- Captain Albert's Website and Blog -

Ocean Liner History and Stories from the Sea, Past and Present. With an In Depth focus on Holland America Line

Category: Europe (page 1 of 7)

2025 October 21; Oban and final Verdict.

October 24, 2025 / / 9 Comments

The anchor was pulled up around 07.30 this morning and half an hour later we were docked at the ferry terminal where our cruise started from 7 days ago. Breakfast was at 07.45 (with doors opening earlier) so by 08.30 I could hop in the (complimentary) taxi to go to the (complimentary) covered garage to retrieve the car. I had to be first as my car was partly blocking the driving out of the other cars. Luckily the garage owner had removed a few obstacles so the path-width for the other cars so had become wider. In the mean time the ships staff were carrying the suitcases from our cabins to the shoreside.

Those who came by train (Glasgow train station) or plane (Glasgow airport) were loaded on the (complimentary) bus/coach. It was nice to see that Captain and Chief Purser where actively involved in helping with the suitcases and were personally saying goodbye to everybody. (not just a line up at the gangway but actively at the coach door (and luggage hatch) and around the individual cars.

By 0900 hrs. we were loaded and on our way. Day started all rainy but by 09.30 the sun came out and we had a good drive home. Same as going northbound, in two stages, with an overnight in between. It is an approx. 10 hrs. drive on the British roads between Oban and Cromer and that is something one does not want to do in one day.

So what is the overall verdict on this cruise?

Well as you will have read in the all the posts of this week:

The Hebridean Princess is a floating English (Scottish) Country House with a service that goes with it.  I would rate it 6 star but it is difficult to do so as there is really no comparison to any other cruise line. It is a totally unique product. With a crew ratio of 38 crew to 48 passengers, its service is beyond par. Above and beyond of what one can expect. A sort of throwback to what many company’s delivered in the 1970’s and 80’s when first class still existed.

The dining room has plate service (= 5 star) but the way the food is presented and the dishes piping hot, makes  it 6 star. Twice this cruise we had a (seafood) buffet, small, but again all of top quality and presentation.

ALL food & beverages are included, including the expensive ones. Champagne (the real stuff, Taittlinger, no sparkling wine) is available all day and so is the rest. The whisky’s of the distillery’s that we visited during the cruise were also on board and also included. The longest time I clocked between asking for a drink and getting it, was 5 minutes (and that was only because they had to get  a fresh bottle of something or the other out of the stock room).

The Glare Factor:  100%. Not a single crewmember who failed to acknowledge us when seeing us during work, or when outside their direct work setting.

If I would have to compare this ship /company with similar -starred- companies we have sailed with so far:  Cunard (Queens Grill), Silver Seas, Azamara, then the Hebridean Princess beats them all. 

Note: Azamara Onward, came fairly close second as she also had the 100% glare factor but has less crew so it took longer to get your drinks & food, and their tender service failed on occasion.

Things to be noted:

The cabins are all very well apointed (6 star) but vary greatly in size (from 4′.6 standard bed to a 6′ wide Kings size) so be careful when selecting your cabins. Same for the showers as they can be large or quite small. There are single cabins as well.

There is no A.C on board but only forced cooled air. For our cruise (average outside temperature of 120C / 54oF) it was more than enough (even while being in the dungeon) but it might be somewhat challenging during high summer as Scotland now also gets heatwaves. Especially on Hebridean Deck (that is dungeon level) where the cabins have no portholes.

When booking you can request a table for 2,3,4 or6/8. Depending on the number of requests for a table of 6/8, they increase the number of those larger tables. For this cruise 3 large ones were set up. If everybody wants a table for 2, then the large tables are broken up. We suggest that you request a table for 6/8 (depending on what size they offer) for several reasons:

  1. The guests are in general well educated, talkative and well informed. So the table conversation is richly flowing. You remain at the same table for the duration of the cruise and as we sat in a different chair each time we had the chance to have good a conversation with everybody.
  2.  If there are large tables, then an officer (Captain, Chief Purser, Naturalist on formals and other officers on informals) will host. It brings an extra dimension to the conversation.

Formal night is formal night. The ships management will not officially enforce it but you do not want to stand out. The ship and clientele sort of calls for it.  All your fellow guests are  dressed formally and so are the officers who dine  with you. (all in kilt).

One ONLY comment to make for improvement: The Bathrobes in all the cabins are too small, even for standard size people like us.  And that is for 6 star not really acceptable. We have put that as our only negative in our comments forms as we see no reason when we pay 6 star prices, that we have to lug our own bathrobes with us. Hopefully Hebridean Cruises will follow up on that.

We mentioned it on board, and the answer was: we have NO space.

This is nonsense, if they have space to stock 7 days of linen change and all our suitcases (*) then there must be room for a few extra XL or XXL bathrooms. And if not in the linen store, then there is more than enough space on the former car deck to add an A60 fire rated locker for them.

(*) You can have your bed linen changed each day as per company policy, but most guests are happy with 2 or 3 times a cruise and leave a (provided) card on the bed to notify the stewardess,.

We really enjoyed our cruise and we might be back in 2028 when we have space in our cruise schedule bookings. It will depend somewhat on  the ports visited. We found this mystery cruise a little bit too much tilted to nature. One castle in the mix (of only nature and whisky) would have made it perfect.

Our next cruise is the Christmas Cruise on the Queen Victoria in a Penthouse grade cabin. I do not expect that they will beat Hebridean Princess but it will be interesting to see how close they will get. According to recent reports, the service in the Queens Grill has been dumbed down (seems to have started after Covid) but we go with an open mind.

I hope you  will follow us on that cruise as well.

 

2025 Oct. 20; Inverrie to Kingairloch to Oban, Scotland.

October 21, 2025 / / 8 Comments

Today was sightseeing most of the day. Ending up in Kingarloch at 14.00 hrs. until 17.00 hrs and  then a quick joint down Loch Linnhe to the anchorage in Oban. (On the map just under the words Google Maps)

This morning around 07.00 hrs. the ship picked up anchor and sailed south along the magnificent Scottish coast line, dipped in and out Loch Sunartin, went through the Sound of Mull up into Loch Linnhe and into “Loch a Choire” for an afternoon call.

Strontian is an area of outstanding beauty as much of the Highlands are and worthwhile a visit. Certainly on a day as to day with sunshine and no rain. (Photo: unknown source on the internet)

As usual there was wildlife galore, with a very happy naturalist Bryan, as he saw a Minkey Whale that did not directly dive so all wild life lovers had their day already made. Then there was the small diversion into Loch Sunartin which is very scenic. The local claim to fame here is being the “town of Strontium”; real name Strontian and located up the hills just a bit away from the loch. The mineral (on the Perodic Table) named Strontium was discovered here, when people were delving for lead. A village was then built to house the miners needed and this villlage was called Strontian.  It is the only village in the British Isles to have an element named after it. The place is still inhabited with a village store and a school with 30 pupils.

The Glennsanda Super Quary as seen from the water.

Then we went to the Sound of Mull, which is a semi narrow waterway (not that narrow as in “tight”) as I went through it with a 33.000 tons cruise ship) and then one ends up in Loch Linnhe. If one continues straight on, one comes to Oban but if one turns to the North then one can end up in Fort William.  As we did not want to go to Oban yet, we turned to the North and followed to the coast line to “Loch a Choire”, which is a small inlet / fjord on the North shore of Loch Linnhe. While saiing towards it we came by a real blot on the landscape: Europe’s largest aggregate mine at Glennsands. It has been in operation for a long time and its product is a major export item for Scotland. There is still a billion tons of (mainly basalt) aggregate that can be mined so the mine is expected to be there for a fore-seeable time.

Kingairloch bay as seen on a Map by the Government of Scotland. As one can see the fish farm takes up a lot of space in the entrance. But it is a protected bay from any winds but the Easterlies and thus an excellent place for such a venture.

Then the ship made a 90o turn to port and slipped into “Loch a Choire” (there are 5 locations with the same name  in Scotland) and when going in the Captain had to hug the southern shore as in the middle of the waters is an enourmous salmon fish farm. Operated by Norwegians when looking at the flags of the support ships. But a bit deeper in the bay, there was ample space, so the good ship Hebridean Princess dropped the anchor and by 14.30 hrs. the guests started their invasion of the Kingairloch Estate. As many Estates in Scotland nowadays, the land is not longer owned by people of Scottish descend but by foreigners. This Estate is no different, being owned by a couple from Belgium. Luckily  they take their responsibilities seriously and they are busy with restoring parts of the Estate such as boundary walls.

This is one of the 2 little tender boats (stowed on the bow when not in use) that ferry the guests ashore. Each can take 10 and thus all guests can be ashore in a total of 4 runs., or about 20 minutes.

What else is there to do? Well one can climb up the mountain and then slide down the mountain again. Walk around the Estate and oggle at the Main House (from a distance as it is occupied) and there is a small church somewhere up the hill. Another call for nature lovers as there was a lof of deer around. I had hoped for a Castle today, as we had done birds (St. Kilda), Raasay (distilerry and nature),  Stornoway (history and shopping), Gairloch (nature), Inverrie (nature and pub), so basically all that was missing was a Castle. But no such luck, today it was more nature.

The Captain conducting the bridge tour. On this ship it is always done by the Captain and, contrary to many main stream cruise companies, it is free of charge.

This morning while in Loch Linhe we had a bridge tour, where the Captain explained how all the old stuff from 1964 worked (original engines, steering wheel and engine telegraphs) and all the modern additional equipment, such as Radars with chart overlay. Course plotters, auto pilots and a plenthora of communication equipment.

The original 1964 steering wheel. It has been modified (front side} so it is now also connected to a modern autopilot.

For me it was like going back to 1981 – 1986 when sailing on the steamships ss Statendam (IV) and ss Rotterdam (V) where everything was also done via the ships telegraphs with the engine room. Here the communication is with a engineer who locally operates the diesel engines with only a response delay of 3 or 4 seconds. In my early days, with steam, it could take up to 2 minutes before the requested  steam pressure/ revolutions were there as promised.

The original telegraphs are still in use. With the signal going down to the E.R where it is acknowlegd by an engineer before he then adjusts the speed/revolutions  as requested. The two boxes here on the bridge wing, contain the bow thruster handle, the rudder handle and the speed and wind indication.

The bridge tour lasted a good hour as Captain Heaton is very enthousiastic and also very proud of his little ship. He is now in his 24th. year of sailing on it. Once the “mere amateurs”  had departed I had a chance to discuss with him what of the all stuff was still good (everything) what of the new stuff was good (not much, but compulsory) and the intricasies of handling a ship like the Hebredian Princess. I already had had an (rather alcoholic) session with him in  the lounge late evening during the first formal night. Here we had put the world to right and discussed the reasons why we both did not work in an office.  He is now 30+ years at sea, while I have clocled 42 years, but if his enthouisiam indicates anything, he will get to the 40 years without much of a challenge.

This evening we had our last formal night, with the traditional presentation of the Haggis, which was spoken to (By reciting Robert Burns famous poem) by the Captain in his best scottish.  The Captain had dropped the hook around 1800 hrs. in Oban bay, so we could have a quiet formal dinner and night.  Tommorrow morning we will shift from the anchorage to the dock around 08.00 hrs. and then disembarkation starts around 08.30. I have first to collect my car, load the luggage, and then drive 5 hrs. to Newcastle for an overnight followed by the next day with another 5 hrs. to get home.

Weather for tomorrow, rain, totally overcast with temperatures around 09oC / 48oF. It looks like it that Autumn is finally coming to Scotland.

As usual the final blog with the verdict will come in a few days, when I am home and have arranged my thoughts.

 

2025 Oct. 19; Gairloch to Shieldaig to Inverie.

October 20, 2025 / / 1 Comment

Today was a day of sightseeing with 2 ports thrown in, after a night at anchor.

We left Gairloch at 18.00 hrs. and dropped the anchor an hour later at a place called Applecross. The Captain did not announce why we left, we could have stayed overnight here but I assume the local ferry was coming in and the Hebridean Princess had to leave.  Not that anybody cared, it was all about……….. where do we go next……….. The old man popped up at 19.25 hrs. last night after dropping the hook and he was rather vague about what he was going to do today. Apart this being a mystery cruise, it is also the weather that is very changeable at the moment,  so it is better to keep some options on the back burner.

The angle of the wind was in the end not such that “ruffled” the waves very much. The storm was mainly felt in open waters. We  had a windforce 5 to 7 for awile but as the wind has not been blowing for very long yet, there was no swell, so in the end we were hardly affected apart from a “wee bit of rain”.

So we  were advised that we would pick up the hook around 08,00 hrs. and then sail to Shieldaig in Loch Torridon (after which our cabin is named). The ship dropped anchor there and  by 09.30 hrs. guests could go ashore for walking. Shieldaig  is a small town with 50 houses and some hotels for the holiday season. As pubs normally do not open before 11.00 hrs. we decided to stay on board. Her ladyship watching a murder movie and me uploading yesterdays blog.

With 50 odd houses, Shieldaig is a real metroplis compared to some of the villages we see dotted along the coast.( Photo courtesy, somebody with a drone)

It was all on board by 11.30 to go south and go under the Skye Bridge. Which is a big thing as the birdge is known worldwide because of the Scots complaining bitterly about the toll costs. The Dutch do the same and I fully agree, because Toll Roads  do not support the local community. They only give an excuse for a politician (There will be no extra tax, as the bridge will pay for itself)  and for the rest they rake in money from the locals, far more than what the bridge cost to contruct, and that money is then used for projects somewhere else that have nothing to do with the local community who paid the tolls.  In a nutshell, here is the story.

The Skye Bridge,connects the Isle of Skye to the Scottish Mainland. The bridge has been designed in such a way that all the ferries, including our Hebridean Princess fit under it.  (Photo courtesy: internet google)

The Isle of Skye is a major island with a lot of people who need to or want to travel. The little ferry could not cope with getting all the cars across in a timely manner. So it was decided to build a bridge. A bridge that would pay for itself. When the bridge was finished in 1995, the locals quickly found out that they had the highest tolls to pay in the world. for the lenght of the bridge. The plan was for a 40 pence toll but then it went up to 11.40 pounds. This made the Scotts lament that this was Europe’s most expensive bridge. (This was before Brexit, so they could legally say so).  The Scotts affected got together and due to this pressure the tolls were abandoned in December 2004.  Complainers alledge that the tolls raked in around  £33 million from tolls, dwarfing the bridge’s building costs pegged at £3.5 million. There are still lawsuits going on, from those who paid the tolls in this period, saying that it was way too high as the Government made a profit, instead of cutting it off, once the bridge had been paid for.

The mv Hebridean Princess at anchor in Loch Nevis.

From there we sailed passed Armadale (famous for Armadale Castle) but did not stop there as the anchorage was fully exposed to wind and sea.  Instead we sailed passed the town of Mallaig into Loch Nevis and dropped anchor outside “The Old Forge” in an area/ town called Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula.  This is mainly  a pub and it is called the “the remotest pub” on the British Mainland. They claim this title as there is no road leading there. All cars have to come and go by ferry and only hikers can descend from the higher mainland down to the shore. Still quite a few people live here, but – unless they walk a long way- they are reliant on the ferry service. The ferry calls in the summer time twice a day and once during the winter months, all of course weather depending. That ferry then takes everybody to another “Tarbert” in the mainland where there is a good road connection. The dock was too shallow for the Hebridean Princess and thus we were ferried in by the two little tenders that are carried on board. As they are half exposed/open, there is always the danger that you can be tipped out if the tender hits an un-expected wave and thus we have the ritual each time of donning an inflatable lifevest.  Once ashore the ship has a collection area where you leave it until you return.

The Old Forge, which I assume in the grey mists of time once was a Blacksmiths Forge before it became a pub.

There are options galore here to go sightseeing and walking with a few historic locations nearby but most of the guests on board went for the pub. This is a community Pub, run by volunteers as the commercial version could not survive. Now a local pub such as the “Old Forge”  always has my blessing as it is normally the heart of the local community and thus should be carefully nurtured. 2nd thing is, Community run pubs are normally Free Houses. E.G free of a commercial brewery chain and thus it can sell any beers it likes.  And yes, I was not disappointed, 7 different craft beers were available so I was in heaven. My choice went this time to a national Scottish beer, (a bit like a light Guiness and although they call it “heavy”), the McEwan draft is more like  dark ale.  For the pub it was a hey-day with suddenly another 35 or so customers popping up. The costs of the drinks were once again picked up by the company so all was well in the world. We stopped here from 16.00 hrs. to 18.45 hrs. just enough time to stretch our legs and have a pint and then the ship sailed for the nights anchorage.

The inside of the Pub. Rebuilt by volunteers and ran by volunteers. All the locals who were involved have been immortalised with their names engraved in the wooden bar face and I suppose honoring the best customers) in the bar seats.

This afternoon beer did not detain all the guests from being in the main lounge (it is called the Tiree lounge, after the Isle of Tiree) to be ready by 19.00.hrs. for cocktails and good conversation. We have no music, and none is needed as everybody is busy enough with talking to each other. Where you sit in the lounge depends on when you come in and where there is a space left. Most of our guests are British but from various area’s, such as the middle of England, but also from the Isle of Man, island of Guernsey. Then there are a few  Scots who have a home holiday. And they include a couple from Portree, a town in the area we are sailing in. Yesterday they could even see their town while we sailed into the Loch opposite. Then we have one Canadian from Montreal, one American from Colorado (the two are mother and daugther) and then there is one Dutchman………………

At 19.30 the captain showed up again and announced that tomorrow will be sightseeing through some small fjords, with a stop in the late afternoon. From there it was down to dinner, and tonight we had the Staff Captain at our table, which before he came to work here was working for Princess Cruises, which was between 2006 and 2022 part of the “Holland America Group” within Carnival. As you can see, it is a small world.

Weather for tomorrow: Overcast with a chance of showers and temperatures around 10oC / 50oF, so everybody is happy that the weather is holding.

 

2025 Oct. 18; Stornoway to Gairloch, Scotland.

October 19, 2025 / / 6 Comments

The route from Stornoway to Gairloch. I think that the captain wanted to be in the lee of the islands ahead of the turning weather, intstead of having to bounce through it tomorrow.

We left Stornoway at 08.00 hrs.  in the morning and crossed a stretch of open waters called “The Minch”. An excellent area for bird and whale watching and several reports came in that all this wild life had indeed been sighted. It turned into a sunny day, which is very good for mid October in Scotland, but it is also the harbinger of a change in the weather. There is a depression moving in from the North Atlantic ocean and it is pushing the area of high pressure into Europe. This high pressure system gave calm and warm weather with overcast skies but the depression coming in is pushing the clouds away for the day and the coming night.

Gairloch harbour on the inside of the Ferry dock which also acts as a breakwater.

So after a sunny crossing of”The Minch” we docked at the town of Gairloch, which has a ferry dock. The ferry only comes in every other day or so, so the dock is open to the Hebridean Princess, which with its 85 meters is about the biggest ship that can dock here.

Even while being a small ship, the stern still overhung the nick in the dock. The ships gangway had to be hooked in on the Promenade deck, due to the tide, on a deck where most of the public rooms are and some cabins.

Fishing and tourism is the main business here and the buildings around the dock were all there to support the industry. A small village shop complemented the setup. Gairloch is home to the Gairloch and Conan Estate, a 60,000 acre spread, owned by the MacKenzie family but is open to those who want to go walking around the place. At the entrance to the Gairloch Estate, there is a small Inn called “The Old Inn” which, looking at the empty beer barrels outside, must be doing a roaring trade. For once I did not see any Germand or Dutch cars but there was one from Belgium , from Antwerp and that is also sort of Dutch /Flemish.

The main locality here in Gairloch is the Old Inn. As it is an Inn, it is more focused on rooms and dinners, than on being a Pub, so we walked by. I like my pint in a pub atmosphere,not while over looking tables with diners.

The  main reason to be here was to offer the guests the opportunity to visit the Inverewe gardens. (Not to be mistaken by the Inverness Botanical Gardens. The ship had laid on a coach for transport and paid the entrance fee. The main reason for these gardens to be here, is the influence of the Gulf Stream whose warmer waters just hit the sheltered bay in the right way, and thus all sorts of plants, even palm trees can grow here and survive the winter.  But you have to be into plants and gardens to really apreciate it.

Inverewe Gardens, located north of Gairloch. (Photo courtesy, unknown source on the Internet)

We left Gairloch at 18.00 hrs. and dropped anchor in a location called Applecross an hour later, in a sheltered bay for a quiet night. During cocktail hour, the Captain was rather vague about what he was going to do tomorrow, it is a mystery cruise after all, but we were going for a morning stop at the metropolis of Shieldaig, and then sailing down the coast for the remainder of the day. I think he did not want to be more specific as the route will depend on how fast the wind will turn from the East (which gives the sheltered bay in Shieldaig) to the South West which could give a bumpy ride in The Minch.

This is from an internet photo, but it gives a good idea of how intense the Northern Lights were this evening.

Thus we had a quiet day today, but during dinner pandemonium broke out as the naturalist Brian came down to show the photos he had just taken of the the Northern Lights. Luckily he did so after the main course had been served as a considerable number of guests dropped their cutlery and raced out. Had he come in earlier, I think he would have been confronted by a Chef who would not have been “amused”. The Northern Lights were rather faint but on the Smart Phones the fotos came out quite nicely. Lesley and I did not race out as we have seen it much more intense in the North of Norway and in Alaska.

The shipping forecast for 19 Oct.  We are in the forecast area called Mailin which is just North of Northern Island.

Tommorrow morning we are in Shieldaig and then in the afternoon scenic cruising while heading South. The Shipping Forecast is predicting a 975mb low off the Scottish Coast with gale force winds. But with nearly every port being protected by high mountains, there will sufficient anchorages and/or docks to pull into.

As she was originally, the RMS Columbia in 1964.

As this was a short blog, a little bit of history about the ms Hebridean Princess as before 1989 she was the car ferry RMS Columba and later the MV Columba when the Royal Mail Contract fell away.

Cars being loaded in the old days. This location is now covered in with cabins and the ships galley.

She could handle 500 – 600 day passengers and 50 cars, via ramps in the stern and in the bow and a few extra could be hoisted on deck by means of a deck crane.

The main restaurant. Slightly less luxurious than that shown on the photo in yesterdays blog. (Photo courtesy:  from a Calmac Brochure)

The ship was in those days in service between the ports of Oban, Craignure (on Mull) and Locahline (on Morven)  until new ferries came along with much better Ro-Ro capacities and the company decided to change the ship into a small cruise ship. She was converted in Great Yarmouth to a very high specification with a capacity for 48 passengers and 38 crew.

The high “quality” cabin accommodation of 1964. This looks like an inside cabin, so  see below, how an inside cabin now looks like.

Since then she has been sailing around the coast of Scotland with deviations into Norway and the English southcoast. Lately she has been concentrating on North West Scotland and also for 2026, there are no cruises further afield than what can be reached from the port of Oban.

The Loch Crinan cabin on deck 1 (that is on the lowest deck) where there are four insides in the bow section and 2 in the stern section. All cabins are named after Lochs or Isles so there are no cabin numbers. The cabins one deck up (Waterfront deck) have portholes and the deck above (Princess deck) has windows and are the biggest ones.

 

2025 Oct. 14; Oban, Scotland.

October 15, 2025 / / 0 Comments

In 2010 I was at anchor with the ms Prinsendam (II) at Oban. Tendering in windforce 10. But as we had a sheltered anchorage right under the cliff off a small island just outside the port entrance, we could do it. The tenders hugged the harbour wall to stay out of the wind and  swell we had a good day. (At least for Scottish standards). Around 10 am. we were asked by the harbour master to stop the tenders as the ferries were coming out and the Hebridean Princess was going in. I had heard about her, never seen her, and had heard only rumours about what the little ship did. I  sort of an kept eye on her as I found it amazing that this litte ship, of a one ship company, could survive. But it did. From 1996  onwards. It even acted as a private yacht for Queen Elizabeth and family in 2006 and 2010 after she had lost the Royal Yacht Brittania.

Fast forward to 2025 and in the spring we got an offer in the post with an early discount, too good to miss, so we signed  up, That is not that simple as all the cabins on board are different. Located over 4 decks and the largest cabins do not necessarily have the biggest bed. Some cabins have a bath, some a shower, some a combination. As we had no idea what to expect, we booked the Torringdon Suite, an inside cabin, on the lowest deck (former car deck)………… but with a 6 foot bed.

The Kelpies. There are 2 ways of going North into Scotland, following the west coast route or the east coast route. Our Sat Nav decided that we were going West and thus we drove past the Falkirk Wheel (see cruise review of the Nieuw Statendam) and the Kelpies. Here an action shot taken at 70 mph. from the car by Lesley, as this section of the road is the last stretch of a dual carriageway.

Oban is halfway up the Scottisch West coast so it takes a bit of doing to get there. We cannot fly to Glasgow from where we live but you can if you come from London.  (The ship sends a coach to pick people up from Glasgow airport) Taking the train in the UK is fraught with challenges as you never know if you get there on time, plus for us it would entail several train changes. So we took the car, 5 hours to Newcastle with a night in a hotel and then 5 hours across and up Scotland to Oban. The wider roads/ motorways, disappear near Glasgow and then it is a regular, sometimes small A road for the rest. (Think 40 miles an hour maximum due to villages, roadworks, tight corners and opposing traffic).  By 16.30 hrs. we pulled up at the Northern Lighthouse Pier in Oban where the ship was docked. Offloaded the luggage and Lesley and then  I went with 4 other cars, by following a taxi , to a covered & secure car storage in the middle of the town. Then the 4 drivers piled into the taxi and were taken back to the ship, were Tea was waiting. All very civilised.

Before I start the cruise, I need to explain a bit about the ship, as it is a one ship wonder and more of a Five to -seven star happening than a run-of-the-mill small luxury cruise ship.

The ms Hebridean Princess  was built as a local ferry in 1964 but refurbished to a very high standard in 1989.

2025 Sep. 27 Azamara Cruise. Final Review and Verdict.

October 7, 2025 / / 4 Comments

We made it safely home from the Fusina cruise terminal as we had booked our own transport. The ship offered transport (to be bought separately) to the airport by coach which did work quite well.  (At least we saw them all back in the Airport). It was just interesting to see how the local ground staff managed to change something so simple as boarding a coach into a mass of confusion; including blocking the exit to the outside for those not involved.

We had organised our own transport. Azamara does offer direct transfers from the airport to the ship  but not a pick up from a hotel after an overnight.   A good job we did so, as our flight got moved at the last minute due to a strike of klm ground staff so we did not arrive at our hotel until midnight the night before our cruise.  Then it is better to get your own transport directly to the terminal yourself.

Our verdicts in a nut shell: (and this is the personal opinion of me and my wife)

Azamara Website is not good at all

Shoreside Customer service is  not good either. It was very hard to get answers out of them when phoning. Everybody blamed it on the split up from RCI, but that is were Management Leadership steps in and ensures that the transfer is smooth and painless.

Shipboard service is very good; up to excellent as long as it does not has to do with shore side. It seems that the hands of Guest Relations are tied when trying to deal with issues on board generated by the shore side. It seems that they can not even correct the letters sent to the cabins on boarding day.

The Glare:  100%.

For those who do not know what this is: as long as I have been in a management position on the ships, I have tried to improve the friendliness of my crew members. (It takes 17 muscles to smile and 30 to frown ……..so why don’t you smile…..) I do this by gazing straight into a officers or crew members eyes when I meet them and note the reaction. I have continued to this during all the cruises (From the captain downwards) that my wife and I are now making. It is not fool proof but it gives a pretty good idea of how friendly a ship/company in principle is. All companies claim to be friendly but it does not always work out in real life. Especially officers (often very Senior) do not seem to get  the message all the time.

So I am very happy to note and very impressed that the Azamara Onward Scored 100%. During the whole 9 days I did not meet a single person on board (Including Sr. Officers and Engineers) who did not smile or did not greet.   VERY IMPRESSED and kudo’s to the whole on board team. Because of this (and the Greek itinerary of small ports coming up in 2027) we have booked another cruise  on the Azamara Onward.

Details:

What is wrong with company and website ? Well it gave the wrong information at the time of booking. If you do that as part of the booking process, it becomes proof of what is booked and what you are entitled to. It still advised things that had already changed on board. When we tried to find out details about where the ship was docked and how certain things  worked, the person who answered the phone, just read back what was listed on the website.

Because of the promises on the website we paid for a  higher level cabin, to get extra perks/amenities. Only to only find out, when boarding, that these were not provided anymore.

Based on the website write up, we decided to book a Verandah Plus cabin instead of a regular Verandah. Deck 8 forward  (there are 4 of them, 2 on the portside and 2 on the starboard side)

This came with: as listed on the website.

Priority Boarding ——————  We were not on the priority boarding list

Newspaper in cabin (*) …………………..  Discontinued

Flowers in the cabin………………………..  Discontinued

Spirits in the cabin (**)……………………   Not defined what we would get

Bathrobe and slippers (***) ……………………   No slippers. We got them after we complained to housekeeping

Fruit in the cabin…………………………….   Seemed to have changed to on request.

(*) this was also still on the welcome letter in the cabin but they had stopped that at least 2 months before.

(**) we were expecting a bottle each. But you get one per cabin. Some cabins have 4 beds, you pay for four people but still only get one bottle. Except for the four top suites, there it is 2 bottles. (When looking at You Tube, there was a video from post Covid when it was still 3 bottles.)  In principle I do not even know why they bother as most spirits are included in the basic Drinks Included “complimentary” package. But if you provide/ advertise a perk, you have to do it right.

Very confusing directions to get Fusina. All information says: go to a Ro-Ro terminal but the important part that is omitted is that once you come close to the entrance you have to keep to the righthand side and security will direct you through a not-used ferry gate to a side road going to the Terminal. Once through, you get the first sign saying “cruises”.  Luckily most taxi’s know it but there was a couple who had rented a car themselves and ended up in the queue of the boarding/ticketing lane for a ferry and could not get out anymore.

The website is very unclear of what the “complimentary” drinks include. Hence I published the on board listing on one of the days write ups. We had the premium package included as part of our booking but we really did not need it. So we would not have been very happy if we had bought it (At $ 31.95 a day a person) and then would have realized that we did not need it. We spoke to a Canadian couple who were rather pi……d off because of this. (Then they tried to upgrade to the Ultimate package $ 39.95 a day, just to make it worthwhile. So they expected that they could just pay the difference of $ 8,– a day. No, they had to pay the full price so they would each be paying $ 31.95 + $ 39.95 a day………………….)

The cabin (8800) had been in someway converted in 2022 and they had forgotten to install 2 ceiling spotlights above the mirror. The asst. housekeeper was really startled about it but found a desk lamp somewhere in a locker that we could use. Good and appreciated gesture but it should not be necessary. Housekeeping was going to try to get the Electricians to put 2 ceiling lightspots in. If it works, then future ladies sitting behind the desk can be grateful to us when putting on their make up.

Other Observation & Suggestions for improvement:

*Guest Services. We had a meeting with both the Concierge and the Guest Relations Manager  about the discrepancies between the Azamara Website & perks and although they felt very sorry for us, nothing was done. We did not request anything, we will take it up with the office, but it would have been nice to have seen a token of concern. Holland America (5 star) does chocolate covered strawberries, Celeystial (3 star) does flowers etc.etc. But Azamara which hovers somewhere between 4 and 6 star, only smiles.

*Tender service. It was very bad in Hvar. This was a 4 tender distance and only 2 tenders were in operation causing (during our return to the ship) 50 guests to sit and wait in a hot tender. The other 2 tenders were housed.  I hope that will be better next cruise when each of the ports we visit, will be a tender port.

Special compliments to the Food &Beverage Manager Laze, the Exe Chef and the Lido Sous Chef who actively walked around the Lido  restaurant (Windows Cafe) to talk to the guests.

Final note: There are 3 drinks packages available.

1.  Complimentary package (everybody gets this)

2. Premium package ($31.95 a day a person)

3. Ultimate pacakage ($39.95 a day a person)

We had the 2nd level included with our cruise booking. But we found that what was included “complimentary” was more than enough. We used the package only a few times, when Lesley wanted a Bombay Saphire Gin instead of the basic gins.  So in our opinion it is not worthwhile to buy the two top tiers of the drinks package unless you want to have a upscale gin, whisky or cognac each evening. For the average drinker there  is more than enough varation in beers, cocktails, wines and soft drinks available.

Our next cruise with Azamara is to the Greek Islands and we hope that by that time the Head Office has sorted out their communication problems and we can trust their website.

 

 

2025 Sep. 25; Sibenik, Croatia.

September 26, 2025 / / 4 Comments

Today we are in the small, but old town of Sibenik, located about half way between Split and Zadar.  For this the captain had to make some speed  as he had to sail outside the islands to the North of Dubrovnik and then re-enter again as Sibenik is located Inland.

By 8 am, we were at the pilot station in the Sibenski Kanal and then sailed into a (fairly) narrow channel called the Pasmanski Kanal. The Croatians use the name Kanal for a waterway between 2 islands but it is not a “Canal” in the English sense of the word as a canal has locks at either side (like the Panama Canal) but more of a channel or a fairway with land at either side. So we sailed in the Pasmanski Channel which was very scenic. I can understand why the Romans, Greeks and the Venetians were excited about this space, as one Fort (located at the entrance) can keep any fleet away from coming close. You are then forced to land troops and the mountain ridges and crevices do not make that easy.

The Fortress of St. Nikolas. This defense point is one of a series of Venetiian Forts located along the islands to protect Sibenik and the surrounding area. It is open to the public via boat tours and seems to be under renovation as there was a large pile of big stones stored at the other side.

Sailing in, is about a mile and not unlike the more narrow part of the Panama Canal. The ship had two pilots on board, one on the bridge to guide the ship and the other at the stern to see if it made the turn safely. Once through you end up in a large body of water with the  old city of Sibelink perched against the hill side. The whole of the old town is now given over to tourist shops, restaurants and holiday apartments. On each side, outside the city walls, is the new city which is built on the more flatter parts of the land.

The sail through. The Azamara Onward is not the biggest ship that goes through. When we came to the anchorage we saw that the Viking Jupiter (1000 guests 60,000 tons) had come through as well and was docked at the main terminal.

It is a very sheltered anchorage and during the day our ship barely drifted around on the anchor. This gave for a very scenic view of the city which in the old days was protected from inland invasions by several big forts. Apart from that the old town has 16 (!) old churches on what I think is barely a quare mile and several palaces as the Venetians knew how to live well. So we went ashore by tender. This was a 2 tender distance and 2 tenders were in  use, with this time the waiting times for the tenders being not so long as Security was wise enough not to stick to 30 minute departures but worked more on the “demand and supply” method. I complained about the bad tender service in Havr (a 4 tender distance with only 3 and after 1300 only 2 tenders going) so maybe somebody listened.

The view of the old town from the ship.  The fortress of St. Michael is towering above the town on top of the hill and there are two more of them nearby. To the right the cupola of the Cathedral  of St. James is clearly visible.

We had plans to find the “main” shopping street but there is not really one in the old town. Each row of houses is on a different level so leaving the boulevard along the water means climbing 10 or 15 steps, finding a small square surrounded by houses/and maybe a shop and then another 10 to 15 steps to the next level. Getting that way to the top, the Fortress of St. Michael, is about 300 steep steps in small increments. But you can take a taxi.  The only larger square is in front of the Cathedral (yes another one) of St. James is about 20 steps above boulevard level. But then one does need some space to get processions lined up and you do need a location where the local magistrates can address the population. Now it was filled with several tour groups from the Viking Jupiter and Tui- tourists as TUI has a resort nearby.

This is the end of the main square outside the Cathedral.  The people standing here are listening to their tour guide via their bla-bla box and it seems something  exciting about the roof is being explained. Behind them, the next set of steps up to the next small street of houses.

We tried a few of the small streets on the various levels and then walked back along the boulevard where some of the very expensive yachts were docked. It was interesting to see how the owners or guests (most of these yachts are out for charter if the owners are not on board) were going ashore. Of course at that level of luxury you do not order an Uber, Bolt or regular taxi, no, 3 porsche SUV’s were used to whisk them away.  I wonder if your life becomes really boring if you can afford anything you want and there is nothing left to long for.

The ms Azamara Onward at anchor in the bay. The gap just of the left of the ship is the channel through which we came in and would leave.

By 12.30 hrs. we were back on board and in the Lido, the Windows Cafe, and here we had our next interesing exchange with the crew. It looked to me that the food on display did not change very much from day to day. Not that this is unusual but normally when you are on a 5* to 6* ship you see a bit more variation. So we asked the waitress, who felt  very uncomfortable about the question and was going to pass the message on. No less then 5 minutes later a sous chef popped up with the question if anything was wrong.  No that was not the issue, it was just a genuine question out of interest. Then came the explanation that about 90% is standard / the same every day but depending on the port, or sea area, they change one or two stations to local speciality dish. With Croatia this seemed to be a little bit more difficult so it was sort of limited to one fish dish. But they had 3 new flavors of ice cream for the day and a different selection of cheese. (which is quite an extensive selection, bigger than on many other much larger ships) And with me being “Jan Kaas or John Cheese” from Holland I had absolutly no problem with this.

Departure, all on board at 16.00 hrs., was slightly delayed due to two guests who missed the last tender. Luckily the tender was still in the water and could return after the ships agent spotted them at the now deserted tender dock.  Most companies have the policy that they pay the Agent to stay behind for an hour or so, when guests are missing and then get them back on board in the next port.

One of the two holes in the wall. A relic from World War II.

When sailng out through the Kanal/channel we could see the other side of the shore line and here the rock formation is a little bit higher. Because of the location, the Germans dug a tunnel into the rock during WWII so their torpedo boats could sail in and out of Sibeniks harbour while the  sea mine barrier in the channel could be left untouched. The in/out entrance and the out/in entrance together are called locally “Hitlers eyes”.  It was in use for quite a while after the war but with the collapse of Yuguslavia the navy left the base behind. (In the back of the island there are still a lot of Nissen Huts and other military facilities visible).

A view inside. The entrance is blocked off for boats but pedestrians can walk through via the pathway on the side. ( Photo courtesy: Camera Obscura Website)

Evening entertainment started early today. One of the castmembers, Linda Fitzgerald gave her own show at 17.30 in the Cabaret Show Lounge. She is from Irish decent and sang a number of songs which influenced her career. She studied in London and joined the cruise ships in 2016. Not a bad move as the days that you “had to make Broadway” are gone as the entertainment on the ships is as good and sometimes of an even higher standard.

A very good show by one of the talented cast of the ship.

Then it was off to dinner in the dining room where as usual the food was pleasant and the service friendly. Next stop was “The Den” where another cast performer was given a solo performance. Now it was “Richie” an American from New Jersey who had two Master degrees in modern music/musicals. So he sang for 45 minute some of the well known and not so well known songs from various Broadway shows. Again very good. Then we had the option to go to the main show in the Cabaret Lounge by the Cruise Director Emily Love. Again a very talented singer with a very powerful voice as we had heard  during the White Night. But as we knew that we could see her show on the TV tomorrow we decided that we had enough culture for one evening and called it a day.

Tomorrow we are in Fusina for an overnight stay. This port, where we boarded, is about 30 minutes by car and 45 minutes by Vaparetto from Venice. So those who wanted to see Venice could buy tickets for transfers. Weather tomorrow: Overcast with a chance of showers and temperatures around 21oC / 70oF.  We should be docking around 09.00 hrs. so we will be able to gorge ourselves on the wonderful skyline of the Mestra  industrial area. (see day 1)

2025 Sept. 23; Kotor, Montenegro.

September 24, 2025 / / 3 Comments

Today we are in Kotor, Montenegro which is located at the end of a fjord.  From the pilot station, where we arrived at 08.00 it is a 2 hour sailing time to the dock. And it is a very scenic route so we had breakfast on the balcony and watched Montenegro float by.

The fjord has one narrow part where you have a nice view at the local villages. Fully in line with local tradition they built on this very scenic spot a church. I suppose it is a way to stop people arguing who has to right to build a house there. This little place is called Kamenari and provides a ferry service to the other side of the fjord.

The ship had made a lot of noise about the fact that this country is not (yet) in the European Union and thus everybody was warned multiple times that the global roaming on their phones might not work and that one could incur considerable costs. For the North Americans who had packages for Europe, they had to find out if their “Europe” package was the whole of Europe or only for the countries included in the European Union. I never have worries here as my Lord and Master can quote each England package and tariff out there by heart and I am reminded every day whether my phone package works, does not work or where it is subject to expensive tariffs.

For the large ships (Mein Schiff carries about 3000 guests) it is a long tender distance. The area of houses you can see in the photo is the modern part of Kotor where most people live and which has the larger bars, restaurants and shops. The Mein Schiff tender is the brown box at the dock.

There was another ship in port, the Mein Schiff 6, belonging to the German Operator Tui but as she was much too big to dock, she had to anchor quite far out and ran a 6 tender service to the pier where we were docked. Big tender as well, with two big entry doors, so the 300 person capacity could embark or disembark very fast. The pier can handle ships up to about 220 meters length and that normally means nothing over 60.000 tons or 1400 pax. Thus for these little ports it makes sense to come in with a smaller ship. It did not deter the Germans from marching ashore in large numbers and the small old town was full to capacity with 3000 of them, tourists coming for a day tour or staying in Montenegro and about 600 of us.

Old Kotor is a walled city with a moat at the sea side and snuggled against the mountain at the other side. A number of years ago the City decided (see the blue canopy to the left) to put in a under ground crossing  with escalators for tourists to get to the old town. There were too many car accidents. The Kotorians are very friendly people but once they drive a car , there is a certain disrespect for the rest of the world that also might be using the road. And of course there is always a number of pedestrians who just cross the street with paying attention to any traffic at all. Together a potential mix to keep the emergency services busy. Now accidents have been reduced to tourists falling down the escalator.

The old town has been completely taken over by souvenir shops, small restaurants and the upper floors of the houses are now all apartments for rent. I did not see many locals living there but they must be making a lot of money from the apartments and shop rents. We just went for a walk, bought another soup spoon and avoided the more expensive goods. There were a lot less jewerly shops than in the other ports but they had been replaced by leather shops. Also ceramics were more prominent. All in all better quality than we have seen before. But the nicer ceramics were the large hand painted plates and how do you get them home ?The problem is that with the United Kingdom out of the European Union, the postal charges are quite considerable. The Ottoman (turks) were in the area for a long time and this considerably influenced the merchandise in the shops as well. Hence the leather, ceramics but also very nice turkish lamps. Which look a bit like Tiffany lamps but are much more detailed.

The wall or ramparts as they are called locally, leading to the top of the protecting mountain San Giovanni. Above the top of the photo on the rim of the moutain is another fortress, serving as a look-out and early defense against intruders.

Most of the old town defences and buildings are from the Venetians days when the City State of Venice controlled much of the Mediteranean and established a very large trading network. They built or improved the city walls and also the ramparts going all the way up the montain. If you want to walk them it is 1350 steps to the top. Maybe ok in the winter but not on a summers day like this.

Kotor Square with Bell Tower. I had to wait a considerable time before the square was somewhat cleared for a photo as it was a very touristy day,

Because the city is walled, you always end back up in the middle of the town which has an open square, overlooked by the Clock tower of the 15th. century. It still rings the hours. More to the back is the Tryphon Cathedral (yes yet again another cathedral with a bishop) that is even older. After looking at so much culture it was time to go back on board. We decided to skip lunch as we had a heavy evening coming, “white night”.  This is a signature event of Azamara and we had heard good reports about it and if the buffet was comparable to the Balkan Buffet of a few days ago, we would have nothing to complain about. It runs for  the whole evening and the ships crew sets up tables and chairs around the pool, on pool level and deck 10 above  (running track). Everybody is encouraged to dress up in white. About 90% of the guests were completely  in white and the rest in a variation of white. A few guests had not gotten the memo and showed up in other colors. Here crowd control set in, with “Negative Vibes” and they quickly left the scene to go to the dining room)

Table set-up. Those who are “in the know” arrived early to beat the quickly forming line for the food,

18.15 White Night warm up with DJ Symz (barbed wire techno music)

18.30 Buffet opens  (Guests start to line up)

19.00 Get the party started with SensAsia (4 piece band with singer)

20.00 Special Event Crew Waves (crew parade)20.15 Azamara Presents…. The White Night party (Cruise Director, full cast and showband)

21.45 White night After party with SensAsia

10.45 White Night After Party with D.J Symz.

We were dressed accordingly and I was one of the very few gents who wore white shoes (courtesy of my sailing days and in normal life hard to buy)  and it was a great party. The setup was perfect with the SensAsia band providing entertainment during dinner. Then most of the crew marched in, waving flags to say thank you (for paying their salaries) accompanied by some wise words of the captain. Then it was dancing time and the band & performers & C.D sang and danced for 90 minutes straight. The dance floor was full and each castmember and also the C.D could showcase their individual talents. Compared to this, Holland America’s Orange party, is a VERY poor relation. This how a deck party should be ran and the entertainers clearly loved it as they could show off their talents. And most entertainers are at their best when they are not hemmed in by corporate restraints.  So they went for it here, while making sure that the music remained dance music and the crowd could hop, swing and disco.  This was very good………… very very good.

The buffet being prepared. Similar to the “Balkan night” but with more variations in meat and a spaghetti station.

The line up for the buffet.

The crew is coming out, everybody waves their napkins.

The crew assembly and flags at the ready.

With drinks included it is not so difficult to get a conga line going.

The ship sailed at 22.00 and it was a very scenic sail-a-way though the fjord with the lights of the small vilages on the mountains twinkling at either side.  Tomorrow we are in Dubrovnik and we were supposed to drop anchor under the walls of the old town. However the weather, with rain storms and wind gusts, is not looking that great so the captain wisely decided to dock at Gruz which is the commercial port at the other side of Dubrovnik. The ship will lay on a shuttle bus service to the entrance of the old town but now from the land side. Weather for tomorrow: partly cloudy with rain and thunder storms expected later in the day. Tl 25oC / 75oF.

As can be clearly seen from this photo, sea air does shrink a men’s T-shir.t

 

 

 

 

2025 Sep. 22; Split, Croatia

September 23, 2025 / / 4 Comments

Today we are in Split, also Croatia. That meant sailing “backwards” with the ship during the night as Hvar is very close to Split only 61 kilometers as the Crow flies and an estimated 100 miles depending on how far the captain decided to go away from the coast.  Split is the 2nd largest city in Croatia after the capital Zagreb and was in the days of Tito and a united Yugoslavia a major industrial port. With the competition of the Far East most of the heavy industry is now gone and the city is transforming into a service hub with a big focus on tourism. I had not been to Split since 2010 and then we docked with the ship almost into the streets of the old city. Since then they have revamped the ferry port and also put a dedicated cruise terminal next to it with ample space for tour buses etc. But it means that it is now a 10 minute walk to “down town”, but it is a lot easier for the tour buses to get out of the city. Something the operators really like as each bus is charged 90 euro’s if it would drive into, or through the old city.

The view over the port from the ship. Going into th harbour area is now limited to the smaller ships as the new ferry port has expanded considerably into a much more spacious and effective set-up.

We had booked a tour here made up of a scenic tour around the larger part of the city and then a visit to Trogir which is a very small island about 40 minutes outside Split but which has been inhabited since times immemorial. It is only 240 meters wide and about 1500 meters long, but they managed to built 15 churches on it, plus one or two palaces and a lot of regular houses in this space, and a Venetian fortress, which (according to the guide) is the best one preserved in Europe. Most of the regular houses now double up as restaurants and pubs.

Air drone photo of Trogir from an unknown location on the internet. The Venetian Fortress is on the lower right off the photo.

And thus we marched off the gangway at 08.30 and were loaded with 16 others onto  a 50 seater bus so nobody had anything to complain about of not having a good window seat. Our host was Ariana Grande, and she was very proud that this was also the name of one of the main actors in the movie “Wicked”. And then she rattled on constantly for the next 3 hours. By the end we knew a lot of about the local history but even more about her family, her personal life and what she thought about the break up of Yugoslavia and how the future should go. (No Putin, No Trump, plenty Nato and long live the European Union).

Small streets as in all the old ports in Croatia.

Forty minutes later and we were in Trogir. There is only limited space for vehicles on the island (served by two bridges, of which one dates back to the 12th. century when it replaced an even older bridge) Thus all the buses, tour & local had to park at the bus station just outside the island. This bus was equipped with “bla-bla boxes” which meant the tour guide could use a microphone and we had a little box with a ear piece to understand her. It is becoming more and more standard on tours, so that the escort does not have to shout and the participants do not have to huddle close together (often in warm weather). An additional advantage is that when the escort walks away, the sound gets fainter and you are alerted to catch up before you get lost.

Cathedral of St Lawrence, which took several centuries to complete and is thus is a real mixture of various styles from Romanesque to Gothic and a bit more.   As can be seen from this photo also the inside it is a mixture of styles and designs inspired by ideas of the various ages.

We had a walk through the narrows streets and visited the Cathedral of St. Lawrence. It seems that nearly every town has a cathedral, which you can only have, if you have a Bishop in situ, so the whole of Croatia must be absolutely crammed with them.  The tour guide had to buy tickets of course, all for the upkeep of the church,  and then we got the explanation about the interior all done by local Croatian sculpturs which were basically on par with the great Italians but whose names never made it to Northern Europe. 

In one corner was a chapel with an effigy of Saint Lawrence, (his bones are supposed to be somewhere buried in the church) surrounded with disciples and other figures out of Christian history. The designer, builder, and sculptor “Radovan” had his own ideas about serving the church. So he put God in the ceiling, looking down as if he had opened a hatch and with a globe in his hand. And that was a “hint with a hammer” for the church, because when the chapel was built, the church dogma was still that the earth was flat and located the middle of the universe. Somehow the artist got away with it and God kept his globe and finally got in synch with the church teachings in the 16th. century.

God looking down from the ceiling. I do not have the photo upside down, this is really how it looks like.

After Trogir we stopped at a small restaurant / olive farm situated in a defucnt water miil,  for a nibble made up of local ham & cheese sandwiches and local wine. The wine was a dry land wine, not that great, but it did pack a punch with an alcohol percentage that must have well been over the regular 12% .. Music was provided by two locals with an accordion and a mandoline.  By 12.30 pm we were back again.  By now the sun was beating on the down town area and even the locals were complaining that it was getter warmer every year. Climate change is hitting the Tyrhennian Sea very hard (water level is about 30 centimeters higher then 20 years ago and part of the beach areas in use in the old days are now permanently submerged. Luckily the then time government had declared in 1964 that no houses were allowed to be built on beach area, but they all had to be higher up and so no Croatians are of yet affected by the rising water levels but the heat and humidity does have an impact and also the increasing irregularity of the weather patterns.

The empty Patio Cafe. The food did not taste worse because of it. In contrary, it tasted very good, maybe even more because the cook could fully concentrate on only two customers.

For dinner we went to “The Patio” on deck 10 starboard aft of the pool area. This turned out to be a hidden gem and was nearly empty. During lunch time it is the hamburger bar and well attended and in the evening it is a full restaurant with its own menu. And there was nobody there. For the next 90 minutes we had the place to ourselves and thus had a dedicated waiter and a dedicated cook.  The food was really, really good, and of course the one-on-one service as well. Near the end of the dinner, the F&B manager, Laze, came by who had already been with the company and the one before, for 18 years. When he found out that we had worked inside the industry, he was very happy to talk shop and remained for about 20 minutes. Then a telephone call from the Exe. Chef called him away.

By now it was too late for the show, so her ladyship wanted coffee and thus we went to the Mozaic Cafe on Deck 5. Here we started talking to other guests and before we knew it, it was close to midnight. Tomorrow we are in Kotor Montenegro. The Azamara Onward will be docking as she is a small ship, while the big boy, Mein Schiff 6 (2534 lower beds) will be far out at anchor. I want to be sitting on my balcony by 08.30 as that is when we go through the narrow and most scenic part of the fjord at which end Kotor is located. Weather for tomorrow: sun, temperatures 28oC /82oF no wind, no clouds.

I am not in agreement with myself yet, of what is better, docked in the chaos of downtownand be close or dock at a nice terminal on the outside (this cruise pier sticks directly into the open sea) and have safe and spacious area to serve the guests. The little carts with the canope’s are tuk-tuk, regular transport in the far East but are now more and more showing up all over Europe. They can be a rip-off & scam, but these were booked as regular ships tours.

2025 Sep. 21; Havr,Croatia.

September 23, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Today we are in Hvar, which is located on an island just south of Split where we will be tomorrow. This is again a very old town, so old that it has the most UNESCO heritage of any island in the world. (At least according to the Croatian propaganda, who I assume, forgot that the United Kingdom is also an island) They also claim it is the birthplace of organized Tourism in Europe starting in 1868. Easy to claim, but if you consider that P&O was already making cruises in 1851 then I assume we have to take that claim with a pinch of salt as well. Still it is an old place, and a touristy place, and nowadays a preferred place where the Ultra Rich hang out.  Jeff Bezos has been seen here with his yacht and also Abramovich. And today they can add Lesley and I to that list who arrived with their own cruise ship.

Hvar anchorage.. Looking at the town from our balcony. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is long distance by tender.

The Azamara Onward had to anchor (Zadrilca Bay)  off shore as there is not much of a port here and thus we had to use the ships tenders. It was a 4-tender distance, which means that in order to give a good service you need to run four of them. One alongside the tender platform, one on the way to the shore (10 minute ride), one in the port, and one on the way back (10 minutes). That way you can run a 15 minute tender service and when using that  5 minutes to get people in and out, there is no waiting time. So I was disappointed when I saw that when we went ashore at 11.00 there were only 3 tenders in operation (increasing the time to 20 – 25 minutes) and on our way back at 13.30, we were down to 2, increasing the time to 30 to 35 minutes.  Which let me believe that the claim of the Hotelmanager “we give the best service possible” has not reached the deck department yet, who run the tender service.

The main square looking towards the harbour.

When at anchor, one is constantly surrounded by little ferryboats and small cruising yachts (25 – 30 guests) who sail to the various small islands nearby and focus on on sea, snorkeling and swimming.  (sun, sea and sex for the younger clientle). They constantly arrive and leave from downtown Hvar. That is most likely the reason why we are anchored so far out as just  outside the harbour entrance, the depth of the sea is still 12 meters and the Azamara Onward only has a draft of 7 meters. But local regulations apply. So after breakfast on the balcony and waiting for the tender, we made it ashore by 11.00 hrs.

The other side of the square with the local main Church, St. Stephens Cathedral.

The harbour is surrounded by a boulevard type of dock and this is where the many small ferry’s, small cruise yachts and hotel shuttles dock. The more expensive hotels located on the various islands near the port run their own ferry boats to Hvar. The town itself is situated around the bay called Luka Hvar and has a myriad of small alleyways going up against the hills, where all the shops and restaurants are located. Focus point of it all is the Main Square which is the largest in the whole of the province of Dalmatia to which Hvar belongs. It was even bigger in the past but due to a building boom a few hundred years ago, a series of houses were built against the City Wall and on top of the North part of the square. Here a church was built in the 6th century, rebuilt in the 14th century but most of what can be seen today was remodeled in the 17th century and that includes the Bell Tower. All of Croatia, is full of these churches, as most Croatians are devout Roman Catholics, and they all charge an entry fee. With so much old stuff out there, starting with the Greeks and the Romans and ending with the Austrian Hungarian Empire, there is no way the Government can fund the repair and upkeep of all these churches; and thus the locals have to scramble to find money. Luckily tourism is a great help here and we saw tour group after tour group going in, and going out. Having looked at yet another 15th. century pulpit. (Although it is a very nice one)

The Sunset Verandah. Very popular on sea days and later in the evenings when all are back on board.

After so much culture and with the noon time temperature going up to 30oC / 86oF, we went back to the ship. Now with only 2 tenders running we had to wait 20 minutes inside the tender, before it returned to the ship, full to capacity.  As mentioned before, there is food all day, and thus we are trying to avoid temptation and are cutting down on intake. And as long as we avoid walking through the whole Lido Buffet area, that works quite well. To be away from the food, there is the option to sit on the Sunset Verandah outside and aft of the Lido with only a small lunch. When the ship is laying in a good position behind the anchor a cool breeze plays over the the deck and that makes it very pleasant. My problem is that I “yield to temptation” each time I walk by the soft ice machines. These you operate yourself and there is a whole bar of condiments. Inside the Lido there is then another ice cream stand and offers a choice of about 10 flavors  served by a cute Philippina with an ice cream sellers cap on. So life ain’t easy.

Our daily program. The loose part on the right has a rundown of events by the hour so you always know where and when something is happening. Then for each port you can pick up a local map, produced by Azamara, with local information on the back of it from the Front Desk.

Tonight we had dinner in one of the speciality Restaurants. There are 2 of them on deck 10. One is a steakhouse and the other one an Italian. Cost  $ 49,95 a head but we had it included in our package.  (When you are in the suites, if is free all the time) You just have to make sure you book on embarkation day. We had nice seat overlooking the stern of the ship while the sun set over the Croatian islands. The food was very good, the service very good, and the complimentary wines not bad either, all in all a very good experience. We had a reservation for 18.30 as the next time was 20.00 so the early dinner gave the option to make one of the shows.

The “Aqualina” Italian speciality Resturant. This is the back part, where we sat overlooking the stern of the vessel. The restaurant seats about 80 and curves around the funnel (and kitchen) on the portside, while the steakhouse does the same on the starboard side. But this location has by far the best view.

The main show tonight was the Assistant Cruise Director Jose Alpizar, who presented a singing show, which I would call a “crooning event”. We already knew he was very good but we opted for Madelaine in “The Den”.

The beautiful and talented Madelaine performing in “The Den”.

She is one of the singers in the cast and gave a solo performance. Beautiful voice but I think that this was the first time that she was doing it, as she was totally focused on the music on her tablet and forgot all about eye contact with the audience. Her boyfriend (The guitar player in the show band) was close by to provide the necessary mental support. So she has to work a bit on her show performance but she will get there as she has a very good presence on the stage during the regular shows. So we enjoyed that and then we decided to call it a day, as tomorrow we are in Split, also Croatia, and we are on tour. We are expected in the Cabaret Lounge at 08.30 for our tour sticker and dispatch to the bus.  As mentioned before, there are no announcements so you have to make sure you get there on time yourself.  Tomorrow will be another warm day, same as today. But there is talk of rain, when we get to Kotor in 2 days time.

 

 

 

 

Older posts

© 2025 – Captain Albert's Website and Blog –

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑