Cruising Archives - Page 11 of 14 - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

What a picture – my award-winning photographer wife

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Every picture tells a story and this is ours.

World Photograph Day yesterday saw me trawling through my Travel memories with my award-winning photographer wife.

Sarah Frost as she was when she won two UK Royal Photography Awards.

And still is under her working name, before taking on my mantle.

Now The Scary One, as I affectionately and rather fearfully refer to her, has not been able to attend all my trips around the world.

A deserved reputation

Mostly because of the stipulations but sometimes I imagine because of reputation.

But when she has she has brought a colour to the trips.

Around Ireland…

In our own garden county of Co. Wicklow, in Dublin, the iconic Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel at a famous Dublin 4 institution, and a haven too in Temple Bar, and in the heart of the Midlands in the border county of Monaghan.

And up north from where us Murtys hail and London and England where the Frosts hail.

2a6b943f-436b-4e6f-8e30-6b5e90b1ef9d — That way, Sweden

While she also caught the fun of skiing in Austria, wining and dining in Portugal Centro, cruising in the Norwegian fjords with stop-offs in Copenhagen and then a city trip in Hamburg.

And also at George’s and Amal’s Amsterdam hotel, her photographs have always enhanced the experience.

Though there was a time on board the MSC Preziosa when it was particularly slippy because of the Norwegian rain.

Photo album

And she looked as if she might fall overboard. I very nearly caught her too!

So opening up the album here are my Frostie’s Favourites and some of her creativity has even rubbed off on me. See if you can spot which are hers and which are mine?

The fjords

fullsizeoutput_1a8b 2 — Which one’s the troll?

And She was up every morning bright and early to capture Norway’s waterfalls, inlets and try to spot trolls.

There was one still sleeping off the previous night’s wine, in our MSC Preziosa cabin room.

Bitesize Hamburg

And when She wasn’t putting her feet up in the beach bar in tbe Rieperbahn she was snapping life around the port.

Amsterdam by George

hdr — Can I be trusted on a bike? In Amsterdam

And sometimes we make a rod for our own back because after staying at the Dylan Amsterdam where George and Amal stay then everywhere else is a disappointment.

Heart and Soll

I fell for you Heart and Soll as Cole Porter sang. And while I was falling down the slopes She was getting the ski boots off and capturing the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser.

The power of Powerscourt

317d92ca-de04-49f8-aa9a-87eb5caac93b — Towering talent… one of mine

And the two things that She loves more than anything in life and neither of them are me are in Wicklow that’s gardening and shopping.

Powerscourt has them both... and don’t my credit cards know it?

And lastly here we are the picture of happiness as taken by our Portuguese guide, photography fan and pal Jose.

Asia, Caribbean, Countries, Cruising, Culture, Europe

Lay your hands on me… the best massages

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I’m looking forward to having a beautiful young woman lay her hands all over me… and maybe later I’ll have a massage

Some people need a humour transplant.

Back in the day when I edited Ireland’s then award-winning Travel section I had some massage fun in a Barbados article.

Only by the time it got to the inhouse clickbait site it was edited out.

As it didn’t sit well with The Third Wave of Feminism overseers.

Who missed the point totally as Barbados is gloriously irreverent and saucy.

And which is why this Scot just clicked with the Bajans.

And I will have to work off this belly

Now you’re nice and relaxed

I’m floating on air as I write this post after being a guinea pig for my daughter as she keeps her skills up.

And I’m thinking of my five fave places where I’ve just laid back and thought of..

Acting all goofy in Orlando

Animated in Orlando

Orlando: Travel trips often throw the most unlikely people together but I found that I had a lot in common with Finnish Paula.

Not least when our hotel in Orlando mistook Mrs Murray for my wife (lucky her).

And to this day, and today is that day I greet her as Missus.

A massage is just the thing after cricking your neck and being twisted this way and that on a Disney World rollercoaster.

And this drink Becherovka is a healing potion

The Czech Republic: And it’ll come as little surprise that in this land of spas and wellness that you’ll get a great massage.

Especially in the Spa Triangle.

Watch though whose dressing gown you pick or you’ll have a small Japanese woman shrieking at you.

And a swim will relax the muscles

The Maldives: Because you’ll be stressed out on this island Kuramathi with no traffic bar the golf buggy buses.

Bur it’s hot, hot, hot. And so is the weather outside.

The Western Med: It’s often been said that I need my head looked at.

And who better than a cruise and what better than an Indian head massage?

And for a minute I thought I was going to end up with a revolving head like Clunk from Stop the Pigeon.

Sweat off the rum and food

Barbados: I’m guided as always by my friends and Travel professionals Michael and Niamh and Bronagh.

Who helped to prompt this tour around massage destinations.

By flagging up the Irish-owned Sandy Lane on the island’s Platinum Coast.

But equally you can travel with Tropical Sky pop next door to Club Barbados for your massage.

Without having to sell off a vital organ to pay for it.

MEET YOU IN THE PARLOUR

America, Countries, Cruising, Culture, Europe, Ireland, UK

Holiday Snaps – we’re cruising again

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If I hadn’t seen such riches I could live with being poor

So sang the rock band James, which is why I’m so excited that we’re cruising again.

My friends MSC took me to the Norwegian fjords around this time of year.

Their flagship MSC Grandiosa is to welcome back guests in the Western Med, a route I know well, from August 16.

And MSC Magnifica in the Eastern Med from August 29.

They are offering seven-night cruises with the opportunity to visit five different destinations.

MSC are going beyond the guidelines with enhanced measures including universal testing for all guests and crew.

As well as safe ashore visits at each port.

And still flying

In the frame: Rembrandt’s Night Watch

Now I’ve been trying to keep away from the cash machine.

But with my favourite kebab shop needing cash here in North Berwick I pulled a couple of twenties out and was left with change.

What to do? Well, Ryanair have 250,000 seats only €14.99 one-way, with the sale ending tomorrow at 12midnight.

I’m loving Amsterdam and Hamburg, both on the UK exempt list and I notice too that one of my fave cities, Edinburgh, is there too.

Which is OK for you, but I live here.

Ode to safe camping

Oh to be wandering lonely as a cloud around William Wordsworth’s favourite Scottish Borders inn.

But normally sensible day trippers have been doing a Jekyll and Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson was a regular too) by turfing up in Selkirk around the Tibbie Shiels Inn.

Armed with crates of beer at sites at St Mary’s Loch, the Loch o’ the Lowes and Cafe Green, a former picnic site.

The inn was most recently used as a seasonal hotel but was closed in 2015.

Tibbie was a small woman with a great sense if humour… she wouldn’t have seen the funny side of this.

The Native Americans rising again

My Native American name is Farts of Thunder

I showed early signs of being a rebel as this picture of me with my childhood friend, Peter.

The son of the former Scotland and Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty.

We were channeling our inner Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.

I spent this weekend in the company of the friends I made from IPW, the American Travel Fair in a webinar for AIANTA (American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Agency).

They also look out for the interests of Native Hawaiian tourism too but I guess they’re worried about running out of letters on the acronym

Anyways AIANTA are pretty much sensibly keeping to their reservations for just now while they wait for COVID to abate.

But that doesn’t mean they’re not in business.

And we’ve been encouraged to stay engaged with the tribes through all of this by spending money on their art and their jewellery.

Now I know from visiting the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC how stunning the tribes’ artefacts are.

And I know the Scary One is looking for a scene to go next to our Venice painting on the wall of her new home.

And a pair of dreamcatchers for the lobes of her ears.

MEET YOU ON THE RESERVATION

America, Countries, Cruising, Culture, Deals, Europe, Ireland, UK

Holiday Snaps – a drive-thru the UK and US

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We’d seen them on the movies and heard them on Meatloaf songs but when it came to my time my first drive-in movie was with my BROTHER!

It was a James Bond movie, The Living Daylights, in a Canadian field?

But it was magical all the same.

Today is National Drive Thru Day and drive-in movies here in Scotland are selling out fast.

In California naturally, they do things bigger.

And drive-thru everything from a giant sequoia in Yosemite to views of statues, bronze babies and murals in Greater Palm Springs.

Derry’s Galway Girl

The girls and one boy in the Derry mural

‘Humour’s so subjective really’… and so it would appear is location really.

With everyone’s favourite Derry Girl fessing up to not really being a Derry Girl. Really!

Nicola Coughlan, aka gullible Clare, has revealed her Galway roots for Tourism Ireland.

Tourism Ireland and the iconic Abbey Theatre in Dublin have put on a digital experience.

With 50 writers and 50 actors in a collection of ‘theatrical postcards’.

Howabiteye? Clare. Visit all Ireland but she makes a great case for Galway and Derry/Londonderry.

I’ll ask her

And as brutally as the Cruisestapo are trying to kill cruising after shaming us all for years.

As fervently we will work to get our ships back on the water.

American Holidays are looking to 2021 with their Alaska Cruises.

Now I know first hand the fun and games you can have on board.

With ziplines and surf simulators in Barcelona with Royal Caribbean

But on your Alaska cruise you’ll be wanting to get out on land and trek to a glacier and go on whale watching excursions.

A trip of a lifetime with a hot offer of from €1699pp, one night Seattle snd seven night cruise

Countries, Cruising, Culture, Europe, UK

Sunday Sermon – God’s Own Country Scotland

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God is handing out the countries: ‘You will have ice-capped mountains, pure water running down the streams and majestic deer roaming the verdant valleys.

‘You will be great explorers, missionaries, inventors, dreamers, poets, entertainers and educationalists.

‘And have the spoils of the land and sea to put on great feasts and the purest whisky to toast.’

The Archangel Michael pipes up: ‘Have you not given these Scots too much?’

The Lord shoots back: ‘Look at the neighbours I gave them.’

The charms of Scotland, my home country which I am reacquainting myself after a 13 years adventure in Ireland, are evident.

But as is often the case there is so much under my nose without me knowing.

And that is where I have Visit Scotland www.visitscotland.com to help.

It is always a good idea when relocating to another country, or just going on holiday, to check out the country’s tourist board website.

And so while the borders were closed (and some of the best still are) I was checking out where I still haven’t been in my homeland.

Up Helly Aa in Shetland

The Shetland Islands: And I’ve been trying to get up to Scotland’s most northerly islands since making friends with Shetlander Shona at uni in the Eighties.

And when we moved in to a new house in Aberdeen www.visitabdn.com Elizabeth whose parents hail from Shetland, and Scott lived opposite.

And now they have relocated to Shetland I’ve been making not so subtle hints about going up for Up Helly Aa, the January festival when the locals burn a Viking ship.

Alas next year’s festivities have been put off but when I’ve been waiting 35 years what’s another year? See www.shetland.org and https://www.uphellyaa.org/.

Roll out the Barra

Barra: I sat down to write a maudlin letter about how homesick I was on my first day in halls in Aberdeen University.

Before meeting up with my old schoolpal Martin, meeting a girl, and some Western Islanders and never looked back.

I spent the summer in Aberdeen Aberdeen – a light in the north and so after the following year’s first term it was a year since going home to Glasgow www.peoplemakeglasgow.com

Just my luck then that my pals got together in my future Best Man’s island of Barra before Christmas. My family put the foot down.

Barra http://www.isleofbarra.com/ is regularly on the list of the world’s most beautiful islands and has a Tintin connection.

Iona island

And this is a holy island where St Columba is believed to have come and set up base to spread Christianity throughout Scotland.

Many spiritualists and New Age hippies and Eastern mystics have made pilgrimages since.

I can just see myself doing my Yoga Nidra The Sunday Sermon – Yoga Nidra by the walls of the old Ionian church http://www.welcometoiona.com/.

Orkney’s past

When you leave the fabled John O’ Groats, the northernmost point on mainland Scotland, and named after a Dutchman, you’ll get to the Orkney Islands.

The Orkneys https://www.orkney.com/ too have an international connection with their Italian Chapel built by Italian prisoners of war.

And long before Christianity the pagans worshipped the Sun and you can see how in their stone circles.

I do… the Isle of Ewe

The Isle of Ewe a one-family (the Grants) off Wester Ross has become something of a cult island.

For young lovers.

Because put the words together and you get I love you.

Which is why imaginative young romantic men are taking their young ladies there to propose.

For my first wife it was Malta Malta pleaser. And after that jibe I’ll have to make some big romantic gesture.

And remember the most romantic way to travel is Caledonian Mac Ferries https://www.calmac.co.uk/.

Caribbean, Countries, Cruising, Culture, Deals, Europe, Flying

Holiday Snaps – Atoll order, your own private island

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If you have to be stuck in lockdown it might seem like Atoll order, but I would recommend an island in the Maldives. Just saying.

And one, Kandolhu http://www.kandolhu.com, that is 200sqm is just the ticket and even better now that all its five bars will be reopening… Atoll tale – the Maldives, http://www.kuramathi.ie and http://www.turkishairlines.ie http://www.turkishairlines.com.

But in the words of the inestimable Chris Tarrant, I don’t want to give you that (well, I do but…) I want to give you this.

Joali, 45 minutes by seaplane from Male, which is welcoming back guests from August 1.

There’s everything you would expect in terms of luxury with your own swimming pool, yoga and wellness treatment, private dining options and the chance to go out to your own desert island!

But get this, you and your friends can buy out the island’s own 73 villas and residences and facilities.

Exclusive use buyout will start from $90,000 per night through to September 30 and $185,000 per night between October 1 and 30 November.

For guests 12 and above an all-inclusive full-board meal plan (including alcohol for adults) will cost an additional $450per night per guest. Visit http://www.inspiringtravelcompany.co.uk.

And whaddya mean you haven’t got that kind of moolah? You’ve been locked down for the last four months!

Insert smiley Ryanair emoji here

You know that we’re getting back to normal when Ryanair http://www.ryanair.com are getting funky with their slogans and emojis again and they’ve only taken to dressing oranges with sunglasses.

To flag up many of my favourites, among them Barcelona https://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/en/, http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk and Messi around on the water and Smooth sailing around the Western Med from €24.99, Dubrovnik with Croatia Tours https://visitdubrovnik.hr, http://www.Croatia.ie and On the road to Dubrovnik from €24.99.

And my honeymoon island of Malta http://www.visitmalta.com and Malta pleaser also from €24.99.

Where myself and the world’s luckiest woman still have a complimentary bottle of champagne which we never finished 25 years ago still waiting for us.

Wearing my Sandals on my sleeve

Caribbeanophile that I am, I’ve been cheering on the Windies in their Test series with England (don’t tell the Scary One).

The Windies are of course promoting Sandals http://www.sandals.co.uk on the sleeves of their shirts and it is timely as their resorts are open for business with some great offers.

Jamaica has been the prize which has been slipping through my grasp these past couple of years through me being in another part of the world at the time when it was offered, or even worse WORKING!

*The famous five with Laura and Hayley centre*

But I will keep next January free (promise!) for your seven-night stay at the Sandals Ochi Beach, seven nights from £2,129pp including flights.

You can upgrade too to butler elite room for only €156 which tickled the fancy of my colleagues when I stayed there Let’s rumba in Barbados and http://www.visitbarbados.org who I’ll call Laura and Hayley so as NOT to protect their privacy!

And, of course, I’ve been promising you more Jocktails with a Caribbean twist. They’re coming. Don’t you know how difficult it is to get Falernum in Scotland.

Crazy cruisey government advice

And sporting my medallion on my lapel

So, who thinks it’s a good idea to give the green light to pack out pubs and beaches but thinks it unsafe to let cruise companies and grown-ups distance themselves on cruise ships?

Herself was only a little princess when she passed through the Panama Canal with her parents on her trip home on a working ship from Australia as a child.

Princess Cruises had been traversing the canal for some half a dozen years by then and have continued to do so (lockdown excepted) and aim to do so again.

All of which will be sweet music to the Indomitable Mrs M who wants an upgrade from that working ship!

For 2021-22 voyages wil range from 10-15 days visiting 17 destinations in eight countries.

On the 10-day option you’ll have the choice of leaving either from Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale and Miami – a tale of two sittings or Los Angeles My Weekend With Marilyn or San Francisco with stop-offs in, among others, Mexico, South and Central America.

Visit http://www.pirncess.com. I might even let Herself off from winding back the levers on those locks!

America, Caribbean, Countries, Cruising, Culture, Food, Food & Wine

Cocktail Hour around the world

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It’s Cocktail Hour all day today (not just 6pm) because it’s World Cocktail Day, and I’ve been swallowing up the hours.

And while holidaymakers may like to mark their territory with their towel, I like to claim a coaster at the bar.

For my fave Strawberry Daiquiri cocktail.

Which I have savoured… from the Maldives to the Caribbean My kiss with Rihanna and Turtle recall and https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/03/17/ready-steady-goat-racing-in-tobago/. And http://www.visitbarbados.org and http://www.visittobago.gov.tt

Now if we can’t get out there to our exotic locations we can at least conjure up the taste of the Tropics at home.

With these cocktails:

Something for Buffalo Bill

The Colorado Bulldog, Colorado:

Ingredients: Vodka, coffee liqueur, cream or milk and coca-cola.

A White Russian with a fizz… and this would put even more whiskers on Tsar Alexander’s bushy beard.

How to: In a shaker mix vodka Kahlua, cream/milk. Pour into a glass with ice and add Coke.

Visit www.colorado.com and take in Beertown Denver www.denver.org and Go West and The New Frontiersmen.

Take it as red

The Redhead in Bed, 25 Degrees, Huntington Beach, California:

Ingredients: Ketel One Citroen vodka, strawberries, lemon juice, sparkling wine.

I’ve yet to have a Redhead in Bed anywhere (honestly) but if I did it would be in Huntington Beach.

How to: Mix One Citroen vodka, strawberries, lemon juice, and sparkling wine for an added kick.

For those who like to drink their dessert, 25 Degrees offers four spiked shakes, mixing vanilla ice cream and your choice of Guinness, Maker’s Mark, Kraken Black Spiced Rum, or Kahlua among other sweet milkshake additions.

Visit www.surfcityusa.com and My weekend with Marilyn and Stair Wars.

Turning Japanese

Shochu Mojito, Japan

Ingredients: Mint, shochu, sugar, lime, fizzy water

If you had been planning to get out to Japan this year for the Olympics then you have our sympathies but here’s a multi-discipline event you can do from the safety of your own home.

This is a Japanese twist on a classic mojito which swaps the rum usually found in a Mojito with shochu, a Japanese liquor typically made from buckwheat, sweet potatoes or barley.

This is an easy cocktail to whip up once your guests arrive (two minutes prep time) and is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

How to: Add the lime, mint and sugar to a tall glass and bruise with a muddler. To this, add the shochu and fizzy water and stir. Serve over ice with mint to garnish. www.japan.travel/en/uk/

And, of course, you all know by now that all your favourite Scottish bartender needs is a cocktail brolly, a maraschino cherry and a shaker and we’re talking Jocktail Hour… Jocktails… the Strawberry Daiquiri, Jocktails – Whisky Sour, Hungry and Thursday – sangria and La Sagrada, Jocktails: The Bajan Monkey,

Jocktails – the Hurricane Jocktails – Mimosas Jocktails – the Sazerac.

And a host of others.

America, Caribbean, Countries, Cruising, Europe, Ireland

Fiveday Friday – dip your toe back in outdoor swimming pools

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I’m not sure what the rules are for outdoor swimming pools in Scotland (probably because in the Frozen North nobody ever considered it a thing) but the English are dipping their toes back in today.

Swimming is one of the staples of many people’s holiday although I confess that I spend less time in a pool now than when I was a kid, preferring instead to sip cocktails by the bar.

In some places you can do both. Here are my five top pools on my travels.

Bim-ming pool

Sandals, Barbados: The ultimate in luxury where you can drink your Strawberry Daiquiri in the middle of the pool.

And then swim up to the island pool and have another. OK, waddle over.

A game of volleyball with the ultra-competitive Americans becomes even more fun after all that. You try spiking a ball with a cocktail in your hand.

Visit Barbados, or Bim as the locals call it https://www.sandals.co.uk/sandals-barbados http://www.visitbarbados.org and Let’s rumba in Barbados and My kiss with Rihanna.

To infinity and beyond

Kuramathi, Maldives: And you can’t beat an Infinity Pool where you feel you are swimming right into the Indian Ocean only for the end of the pool to stop you.

You’ll have to get out of the pool to get your cocktail though.

On a one-mile island surrounded by the Indian Ocean you would think you’d be in the sea all the time but I leave that to the fishes.

And instead dip into my own private pool which comes with my cabin and check out the restaurant pools. Where you’ll have company with the island’s herons.

See http://www.kuramathi.ie, https://island-marketing.business.site and Atoll tale – the Maldives.

Dive into Las Vegas

Palazzo, Las Vegas: For many Vegas is all about staying in and making your fortune but then you’d be missing out big time.

Head for the top of the Palazzo hotel on the Strip https://www.venetian.com/towers/the-palazzo.html and swim your little heart out before .

And look down below on the crazy city waking up. See http://www.lvcva.com and Strip… the light fantastic.

And if you see a pair of red-rimmed sunglasses there would you let me know please?

Swimming in the fjords

MSC Preziosa, Norwegian fjords: How’s this for a bracing swim? The Norwegian fjords.

You didn’t think I’d be dipping my toe in the isthmus did you?

But still I was fairly pleased with myself at taking to the pool in the Nordic drizzle while everyone (my professional photographer wife among them) hanging over the side taking piccies.

I never tire of swimming in a pool in the middle of the ocean… surrounded by a metal hulk of a floating hotel https://www.msccruises.co.uk, http://www.royalcaribbean.com, http://www.celebritycruises.com. And The call of the fjords, A Royal Party, Messi around on the water and I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out To Here.

Tenerife trunk call

La Laguna Gran Hotel, Tenerife: And just what the oul’ limbs need after a hike through rainforests, volcanic parks, arid hills and church towers.

Word to the wise. Be sure that you have someone with you or leave a wedge in the door.

Otherwise you could find yourself not getting back out. On second thoughts you don’t have to be anywhere, so don’t bother.

See http://www.CanariaWays.com, http://www.visitingtenerife.com and A walk through the ages… Tenerife.

PS: The Irish Sssssea

Brave souls. http://www.fortyfootthemovie.com

And an honorary mention to the Forty Foot in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin’s port https://www.dlrtourism.ie which is mentioned in Ulysses.

I’d always admired the locals swimming away in its ripples.

And I dipped in on the hottest day of the year a few years ago and jumped out just as quickly,

MEET YOU IN THE POOL

America, Caribbean, Countries, Cruising, Europe, Food, Food & Wine

Hungry and Thursday – the end of buffets?

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Buffets are like marmite (and you can get that too) so the prospect of no buffets is just another thing to pile on our COVID tray.

First off, a history question? Who introduced the buffet?

Padova in north-west Italy actually.

I discovered this on a trip to the Veneto region… https://www.google.ie/amp/s/jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/04/11/padova-city-of-frescoes/amp/.

Boney’s Italian adventure

Napoleon, it transpires, was responsible for the introduction of the buffet when he held parties for his pals in the Italian grand casas.

Well you don’t think he got that girth from croissants do you? Visit http://www.turismopadova.it/en/basic-page/padua-24-or-48-hours.

Here’s where I’ve stood in line for my food asking for more. And there’s always more!

Carry on Cruising

Cruising: And one of the draws of a cruise for many is their food.

And you can eat around the world on a cruise, and go back and do it all over again!

Get there early for breakfast, lunch and dinners on MSC Cruises https://www.msccruises.ie/en-ie/Homepage.aspx and The call of the fjords

Particularly when the food-mad Italians are around!!!

Of course where you go on your cruise can inform your choice of foods.

And on the Celebrity Cruise Edge https://www.celebritycruises.ie/onboard/our-ships/celebrity-edge/ maiden voyage I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out To Here from Florida to the Bahamas they like to spice it up.

If you want though a taste of home then Royal Caribbean are the cruise for you.

When you can visit an authentic British Fish and Chip Shop.

Authentic that is for being on the top deck with a cocktail in hand https://www.royalcaribbean.com and A Royal Party and https://www.google.ie/amp/s/jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/03/24/messi-around-on-the-water/amp/.

Caribbean cruising

Barbados: And seeing we’re talking about the Caribbean (and aren’t we always?) then a Caribbean buffet always has something special?

Yes, rum!

Because bread, cakes, pancakes, bacon, you name it they have it, and it will be on the hot plate in Barbados https://www.visitbarbados.org and Let’s rumba in Barbados and My kiss with Rihanna.

Der buffet

Dresden: And for Germans, eccentrics that they are, that means doing things differently.

And the Saxons in Dresden Dresden’s renaissance https://www.dresden.de/en/tourism/tourism.php at the German Travel Mart https://www.germany.travel/en/trade/gtm-germany-travel-mart/gtm/gtm_10.html put out all their meats at one side of the room and the veg at the other.

Guess which one I went for!

America’s a rollercoaster

Orlando: You’ll pay for it if you were overdoing the Hurricanes at Pat O’Brien’s https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/things-to-do/dining/pat-o-briens.

Because in American hotels bigger is better.

And there will always be a chef waiting with a frying pan offering an anything you want omelette.

As well as the plethora of sweet treats.

But remember you have theme parks of loop the loops awaiting you.

And believe me you don’t want to make the Hulk angry. You won’t like him when he’s angry.

See https://www.visitorlando.com/en-ie, https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us. And Aaawlando… Orlando, the rollercoaster capital and See off Voldemort, then for a beer at Moe’s.

MEET YOU AT THE BUFFET- SOME TIME

Countries, Cruising, Culture, Europe, Ireland, UK

Brittany plain sailing again

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Tunnels have their places and I’m reminded of the German we met on my cruise around the fjords The call of the fjords and http://www.msccruises.ie https://www.msccruises.co.uk who was a tunnel engineer.

But I guess he was coming up for air.

Now what they gain on practicality and speed they lose on aesthetics and the Channel Tunnel has certainly taken a lot of the romance out of travelling from the UK to Europe.

But thankfully I’m not alone in being a ferry fan and ferry travel has survived and thrived the sneers of those who said the Channel Tunnel would kill off routes to France and further afield.

Dublin’s ferry city

And much of that has been down to the ease, comfort and family entertainment on board Brittany Ferries’ ships https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk which I know first hand from being shown around their ships in dock in Dublin.

But big softie that I am though I sent another family from the office to Brittany.

To sample their cider, culinary delights, culture and beaches… and everyone who goes raves about St Malo.

Brittany have confirmed that five ships will carry passengers when services resume from next Monday, June 29 with a further three ships reopening to passengers in July.

The routes

Mont St Michel, Portsmouth-Caen: 8.30am, June 29, departing Caen.
Cap Finistere, Portsmouth-Santander: 0:30, June 29, departing Portsmouth.
Armorique, Plymouth-Roscoff: 15:00, June 29, departing Roscoff.

Pont-Aven, Portsmouth-Santander, Plymouth-Roscoff: 17.45, 30 June, departing Portsmouth.

Pont-Aven, Cork-Roscoff, Plymouth-Santander: 20.45, July 2, departing Plymouth; 20.30, July 3; 16:00, July 4, departing Cork; 9.45am, July 5, departing Roscoff; 16.45, July 5, departing Plymouth.

Kerry, Rosslare-Roscoff: 20:30, June 29, departing Rosslare.
Roscoff-Rosslare: 19:00, June 30, departing Roscoff.
Rosslare-Bilbao: 11am, July 1, departing Rosslare.
Bilbao-Rosslare: 18.45pm, July 2, departing Bilbao.

And there will be three more ships back later in July…

Normandie, Portsmouth-Caen: 23:00, July 12, departing Caen.
Bretagne, Portsmouth-St Malo: 10.30, July 17, departing St Malo.
Connemara, Portsmouth-Cherbourg (Thursday-Sunday): 9am, July 10, departing Portsmouth (or Cherbourg).
Portsmouth-Le Havre (Monday-Wednesday): 23.45, July 12, departing Portsmouth.

But they have had to pull the Etretat Portsmouth-Le Havre, Barfleur Poole-Cherbourg and the Normandie Express Portsmouth-Cherbourg routes for this summer.

You should check out their site for guidelines on new ferry travel above.

And here are some more thoughts on Brittany Ferries and Bilbao. Wow Bilbao wow with Brittany Ferries!