P&O Med cruise from Malta
Sailing on the Azura
Thursday 18th April
Up reasonably early to catch the 9:45 flight from Gatwick South terminal. As part of the cruise package it was on a chartered Jet2 flight out, which was surprisingly good, plenty of space with only two peeps per row of three!
Plane sailing (!) with hassle free transfers and we were onboard mid-afternoon.
Our room number is 314 (pi) how weird is that!Quick buffet lunch and the plan was to go off into Malta, unfortunately it was mandatory for us to listen to the safety briefing and we weren’t able disembark until 18:30, once off we headed straight for Gracey’s where we met Alex for a drink. Straight back to the ship to get ready for dinner which was booked for 20:30, had to share a table with 4 strangers, 2 of which were ex-police officers!
After dinner it was straight to bed, apparently a storm was on its way!
Friday 19th April
Very strong winds during the night and into the morning, luckily the ship was fairly stable.
Breakfast in Oriental which was okay.
Very windy and boat was rocking, went to the Tag Huer watch talk plus quiz, bit of a chill out day.
It was gala night so full dinner jacket etc, dinner with strangers who don’t seem so bad after all. Rob, Tony, Mags and Jules.
Went to see the comedian Jon Clegg (finalist on BGT) was was actually quite funny, plus disco afterwards till near enough midnight.
Saturday 20th
Woke up in Ajaccio to sunshine, quick breakfast and out for 9:30 ish. Lots of repair work going on but meandered around a bit and then headed for Napoleons Grotto on top of the hill.
More walking, coffee stop and then a nice street with a variety of shops.
Went to the Napoleon museum which was closed for lunch!
Back to the ship and some lunch in the restaurant which was good.
Cosies on and sun bathing on the top deck.
A quick cold dip and the ship set sail around 16:30
Baileys in our cabin before heading down to listen to the onboard rock band.
From there we went straight to dinner where we ate with the adopted cruise friends.
Finished dinner and went to see the reel to reel show which although good was a hard watch as we were all very tired!
Sunday 21st April
Woke up in Villefranche Sur Mer, France.
Today was Ali & Chris’s 40th wedding anniversary and we were up early blowing up balloons ready for breakfast.
After breakfast we got the tender from the ship to port which was actually a nice village by the sea, a short coastal walk to the rail station and we set off for Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Walked to the casino which was in the famous big square for the rich and famous. Monaco was getting itself ready for the formula E race which uses the same course as the F1 race.
Stopped for coffee at Cafe de Paris which was great.
Walked a lot of the course and up to the Palace which was spectacular, although Gilly was feeling rough and the walk was all uphill.
Walked then back to the train station and caught the train to Nice.
Quick look around, although we had stopped the wrong side of Nice and missed seeing where Ali & Chris had spent their honeymoon. Time was pressing and only paused to get cake!
Back on the ship in plenty of time.
Dinner tonight at the Epicurial Restaurant, a speciality restaurant to celebrate their anniversary, fabulous meal starting marmite butter, pumpkernickel bread, lobster and steak plus chocolate tart. Had a cake made.
Monday 22nd April
Woke up in the port of Livourno.
Usual nice breakfast and off ship around 10am, got the shuttle bus into town but this was a long way from the train station, had to 2 passengers latch on and we blagged our way onto a bus to the station.
By the way it was cold and had been raining.
Annoyingly we had to wait 40 minutes for a train and we didn’t get into Florence until around 12:40, it had now started to rain and the four of us walked into the centre.
Time had started to drift and the rain really hammered down as we walked round the Cathedral and Duomo, we sought refuge in a cafe before seeing Michelangelo’s David, then onto the Ponte Vecchia bridge. From here we walked back via a pit-stop at Chanel & Zara, caught the train back to Pisa but by the time we got here there was no time left to see the Leaning Tower and got the next train back to Livourno, there wasn’t enough time left now to get the bus and shuttle so we got a taxi back to the ship for €25 with about 20 minutes to spare.
Dinner with our new friends, Ali had brought their anniversary cake to share with them.
Watched a show and straight to bed, shattered!
Tuesday 23rd April
Woke up this morning in the port of Civitavecchia, usual breakfast and out by 9:30, shuttle off and walk to the station, got off at Roma Ostience where we then walked to;
- Knights of Malta keyhole, Aventine Hill
- Circus Maximus
- Colleseum
- Stop for Pizza, lovely!
- Trevi Fountain
- Pantheon
- Vatican
Fast walk back to Roma Pietro for the train back to Civi.
We were luckier today with the weather with only a few showers.
Onboard by 5:30, this was fortunate as the later train was chaos and very heavily delayed.
Another gala evening tonight followed by a nightcap.
Wednesday 24th April
Day at sea today as we head back to Malta,
Gilly still not feeling great with a sore throat etc which carried over from the UK.
Unfortunately the weather was cloudy today so no chance of sun bathing, we did however go to a cha cha dance class then onto an art talk plus a quiz, dinner then a magic show which was very good. Had a few gins as well.
Thursday 25th April
Up early for breakfast and then off the ship for a quick jaunt around Malta, nice and warm.
A short sunbathe back on the ship and then off to the airport for our 13:45 flight back home.
