DamianG

Presentation of the photo (i.e., not sideways) would help! 😉

Funny enough I thought of you both @Presto2 and @Ardennais on our current cruise (especially I think the latter commented about paying more for a school holiday / peak time cruise but receiving poorer service). Michelle and I cruised before we adopted our son and are very much “real cruisers” so that comment would have really got to me. We’d rather cruise than take other holiday options but this latest version on Arvia has been a real turn off for P&O for us when we’ve always been advocates for the company in the past. Sure, we do find fault at times but overall the positives usually far outweigh the negatives. Maybe it will again in due course for this cruise but for the first time ever I will be writing to P&O post cruise about our dining experience this time. Incidentally, the Captain advised that there are approximately 2000 Peninsular Club members on board, which therefore means that there are circa 3,800 new clients sailing on this cruise alone. I guess that this means P&O are reaching their target customers, in the school holidays at least.

With your children in mind Cartagena seems a much more suitable port with no shuttle bus requirement to get there which also means you can quickly get back on board if you need to. If you break off the main thoroughfare Calle Real and head towards the military compound Arsenal de Cartagena you will find a small square surrounded by some nice, less busy restaurants and a small set of climbing frames and typical park attractions for the kids. It’s a few years back since we’ve been but hopefully won’t have changed too much.

A busy day in Barcelona today with a few different cruise ships in port. Costa are like me, carefully reversing into the parking space so they can drive straight out, whereas Tui just bunged it in & reversed it out later.

Bream, not sure what the onions are meant to add.

Great starter, please can I have some raita.

Spot the patatas bravas

Not the best photos but the main course menu choices are all getting a bit samey for me.

13th August 3am and a loud bang woke me up. Obviously it was a shock but I was pretty sure it was nothing to do with our cabin so I turned over and tried to get back to sleep. A few minutes later there was another bang, and this continued every few minutes for the next 50 minutes or so. Then there was a series of bangs at quicker intervals finishing with some even quicker hammering before it stopped around 4am. I thought Michelle had slept through it and she thought the same of me when I mentioned it later. We can only assume there was some maintenance going on somewhere aft, maybe? I was up and dressed just after 8am with a plan to go Catholic mass in Marseille along with my mum and sister. Unfortunately the service times for the Cathedral smack opposite the shuttle bus drop off point weren’t suitable for us so instead we got off the ship at 9:30am with the intention of walking round to the promenade area of the old town and trying to find Eglise Saint-Charles on Rue Grignan (near Vieux Port), which I estimated was a 20 minute walk from the drop off point. I was sat solo on the shuttle bus and was soon joined by a friendly chap who had a similar accent to me. He shared a few tales about DIY days out off the ship including a really good plan for Gdynia which hopefully will come in handy one day. I asked where he was from and he said Leeds, Bramley (THE Big Apple according to folk who live there) and I told him that I knew a few people from that area from my rugby playing days in nearby Pudsey. Typically he named a father and son who I used to know fairly well back then and we had a good chat about how we knew them and what they were up to these days. The shuttle bus dropped us off just after 10am and not long after we started walking we saw an available taxi but decided to carrying on walking instead. It soon became clear that we should have taken that first taxi opportunity as mum was struggling to keep up even though we were going really steadily. We ended up getting a taxi with just 500 metres to go at a cost of €5.70. The driver insisted that there wasn’t a church on Rue Grignan even though we had looked this up online then also checked at a tourist information point. The driver dropped us off on a narrow street still saying there was no church, and as he drove off we turned around and were right in front of the church entrance. It wasn’t a grand church exterior so I understand how it could be easily missed but I’m still surprised that our driver didn’t know it. As an aside, I was quite pleased how my O Level French came back to me when I was in the Tourist Information Point and when trying to talk to the taxi driver. Amazing that I could recall the vocabulary when most of the time I can’t remember where I left my reading glasses. Once inside the church there was a good congregation in attendance and it was a sung mass in Latin that everyone fully participated in, including mum who remembered a lot of it (i.e., Latin) from years ago. It was a very reverent service and I was glad that we’d made the effort, even if we nearly had a disaster when my sister half tripped on the steps near the alter at communion. After mass mum needed the loo so after failing to find one in either Burger King or McDonalds we just went into a nice looking restaurant and bar and asked if she could use theirs. I was going to sit down and buy a small beer (as I didn’t want to be cheeky just using their loos) but a large queue had formed waiting to be seated so I gave up. After that I said my goodbyes to mum and sister then made my way back to the shuttle bus pick up point. It took me 15 minutes to walk back with a few photo stops, including one of a Viking Cruises ship which had a prime berth near the Cathedral. Way out of our league in terms of cost but one day you never know. A queue had formed next to 2 buses parked up with the P&O Shuttle notices in the front window. I unconsciously joined the queue but wish I hadn’t as the actual shuttle bus pick up point was the same place we had been dropped off over the road. Silly beggar, not like me at all to blindly join any queue ever and serves me right. (You can all make a baa noise at my expense now, thoroughly deserved). A P&O staff member came over the road to redirect us and then we had a bit of a wait for the next shuttle bus. Eventually we were on our way and as the coach turned around the nearest roundabout I spotted mum and sister approaching the queue which by now had trebled. It was 12:30pm and of course passengers probably wanted to get back on for lunch, so despite my mistake I guess that I didn’t do too bad in the end. They had a long wait (circa 30 minutes) in the hot sun. Back in the cabin Michelle and Kyle shared the story of their morning and the time they’d spent using the jacuzzi aft (which is usually permanently busy). Anyone remember the Fast Show on BBC? Kyle could certainly say “Today, I will mostly be in the jacuzzi”. Michelle asked about the old port and promenade area and I said that it wasn’t any good for Kyle but back in the day we’d have been out there having some lunch in a nice restaurant and a few drinks. It was still fairly quiet around the Sunset Bar deck 6 aft so we returned there and I surprised Kyle by joining him and Michelle in the jacuzzi for a while. After that I made the trek up to deck 16 to get some burgers and fries from Taste 360. I mentioned to Michelle that they also had a traditional Spanish stew on offer and then she tells me that yesterday they had paella! So I’d struggled through another roast dinner when I could have been eating paella? Gutted. Hopefully it will be available another time. We spent the rest of the afternoon aft around the Sunset Bar whilst Kyle had more time in the jacuzzi with his aunty. We enjoyed a couple of Mai Tais and Pina Coladas, and waved off Celebrity Silhouette (which looks really good by the way, again out of our price range but fingers crossed). Our in-laws were on an excursion and Captain Brown announced that our departure would be delayed as one “shore experience” coach was delayed having had a puncture. He said that the delayed departure would not affect our arrival time in Barcelona (no surprise there then). He also gave the usual cringeworthy speech that taking shore experience tours was always your best option for any port as the ship would never leave behind anyone on an official tour. Anyway we weren’t sure if it was the in-law’s coach so just in case we decided to meet everyone a little later at 7:30pm (with Kyle doing the organising by voluntarily telephoning both cabins). So on to today’s dining story; pay attention because this is the best yet. At 7:22pm I checked all 4 MDRs on the My Holiday webpage and unsurprisingly there was no availability in any of them. As we were going down the aft staircase I decided to break off and try Zenith. Love Joy welcomed us and advised that there was no availability in Zenith but that she could see a possibility of being seated straight away at Meridian if we went and asked there. We went down to Meridian and saw the same gentleman on the reception as yesterday. When I asked for a table for 7 he immediately reached for a pager and said that I would need to take one and wait. I agreed and then asked if it was possible to request a specific table. He asked which one so I replied “350”. He looked again then said “Oh! You can have that one straight away!” I’m repeating myself but you really couldn’t make this up. I said that we would need to gather together the rest of our party so he told us to be back in 5 minutes then we would be seated. Fortunately, everyone else was already in Andersons and we were able to make the 5 minute cut, just. Yet again credit to Love Joy who took the trouble to check Meridian even though she was in Zenith, and saw an option for us that the other receptionist couldn’t see without a prompt. Every MDR needs a Love Joy. We were seated at 7:45pm and our senior waiter (same as last night) greeted us. This time he was a lot more relaxed and friendly. When we were placing our orders I asked if the pasta and tomato sauce option for kids was always made with spaghetti in the Meridian and he confirmed that this was correct (so Kyle was right all along). I asked if it was possible to request penne instead and he replied that he would ask the chef. I had the Asian platter for starters which was great. For fun we decided to score our courses and I gave it 4 out of 5. It would have been 5 but could have done with some raita (or just more sauce, as Gregg Wallace on MasterChef often says). Michelle had fried Iberico Pork Cheeks with Patatas Bravas, 4 out 5 as the latter consisted of the smallest diced potato squares ever seen. The main course choices didn’t really suit me apart from the beef but in all honesty by now I was a bit beefed out and tired of roast dinners. I took a chance on roasted bream but it was quite overcooked so 2 out 5 for me. Myself, sister, and mother-in-law all dowsed it in butter then added salt and pepper which rescued it a little. Our senior waiter presented Kyle with a grown up looking dish of penne pomodoro, by far the biggest portion he’d had all week. 5 out of 5 from the toughest judge sat at the table. Later our waiter said that the chef had sent a runner to a different deck to get some penne so we again told him that it was much appreciated. Michelle had rice pudding with cherries for dessert, almost too sweet but 4 out of 5, and I had cheese and biscuits again, 3 out of 5. I asked for a glass of port to go with the cheese and it was swiftly delivered. Dinner finished around 9:30pm and afterwards I dragged us all into the Club Lounge on Deck 8 for the Summer Vibes party with Pulse featuring. We ended up in a far corner where we couldn’t really see the stage but we had a speaker right next to us and TV’s showing the band so though it was a little noisy it was okay. It was quite funny occasionally seeing passengers dancing flit onto the TV screen, including a Doctor Marwan Koukash lookalike. There was also a small window with a view of the Sunset Bar area aft and we were really surprised when we noticed that the bar there was still open with a lot of passengers in attendance. My sister went out to investigate and reported that there was music playing and it wasn’t affected by the sound coming out of the club lounge whatsoever. Pulse’s 2nd set finished at 10:15pm with a rousing performance of Pitbull’s Fireball and I especially loved the part where the drummer abandoned his kit to get up and dance then returned to pick up the beat with perfect timing. That signalled a mass exit for lots of passengers, maybe heading for the fully booked Neil Lockwood (ex-ELO lead singer) concert in the Headliners Theatre. I’d have quite fancied that but didn’t want to commit to anything pre-cruise or even during the first few days as I’m always conscious of what will suit Kyle and to a lesser extent the rest of our group. We moved to better seats and by the time their 3rd set started at 11pm the Club Lounge was at least half empty. They were excellent again and this time the keyboard player got her chance to shine during Madonna’s “Holiday”. They finished with a great rendition of Summer of ’69 by Bryan Adams where the lead singers took turns to sing verses and were perfectly synchronised. Most of our party had already said their goodnights so just Michelle and I stayed to the end at 11:45pm when we returned to the cabin. Then I realised I’d lost my glasses.

Celebrity Silhouette’s sideways thrusters working well. Good job.

Marseille’s somewhat industrial answer to the Hollywood Hills.

Misty start to the day in Marseille.

Michelle's double down desserts

Around 40 minutes Sir...

Waiting for the virtual queue to open.... Which then auto-defaults to no availability:

12th August Another sea day so we had a leisurely start with breakfast in the Quays before returning to the cabin to get our things together ready for some time out and about around the ship. We enjoyed our previous afternoon on the promenade deck so we returned there and readily found some sun beds and a spare table and chairs (which suited me as I could type up the blog) just outside the Quays. In fact we spent most of the day near that venue one way or another. At lunchtime I decided to vacate my table (so that diners could use it) and take a sun bed for a while. The couple next to us quickly realised what was happening and kindly shuffled up so that I could sit with everyone else without us even asking. How good is that. Kyle was in and out of the jacuzzi with my sister and Michelle at various times and I spent a bit of time reading and just sea watching (one pod of dolphins spotted). Naturally we got some lunch from the Quays, roast beef dinner in a giant Yorkshire pudding this time, and again I found it heavy going. Despite me only having beef, carrots, stuffing and potatoes there was still more on the plate than my MDR roast dinner a few night’s back. I could have added cauliflower cheese, parsnips and cabbage but I was stuffed as it was. Mid-afternoon the sun moved round to our side and it was far too hot for us so we moved to the shady (starboard) side of the promenade desk and took some seats in front of the conservatory mini suite cabins looking directly onto a jacuzzi. Kyle had more time in there and I spent the rest of the afternoon getting football score updates along with lots of grumbling from my friends back home. We arranged to meet in the Amber Lounge for dinner at 7pm. Whilst waiting I noticed on the My Holiday webpage that the online booking for Zenith would open at 6:30pm. At that time I kept refreshing the page which showed the same message then at 6:31pm it defaulted to “no availability.” We met everyone then I went straight to the Meridian to book for later. I took a pager and got the standard “around 40 minutes” advice. We waited and waited until finally running out of patience at 8:15pm when we all just walked round there anyway. No apology or explanation from the gentleman on reception at the Meridian who just said “Your table is ready sir.” On the plus side we got the best table yet, number 350, which had 9 seats and was right up against the aft windows. Our senior waiter was quickly to hand to take our drinks order then our dining choices. I chose a Greek Meze Platter which I’m sure was better on Iona last year. Michelle chose Asian Chicken Salad which Kyle subsequently ate most of. The starters were delivered at 8:45pm but our wine hadn’t arrived (despite everyone else around the table getting their drink choices). Thankfully our Silk and Spice red turned up just before the main course, Roast Lamb for Michelle and I, which we both enjoyed. Kyle's pasta and tomato sauce was made with spaghetti (which he argued isn't pasta) and he is convinced that only the Meridian restaurant serves it that way. For dessert I chose Limoncello Pana Cotta which I really enjoyed, and the for the first time in living memory Michelle double downed with that and Cherry Cheesecake. She enjoyed them both and couldn’t pick a favourite from the 2. We left the Meridian at 10:15pm. From there we went to Andersons and just had one more drink along with some more rounds of Uno. We called it a day not long after 11pm and yet again I have no idea what time Kyle switched off his latest movie choice in our cabin.

Just for balance in April 2022 we were on Iona for a week and used the My Holiday webpage to book our dinner every evening at various times from 7pm onwards to as late a 8:15pm. The longest wait we had at any time was around 15 minutes. The big difference is that the ship was sailing around 2/3 full with just over 3000 passengers. Pre-cruise we thought that we may have some issues trying to book for a party of 7 (compared to 3 of us on Iona) but we cannot even get onto a virtual queue to start with, never mind get to the stage where it asks you how many you want to book for.

Our next P&O cruise is on Ventura in 2025. I like Arvia & Iona but at this moment in time I’m not sure I’d want to sail on either in peak school holiday time ever again.

Update from Teddy’s home from home. The other cockapoo is Basil.

Costa dodging around us as we were not due to depart until 6:30pm.

11th August Friyay We were up early again but Kyle didn’t come round quickly enough for us to book breakfast via the My Holiday webpage. We went down to Meridian and though we felt a bit cheeky arriving at 9:24am (close to 9:30am last admissions) there were plenty who arrived after us. We’d already seen the hordes heading ashore and our plan was to go a little later when we hoped that the shuttle bus services would be less stretched. As we were finishing the waiting staff seemed to be rushing round even more than usual then there was an announcement of a full crew exercise drill so no wonder. Our cabin hadn’t been made up so we went for a walk around the ship. We saw the ginormous queue for shuttle buses and there was an announcement asking passengers to remain on board for the time being if possible so that there were less crowds quayside. We enjoyed walking round the ship when it was a little quieter and went all the way up to deck 17 forward to look in the Crow’s Nest and Epicurean. It also occurred to us that our cabin wouldn’t be made up until later anyway so we returned and spent some time there before getting ready for our day ashore. We’d already planned to visit Oceanografic despite having been there a couple of times before. Previously we’d made our own way there so the fact that shuttle buses now drop passengers off nearby was a bonus for us. It was clearly stated in the Horizon newsletter and announced by the Captain but my sister reported back that on their shuttle bus some passengers still thought that they might get dropped off nearer to the old town. P&O claim that it is “just” a 30 minute walk to the old town from the City of Arts and Sciences drop off point but I guess it depends how fast you walk and the majority of vlogs we’ve watched suggest that it’s nearer 40 minutes for the average walker. We got off the ship at 11:40am, were straight on a shuttle bus and were joined mostly by crew. There were 13 buses parked up so our driver didn’t bother filling up and we set off within 5 minutes. It was only a 15 minute drive and we were dropped off at 12:05pm. I’d prebooked tickets for admission at 12:30pm and one thing we didn’t consider was that we would be going out in the midday sun. I looked at one of those advertising boards with a temperature display and it stated 33 degrees! It was only a 10 minute walk to Oceanografic and we were sweating in no time with Kyle in particular grumbling a lot. I wasn’t sure if we would have to wait until 12:30pm to get in so we hesitated a bit but saw that one ticket checker was free so we approached her and she just scanned our tickets without question. We made our way to some of the subterranean exhibits which we thought would be cooler (thankfully they were) but after 30 minutes or so Kyle looked completely fed up and just wanted to sit down for a rest (which is not like him). Although it’s quite expensive (€115.50 for 3 of us) it is a really good aquarium but I was starting to think that the day might be a write-off. We got him moving again and found a very good canteen where a large ice cream and 3 bottles of water cost just over €7. Imagine that in a UK zoo or aquarium, the water alone would circa £3 a bottle. Kyle perked up a bit and the timing was just right as the next dolphin display was due. Big crowds were heading into a mini arena and we got in just in time before they stopped any further admissions. We stood at the back but had a great view and really enjoyed the display. For me, it rescued the day. We had the obligatory stop in the onsite shop and left the complex around 2:20pm. I had wanted to go to the shopping mall over the road but Kyle was adamant that we were going back to the ship. We easily got a shuttle bus back very quickly, but were unlucky with the security checks as we were directed to the slow moving line (instead of the quicker one where passengers who were a long way behind us in the queue breezed past us). The security checks took longer than the journey back. Once we were back in the cabin Kyle locked himself in the bathroom and had a shower for about 40 minutes. By now we were getting annoyed with him as we still hadn’t eaten and we eventually made it to the Quays at 4:30pm. Kyle wanted Katsu curry again and some bread rolls but they didn’t have the latter so I made the trek up to the buffet on deck 16. It was incredibly busy and I didn’t enjoy the experience one bit. From what I could see one half of Horizon was closed to get it ready for later so everyone was crowded on the other side. There was a curry option, roast beef dinner and afternoon tea items so a real mixed bag of choices with passengers all over the place. I managed to grab some bread rolls (with a grabber I might add – unlike anyone else I saw) and some butter then got myself out of there tout suite. When I returned to the Quays Kyle had his curry and Michelle had got fish and chips. I was conscious of the time and didn’t want to eat too much so I ended up with 6 bowls of salad, one of each variety available. That was a real mixed bag too, from German potato salad to some kind of Norwegian salad (can’t remember the name) and some Asian noodles with tofu (never again). After that lot I was still hungry so ended up having 2 desserts, apple pie (Michelle’s suggestion) and chocolate fudge cake. They were both small portions, honestly. We had some glasses of Pinot Grigio from Sindhu and as ever before we’d finished Kyle wanted to return to the cabin. This time we sent him ahead on his own and said that we were going to stay around the Atrium a little longer, which he was okay with. We both felt like we’d earned a little time doing what we wanted so we ordered more drinks from Sindhu, a Vanilla and Salted Caramel Espresso Martini for Michelle and a Californian Merlot for me. I usually don’t like Merlot but don’t recall trying a Californian one before so thought I’d take a chance. Michelle said that her cocktail just tasted of really strong coffee (I tasted it and agreed) and I still don’t like Merlot. Whilst we were sat in the Atrium Michelle went and took a photo of the evening dinner menu. Nothing appealed to us and it had just turned 5:30pm so I took a look at the virtual queue for the 6th Street Diner. Needless to say it stated “no availability” and still smarting about yesterday I suggested that we go there and try again, but with Michelle going in rather than me this time. Once we got there we noticed that there were hardly any early diners in there at all and I changed my mind about Michelle going in on her own. The same receptionist as yesterday said that it wasn’t possible to book for later but that if we checked the My Holiday webpage we would be able to join a virtual queue later. I said that she had told us the same yesterday but the virtual queue never opened all evening (and yes, I did keep checking right up to 9:30pm). She said that maybe she could book us in for later but we’d have to take a pager. I replied that yesterday she’d told us no pagers but if that was now an option it would be great. She then said that we would have to have a table with high chairs but we said that would not be appropriate for at least two members of our party. She said maybe they could push 2 tables together and we responded that this would be most appreciated. Finally she said that she couldn’t give us a time and that we must wait in Andersons and be ready from 6:20pm onwards. We graciously accepted and off we went with our pager. (I know that’s a lot of “he said, she said” but I couldn’t think of another way to tell the tale). It was by now 5:50pm and we knew that we would have to move quickly to rally the troops. We knocked on the in-laws cabin door to let them know and then I called sister and mum’s cabin to do the same. Kyle and Michelle were ready in no time so I had about 20 minutes to get a full shave then a shower (which is plenty short enough for me). I was rushing through shaving when there was a knock on the bathroom door). I asked what’s wrong and Kyle said “The buzzers gone off!” Now I was in a bit of a panic, not only for myself half shaved but for everyone else aside from Kyle and Michelle. “What? No way!!!!” I exclaimed. Kyle managed to keep a straight face for about 20 seconds then giggled, he’d completely fooled me and all the fall outs from earlier were forgotten. Good lad. We left the cabin at 6:18pm and made it to Andersons a few minutes later. Michelle’s parents quickly arrived and mum and sister were about 10 minutes after that. We all got seated and hadn’t yet been offered drinks when the buzzer went off at 6:40pm. Once in the 6th Street Diner we were seated in a good position on 2 seat and 4 seat tables which were pushed together. Although there was 7 of us we had more room than on the oversized surfboard table in the MDR and few days back. We were quickly served and I chose Ironstone Pinot Noir from the drinks menu only to be told that it wasn’t available, so we switched to Californian Zindfandel (red, not to be confused with blush) instead. It was very good and suited our taste really well. We shared our stories of the days’ activities and everyone else had just got off the shuttle bus and gone straight over to the mall. My sister detailed the various shops and restaurants in the complex, and Michelle’s mum told us all about the huge Carrefour supermercado with it’s 24 open checkouts all staffed. Not that exciting I guess but when you think of our supermarkets at home when they only call staff onto the checkouts when a big queue builds then it sounds good to me. I definitely want to go to the mall next time we are here, then maybe drag Kyle on the hike to the old town. Then again, he'd need the route to be lined with those watering stations with cold towels etc. that you get on city marathons, so maybe not. We were quickly served starters, Corn Tortilla Trio for me (extremely tiny but tasty) and 6th Street Churros with chilli sauce dip for Michelle and Kyle. He didn’t really enjoy them but that’s not too surprising as he’s been spoilt with the real (sweet) version in Spain and also from M&S. I tried them but they were slightly greasy and a little hard in my opinion. I thought that the dip was good though. Others in our party had the New England Clam Chowder and enjoyed it. The main courses quickly followed the starters and I finally got what I’d wanted all along, New York Strip Steak. Michelle had the same and it really lived up to our super high expectations (as always based on multiple vlogs we’d watched on YouTube). They were presented very well cooked and just as importantly well rested with no sign of blood on the plate. It really was melt in the mouth stuff. They were served with excellent fries in a separate tin cup (not sure how else to describe it though doubtless there is a proper term for it). Michelle’s parents had the Baby Back Ribs which they enjoyed, and mum chose the Louisiana BBQ Chicken which completely disappeared off the plate in no time (no need to ask if she’d enjoyed it there then). Michelle’s parents emptied one of their fries cups and used it for their discarded rib bones. Inevitably her dad got his left and right mixed up and chucked a discarded bone in his wife’s cup of fries. For dessert Michelle and I both chose the Coconut and Rum pudding. Putting the lack of rum and coconut flavour aside, and the fact that the supposedly rum soaked sponge was as dry as a bone, it was delicious. Michelle was a bit more disappointed than me and changed her rating from “best meal of the week” to “almost the best meal of the week”. I’ll ask her what her favourite was and get back to you. Father in law had Fried Apple Hushpuppies which looked the next best dessert, and mother in law had Gooey St Louis Cake which was a bit of a thick slab and needed more cream or better still some custard. We left at 8:15pm and because this was the earliest we’d finished dining so far we decided that we were early enough to make the trans-ship pilgrimage from deck 6 aft to deck 17 forward to visit the Crow’s Nest. Kyle in particular was keen (so that early morning recce paid off nicely) and everyone readily agreed. I was surprised to find that it wasn’t busy at all inside and we were quickly seated in a nice spot next to the starboard side windows. Getting served took a while as a lackadaisical waitress served a table next to us then ignored us completely until I called her back. Even then she took an order for me then immediately wheeled away back to the bar before anyone else in our party had a chance to speak. Very unusual but soon rectified by another waiter who approached and was engaging, friendly, chatty, and very quick witted. Our group played cards and once Uno was out of the way even I joined in. Whilst they were playing Uno I browsed through the Horizon newsletter and only then did I notice that it was 80’s music night in the Club House lounge with Pulse playing 3 separate sets. It was 10:15pm and I said that I was gutted to miss it when Michelle’s mum suggested that we go and leave Kyle with them. My sister said “Ooh, you can have a date night!” which in our case usually constitutes going to watch rugby league (which Kyle is not interested in) so that made us laugh. Kyle was all for it and as we have the advantage of Michelle’s parents only being a few cabins up from us they agreed to see him back to our cabin and stay with him until we got in (just in case we were “dirty stop outs” and stayed later than our suggestion that we’d be back by midnight (or I’d turn into a pumpkin)). We easily got some good seats (not at the front and not too far back either) and were quickly served. The music was good for our taste straight away then Pulse came on for their final set at 11pm. As per our last few cruises the band was made up of young people, most likely music college graduates as advised to us on previous cruises. They were super talented, especially the drummer (always my favourite), the bass player who took the lead on a few songs, and the guitarist. Sorry keyboard player, you were good too but most of the songs played to the strengths of the others. There was a male and female vocalist, both fantastic, but I’d just give the lady the edge in terms of vocal range and being able to adapt to the requirements of each song. Just. After the first song the male vocalist announced that this was their final set but it had the best songs. Obviously we couldn’t compare but we enjoyed every single one of them, even Karma Chameleon which I usually can’t stand. They finished really strongly with “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey (great song that I’ve not heard performed live very often if ever) and Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’Roses, where the guitarist was really able to cut loose with his axe and show off his talents. It wasn’t the biggest crowd ever but they’d certainly engaged everyone where we were sat and got a rousing reception at the end. We got back to the cabin at 11:50pm and were surprised to find that Kyle and his grandparents had only just got there a few minutes before us so it was a good ending to a trying at times but overall great day.

Thoroughly enjoying reading this Sarah and as ever your photos are fantastic. I’m just wondering if you have the cabin air con set at the coldest level and if that has contributed to your sore throats? It used to be an old trick turning it up a little higher to prevent coughs and sore throats. We’ve tried that on Arvia (after feeling sore throats coming on earlier in the week) and it seems to have worked. Enjoy the rest of your cruise and fingers crossed that cough goes away soon.