Red Sea Magic, Just Returned. Part 1

[Cymro1953]

Just back at 2 a.m this morning from the 31st March RSM cruise.

 

Plane was late leaving Sharm and we didn't land in Manchester until just before midnight. :( I was up at 8am typing this, it's 1st thoughts straight off the top of my head as you can probably tell when reading it.

 

And it was Magic. We had a fantastic time, met some lovely people and saw some amazing sights we would never have seen without this cruise.

 

The Ship.

It's our 1st time on the Spirit and though small and old she was lovely to sail on.

we were up on Deck 7 living the sweet life in the Woburn Suite. (All puns deliberate and awful :) ).

 

You can she she's an older vessel, but well maintained and kept spotlessly clean by the hard working crew who seem always at it. We never saw a dirty public area or toilet all week.

 

Yes, you can feel the vibration, or wobble, in several areas of the ship, especially the Horizons Lounge, but not noticeable in our cabin.

DW used it to her advantage for an aching back after the long excursions, positioning the relevant spot against the back of the chair and the wobble in Horizons used to massage her back like those massage chairs you see in the department stores.

The only minor problem we had was a wobbly shower head in our cabin which didn't like staying in the place you pointed it.

 

We did speak to some who were on the lower decks and complained of a continuous noise like sleeping next to a washing machine, but again spoke to others who were amidships on deck 1 and were not troubled at all by it.

 

The food was good to excellent. Always excellent when we ate in the Compass Rose and good and plentiful in the Lido Buffet. The only thing about the buffet despite all the rest of the food being hot, we could never seem to get a hot slice of bacon at breakfast. And watch out for the black pudding, it's tasty but spicy. Not like Bury black pudding.

The meat described as Beef or Steak in the buffet tended to be tough, but the rest was good.

The weather was beautiful throughout and warm enough to eat your breakfast outside by the pool, when you're not up before dawn for big excursions that is. The only cool bit was on the shady side of the ship as we were rounding the Sinai Peninsula on the sea day, that was a bit breezy there.

 

All th e waiting staff were polite and cheerful, More reserved in the Compass Rose but lively and jolly up in the buffet.

 

The entertainment team were hard working and very good.

Not top notch West End Theatre, but when you're sat there in good company watching the singing and dancing of the Thomson Spirit Showteam with a cocktail in your hand they're not far off. They really worked hard to put on some fantastic entertainment for us. From the Sailaway party on the 1st night to the show on the final night which we dragged ourselves to after our 15 hour excursion to Luxor and Valley of the Kings :eek:.

 

Talking of cocktails, we didn't have all inclusive and spent about £ 200 on drinks for the 2 of us and didn't go thirsty. I haven't asked NO.2 son what his drinks bill was. But he seemed OK when he got his final statement. Didn't keel over in shock. That's why we had a suite, the 3rd bed is in the lounge area separated by a curtain. We didn't fancy him coming in at getting on for 4 a.m. and trying to climb into a bunk drunk.

 

The passengers on the ship surprised us in their age range, being the type of cruise it was we expected them to be older, but they ranged from tiny toddlers and primary school children with plenty in their late teens and 20's for our son to mix with. From what I've seen of his evening pics so far seem to show him in the company of no less than 4 females, all attractive and mainly blonde.

 

We did hear some complaining about the cruise, mainly from those who seemed to have booked it cheaply last minute and not researched it and got a shock on arrival in ports that are basic and industrial and nowhere to go if not on a ship's excursion.

One nice surprise we did have was a note on the last night saying we didn't have to be out of the suite until 1pm on leaving day, so no getting cases out by 2am the night before for us. :D

 

This is long enough I'll do excursions in part 2. I'm the only one up and the washing's already in the machine. The joys of returning from holiday

 

Berwyn

[Cymro1953]

Sorry posted it twice, CC froze as I posted it. Hopefully they'll remove one of them