CRUISE WITH ROYAL CARIBBEAN
It was a beautiful sunny July morning, and I was boarding Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines‘ Splendour of the Seas’ in Venice, surely life doesn’t get much better than this! ‘Splendour of the Seas’ at 70,000 tonnes is a medium sized ship which has a capacity of 2,076 guests, with a guest to crew ratio of three to one. The cruise that I was about to embark on was a six night cruise out of Venice calling at Athens, Mykonos and Split, I was in a standard inside cabin which turned out to be reasonably spacious with twin beds, two bedside cabinets, dressing table, television, soffa and coffee table, shower and WC, and plenty of wardrobe space.
Check -in at Venice had been remarkably quick and efficient, it helped that I had pre-registered on-line which saves time at check-in. I was onboard the ship by 11:30 but as the staterooms would not be ready until 13:00 I had a look around the ship before going to the ‘Windjammer’ for lunch at 12:00. The ‘Windjammer’ serves hot and cold food from self service food stations and the food is of a good quality, I got my food then sat facing one of the windows, looking out towards Venice I could see two other cruise ships in full view. The ’Legend of the Seas’ is the sister ship to ’Splendour of the Seas’ and the other cruise ship was the ’Poesia’ the newest ship from MSC.
After checking out my cabin and grabbing my swimwear I headed to the outdoor swimming pool and hot tubs, the perfect way to unwind after a long journey, I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing before returning to my cabin to change for dinner, I was on second sitting, so plenty of time for a pre-dinner cocktail or two in the ’Viking Crown Lounge’. The lounge is on the top deck with great panoramic views, it also doubles as the night club later in the evening.
Dinner was at 20:30 in the main dining room and was excellent, the service and food was of a very high standard, after dinner I went to the ’Top Hat’ lounge where a live band was playing.
The next day was a day at sea so a chance to relax and make use of the facilities. Even with the ship being full and having a day at sea (the time when everybody wants to use the facilities) it was still possible to find a space away from the crowds, I used the Spa steam room and sauna, which although not as extensive as many cruise lines was adequate and not too busy. I also swam in the indoor pool which is in the solarium with a sliding roof, enabling the pool to be used in all weather. this pool was never as busy as the outdoor pool and so ideal for getting away from the crowd.
That evening was spent investigating more of the bars onboard, having another excellent dinner and taking in one of the shows in the theatre which was of a very high standard.
The following morning we arrived at our first port of call, Piraeus (Athens). I walked to the train station from the port which took me about twenty minutes, there were local buses which would also take you there for 80 cents. I caught the train into Athens which again only cost 80 cents for a journey of about twenty minutes.
I spent some time just walking around the ’Agora’ and the little streets in that area, then I took the tourist ’road train’ which for 5 euros took us up to the ’Acropolis’ and around Athens. The total journey took about an hour, but you could choose to get on and off as often as you wished for the same price.
The cruise line does of course offer excursions at all its ports of call and for some, especially lone travellers or less independent people, would be worth taking up, but Athens is cheap and easy to get to from the port for those wishing to go it alone.
The third day of our cruise and our second port of call, Mykonos one of the Greek islands. I took the cruise lines shuttle bus from the port to the town which took about ten minutes. From where the bus dropped us off it was an easy walk into the main shopping area where all the restaurants, bars and cafes were. Take care as you walk around as there are many scooters darting about the little streets, it seems to be the transport of choice for local tradesmen. I walked through the town past the many clothes shops which I was told by some fellow passengers were very expensive. I then proceeded on to view the Mykonos Windmills.
For those looking for a beach to chill out on, there is a large resort type beach in the north of the island.You would need transport to get to the beaches, local taxi being the safest bet, but it would probably pay to pre-book your return trip as if the taxis are in great demand you may have difficulty getting back to the ship on time, and if you are not on a ships excursion and you are late back, there is every chance the ship will sail without you. I spent the morning in Mykonos then spent the afternoon relaxing by the swimming pool, the weather had been fantastic throughout the cruise but it did mean that sometimes it was a little too hot to walk around exploring too much.
The fourth day of the cruise was another day at sea so even more time to relax and check out the ships facilities. I took advantage of a tour of the ships kitchens which was very interesting, the Head Chef showed us around a very large and spotlessly clean kitchen which was run very much like an assembly line with each person having a specific task to do.
The show that night was a string quartet, very talented musicians but also very entertaining with a lot of humour in their act. Later in the evening I met up with the quartet in the ’Viking Crown Lounge’ and we had a good old ’sing song’which went on into the early hours.
Day five and our third and final port of call, Split in Croatia. We anchored outside the port and used the Tenders to get ashore. Disembarking was easy and straightforward and it was just a short trip across the harbour to reach dry land. Once ashore it was an easy stroll into the town with it’s historic buildings, beautiful squares and vibrant market place. Today was probably the hottest day of the cruise and the sun was at times unbearable so it was refreshing to walk amongst the market stalls and make use of the shade they provided.
I spent about two and a half hours walking around Split and I was impressed with what it had to offer, it is a very beautiful area and I would very much like to return one day and spend a little more time there. That is one of the advantages of a cruise, you get to visit many places and it gives you an insight to whether you would enjoy spending more time there, if it is a place you are not particularly impressed with at least you are not stuck there for the entire holiday.
The rest of the cruise was spent relaxing and visiting any of the bars that I had so far not had time to check out, each bar would have some form of entertainment be it a pub quiz, a pianist, live band etc. All in all a most enjoyable cruise, the ports of call were all new to me, and I found them all interesting and very accessible, the ship was a lovely ship and a good size for finding your way around, the staff were very efficient and friendly and the food and entertainment was excellent.
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