at all.

To the right is a photograph of them model watch, that I bought, taken from the Citizen web site.  It is an Eco-Drive 180 WR100 mens analogue wristwatch with three hands and day/date calender on a black face, with titanium bezel and crown and  black rubber strap.  Water resistant to a depth of 330 feet, it has a  quartz movement with an accuracy of 15 seconds per year.  The thing about the Eco-Drive that appealed to my love of technotoys is that there is a photo-voltaic cell built into the face and any light falling on it is converted to electricity to top up the watch's battery.  It can be left in a dark place for six whole months before the battery is fully discharged.  The amount of time it takes to recharge varies from three hours in an artificially lit room to 11 minutes in bright sunshine.

Wednesday, 13th August, 2008 : Katacolon/Olympia (Day 10)

Glass and Sponges
Today was another day visiting the Greek mainland.  This time Katacolon, a port 15 miles from Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games.  Andy and Tom took of to the ruins of Olympia whilst myself, Janet, James and JimBob remained with the ship.  Although for the first time in three days I decided to go ashore in the afternoon and have a look at the town of Katacolon.

This part of Greece, the Peleponnes is prettier than the islands of the Aegean that I had visited earlier in the cruise.  The Princess Patter said that the town of Katacolon was twenty minutes walk from the ship, however, Janet and I did it in about five minutes.  I suspect that that particular piece of information was first included in the Princess Patter back in the days when cruising was the exclusive reserve of the well-to-do old biddies, who would have taken twenty minutes to walk there, and has never been updated.

We walked along the long street lined with shops and tavernas, browsing their wares for about half an hour before heading back to the Ship.  I decided that I really needed to get a couple of bars of "Genuine Greek Olive Oil Soap" for my bathroom and shower-room and maybe even a real sponge  as well.  However, when I touched one of the sponges I was surpised at how rough it was despite the fact that it looked very soft and appealing, so I picked up another which was just as scratchy, so I ended up only buying the soap.

Janet bought some ornaments from one of the shops as presents for the family.  They were little brass boats that had a place for  a tea-candle behind coloured glass sails.  The glass was made in a workshop in Olympia, and each piece was unique.

One of the things that struck me as I walked back to the ship was that once you got past a thin layer  flotsam and jetsam by the harbour wall, how clean the water was.  To the right is a photograph I took of a big jellyfish floating in the beautiful blue waters of the harbour.  Whilst I am not a fan of beaches and swimming in the sea, I can see why so many people had headed to the beach at the end for the day.

Happy Birthday
Today would have been my father's 72nd Birthday.  He would have loved it out here on this cruise, as it was from him that I caught the cruising bug.  It seemed appropriate that when I got back aboard the ship and was sitting on the Lido Deck listening to my iPod Touch that the Murray Gold song,  The Song for Ten, came on, as it contains the lines "So have a good life, do it for me, make me so proud, like you want me to be." because I know that I am doing exactly what he would want me to do, enjoying life to the full.

Ducks and Drakes
I decided to phone home that evening, and discovered that I had forgotten to switch the phone off, so it had a flat battery.  By the time the battery was charged, the Emerald Princess was somewhere in international waters off the coast of Greece, heading north to the island of Corfu.  Not surprisingly the signal was very weak, and although I managed to get through, I kept being cut off.  So I kept trying, but it was no good, I was playing ducks and drakes with the signal from TIM Greece, so I decided to leave it until the next day. Possibly I should not have bothered, because ringing home from Corfu was the last time I can remember seeing my mobile phone.

Andrew Lloyd Webber
Eric Stone, the pianist/singer in Crooner's Bar on the Promenade Deck (Deck 7) did a show in the Explorer Lounge at 9.30pm featuring the songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber. We all wanted to see this show, so we had our evening meal in the Café Caribe and headed down to see the show.  As I got there early, I had the pick of the seats, and chose what should have been the best seats in the house.  The first problem was that there was a slight gap between myself and Tom, Janet and Andy and the people sitting behind them just would not shut up, and halfway through the show they moved to other seats because of the noise behind.  I think that I should moved as well.  It might have solved the second problem  as I  was slowly getting hotter and hotter as the show progressed.  By the time Mr. Stone had finished the final song Amigo para Siempres, I felt as if I was going to explode.  I discovered when I got back to the cabin that the trousers I had on were 65% polyester.  If you have read this web log regularly, you will know that I just cannot cope with polyester, so being almost directly under the stage lights was like I was wearing a microwave oven. Apart from these minor problems, it was a great show.

Thursday, 14th August, 2008 : Corfu (Day 11)

Humidity
The end of the cruise was nigh.  The Ionian island of Corfu was the last port of call before we arrived at Venice, where Voyage E821 would end and I would disembark the Emerald Princess.  There was a different sort of heat in Corfu, a  slight humidity that had been missing for most of the cruise.  Granted it was not a very high humidity, but there was a definite moist stickiness to the air.

Corfu was absolutely lovely, well most of it was, apart from the area around the docks which was a bit grotty.  I went ashore with Janet and Andy, got a bit lost, went around in a big circle and returned to the ship before we got to the walls of the old town and its Venetian buildings.  The influence of the great Italian maritime republic is reflected in the name Corfu. The locals call the island Kérkyra (Κέρκυρα), yet it is known worldwide by the Venetian name. of Corfu.

Standing next to the Emerald Princess, we were quite happy to take photographs with the walled town in the background.

That afternoon I got the finished mug back, after it had been fired and left to cool in the kiln. It looked a lot better than I imagined it would be. My inner five year old would have been well pleased taking it home from school to show his parents.

1. 2. 3.

The Emerald Princess set sail for Venice and as it would not be arriving until 8pm the following evening, we would effectively have a day at sea tomorrow.  This meant that tonight was the second formal evening of voyage E821.  I like the formal night, getting dressed up in my dinner suit and looking very smart.  I decided that as the ship would be arriving in Venice the following day, I would wear my Murano Glass cuff links tonight.  Not everyone seemed to get the message, one woman was wearing a sparkly top with designer jeans.  I'm sorry, I don't care who designed your jeans and how much you paid for them, if I were the Maître d' in the Botticelli dining room, she would not have been allowed in.

One of the highlights of the evening was watching the film The Golden Compass again, but this time on the big screen on the Lido Deck, as this was tonight's  "Movies Under the Stars" presentation.  Naturally I had changed out of my dinner suit into something more comfortable before heading up to find a lounger to watch the film.  During the performance waiters came around with salted popcorn, milk and cookies, making this a very American experience.  Neither Janet nor Andy were very impressed with the film but James loved it, and I enjoyed seeing it again.

Friday, 15th August, 2008 : At Sea en route to Venice (Day 12)

Packing for the Journey Home
I had a late start this morning, and the change from EEST to CEST meant that I had an extra hour in bed.  Once I was up and dressed I got down to the serious bussiness of packing for the journey home. A dark and depressing job at the best of times, as it means that the holdiay is almost over and I will soon be home. One set of clothes remained hanging up in the wardrobe though, the outfit that had been hanging there since I first came aboard, the clothes for the flight back to Britain and the coach back to Wales.

So by the time I eventually got up on deck, I saw something that I had not seen for two whole weeks,  grey skies and rain.  It is funny, but the journey to Venice through the northern Adriatic  two years ago had also been grey and damp.  It was as if the weather was subtly preparing me for what to expect when I got home.  There is nothing as dismal as the open decks of a cruise ship in the rain. The whole structure is designed for sun worshipping, so this meant that there were more people indoors during the afternoon than I had noticed all cruise.  I suspected that I had not been the only person packing for the journey home, as all the light and summery clothes that people had been wearing since Day 1 had been replaced by more substantial outfits, many even had jumpers on.

The 2008  Berlitz Guide to Cruising that I had glanced through back in June had said that the quality of the food on Princess Ships had gone down a notch, and I had to agree. It was still very good, but not as excellent as it had been back in 1996 aboard the Sun Princess.  I went for my last lunch in the Da Vinci dining room. The meal was first class, as per usual.  The only thing about the food aboard the really deserves a black mark was the Café Caribe that served food in the evenings on Deck 15.  It reminded me of a staff canteen, at least in the Horizon Court you could wander around  and the choice of food was less claustrophobic.

After lunch, I went to the final Afternoon Trivia Quiz with Janet and Andy.  When this  finished I made my way to the final session of Jackpot Bingo due to start in Club Fusion.  Much to my irritation, they had started early, so by the time I had bought my ticket and found a seat the first game had already been played and won.  I would not have minded if I had wandered in ten minutes late, but I had been there ahead of the advertised time and joined the substantial queue for tickets.  The staff of the Casino Department could see that there were people still waiting to buy tickets so they should not have allowed the  game to start.  Anyway, I did not win at the bingo, I got down to the last three numbers in the Jackpot game before someone called Bingo and claimed the $1275 prize.

Final Contact
I used up the last of my freeby minutes in the ship's Internet Café during the afternoon.  I can never understand why the connection aboard ship is so glacially slow.  I expect there to be some lag because it relies on a satellite link to the company's servers, but the service is slower than dial-up ever was.

Serenissima
Despite the damp weather and the approaching sunset, the sail into Venice was as impressive as ever.  The Emerald Princess towered over the buildings of Saint Mark's Square.  Andy and Tom went to see the arrival on the Promenade Deck (deck 7), whilst I went to see it with Janet from the vantage point of Deck 16. I think that I chose the better vantage point for the arrival at our final destination.

In the Princess Theatre there was a concert by the string section of a local Venetian orchestra.  I enjoyed the selection of music played.  They were joined on stage at regular intervals by a soprano who was OK and could hit all the high notes, but could not sustain them.  So that is three shows I have seen in the on-board theatre, and one in the Explorer Lounge, that is more than ever before.  I had really enjoyed the  programme of entertainment that Lisa the Cruise Director had arranged for the cruise.

My case had been put outside the door of my stateroom before I went to dinner, and was gone by the time I returned that evening.  That was it, I knew that the cruise was now effectively over.  Even though we would not be dissembarking until 3.15pm the following day.

Saturday, 16th August, 2008 : Venice (Day 13)

Like Ghosts at the Feast
The British passangers aboard the Emerald Princess were the last to disembark.  Our flight was not due to depart from Venice's Marco Polo Airport until 6.30pm in the evening, so we were to stay on board until 3.15pm.  As we had to vacate our staterooms by 8am, that was one hell of a wait.  Not to worry, as Platinum members of the Princess Cruise's Captain Circle Scheme we would have access to the exclusive Platinum Disembarkation Lounge in the Club Fusion aft on Promenade Deck (Deck 7).  So we went to dump our carry-on luggage in the Conference Room on Deck 6 that was being used for storage and to have our breakfast, safe in the knowledge that there would be somewhere comfortable for us to wait.  Well, as they say in Poland, "Nice promises make fools happy", and by the time we got to Club Fusion at 10am because the vast bulk of passengers had disembarked, the Captain Circle Representative closed the Platinum Lounge for cleaning.  Andy asked her if there were other facilities open to replace the Club Fusion.  She replied that we could use any other facility on the ship until we disembarked.  The problem was by 1pm the ship was full of people embarking the ship for Voyage E822 and we did not want to hang around like ghosts at a feast, so we made our way to Gatsby's casino and waited in its deeply uncomfortable and completely unsuitable environs until we finally left the ship at 3.20pm.

Photographic Credits

With a couple of exceptions, the photographs used in this article were taken by either Andrew Guy, John Campbell Rees, Janet Guy or Thomas Guy.  All rigths reserved.