On one of Uniworld’s newest Super Ships for 2020, the S.S. La Venezia, for ten days overnight on the Venetian island Burano, a first for any cruise line.
And listen up, cruiseheads here’s your favourite holiday with all kinds of attractions such as waterparks thrown in and a great deal.
Royal Caribbean International has a buy one cruise fare, get one 60% off and up to €150 off your stateroom which ends today. Visit http://www.royalcaribbean.ie.
I was a more attractive proposition than the previous candidate for the spare room in the girls’ Belfast home – I promised to keep my clothes on.
The guy before me was a naturist.
The thing is that naturism depends on everybody being in on it,
Now there is every type of cruise on the planet so you won’t be surprised to hear that there is one as well for naturists… https://cruisebare.com.
I‘m breathing in: On board Oasis of the Seas
Though I was and am indebted to my friends at Lonely Planet http://www.lonelyplanet.com for putting me onto this.
Not that I’m going to suggest it to The Scary One.
Although it does look as if it has a plus side in that you never have to worry about getting into your penguin suit or cocktail dress to sit at the captain’s table.
I’m not even going to ask if that’s a thing on this cruise ship.
I usually like to keep my clothes on when I go cruising.
As you’ll all know by now I spent a thoroughly enjoyable few days walking, talking, swallowing and swallying in Tenerife with www.CanariaWays.com.
And I will be compiling it all in a grown-up article.
Tenerife calling
However you get there, get to Tenerife.
TUI is offering Marella Cruises on the Explorer, inside cabin, all-inclusive seven nights from €995pps. http://www.tui.ie.
It just clicks
Now Click&Go http://www.clickandgo.com are a mighty fine holiday provider and will feel genuinely proud of picking up their Best Cruise performance for Rest of the World from Royal Caribbean at an awards ceremony in Waterford.
But there’s no point in me being modest. I’m thinking that my performance at a particular Karaoke bar of Chuck Berry’s Memphis, Tennessee would surely deserve at least joint billing.
Only a fool would drive out on the road without first putting it through its paces in a road test.
And the same is the case with cruise ships.
It’s just that a ship is a bit bigger and there are more tests to do.
Hence Princess Cruises spending six days of tests out on the water.
Setting out from Fincantieri Shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy the experts tested out a series of manoeuvres to challenge the propulsion, steering and navigational equipment.
The ship will sail a short season in the Mediterranean before heading to the Caribbean.
You will get to enjoy the Princess MedallionClass experience. featuring the complimentary OceanMedallion wearable device, modelled below by this model.
Only one man walks on water in Barcelona. He’s everywhere – in every shop window, on the backs of every family of tourists.
Or parading his skills before 100,000 worshippers at the cathedral of football, the Camp Nou.
Only on the day I visited the Spanish city, he’s not.
Messi and Murty: On Oasis of the Seas
The ubiquitous Lionel Messi is back in his native South America on international duty playing for Argentina rather than curling in free-kicks for his adopted Barca.
Barcelona has a vacancy for a sporting hero then… and I’m thinking that if I nail it I might just my name off the back of the football top that fluffy bear is wearing.
He’s sitting in a sports car in the shopping area of a cruise ship in port at the bottom of La Rambla. Such are the trappings of fame, and I want some of it.
And I have the chance.
To walk on water on Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas’ surf simulator FlowRider.
And I only have the best in the business to get me up to speed, Irish surfing superstar Geared McDaid.
That’s Gearoid, not me
We’re lucky to have Geared here, his feet rarely touch the ground.
Geared is not long back from a couple of months surfing in Chile, was in Indonesia before that and is on his way to Portugal.
Geared is not what I expect though, no man bun, goatee beard, beard, tattoo sleeve.
Just a regular Sligo boy, although he is pals with Kia Egan!
Thankfully there is one Fifty-something who keeps up appearances with his bandana and windswept beard.
That is me
But boy can he surf. Gearoid, that is.
The simulator is on the 15th deck of the €1.4bn Oasis of the Seas cruise ship which is on it way to Majorca, France and then Italy with 6,300 passengers.
Each enjoying five pools and numerous bars, restaurants and shows. And a park. ‘Central Park’, you’ll forget you’re at sea.
Keep your shorts on: With Kai, my instructor
But alas without us who will have to get off kicking and screaming before sail time.
If they can’t find us hiding away down in the staff quarters.
The idea of the simulator which is 40ft long, is that a rush of water shoots out to build up the swell which you then surf against.
It’s all in the knees, back and arms – and the trick is to sway and not panic.
I’m not the only one who is bushy: In Central Park on Oasis of the Seas
Too late, the road went that way and the bandana and everything under it the other way.
It’s official. I don’t walk on water (but my family could tell you that!)
Maybe I’ll have better luck on my knees.
Eureka or ‘goooooal.’ as Lionel Messi might shout. I manage to master those waves in the prayer position on a boogie board with more than a little help from Mauritian teacher Kai.
Zip slidin’ away: And I’m off zip lining
Suddenly I feel indestructible. And here I was worried that I’d be caught with my shorts down, and quite literally I almost was at half mast.
I hadn’t pulled the cord tightly enough before the surfing class and the waves carried me away.
To be avoided – particularly if you’ve booked up for my next challenge, the 82ft zipline
No-obe nine deck below on the Boardwarl want to have Stars and Stripes board trunks land on them, believe me, when they’re out there shopping.
Or having an early-afternoon drink or are on their way to lunch.
Cocktail hour: And a photobomb
Thankfully, I can’t do much damage in the Spanish restaurant, other than embarrass myself and my party by getting my maracas out (steady!).
Well, once in we weighted into the plats of tapas and a big jug of sangria (when in Spain).
That sangria is’t going to last long
Fuelled with patatas and shrimp al ajillo we swagger off the ship.
Only taking time to pas by an eight-year-old boy twisting and turning on the other simulator and onto Barcelona’s famous La Rambla shopping and market thoroughfare.
Christopher Columbus is still there where I remember him from the last time I visited Barcelona 15 years ago and drew back the curtains of my balcony cabin.
He is proudly guarding the city and pointing out to sea.
To be fair, the arm is right, though I’d maybe bend the elbow and those legs are way too straight.
Sorry, Chris, but you’d be no use on a surfboard either.
Travel facts
Oasis of the Seas: Sail the Western Mediterranean for seven nights on Oasis of the Seas from €1,049pp based on two sharing. Departing Barcelona. Visit Palma, Marseille, Florence/Pisa, Rome (Civitavecchia), Naples and arrive back at Barcelona. See http://www.royalcaribbean.ie. Flights not included.
Where to stay in Barcelona: Hotel Concordia http://www.hotelconcordiabarcelona.com is a central hub and has a rooftop pool that will tempt you to linger. Pride was on when we visited and the neighbourhood was jumping. €135 per night.
But for now start spreading the news about Glasgow in my I belong to Glasgow review.
Rock opera
What a riff: We all love to rock it
The advantage of having an elder brother is that I got an early grounding in the right musical influences.
Back in the days of musical LPs (long-playing records… ask your parents) one stood out for its look.
The rock opera Tommy.
It is 50 years this month since The Who performed the bulk of it at Woodstock.
And I will return to that seminal moment in modern popular culture elsewhere on this site.
Book me up: Princess Cruises’ live entertainment
Musical shows are at the heart of a cruise experience.
As important as swimming pools, spas, food and drink, your cabin and on-shore itineraries.
Which is why I’m taken by Rock Opera which is to be showcased on Sky Princess and Enchanted Princess.
The show which will feature on the 3,600 guest Sky Princess in December as it sails the Caribbean will feature tenor Brian Justin Crum from America’s Got Talent: The Champions.
We’ve been promised a musical journey featuring an eight-piece live orchestra playing iconic rock songs.
Enchanted Princess gets the show in June for its inaugural season in the Med. www.princess.com.
Oh man, it’s Oman
Market time: With a difference in Oman
Andy, Sarah, Ian and Jane were (and I dare say still are) the kings and queens of the table quiz in Aberdeen.
And how I could have done with them at the Oman night earlier this year.
I think the only questions I got right were the ones on frankincense and myrrh and Sinbad the Sailor.
Of course there is a great deal more to learn about this exotic land.
And you can on Royal Caribbean’s seven-night Oman & United Arab Emirates cruise on Jewel of the Seas.
Departing on December 16, and returning from Dubai, it will visit Abu Dhabi, Sir Bani Yas, Muscat and Oman.
Book by September 30. All-inclusive drinks too. From €519pps. Visit www.royalcaribbean.ie.
It’s not every day you get a call from Serena Williams.
My mid-afternoon slumber was disturbed when Serena phoned me from the Bahamas a couple of years ago.
Such is the life of an international globetrotting Travel Editor!
This Serena though was not the tennis superstar as she acknowledges in her emails after her name (no, not her) but a very impressive Serena all the same. She runs a very successful media firm in Nassau http://www.bahamas.local,com.
I was teased with a view of the Bahamas in the distance when I cruised the seas last December but have yet to set foot on land.
I mean to change that.
Bahama Mamma. Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Pexels.com
There are a plethora of cruises around the Bahamas and in the Caribbean. I was taken by this one particularly when they slipped in the two most important words in cruising… ‘party ship’.
Jetline Cruise Ireland is offering 15 nights’ Orlando Fun & Bahamian Sun for four people for a fortnight sharing with inclusive car hire for ten days and then four days’ cruising.
We’re out there: Tenerife. Photo by Luis Quintero on Pexels.com
I’ve got nothing against people who go to Tenerife to sit beside the pool or on the beach and hit the nightclubs.
You can have that if you like, it leaves the rest of the island and its activities such as hiking and carnival to me.
I’ll be hiking in September and also sitting under the stars with a couple of stars of the Travel industry whom I’ll tell you about nearer the time.
And I dare say I’ll get a taste for Tenerife then and want to go back for the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in February…. it’s the second biggest in the world as I was informed when the Canadians visited last year.
In the meantime you can, of course, get there by cruise ship with TUI’s Canarian Flavours package. TUI offers seven nights’ all-inclusive on January 3 on Marella Explorer inside cabin from €969pps.
I reckon I know what’s in store for Boris Johnson who is about to go around in circles between the UK and Europe… I did it in a cruise ship in the English Channel a couple of years ago.
The difference though is that I loved it.
Of course if you want to get off you can too. Royal Caribbean has a six-night cruise on Allure of the Seas on May 23 (Brexit should be over by then, maybe). It leaves Southampton and checks in to Paris/Normandy (Le Havre) , Bilbao and Spain.
From €1051 per person based on two sharing, €2102. Flight required.
River of dreams… sail away with your Travel Editor of the Year and Cruiseday Tuesday. Uniworld River Cruises in Rhineland, Royal Caribbean’s special allure and Princess Cruises and the Canaries.
Cramped up in a booze bus to the Munich Beerfest in a tailback of traffic it certainly looked like those river cruise ships were certainly a more relaxed Germany holiday.
I’ve found as the years have glided by that Uniworld River Cruises are the way to amble along the river.
I was particularly taken on my teenage drinking trip when we stopped off at Nueschwanstein, the inspiration for the Disney Castle, with its swan theme. The Rhine really is fairytale stuff.
Serene: The SS Antoinette
Uniworld has a tempting range of discount offers on http://www.uniworld.com. The Castles Along The Rhine has a ring to it though doesn’t it? Eight days on the S.S. Antoinette from Amsterdam to Basel is under £3,000 (£2,999), down from £3,799. Depart September 22.
Flights are included for all 2019 departures. Included flights are from London Heathrow.
And here’s what you get…
Luxury living: On board the SS Antoinette
A Special allure
Royal Caribbean asks if we’re brave enough.
I am. I only did the Zipliner on Oasis of the Seas recently in Barcelona and FlowRider too, and again I’m a veteran of FlowRider having soared on it on Independence of the Seas.
The newly amplified Allure of the Seas is sailing from Barcelona next year.
So here’s what you can expect…
Royal Caribbean boasts that this is the tallest slide at sea… and I dare say the slidiest too.
The great thing about Royal Caribbean, apart from everything that is, is that they’re real party ships.
And the Music Hall is where to party on Allure with some great cover bands… and I’ve been known to sing along.. See my Royal Party on Independence….
Of course ships are known for their culinary excellence and Allure is no exception. I’d recommend Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar. It’s just how Mamma made it.
Now you want to see an offer. What about a seven-nighter Western Mediterannean with weekly departures from May 10 to October 25. You’ll take in Palma, Marseille, Florence/PIsa (La Spezia), Rome (Citavecchia) and Naples. From €1,079 per person based on two sharing., €2158 for two guests. €1pp flights, book by August 12. T&Cs apply. Visit http://www.royalcaribbean.ie.
A piece of cake… well, it had to be
Wow: Madeira. Photo by Valdemaras D.
Broomsticks airlines were running on time… and the mother-in-law had a smooth passage home.
She was asking for advice on where to go this autumn, and seeing as how I didn’t want to be turned into a frog (again) I suggested Madeira.
Madeira is unspoiled and not packed out with tourists. It’s also a great place to visit from a cruise ship.
Princess Cruises has an 11-day Canary Islands cruise, sailing from Southampton and taking in Vigo in Spain, Funchal in Madeira, Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Las Palmas in Gran Canarai and Arrecife in Lanzarote.
From €999 per person based on two sharing an inside stateroom but not including flights. Mothers-in-law come with their own broomsticks, though. For more information visit http://www.princess.com.
