https://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/en/ Archives - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

MSC, it’s deadly

18th October 202319th October 2023 funtime65

You don’t have to be cop-turned-cabaret singer Jack Grayling to work out that the Good Ship Murder is MSC, it’s deadly.

As soon as you see that deep purple lobby carpeting and Swarovski crystal staircases, all 80,000 bits of them, you know you’re home.

On the same MSC Virtuosa we sashayed down on a port visit in Dublin back in the day.

The Good Ship Murder is the new guilty pleasure Channel 5 whodunit in the sun (or whosunit if you will) for the winter.

Which glided into La Rochelle in its first outing last week.

Ooh La La Rochelle

It gave us the chance to see L’Ile de Ré, the port and the beaches where the wicked deed was done.

While the city in the south-west of France also boasts..

A medieval old town, Courbon Castle, gardens and Coulon, the Green Venice.

Of course, all the destinations on the show are on the MSC roster.

With the jewel of Portugal, Lisbon, trailed for this Friday, October 20.

We expect that the show’s writers will come up with more and more inventive plots and modus operandi.

But not having had an advance peek at the episodes we can only speculate.

That the choice of weapon this week is a poisoned Portuguese custard tart, the Pasteis de Nata.

Lisbon lie-ins

There are a choice of MSC cruises from Lisboa within Europe.

And like Magellan and Da Gama of old, across to the Americas.

When in port, of course, MSC put on a portfolio of itineraries.

So you will want to take in the noted Lisbon trams on a tour of the city.

While they will take you further afield to our old pilgrimage pit stop of Fatima.

And it never hurts to get the prayers in.

Sacred heart: La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

We can look forward in the coming weeks to visiting Valencia, Barcelona, Le Havre, Valletta and more in the coming weeks.

MSC Virtuosa accommodates over 6,000 guests.

With 10 dining venues, 21 bars, five swimming pools, top ents.

And Rob, the first humanoid robotic bartender at sea.

Hold on tight: With the Scary One on MSC

Now we notice that the fjords of Norway, where we visited with MSC, don’t seem to be on that list.

Where perhaps the genesis of the idea for The Good Ship Murder was formed!

When on a rainy morning on deck while leaning over the rail I felt a hand on my shoulder.

From my Scary One.

Still smarting from a perceived injustice, probably around maxing out the credit card in the on-board boutiques.

MSC, it’s deadly so enjoy The Good Ship Murder for what it is.

Because the only thing you’re likely to murder is the buffet.

Countries, Deals, Europe

Revive a Espana

18th September 202318th September 2023 funtime65

There’s nothing to raise the blood pressure more than golf so our suggestion is go wellness and Revive A Espana.

And if you’re with Mark Twain in thinking it’s a good walk wasted then lose the golf bit and indulge in the wellness part of the resort.

Camiral Golf & Wellness between Girona and Barcelona all about the pamper with its next wellness retreat,.

The five-day ‘Strengthen & Revive’ programme, which will take place between Monday 20^th and Friday 24^th November.

Well of talent

Alongside general medical consultant and integrative health expert Dr Saskia Kloppenburg.

Ably backed up by Mireia Cervera, an advisor to Barcelona restaurants Flax & Kale.

Our Catalan chums tell us that Mireia has worked closely alongside Camiral’s executive chef David Vives to devise the Wellness Centre’s nutritional programmes.

While even the University of Girona’s Professor of Wellbeing and Happiness Edgar Tarres chipping in alongside executive coach Nieves Rodriguez.

And if Pilates is your thing then instructor, Rocio Gil will put you through your paces.

Tackling goals holistically

Jenna will present a workshop around the link between nutrition and inflammation.

While Saskia Kloppenburg will address internal inflammatory processes with one-to-one consultations and supervised intravenous infusions.

Edgar Tarrés will lead mindfulness and meditation sessions that focus on rest and breathwork.

Workshop by Nieves Rodríguez will advise on managing stress and Rocio Gill’s Pilates sessions will retune body and mind.

The immunity-boosting menu, making the most of the resort’s home-grown produce, across the five days has been drawn up by Mireia Cervera.

She will support and adapt menus for participants during the retreat.

Get some cryotherapy

Núria Camins’ therapists and trainers will offer treatments and classes.

So sign up for everything from cryotherapy, photo biomodulation and oxygen chamber therapy to massages and yoga.

While you get to stretch your legs through the expansive, forest-fringed landscape to the Cap de Creus peninsula.

will take things to another level. Balancing group activity with personal downtime will be factored into the programme as rest and switching off are to be embraced too.

Camiral our cup of tea

You’ll stay at the five-star, 138-bedroom Hotel Camiral, designed by Lazaro Rosa-Violán.

If added privacy and seclusion are sought then look to the seven Camiral Suites that were unveiled in September 2022.

Designed by the Bryan O’Sullivan Studio (whose work also includes suites at Claridge’s and The Connaught) these suites are directly connected to it.

These suites allow for exercise within and come equipped with accessories such as yoga mats and gym balls.

All’s wellness that ends wellness

The all-inclusive ‘Strengthen & Revive’ Immunity Retreat is priced from €3,019 staying in a Superior Deluxe Room to €3,644 in a Junior Suite.

Also included in what we call Revive A Espana are the designated retreat activities and treatments.

All meals and access to Wellness Centre Spa facilities.

Room upgrades and extra treatments and consultations are available at a supplementary cost.

Flight transfers from Barcelona and Girona airports are not included but can be arranged upon requested.

America, Countries, Europe, Ireland, Oceania, Sport

Here we GAA with sport’s biggest rivalries

30th July 202329th July 2023 funtime65

Ireland will come to a standstill today for Dublin v Kerry so here we GAA with sport’s biggest rivalries.

The two great Gaelic Football or Gaelic Athletics Association (GAA) rivals have been facing off against each other since 1892.

So if you’re lucky, or you’ve planned ahead, then you’ll find yourself in Dublin on All-Ireland weekend.

When the Dubs and Kerry meet for the 14th time to decide who takes Sam home.

Sam being the iconic Sam Maguire after whom GAA’s most coveted trophy is named.

And paraded around the winning county’s clubs, filled to the brim with booze.

Croker is the real thing

Now seeing we live our lives by the mantra… go to where the locals pray and play we’d recommend the temple of GAA, Croke Park.

The 82,000 capacity North Dublin stadium affectionately known to locals as Croker which also houses the All-Ireland hurling final.

And Limerick’s hurlers are still in full party mode after beating their great rivals Kilkenny for their fourth title in a row.

Aussie rules

Famous travellers that they are the Irish took their Gaelic football with them when they were transported to Australia.

Where the sport developed into the Aussie Rules that it is today.

And the two countries play an international compromise series.

The biggest match of them all is the Grand final with Melbourne giants Carlton v Collingwood the fiercest match-up.

And every sports fan, and even those who don’t, need to visit the iconic MCG, the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

It’s a thing that they play Aussie Rules on a cricket oval which I know from watching the action at London’s Foster’s Oval.

Boston’s team party

And when it comes to sporting rivalries then in America old historical rivalries run deep.

And when you add the snatching of a heroic player, Babe Ruth who you build your club around.

And curse their opponents then it’s plain to see…

Why the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees built up a grudge match.

Boston, of course, is one of America’s great sporting cities.

And its basketball team, the Celtics, have built up quite the history with the LA Lakers.

And its ice hockey team, the Bruins, with the Montreal Canadiens.

While Tom Brady and the New England Patriots built up a resentment from New York, yes, but right across the States.

El Classico

Now there are other soccer rivalries including Scotland’s Celtic and their Old Firm derby with Rangers.

But there’s only one El Classico… Barcelona v Real Madrid.

Although there are variations on that theme around the world this football classic allows you to sample the Iberian Peninsula.

And yes, you have to take sides, so full disclosure here it’s been Barcelona ever since I first helicoptered over the Camp Nou.

And got wrapped up in Messimania many years later.

Get in the hole

Now some old rivalries have enjoyed refurbs to become bigger and better than ever.

With the Ryder Cup, held for most of its history between GB & Ireland, now extended to include Europe.

All of which has meant that as well as the British and Irish heartlands.

We’ve now had Ryder Cups in Spain, France and this September in Rome.

Where we’re hoping that instead of the oft-exclaimed exhort of Fore! we’ll be hearing Forza! instead.

Back to the All-Ireland and if you’re not, or can’t be, at Croker today.

Then the big match is on RTÉ obvs but also now BBC Sport at 3pm.

It’s a good place to start as here we GAA with sport’s biggest rivalries.

Countries, Europe

In surf hands at Sea Retreat

1st August 20221st August 2022 funtime65

I’m a danger to myself in water but I’ve been promised that I’ll be in surf hands at Sea Retreat.

Marina Nieves and Callum Jelley (yeah, he’ll have heard all the gags) live in the sea and will show you how you can too.

The watersport experts are launching their own school, the Sea Retreat, in El Palmar, a coastal village near Cadiz.

From the looks of it Marina and Callum are those chilled type of surfers who have a limitless patience.

And they’d need every ounce to turn this landlubber into a sea creature.

McDaid in Ireland

As Irish surfer Gearoid McDaid will tell you having propped me up on the FlowRider surf simulator.

On Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas in Barcelona.

I love the idea of surfing more than the falling off the board and swallowing salty sea water.

A lifetime of drinking the seas from the Pacific to the Caribbean to the Med to the Red to the Indian Ocean has taught me.

That while the rest of you might have come out of the sea I climbed down the trees.

Surfer dude vibe

I do though love the sound of the surfer dude lifestyle.

And Gearoid will hang at home waiting until the tide is high and take off wherever that is around the world.

Marina and Callum offer that laid-back Spanish vibe around the surf school.

After mornings on the swell you can turn in for a siesta.

Or get on your horsey along the beach.

Or hike the natural landscapes of the Atlantic coast and take in hilltop town, the Vejer de la Frontera.

If the mid-20s temps tire you out you can always sign up to a yoga session in a Mongolian yurt.

Deal me in

The Sea Retreat will run weekly (Sunday to Saturday) from 18 September to 24 June and will cost from £699pp.

They need a minimum four people for the surf camp to take place.

Price includes accommodation, five surf lessons (plus theory), one sunset/sunrise surf, two video analysis sessions (take a breath).

Daily breakfast, five lunches and five dinners, beer, wine, and soft drinks on arrival, and time to enjoy other activities.

Bicycles and surfing gear are also available to borrow.

The Sea Retreat also welcomes families.

And they will adapt the schedule depending on how much surfing everyone and the ages of the children; price is on request.

Fly me to the dune

Fly from London Stansted/London Gatwick to Jerez de la Frontera Airport from £65pp return.

The transfer from Jerez Airport to El Palmar takes less than an hour.

Alternatively, fly direct from London Stansted/London Gatwick/Edinburgh/Dublin to Sevilla Airport from as little as £55pp return.

The transfer from Sevilla Airport to El Palmar takes two hours.

Call Marina (+34 625 02 55 64) or Callum (+34 667 792 400).

And they’ll put you at ease… you’ll be in surf hands at Sea Retreat in Spain.

America, Countries, Europe, Ireland, Sport, UK

Touchdown LA

12th February 202212th February 2022 funtime65

The eyes of the world will be on the Super Bowl tomorrow so let’s play a little game of stadium spotting… and Touchdown LA.

The magnificent SoFi Stadium is led-lighted up like a Christmas Tree so the world can see it from the air.

And while we, of course, always look out of our windows for iconic landmarks, us sporty types also target sports stadiums.

LA is my Playday

Los Angeles: Now the first thing that we look out for when we fly into the City of Angels is the Hollywood sign.

Alas it is not so easily spotted up there in the hills meaning SoFi monopolises your view.

You can, of course, rectify that with a 8.8km walking trip up to the Griffith Observatory.

As long as you didn’t sit yourself down next to a passenger who was sick into her bag, gave it to you and passed on a 24-hour bug.

London calling

London: With 22 football grounds in the English capital you’d think you’d have a choice of viewing from the air.

You can see a good bunch of them, Wembley, the Emirates, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Stamford Bridge and the Thameside Craven Cottage.

More surprising is the ground outside of the capital in Watford.

And its red and yellow seats… very Harry Potter which is pertinent seeing you can visit Harry’s world there.

As the Hertfordshire town houses the Warner Bros. Studio London.

The other is in LA… and yes, I missed that too because of that passenger’s virus although I will be back, and obvs with Attraction Tickets Direct.

In Dublin’s air city

Dublin: And, of course, Irish sports fans will be converged in Paris today for le rugby et Les Bleus v Les Vertes.

For those of us who visit the Irish capital, or were lucky enough to live there for 13 years you’ll see their marvellous Aviva Stadium.

Which I will again tomorrow… and my heart is leaping.

The Cruyff turn Amsterdam

Bird’s eye view: How Cruyff changed football

Amsterdam: And this is really what they should call the pilot’s move as he flies into Schiphol Airport in Clog City.

The Ajax stadium is named after the Netherlands greatest-ever player after which this move was named.

The late Cruyff was iconic in his white and single red stripe Ajax top and Oranje national shirts.

And if you can board a bouncing train with the Oranje Army down to Rotterdam where Cruyff played latterly then all the better.

The Camp Flew

Barcelona: Cruyff is as big a hero in Barcelona as Amsterdam.

After reviving them as a player with his total football.

And as the architect of Barca’s Tiki-Taka football, taken to new heights in the Catalans Messi-inspired teams of the Noughties and Tweens.

I first saw Barcelona from the cabin of a cruise ship (as you do).

So I saw the city from the air in a helicopter.

I expressed my wonderment to the pilot about the stadium below.

Only for him to tell me that that was the Reserve Team’s ground and that the Camp Nou was coming up.

So if you’re flying into the City of Angels for the Super Bowl.

Or plan to visit in the future look out for the SoFi stadium… because it’s Touchdown LA.

Asia, Countries, Deals, Europe, Ireland

Cassidy’s Sundance Kids

19th August 202119th August 2021 funtime65

My Dear Old Mum would visit the same Travel Agent every year to book our family holiday and I’m sure it’s the same for Cassidy’s Sundance Kids.

Cassidy, as all in Ireland know, is the country’s biggest independent Travel Agent.

And it has made generations of holidaymakers dreams come true.

Which is why families continue to go back to them again and again to book their holidays.

Now there have been many heroes over this Covid year and a half and our health workers, teachers…

And heck, all of us should take a bow.

But I’d like to give a shout-out to our Travel Providers who have often worked without pay and in their own time.

And all to make sure customers get away or are refunded or have their holidays rescheduled.

Now there are those who say that getting away is not a matter of life and death.

But if self-isolation (and the Son and Heir is facing that just now) has taught us anything it is that humans do not belong caged up.

And so we are delighted to report that Cassidy Travel’s doors are open and filling our inboxes with their offers.

And so without further ado…

On trend

Last year’s blond: ‘The Donald’ in New York

Here’s where they want to take us and I’m indebted to the awesome Aileen who has taken over babysitting us Travel professionals.

Here are the trends (as the kids say):

The late Autumn deals, New York and Las Vegas shopping breaks, Christmas markets, Lapland, Christmas and New Year Sun.

Take a breath…

New Year and January Ski, Cruising, Florida 2022 and Villa Holidays.

And, yes please to them all.

But we’ll pare some of them down to these Three Cheers.

Ola Barcelona

To the Lord: At Gaudi’s centrepiece La Sagrada

We all know Barcelona in the summer where it’s hot, hot, hot.

And I’m sure I’m still the subject of the proud, brusque Catalan waitress who I managed to draw a smile from when I asked for a hot chocolate on the hottest day of the hottest heatwave.

Thankfully we got to take to the water for a cruise stop.

flights and 3 nights accommodation at the 3*Hotel Leo for the incredible price of €149pp (based on two people sharing)!

Flight departs Dublin 13^th and returning 16^th October 2021.

Call Cassidy Travel on 01 8901000 or book in one of their 10 stores across Dublin.

You’re a Celebrity too

And Celebrity Edge is the ultimate in cruising with its floating tender… and yes, love me tender.

Cassidy will get you on board for a scoot around Italy and Greece aboard next summer 2022.

Get on this deal for seven nights in an interior cabin including full board.

Plus Always Included Promotion Classic Drinks package, internet package and tips for only €1929pp.

Setting sail from Rome and visiting Naples and the stunning Greek islands of Santorini, Rhodes & Mykonos,

And phinally Phuket

Phuket, we’ll finish with a land, Thailand, and resort, Phuket, where I sent many a young adventurer and page designer and scuba diver Podge in my time as a commissioning editor.

Cassidy has 50% savings included for a ten-night stay in the 4* Old Phuket Karon Beach Resort from only €998pp for next May.

Stay in a Deluxe Sino Wing room, beautiful period accommodation influenced by Sino-Portuguese architecture.

And enjoy the magnificent pool, mountain views and beach side bars.

Prices are based on two sharing and include flights, taxes, private transfers and hotel accommodation.

Book by September 30 to avail of this amazing deal!

And aren’t these all good reasons to pitch Cassidy’s Sundance Kids.

America, Asia, Countries, Europe, Music, South America, UK

Olympic anthems

26th July 202126th July 2021 funtime65

It’s not always the official song, so as we all zone in on Tokyo, here’s Rainy Days and Songdays Olympic anthems.

You go, Subo

Wings to Fly (Tokyo): Were you surprised too to see Scottish nightingale Susan Boyle trilling out Wings to Fly to accompany the release of those doves in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo?

Not bad for a wee lass from Bathgate, Scotland, where the birds disturb the peace by dropping their stuff on you.

Houston, we have an anthem

One Moment in Time (Atlanta): Now there was no female singer in the world in the 1990s than Whitney Houston.

And the warbler was the obvious choice for the signature tune for the 1996 Olympics in Georgia. Alas, this had all the saccharine of the city’s most famous soft drink.

What Katy Did Next

Rise (Rio): Katy Perry too was stellar, and still is, at the last Olympics in 2016 but she didn’t rise to the occasion with this overproduced piece of schtick.

Too earnest, we’d have far preferred Fireworks. And there are plenty of them in Rio by the sea-o.

Dream Small

Proud (London): Big hair, big smile voice, Heather Small was Big in the late 80s with dance band M People.

And big again when Heather re-released her solo song Proud as the anthem of the London Olympics in 2012.

We see Heather more now on reality TV, Strictly, the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage but would rather hear That voice.

Barcelonaaaaaaa

Barcelona, Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé: And one we definitely see, overblown opera with Fandango Freddie and Spanish Soprano Montserrat.

All against the backdrop of brilliant Barcelona.

Your Olympic anthems

But what would be Freddie’s discipline? A lover of ballet, we’re thinking rhythmic gymnastics.

But what are your Rainy Days and Songdays Olympic anthems?

Countries, Europe, South America, UK

It’s Coming Home Messi’s Homecoming

11th July 202111th July 2021 funtime65

Felicitación Leo, or Felicitats in his adopted Catalan, It’s Coming Home Messi’s Homecoming.

It has been largely ignored in the UK but there has been another football match taking place this weekend.

And the clash of Argentina and Brazil in the Copa America was also watched by hundreds of millions.

King of South America

Argentina, Argentina: Leo with Emi Martinez

Messi has been scratching an itch for some time now.

That his great rival Portugal hero Cristiano Ronaldo has won his continent’s competition, and he hasn’t.

Scratch no more Leo, the Copa is yours. after Argentina’s 1-0 victory over Brazil in the early hours of this morning.

I have, of course, had the pleasure of meeting both Ronnie and Leo… in Portugal and Catalonia.

The One Ronnie

Alas, not in person, but in the ubiquitous paraphernalia in those countries (and I freely give Catalonia that status).

You may usually come for the sun in Portugal but you will soon realise the importance of football.

In the land of Fado and Fatima, Coimbra and Fatima.

Hotti Totti

Where in amongst the tables of Our Lady statuettes and trinkets sat a beach towel of that other hallowed figure, Cristiano Ronaldo.

What is it about religious pilgrimages that the religion of football sits alongside it so easily?

Italians worship both Gods equally and the shops outside the Vatican are a wash of colour.

Make a wish

Yellow and white Holy See and yellow and reds AS Roma.

And where Francesco Totti noddy dolls are all the rage although Ciro Immobile figures will no doubt be sharing the tables now.

Immobile’s team Lazio are named after the province in which Rome sits and both clubs share the Olympic Stadium.

Although you’ll see more light blue flags and scarves the more you get out into the country.

Balkans boy

Go Croatia: With my Balkan pals in Ireland

You’ll see the power and pull of football in Medjugorje too where Croatia captain Luka Modric is idolised.

Now, granted I have taken a circuitous route here.

Before eventually reaching the Great Man.

So back to Messi’s Homecoming…

Leo’s a big teddy bear

Now Argentina is a pleasure I’ve yet to enjoy, and will, but Messi’s home now is Barcelona.

Where if you can’t get up close and personal with Leo you can cuddle a Messi bear.

On a Royal Caribbean ship in Barcelona harbour, a hub for cruise ships.

Now noddy statuettes of the England players will already be in production.

And don’t be surprised to see them sharing tables, shelves and shops with the Queen soon.

But until it happens today belongs to the Little Maestro.

It’s Coming Home Messi’s Homecoming.

Countries, Europe

The beers are on Munich

16th August 202016th August 2020 funtime65

Conversations naturally turn to steins in Munich and at the home of their faves Bayern Munchen who are the talk of football this week.

Because of their stop the traffic 8-2 trouncing of the lauded Barcelona in the Champions League.

The Stein I had in mind back in the day in the mid-Eighties as we watched Bayen beat Nuremberg 1-0 was Jock Stein.

The storied Top Deck beer bus

And a rather circuitous conversation played itself out as I tried to educate Hans about the Scotland manager Jock Stein.

Drink up!

I squeezed a couple of litre steins, one a big glass one, another a decorative one, into my backpack which have pride of place in my cabinet.

Who had died of a heart attack in a Cardiff dugout just weeks before.

Stocking up at the airport

Football and drink haven’t always been good bedfellows but Bayern embrace Munich’s beer and Oktoberfest links.

And you can see evidence in Munich Airport where branded steins and beer packs are on sale in their shops.

Frau did she do that?

And where check-out staff don lederhosens.

Although not the ticket office where Stern Frau is the order of the day although I shouldn’t complain.

As she did organise a new ticket for me after I had gone to the wrong gate and missed my flight to Athens.

In Barcelona, of course, they say it is mes que un club, more than a club.

And Leonardo Messi has as much prominence, if not more, than Christopher Columbus who dominates the entrance to La Ramblas.

Mr Stein

What happens next for the Argentine magician… and dare we think the unthinkable that next season he’ll be in a different shirt.

A final word now on the football… the mini-World Cup format of the COVID-19 Champions League is proving a roaring success.

In fact the best European Cup since Celtic became the first British team to lift the trophy in 1967 with a team drawn all from the West of Scotland.

When Jock Stein was their manager.

It is a spiritual experience for Celtic supporters and they often double it up with a trip to see Our Lady in Fatima to give thanks.

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

Holiday Snaps – Atoll order, your own private island

18th July 202018th July 2020 funtime65

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!