A relative once chided me ‘to grow up’ but where’s the joy in that? The best people are really just big kids, the types who love to have some fun on the slide at sea.
They are a multitude of reasons why cruiseheads love being out at sea.
Messing about on the water: In Barcelona
But for me one of the top things is doing stuff which you really shouldn’t be possible out on a ship at sea.
Such as a fairground.
Being thrown around on a water slide is my idea of delirium at the best of times.
Making a splash
What it says on the spin: Storm
And I’ve splashed around with the best of them in Majorca and Orlando.
All of those experiences have been on dry land (well you know what I mean).
But think about the exhileration of being spent spiralling out over the ship.
And then be twirled back around and down the chute to safety.
And our pals at RC have opened the gate for us to enjoy the thrills and spills both out on the water on the English Channel and in port in Barcelona.
In no particular order, they’re offering The Edge of Ultimate Abyss (plummeting ten stories), The Blaster, The Perfect Storm (race to the bottom), Tidal Wave (plunge and propel).
And the only headfirst mat racer at sea where you’ll ride the riptide.
Rule the waves
Master: Blaster
Your appetite whetted… well you’ll want to get on board.
The new Wonder of the Seas has a seven-night Western Mediterranean cruise, sailing from Barcelona, from €1009.
So get your togs or swimsuit on and have fun on the slide at sea.
And as a postscript, the New Zealanders picked out some lucky winners to have 100 plants put down in their islands as part of our eco fightback to put new life back into our planet.
Here’s something written in the heart of Denmark. Who’s to say if he once was an ugly duckling but the world flock to Copenhagen now because of Hans Christian Andersen?
I meet an old university pal Tom off my cruise ship.
No, not by The Little Mermaid which is some way out from Copenhagen’s main square, but by Andersen’s statue.
Red and white dynamite
Once upon a time we…
No, you don’t want to read our story but Andersen’s and Copenhagen’s which are, of course, so richly entwined.
Hans was an only child, schooled in Elsinore, yes that Elsinore made famous by a certain prince.
Hans across the water
But it was to the sophisticated capital of Denmark that he made his life.
As first an actor and then a prolific writer of salutary children’s and adult books.
He took up residence in Nyhavn which is the big hub of Copenhagen today and a magnet for tourists.
You can’t help feeling his fairytale world all around you in Copenhagen’s chocolate box buildings.
All roads may well lead to Rome but all ships sail to Civitavecchia, so as we bring back our cruise series here’s Cruiseday Tuesday – Rome’s Port.
Civitavecchia, or Centumcellae was the piece de resistance, and I should remember the Latin for that, of the emperor Trajan who built the port between 103-110 AD.
Ancient Civitavecchia
And that means St Peter, the first Bishop of Rome and Pope, would have sailed in here.
But not obviously on the fancy Royal Caribbean cruise ship Allure of the Seas.
Classical Rome
Seeing that you’ll arrive nice and early for your cruise as it’ll go without you take a jaunt around Civitavecchia.
The Old Rock
Pope Julius II commissioned Fort Michelangelo to protect the port from pirates.
Now your seven-night Royal Caribbean Western Mediterranean cruise might be the most romantic trip you ever take.
But many a sailor left a lovelorn maiden back on shore.
A kiss before you sail
The bronze Kissing in Memory of a Port statue remembers all those who went off to war and to mark the Allied bombing of 1943.
Swell of history
So what were the Classical Roman ships like?
Behind Pope Julius II’s 14th-century Old Rock is a reconstruction of a Luburna, a warship of the emperor’s fleet.
So you’ll be sailing in the swell of history as you make your way down to Naples.
The answer to your prayers in Barcelona
Before checking into Barcelona, Palma, Provence (Marseille), Florence/Pisa before checking back to where it all began, Civitavecchia.
Port of exit
Now I’d always recommend exploring your exit port before your cruise, whether that’s Southampton, Kiel(central to Germany’s war history) or Fort Lauderdale.
So start your Allure of the Seas cruise with a Civitavecchia tour before your seven-day from €724pp in 2022.
So glad to have you back and where better to start than Cruiseday Tuesday – Rome’s Port.
Good enough for Princess Diana and kiddies Wills and Harry, Alton Towers is the rollercoaster rip-up by royal appointment.
A big kiddie at heart, and let’s remember she was barely out of her nappies herself when she had them, Diana’s memorable visit to Alton Towers put it on the global map.
Probably best though to forget the jolly japes of the It’s a Royal Knockout jolly japes Olde England tournament.
The Royal Carousel
Only to say that this corner of the unfashionable Potteries area of the English Midlands has the royal seal of approval.
Thrills and spills
It is too just a hop, skip and a jump over the water for theme park fans from Ireland.
Queasy tummy time
And this is where our friends at Irish Ferries come in with a two-day family getaway.
You and your 2.2 family (under-11s) will stay at the Best Western in Stoke-on-Trent just 15 miles out from the park.
It’s been one of the catchphrases of politicians over this Covid year but I prefer it when the UK’s Four Nations approach is a cruise.
And as we look into the horizon to the days (next year hopefully) when we can all cruise around foreign shores again, let’s celebrate our own British Isles.
And that’s what our old friends at Royal Caribbean are doing with their All roads lead to the British Isles pitch.
Whistlestop tour
Now Royal Caribbean helpfully give us a Four Nations approach.
That’s a whistlestop digital tour of the British Isles which geographically (and not politically) also includes the Republic of Ireland to make it five.
All of which we’ll leave to others to debate as cruiseheads leave the outside world behind when we’re on the waters around our shores.
Deal me in
Kings and the Castle: Edinburgh
Royal Caribbean is offering three 12-night options on Jewel of the Seas which leaves from Amsterdam… and, of course, Royal Caribbean will keep you abreast of the latest Travel guidelines.
But so that you can get saving here’s their offers:
RC has an interior room for €1369 for August 19, 2022, which checks in at Edinburgh with its Castle, its historic Royal Mile and Greyfriars Bobby statue.
Then up to seee Nessie at Loch Ness, Greenock from where James Watt, the father of steam power, originates.
Onto Liverpool, home of the Beatles and the Son and Heir, over to Cork, the last stop for Titanic before its transatlantic voyage although maybe best not mentioned in shipping circles here.
St Peter Port in the Channel Islands will be your last stop on this tour and obviously we’ve inserted a Jersey Cow heere.
Can I be trusted on a bike? In Amsterdam
Before checking out the White Cliffs of Dover, and we won’t spoil a classic song by mentioning that Bluebirds don’t fly over here and that they’re really found in the US of A.
I said we won’t.
Those white Cliffs of Dover
Before you’re back in Amsterdam, and seeing that this trip is for next year and we’ll all be back to normal spend some time in one of the world’s great cities.
