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

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2026 Feb. 18, Day 07 Barcelona Day 1, Spain.

February 22, 2026 / / 1 Comment

This morning we docked in Barcelona and were assigned Berth B, while the Costa Tuscani was at Berth D. Between 2010 and 2020 Barcelona heavily invested in new and state of the art cruise terminals which  now run from A to H  and then there are still the 3 small (old) ones at the World Trade Center. Unfortunately the mood in Barcelona has turned against the very large influx of cruise visitors and now there is the plan to demolish 2 of them again.

Cruise terminals in Barcalona

How that will work with nbr. H, I do not know as that one seems to have been built with MSC investments so their very big ships can dock there.  I do somewhat understand the concern of the Barcelonan’s as with all 8 big terminals full: with on average 2000+ guests on board, there are at least 16000 extra people milling around in downtown (and most of them, marching, during some moment of the day up and down the  Las Ramblas If it is a change over port day, then the approaches to the airport are clogged up with tour busses.  So a definite challenge to for the City Fathers, City Mothers and City Persons, (I am very inclusive…. to find a good balance between the needed revenue a large chunk of money for the Gaudi Church (La Sagrade Familia) and other buildings comes from the cruise industry) and still protecting the locals way of life in down town.

Photo of the Atrium taken from deck 3 down to the grand piano (Steinway size B) This is were we will wait tomorrow for the coach to the airport.

We have been to Barcelona many a time, so we decided to stay on board. Also because we have to pack in the afternoon,  we had booked a speciality restaurant booking in the evening, and we have a  coach connection to the airport at 05.45 tomorrow morning. And we were far from the earliest casualties as some guests were leaving at 02.45 in the morning.

The stern of the Viking Saturn. On top the Norwegian flag, as Viking is the last cruise company to have Norwegian registration which must be costly. Under the flag, the “Infinity pool water catcher box” under the deck 7 pool. At the water line, the “duckfoot” an extension with a dual purpose, it improves stability as it increases the surface size of the ship and also it inproves fuel economy as it acts as a “spoiler”, which you often see at the back of sports cars. (Photo courtesy, somewhere on the internet)

But it gave me the chance to walk the ship from top to bottom and to have a very good look at the interior. The outside of the ship is not so much different from the current design of other cruises ships, with a dumpy funnel, a macrodome, balconies all around the superstructure and the public rooms on the lower and the top decks with the majority of the cabins in between. But the inside design of the ship (and those of the other 12 Viking ships as they are all similar) varies considerably from other cruise company’s.

What I think is very cool is the gangway button in the lifts. When you do not know where the gangway is, you just push the button (above deck 8) and it goes to the right deck. I wish all ships would have that.

If the theme of the mega liners of Carnival, RCC,NCL and Celebrity is noise and action, here the theme is Nordic Tranquility. That might not be enjoyed by everybody but the fact that Viking is able to keep churning out a new ship each year (and this year even 2 with LNG propulsion) means that there are more than enough people who do like it.

The deck display next to each lift. Good and easy to read. The  only irritating thing is, it rotates with the gangway deck indication. So you have to wait until it comes around again.

This success is due to 3 things: smaller ships (40 – 60.000 tons is small nowadays), very good and balanced service and an harmonious interior that is consistent through the whole ship.  The ships must have been designed by a team that was given a concise briefing, did their job, and then the results were checked, to see if the briefing was followed. The President, Mr. Torstein Hagen comes from a maritime background and does therefore understand that a ship has to remain a ship, and that the end result should still be a ship and not a coorporate and ego-tripping muddle of Sr.Vice Presidents. And I think that has worked very well on these ships.

This is Deck 2 portside Atrium with sitting areas and game tables, both analog and digital.

The centre of the ships is “The Atrium” but is also called “The Living Room”.  (Saga Cruises has a similar concept).  It is mainly a lounge to sit and relax, especially on level 3. There is no library but there are bookcases full  (with very high quality books) in every corner and on every level. As well as in other lounges like the Explorers Lounge (crowsnest) on deck 7& 8). Game corners  everywhere integrated as a part of the overall concept. And the game corners were very busy, especially with guests travelling together and who enjoyed time together before the afternoon tour or after the morning tour.

Portside Forward Atrium Corner, deck 2. “Viking Museum”.

Then there is a bit of Nordic history (up and until the early 19th. century Sweden and Norway were one country) on level 2. Here is also the Future Cruise Specialist, whose office is hiding behind a very nice Viking Saturn model. Look for the model and you know where it is. The most lively part of it all is on deck 1. Here is Guest services located, but it has no counter. No, there are 6 desks with attendants (number in use depending on expected traffic during the day) so a discussion can take place in a more intimate and professional setting, instead of being “processed” at a long counter with multiple  slots.

Two of the six front desks. These two are in use on very busy days,

Shore excursion has a small stand there, for meet & greet, but for more indepth issues they take you to one of the Guest Services desks.  Diagonally opposite is the Bar, a combination of a coffee and cake stand and a regular bar.  I think it is located in this corner to be next to the Gangway, so guests can pick up a coffee before going off the ship or have a drink when coming back after an exhausting tour.  Then late afternoon it changes more and more into a bar and there are always 20 – 30 guests present. By 18.00 hrs. the cocktail crowd starts gathering before dinner, for cocktails and to listen to the Resident Pianist or the Classical duo. (The latter alternate between the Livingroom and the Explorers lounge)

The bar in the Atrium. To the left are high chairs & tables for eating your cookies or a lunch time roll. Low chairs and tables are all around the Atirum.

To my amazement it all works here extremely well, there is no noise, just the buzz from polite conversion with a tinkling piano in the background. The fact that the space is 3 decks high has no impact at all on the atmosphere. Where you walk the deck is marble but were you sit it is all carpet and thus no scraping noises and also no echoing noise.

A corner of the “Chefs Table” speciality restaurant.

Behind the Livingroom is on Deck 1, portside is the “Chef’s Table” a speciality restaurant (see further down) with a rotating menu. On the starboard side is Manfredi’s the second speciality restaurant that focusses on Italian Cuisine.  (see write up from some days ago). On the port side there is also the “The Kitchen Table” were there is a separate chefs cooking area and also options to do cooking classes.

The starboard side of “The Restaurant”. As you can see there is art everywhere and the long blueish painting is called “twilight” by Kenneth Blom painted for the ship in 2023.

Then on deck 2, there is the main dining room called “The Restaurant”.. (I think the designers wanted to ensure that a guest would not get confused about its purpose……….) This is horseshoe shaped and runs all the way around the stern. With in the center aft, a table for 14 guests. Indeed the Captains table, although Captains tables are not a regular feature of the Viking program. Normally a Captains table is 10 seats or less, but 14 can work very well, if there are Captain & 3 officers in attendance, you have a host at “each corner” of the round table).  I used to do that in the grey mists of time when on the South Pacific cruises and I resurrected the Captains tables from the old World Cruise days. Officers loved it, much more than having their own table as they knew that the Captain would run the show, keep things under control and would ensure that conversation flowed. (as well as the booze)

The Parfume and gadget shop. There is also a boutique and a jewellery store.

Then going towards the bow, there are the shops, on deck 1 and deck 2 (in my opinion overpriced and with very limited choice) and on deck 2 also the Spa, gym, and beauty salon. This is all very nice but I did not see too many customers. But maybe that was because we did not have any seadays.  On Deck 1 is the show lounge and that is a very clever set up. At each side in the back there is a Cinema and in the evening they pull away the bulkhead with the movie screen and it becomes part of the Show lounge.

The “Star Theatre”. The cinema on the starboard side is open and now part of the Theatre. The port side is still closed as there was a movie in progress.

The sightlines are very good as there are no pillars. (Every show lounge on every ship, can be without pillars, but it depends on how much a company wants to pay. Because a “free view” lounge without deck supports” calls for a heavier steel deck construction and that costs money, but it can be done. The seating rows are benches  and then a row in front of chairs( see the brown pillows in the above photo) and there are small tables in between for drinks. Also that works, unless you have a very – very tall and big person in front of you.  Drinks are served before the show starts from a very nice and large bar in the staircase behind the show lounge. Directly behind the showlounge is the Night Club called Thorshavn.

The Torshavn night club as seen from the entrance. The light stand on the left is fabricated in the shape of trombones. Not original as Holland America has the same one on board on the ss Koningsdam since 2016.

Then you get Deck 7 and 8 (outside deck).  At the bow, is the Explorers Lounge with music in the evenings. The only thing that irritates is  that the constellation display on the wall behind the bar, reflects onto the front windows and thus it is hard to see outside after dusk. But you can solve that by going up one of the 2 glass staircases to Deck 8, where there is no reflection. The music can still be heard as there is a gap with below.

Deck 8, upper level Explorers Lounge. Mainly meant as a quiet study area with lots of books about exploration. Note all the books in the bookcase.They are all real and of high quality.

Deck 8 Explorers, is mainly meant as a quiet place to read or work on the computer. There are nice books and a lot of Nordic heritage on display, including old farm utensils. Above this lounge, on deck 9 outside are games (skittles, ping pong, mini golf) but insulation is very good as I could not hear anything below, although there was a very lively group at the poing pong table with very piercing voices.

The study table at the far right corner has a glass top and doubles up as a historic display case about life in (winterly) Norway.

On the starboard side, deck 7, is a small food outlet (I would call it a small catering hatch that looks after a very small restaurant called  “Mamsens”. This is a Nordic version of breakfast and lunch nibbles based on Nordic specialities. Apart from the waffles, it was a bit too far out of range for our taste interest.

Mamsen is located in the starboard aft part of the explorer’s on Deck 7 and is a very small restaurant.

It was also never very full and the Chinese guests on board where complaining to the chef about why there were no noodles. Somehow they did not grasp the concept, and the chef, a very cheerful lady from Zimbabwe, could not make them understand either.  I listened to  the conversation with great interest, especially when one of the group tried to get into the kitchen to verify if there were indeed no Noodles.  (Maybe “Mamsen” is also a word for noodles in Chinese or Korean ???).

One might expect a “Blond Helga” as cook in a pure Nordic restaurant but here we had a lovely lady from Zimbabwe.  And no, she did not serve noodles.

Behind deck 8 Explorers are cabins and behind on deck 7 Explorers is the winter garden  and then the covered pool. Main focus point of the Winter Garden is “High Tea” in the afternoon. (When the General Manager found out about our experience with “the trolley” from the beginning in the cruise, she was there every afternoon to make sure it did not happen again. On each side of this place are seats and loungers, that Viking calls “The Lanai concept”.

The Wintergarden, a bright and open space.

As a side note, I have never seen a Hotel manager / General Manager so omini-present as this Emma from England. I hope that Viking appreciates it as she was everywhere, where the regular supervisors could not be for a moment. It is always nice to see a hotel manager walking through the diningroom, but he/ she does not need to be there as it is full of supervisors and related. Better to keep an eye on the flow in other areas.  So very Good.

The “ceiling” of the Wintergarden. Nordic pine made to resemble a forest. I wonder if the birds would like it when the Dome is open.

The aft part of Deck 7 has the small “Hamburger Bar”. The product is extremely good but it is a bit limited. Hence guests switch for one lunch between the two venues as the Lido, called the “The World Cafe”, is just  behind it. Again very good food but I had expected a few more options to choose from. There is a very small asian outlet, which is extremely good (Asian Chef). Then there are the regular counters, topped off with a nice ice cream stand.

The World Cafe. This is the portside.

Behind it all, another bar, which is very busy as softdrinks, beer and wine are included at lunch time for everybody. (Same as Saga and Fred Olsen and also most 6 star company’s) Then there is an outside terrace, called the “Aquavit Terrace”,  which today was in use as it was chilly but sunny. The stern of the ship has a infinity pool with in the front a jacuzzi.  To stop the Infinitiy pool water from raining down on the balconies below, there is a sort of box hanging under it. This makes  the ship look a bit weird from the outside. The first time I saw it, I thought it was some sort of cherry picker basket for cleaning windows.

The Infinity pool at the stern of the ship on deck 7.

On deck 8 aft, carefully hidden away from the guests, is a black glass wall under the aft end of the funnel. Inside is a Officer / crew bar. A very clever setup and it would other wise have been a wasted space  and there is also a hidden corner for smokers. For guest smokers there is a smoking section on the sb. side midships but I never saw it very busy.

Guest smoking area on deck 8 sb. side. Still a very civilized way to slowly commit suicide.

That completed my tour of the ship. Then we had to pack. Luckily we had not bought very much, apart from a Soup Spoon in Pisa.  But we still had to go the shops on board as we had booked another cruise with Viking, on the Viking Polaris to the West side of Greenland and Baffin Bay. For that we received $200,– on board booking credit but it had to be spent this cruise on board. Unusual, as it normally goes on the credit for the next cruise that you have just booked. So the shops still made some money as all the “on board bookers” came marching in. Now I am the proud owner of yet another Power Bank, a set of suitcase locks (TSA approved) and some perfume for her ladyship. It made the day of the very friendly Turkish shop attendant who could just scrape in her commission before she left tomorrow to go on leave in Antalya. Her next ship is the Viking Star for another 6 month contract.

The “Kitchen table” on Deck 1, where under guidance of the chef you can take cooking classes and also eat your own cooked food.

We had booked the Chefs Table for 19.00 hrs. on this last day as most other days were filled up. The higher category cabins (all of them, apart from us sinners living on deck 3) could make their bookings from home but the standard Verandah cabins  had to wait until on board. It did not make much difference in the end, accept the early times being booked up. Tonight we could go at 19.00 hrs., after cocktails, and the place was nearly empty. I think the packing and leaving the next day had reduced the enthusiasm for a “last extravagant supper” somewhat. This restaurant runs in 3 set- menu cycles,  Italian, Asian, Californian, but the names might differ somewhat from ship to ship. If you take a future cruise, it might be different again, as Viking has 21 of these options floating around the fleet. 5 courses with wine  included in the cruise fare.

The most puzzling thing on board is this staircase that leads from the back of “The Restaurant” deck 2 to the back of Manfredis Italian and the Chefs Kitchen on deck 1. and it goes nowhere else. It looks like a very posh way for the Dining room manager to commute between his restaurants. The piece of art on the wall is called “paper and wood” by Johanne Ness and Hanne Overland.

With it comes a wine paring of 4 different wines. Also included. If you have bought the drinks package ($ 25,— a day, but going up) then you get slightly better wines. Price wise I think, as wine is very personal, a I preferred the “cheaper” Pinot Noir with the Asian lambchops much more than the Spanish Tempranillo offered. But as far as wines are concerned, I was already very happy that they stored our favourite white wine (Austrian Veltliner, in this case Bereich Wachau) as Veltliner is not always on board. (Azamara has it, but Cunard does not)  So we had a very good dinner and then it was time  to put the suitcases outside as at 05.45 we had to be ready for transfer to the airport.

The blank bulkheads in the forward and aft staircases are covered with scenes taken from the Bayeux tapestry depicting the Normans (Norseman or Northman or Vikings) coming from Normandy, France, led by William the Conqueror in 1066 and defeating the English/ Anglo Saxon King Harold at Hastings.

Weather for tommorrow for when going home:  Overcast with rain during the day and temperatures aruoud 13oc / or 55 oF.

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.vikingcruises.co.uk/oceans/ships/viking-saturn.html

 

 

2026 Feb 17; Day 05, Sete, France.

February 18, 2026 / / 2 Comments

The last time I was in Sete, was in 2001 as captain of the ms Noordam (III). Then we docked in downtown Sete and we could walk directly into downtown. (50,000 inhabitants). Since then the port has been upgraded with a combined cruise and ferry pier. All very nice, but now you have to take a compulsory shuttle to the Gate, where the bow of my Noordam went 25 years ago. I am all for improvement but the compulsory shuttle service was setup in the French way and thus a bit more complicated than necessary.

Sete dock. A very nice new dock with ample room for the compulsory port shuttle bus and the Ferry docking at the other side. In the good old days we used to dock opposite of where the high apartment building is located and then just walk into town.

By 11.10 we were expected on the dockside and put in a nice sightseeing coach so I was quite happy. We left late as once again there were guests missing and then we drove out of the gate. I was now expecting that this sightseeing coach would drop us off somewhere in downtown for our walking tour. That was not the case, we lined up behind 4 other (shuttle) busses. Then we had to wait because the shuttle busses left every 10 minutes and it was not possible to speed that up, so we had another 20 minutes delay. Once our coach had made it to the official stop, we were allowed to disembark and the walking trip started from here. As the whole trip was supposed to last 2 hours, we had lost 30+ minutes as the tour guide kept the ending time the same. So 1hr.30 minutes instead.

Sete Jousting. This is the red team training boats, there is also a blue team.

Once lined up we marched into town and stopped at each bakery and patisserie for a look in the windows as cookies and pies are the big thing in Sete. Then on the canal there were the “jousting boats”. Once a year in August, there is a jousting duel on the water in rowing boats, a tradition that might even go back as far as Roman Times when Sete was already a port. The photo shows the bare training boats. During the jousting, a sort of bridge / platform is constructed at the stern of a heavier boat and the “jouster” stands on top of it with a pole, trying to push the opposite person into the water. The rowers have to manuver the boat in the best position possible and avoid being pushed into an impossible position so that the jouster cannot do the job.

This is the real happening with the boats that have the ramp with jousting platform.

Although Sete is small, it is a very nice place and it was very pleasant to walk around there; compact but interspersed with canals. Here the fishing fleet of the town is located and our Guide was very proud to announce that little Sete as 3 times as many Tuna fishing boats than Marseilles. There are several canals that go through the city and they are flanked on each side by restaurants serving the fresh catch of the day.

This canal connects the sea with an inland lake and is very popular with small time boaters and fishing enthousiasts. Mussles and fresh oysters even grow on the bridge pillars.

Then it was on to the covered market (Les Halles in french) to look at more cookies but now also at the Fish stands, cheese stands and other local specialtiy boutiques.  And that was the tour. Those who wanted could stay behind, those who wanted to go back to ship could follow the tour guide, although in Sete you cannot get lost.

 

The outside of the fish market. It was restored sometime ago and, an architect was let loose to create an inspring roof, and he came up with a………………………………… a fish net cover.

Then it was waiting again for the shuttle bus. The ID card checking and boarding of the shuttle bus was supervised by no less than 5 security guards. I have never felt so protected when stepping on a bus. We were back by 14.30 and time to take a nap as all that walking (and especially all that eating too much) does make you tired.

The inside of “Les Halles”. It is open every day from 07.00 to 13.00 hrs. and the place to go for “fresh” shopping by the locals.

We had cocktails in the regular atrium lounge , then on to the dinning room again; good food, good service but nothing special, and tonight we were early as we wanted to see the crew farewell and then the “Beatles show”.  Doors opening at 20.30 hrs.  The farewell show opened with a speech by the Cruise Director about how wonderful we were, as we sailed with Viking.

 

The crew farewell show with the -tall- captain in the middle.

Then a short speech by the thus far very elusive Captain. We have not heard a peep from him all week, no departure announcements, nor anything else, but it as it is compulsory to be part of the crew farewell, there he was. I have not been able to get anything out of anybody about what he is supposed to do as far as announcements go, but I do not get the impression that Deck and Engine are very much involved with the guest operation. So the Captain is more a “Chief Bus – driver” than anything else. It feels more  that the guest well-being is solely the job of the Hotel department. Headed by the Cruise Director and the General Manager.  Her name is Emma Smith and she is from England. We spoke several times with her as she is very visible in the ship and indeed “manages by walking around”. Also her office, on the side of the  Atrium with the door open, and directly approachable.

Then  we had a toast, with champagne handed out when coming into the show lounge followed by about 30% of the officers and crew marching onto the stage. Not much different from other company’s, only here with Viking, they pulled it off somehow with having all the crew lined up properly, instead the chaos you normally see. (and believe me it is not easy to do that, as it is not the same crew that is assigned each week, and they all want to stand”next to their friend” instead of being in the right position)

The “Beattles song show”.  I have a lively imagination but I had to stretch my Beattle’s imagination very far…………………. to figure out the connection of striped pajama’s with the Beattles. The Cast felt the same when I complemented them after the show. Why not have them wearing “Sergeant Pepper” costumes to make it a big more colorful ?

The show was about all the Beatles Songs and the singers were extremely good again. The same cannot be said about the person who designed the stage clothes as that was far from comprehensible. Especially after the costume change half way through when the men were dressed in a sort of prison uniforms.  But the show was very good and the Singers rightly received a standing ovation.

Then we decided to go for a nightcap and poked our nose into the Torshavn nightclub.  Quite intimate but again the sound level was a bit too much. So we went back to the Atrium Bar for a nice Brandy Alexander and a portwine.

The Thorshavn nightclub. On the stage the guitar player acting as a warming up act, for the very good, but very loud house band.

Tomorrow  we are in Barcelona for 2 days, with the second day being the dis & embarkation day. Tours will be going all over the city, Gaudi’s church and buildings of course and other city tours but also one to the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, which is a 6 hour tour, and one I had never seen before. Cost for that one was well over $ 300,– and for that price I prefer to watch U-tube.

Expected weather tomorrow : sunny but chilly with temperatures of 13oC or 55 Fahrenheit

 

 

2026 Feb 16; Day 04, Marseille, France.

February 18, 2026 / / 0 Comments

I have been keeping an eye on the weather in the Nord Med., an area which is called “The Gulf of Lions” or Gulfo de Lions. (Lions as in correct spelling) The chance of a strong Mistral wind (funnel wind from the Rhone valley is always present) but regular northerly winds can be a problem is well. Those were blowing during the early mornings and that resulted in the appearance of the MSC ship in Villefranche. But it looked like that by 07.00 hrs. the wind would have died down sufficiently for our ship to safely sail into the new harbour of Marseille.

The port of Marseille. The ships are coming in at the far northern end of the breakwater.  The south side (although much better for windy codiitions) is only used by small craft. (Photo Courtesy” Med-Mediteranee)

The port of Marseille lay out is its own worst enemy as the sail-in channel is perpidencular to the northerly winds, so when the Mistral blows you get a higher number of port cancellations, especially with the cruise ships as they catch so much wind. And it can play havoc with the ferry schedules.  For us the wind had died down and we had no problem sailing in, swinging around and docking. At the other side of the dock was the MSC Orchestra the 2nd cruise ship in port.

We had booked / included in the cruise package / another walking tour, this time of the downtown  Marseille.  To my utter amazement, the tour guide was Dutch, having lived in Marseilles for 20 years being married to a frenchman. To the amazement of some of the fellow guests on the coach, she spoke english by translating Dutch straight into English. I think in english, so my english sounds much more native, She did the same with French, but for English and German she went back again to thinking in Dutch and then giving the english translation, Dutch syntax and idiom included.

Marseille is the largest city in France after Paris with about 2 mln. inhabitants. It is overcrowded and not exactly clean, although the multitude of cultures (many from North Africa and old French colonies) make for fascinating glimpses of how  other cultures live and work. (especially the small markets, each dedicated to their own cultural background with local products and marketeers screaming in their own language).

Palais Longshamp. Great museum collection and great gardens. And the outside is not shabby either. (Photo courtesy: Packyourbags.com)

So we drove around the port, up and down the  streets, and got a good impression of how Marseilles functions. First with a photostop at Palace Longshamp. This is a very impressive building, built between 1831 – 1869 to celebrate the completion of a canal that brought fresh & safe water to the city. It took 30 years due to planning problems and construction costs but now houses several musea.  We stayed on the coach as it was raining, so we let the photo-op go.

The Porte d’Aix in Marseille. Commemorating all sorts of victories the french had in the 19th and 20th century.

A very peculiar thing is that Marseilles has an “Arc de Triomph” (official Porte d’Aix or Port Reial) same as in Paris, about the same size, but looking slightly different on the outside. Officially marking the entry point when coming from Aix-de-Provence, but several governments were involved in the building process and wanted to mark the Arch for several subsequent battle achievements. There was the end of the American war of independence in 1784,  then the French Spanish Expedition in 1824, and when it was completed in 1839, it was to honor “all sorts of victories” so a very multifunctional monument.

Most of the sightseeing tour was along the Corniche (bench in English) which runs along the whole coastline of Marseilles. The road is officially named after the American President John F. Kennedy. It is where the most expensive houses are located, included Gated-Communities, and the best fish restuarants, often in converted houses from the fisherman days. The weather was horrible while driving along the coast so we were quite happy to sit in the bus and let the -french- world roll by. Photostop at the Corniche was the monument for fallen french soldiers in the East Med. and Africa during the First World War. Although we mostly think about Flanders Fields during WWI,there were many more theatres of war. In Eastern Europe, in the Balkan and also in Africa.

The “MonumentAux Morts Des Orients. Erected in 1927.

I took this photo from the coach as you cannot miss the monument, it really dominates the local sky line.  Most people in front of it, were from our busses, as the French themselves waited for better weather to have a look at it.

I felt straight at home. What Macdonalds is for the Americans, is HEMA for the Dutch. So we had to visit.

Then the rest was by Coach, followed by an hour to walk around downtown. And there we found a HEMA. This is a dutch shop /chain that sells anything you need for your house. It is very very Dutch, so finding it in the deep south of France, is about the same as finding a Wal-Mart on top of the Swiss Alps. Even the packaging was in Dutch but it did not stop the French from buying up a storm.

The Atrium bar. To the left is a sitting area with regular tables and from there you can spread out over the 3 floors of the Atrium, which is officially called “The Living Room”

Back on board it was time for lunch and this time we tried the “nibble” selection at the Bar on deck 1 of the Living Room. This is the 3 deck atrium of which the corner on deck 1 also functions as cocktail place and related. It serves small sandwiches with shrimps, salmon and beef and is a great for those who are peckish but do not want to be tempted by being exposed to the Lido outlay (called the World Cafe on this ship)

Wendy the Future Travel Specialist in full swing. We were quite impressed with her as she was able to rattle off every port of each cruise listed in the brochure.

Viking has a repeater program, The Viking Explorer Society,  (On average they have a repeater rate of 60 to 90% on board) and that means that you might get a drinks package and gratitues included on you next cruise depending on the promotion going at the time.  There is no tiered program as with Cunard or Holland America. To recognize everybody there was  a party in the Atrium and although we were not “repeaters” yet, the Future Cruise Lady had invited us. And with free drinks…….. who can say no?  So we got a few wise words from Wendy the future cruise specialist, some more wise words from the Cruise Director and then a short show from the ships cast / singers.  There are no medals or other gifts but the biggest day holder (this cruise 160+ days) was recognized with a bunch of flowers.

As the whole ship decor is “Scandinavian bare” it does not look very impressive during the day time with the tables not being set. But is is very cosy in the evenings.

The evening show was the Cruise Director himself who is also an ccomplished singer. He performed a selection of songs from the last 40 years. We did not go as it conflicted with our dinner reservations in “Manfredi’s” the dedicated Italian Restaurant on board.  And when one has to choose between food and culture, guess what wins.  It is free of charge and the menu is standard Italian restaurant style, as people would expect it shoreside. With a decent range of entries and very pleasant service. It is evey night booked to capacity and with Viking higher cabin catagory’s  you can book  at home, while mere mortals like us, have to wait until on board, and then it depends on space still available. However it turned out not to be a problem and we have also booked the other speciality restaurant, “The Chefs table” for the last night. That one has a set menu.  Then you can book cooking classes for  $60,– a person and for that you also get an apron. They run the classes in the evening so you will eat your own cooked dinner at dinner time. We saw a group of very excited ladies marching out around 9 pm. followed by a group of spouses, drink in hand, who looked rather less excited.

Tomorrow we are in Sete, France. (It is  pronounced Sept, without the t) Weather is supposed to be dry and sunny but with a cold wind blowing from the North giving noon time temperatures of  12 – 14 oC /  54 – 57oF)

 

 

2026 Feb 15; Day 3 VilleFranche, France, for Monaco.

February 17, 2026 / / 2 Comments

To get to Monaco, you can anchor in front of Monte Carlo (Hercule or Fontveille) harbour, dock at the cruise ship pier, anchor at Villefranche or at Cape Ferrat in France. For reasons not entirely clear we went to Villefranche, while we found out later that the downtown Monte Carlo Cruise Pier was not in use that day. The reasons for that can by myriad, especially in France when dealing with a Sunday situation. The only nice thing for the afternoon tour was, that it included for each tour a 45 minute drive, as Monte Carlo was part of the excursion.

Villefranche bay. From anchorage nbr 1 it is only 5 minutes to a very nice tender dock, right in downtown.

My Lord and Master had decreed that she now has approved Viking  Cruises and had found out that there was an North West Passage cruise (partly, just in & out) in 2028. Under the well established rule, if we book now and early then we save money by speadning it ………………, so we had a meeting with the Travel Consultant. And we booked a 13 day in 2028 from Nook in Greenland, up and into Baffin Bay with the expedition ship Viking Polaris. So that takes away my pocket money for the next 3 years.

To recover from the shock I decided to forget my diet and invest in some comfort food by visiting the Pool Grill for a BBQ hamburger. That is all cooked a-la-carte and was very good. As mentioned before, the food is very good on board but somewhat limited in volume and variation, compared to the exuberiance of some other companies, like Holland America Line and Celebrity. But the quality is very good.

One of the 4 ships tenders. Well laid out and easy to operate with all the latest gadgets

For the tour we had to take our bla-bla boxes again to receive a lot of useful information while walking through Monaco. The ship has the best tenders we have encountered so far, it was just a pity that the tender drivers have not been trained very well in using the latest gadget called “the bow thruster”. That is a great gadget but you have to have a little bit of forward momentum for it to work optimaly. When going astern the pivot point of the tender goes back and that negates the positive force of the thruster somewhat. So both on arrival and depature from the Villefranche dock there was a lot of See-Sawing to get the tender alongside. With extra waiting while everybbody was seeing the show, but eventually we got there.

Monte Carlo / Monaco is very small, and downtown is even smaller. Our walking tour Started at number 19 and ended at nbr 22, and that is not more than a 15 minute walk.

The coach drive to Monte Carlo goes along some very narrow roads and a few times we were right on the edge of where we could look down an awful long way.  Because the tour is included in the cruise package, we were not expecting it to be very intensive and we were right. But it was a nice walk from the coach (parked in  a 5 story underground parking garage under the Oceanographic Museum) through the botanic gardens into the local Cathredral where the Grimaldi’s (The Princes of Monaco, who rule the Principality) are buried and then for a photo-op at the main palace.  Then 1 hour of free time and back to the ship with a promise that the coach would do a full lap around the Formula One circuit.

The late 19th. century Cathedral. Homebase for the Royal Family of Monaco.

The Catheral is from the mid 19th. century so not so old but is very interesting with many side chapels dedicated to various Saints.  The past rulers of Monaco are buried here, starting with the churches completion.

The grave of movie starr Grace Kelly, or Patricia Gratia as she was known in Monaco.

Only the direct Monarch and his spouse and those in directe line are buried there, the rest is buried somewhere else. One “mass grave” had the remains of those who ruled before the Church was completed. (So for modern times, Prince Rainier is there, so is Princess Grace and the next one will be the current ruler Prince Albert, wife and oldest child)

The main Monte Carlo harbour, called Hercule, is not the only one. Just to the West is “Fontveille” which a much smaller and quieter affair. This photo was taken from the lookout point in the Gardens just under the Cathedral.

Monaco is only 4 square kilometers in size, so if you do not break on time, you are out of Monaco and back in France. Hence Monaco has the euro and a lot of French rules & Social Security accepted. But is has local police, local taxes (only the Monegaskan Passport holders are tax exempt, who make up 20% of the population) and local driving rules.

We had to be back on time at the bus, except one couple who arrived / were found by the tour escort  30 minutes late, without much of an excuse, as it is nearly impossible to get lost in this area. “Walk down to the gardens and you cannot miss the entrance to the car park. But it brought us back 30 minutes late to the ship. But now comes the nasty part, the tour escort had talked up this full lap around the Formula One circuit. Then with great aplomb announced where the starting line was and then waffled off about underground traffic tunnels. We never did the full lap. And I was hoping for the full lap because when you go under the hotel, even a coach engine sounds like a roaring ferrari, due to the acoustics.

The F1 Grand Prix circuit of Monaco. We only saw the section V to A1. We have been here before but a pity for the guests for whom it was the first time.

Coming back to where the tender is the driver nearly ran into a leaving bus, could not handle the hand break while going uphill and then refused to make more room for the other busses coming out. Compliments to the lady bus driver of the other coach coming out, she managed to get around our coach with about 1 inch to spare. On arrival at the tender pier we had to wait 20 minutes for the next tender and then other five while the tender driver gave the “not how to dock show” by the wrong use of the bow thruster.

The main palace of Monaco. It is mainly a working palace with the direct family scattered around it in various villa’s.

We were supposed to be all by ourselves but in the aftrnoon the MSC Splendida came in. She had not been able to dock in Marseilles due to strong winds. Apart from the city being a port of call also a number of guests were supposed to disembark and embark, so after arrival a large shore tender came out to arrange that. We had fun and games with the small parking area’s with 900+ guests and 12 busses, so let alone what they will face with handling the approx. 2200 guests on board.

For cocktails we went back to the Explorers Lounge and then to dinner. The company had laid on a barbecue and dancing on the stars on Deck 7 under the Magro Dome. We went to have a look, but the barbecue was very limited so most people got extra from the buffet inside. It turned out that the dancing under the stars was not a continious party but more like a show where the various entetainers all did their own little thing.  As (with the dome closed) the music was deafening we decided to go for a regular dinner. This BBQ gig did not get much of attendance as there are not many high tables around the pool, so one would have to hold the plate on ones knees. We are now spoiled by the “White Night” with Azamara, so this was a bit of a let down in comparison.

So we went for a regular dinner in the diningroom. While waiting for the Maitre to figure out a table we met an American couple who we had talked to while waiting in the show lounge the night before, and decided the share a table. Good company, as they had also travelled the world, lived in Germany, and an enjoyable time was had by all.  Maybe due to the size of the ship, or the international travel experience  most guests enjoy the interaction with other guests they have never seen before. It splits the crowd in a sort of 3 groups. Those who march according to the daily program and do their town thing, the second group who already travel in a group for the duration of the cruise, and a 3rd group, who are by themselves but enjoy cocktails and interaction with other fellow travellers.  So one does not need to be exactly lonely on board.

Tomorrow we are in Marseilles. The weather is supposed to be windy during the night but the wind should die down on arrival, so if the captain is a luckily man he won’t have much programs in getting in. With us is the MSC Orchestra which came in early due to the expected wind during the night. Weather, overcast with rain, temperatures around 11 – 14oC /   49 – 58oF.

 

 

 

2026 Feb 13; Day 1, Livorno Italy

February 14, 2026 / / 0 Comments

This morning we docked at Livorno and the docks are on the industrial side of the town as they do not really have a downtown cruise terminal here. Ferries, to Sardinia etc., are more important and so are the cargo and container ships. Livorno is the 3rd largest port in Italy and hence the focus is on facilitating as many ships as possible and not leaving any dock space unused.

Opposite us, is a small dry-dock and repair company for mult million dollar yachts and Livorno is also focussing on that, as part of the old fishing port has been turned into a special harbour for mega yachts. It is supposed to open in a few weeks and if I counted the mooring bouys for the bow anchoring of the yachts correctly they will be able to park at least 40 big ones in there, maybe even more. I assume that it will be extensively used for the charter market as Livorno is not exactly known as a playground for millionaires.  The owners use their yachts normally only a few weeks a year and most of them try to reduce the operating costs with chartering the yachts out for the rest of the year.

Our yacht the Viking Saturn will stay two days here, with long and short tours to Florence, Pisa and Lucca.  We will be taking the panoramic tour on the 2nd day, 4 hours in duration which was included in our package. We also had WIFI included with the booking and it is the best we have had so far of all the ships we have sailed on in the last 2 years.  It is not just a fast connection and includes streaming but there is also no limit to the devices that you can run at the same time. Most company’s, we have so far encountered, only allow one device so you have to log off one device before you can log on the other.  Not here, so Very Impressed.

The Spa hydro pool with a very nice lay-out. It is not very big, so best to go in port when there is no crowd.

We skipped breakfast and went to visit the Spa on board, which has a very nice pool and an even better lay-out.  With spacious dressing rooms (each with a cold plunge bath and a sauna) and extensive changing facilites, where you get slippers (crocs) a thin bath robe and towel all nicely waiting for you in a dedicated locker, All the lockers work with a cabin key card swipe to lock and it worked very well…. Maybe because it was a newer ship, maybe because they maintain them well.

Deck 3 portside there is a display of national costumes with extensive explanations. On the starboard side in the corner is a small museum with Viking artifacts includinOn g swords and helmets. Then in the staircases, more history is displayed by runes on stones hanging in the staircases. Then the back of each staircase has on each level a section of the Bayeux Tapestry, which makes sense as the Normans – north men – who invaded England in 1066 were Vikings who had settled down in Normandy, France.

Nordic art with runes on a slab of slate stone in the aft pax. staircase, This is copy of a real one found in Sweden. Again a very good explanation on the grey plaque next to it.

For lunch we ended up in the World Cafe again, which serves free soft drinks, wine or beer with lunch. The food is good butthe choices are  somewhat limited when compared to Holland America but much more extensive when compared to P&O.

The winter garden in the center of deck 7.

When going through the daily program  we found out that there was “High Tea” in the Winter Garden, which is a light and airy indoor space on deck 7 just in front of the Swimming pool. It is very nice when it is overcast but it might be a bit much on a very sunny day. We will find out. As most of the ship was on tour, we thought it would be ideal to go for tea now (we had not eating anything in the last 2 hours………….. so it was time) and within a nice relaxing atmosphere, the classical duo were playing,  a large number of tea’s were available and a large tower tray (etagere), with sandwiches, scones and small cakes came to the table.

Lesley and the high tea. Please note the trolley to the right above her shoulder. When fully loaded it came rattling through the whole lounge to get to an elevator. Really spoiling the atmosphere.

It all was very civilized and enjoyable…….., and then a waiter came rattling through with an empty trolley and started to load his trolley in full view  of the tea drinkers. Nobody of the assembled staff took any action, so I flagged a jr. Maitre d’hotel over. He agreed that is was less than convivial for the high tea ambiance and moved the trolley out of view. He then left. So it did not deter our trolley waiter from continuing to load his trolley behind the bar, and when full, came rattling through whole lounge on his way to a lift. Well, they could have planned that better. Imagine you are having a wedding and straight through the wedding there is a gardener with a wheelbarrow pushing through. So we thought that , that was it, but no, now the Deck department showed up, in coveralls, and started checking fire extinguishers. Not in the slightest bothered by the stylish tea gathering around them. Planning is not easy sometimes, even with (lower) management being present to take corrective action…………………………………………………….

But something that did impress me, were the teapots used. Look at the table above and you see that the tea is served as leaves in a sieve. That sieve fits in a teapot and then, once the tea has brewed, you lift it out and put it in a cup provided. Very nice for high tea and never seen before. Then in the regular restaurants you get a tea bag, but the tea bag can go on top of the lid once used instead having to put it on the side of your saucer or somewhere else. I like these sorts of small great details.

pot without bag

pot with tea bag

 

 

 

 

We found on Deck 1, the panel with all the photos of the high and mighty on board and our captain this cruise is Arild  Jernass. There has been no write up in the daily program yet (The Viking Daily) about him and also there has been no announcement from him yet as we sailed late from Civittavechia where he joined.  Although The Viking Saturn flies the Norwegian flag, the crew is very multi national and I have not seen any other Norwegian officers or crew around the ship.

Came on board yesterday in Civittavehcia.

Although we are in port everyday, there are still lectures everyday, around 18.30 to 21.00 hrs. which is when the show starts. For this there are 2 Resident lectures on board, one is an american Colonel who is doing world war II stuff and a lady who is into food and drink. Problem is that you have to decide where your priorities lie, early dinner, cocktails, making the show on time, or going to the lectures. Our focus is cocktails followed by a 19.00 dinner, so we make the show on time. In this case I feel that I do not miss that much as there are excellent movies and clips on U-tube that cover the same topics.

The Atrium bar, alhtough they call the area around here not the Atrium but The “Living Room”.

We went to deck 1 bar again in the atrium, and I found out that they have Norwegian beer (in cans) on board, so it was time to investigate that. $ 8,– for a 330 ml. can but we have a package and it is all included. Lesley is still lamenting the lack of pink Gin, and the waiters are commiserating with her, because it is a very frequent request.  There is a grand piano in the Atrium (a real top of the range Steinway) and between 18.00 and 18.45 there is first the “Munch moment” where the tunes are Norwegian while on top of the staircase the video wall shows Munch paintings. (most famous one known is “The Scream”, but Edvard Munch painted a lot of other good stuff as well, without being exactly locked into one particular sort of school). Then the piano player returns later in the evening, alternating with a classical duo.

The second place which is good for cocktails is the two level crowsnest on deck 7 & 8, called “The Explorers Lounge”.  When there is no live music there is background music (musac??) but it is nice, soft and laid back and creates a relaxing atmosphere everywhere  not only in the bars but in the whole the ship.

Dinner was good again, word is spreading of what my background is, and now we learn how far the Holland America family extends. Our waiter tonight wanted to sail with Holland America (his brother is there) but had to wait too long as HAL had sold 6 ships. He is now happy with Viking but was not so excited about the food in the crew mess.

David  Righeschi and Alessandara Tanzi. This photo was lifted from the Internet when they performed the Opera Tosca together in Firenze (?)

The show at 21.00 hrs. was performed by two local artists, opera singers, who come on board each Viking ship that docks in Liverrno. And they were VERY good, with a nice mixture of popoular opera and some more unknown pieces all backed up with a multi media video background..  David  Righeschi and Alessandara Tanzi received a well deserved standing ovation. If the rest of the week has the same high standard, then we are in for a treat. Tomorrow night we have the Cast Show with musical songs so we are hoping for the best.

Weather tomorrow: overcast with showers in the afternoon. Temperatures anywhere between 13 oC. (54oF) and 16oC (61 oF)

 

 

 

Day 12: Dec. 28; At Home, Verdict & Review of the cruise.

December 29, 2025 / / 7 Comments

As usual, at the end of the cruise, I do a review  with our VERY PERSONAL opinion of the cruise. So if you think that Cunard is pure “Hallelujah” please do not be disappointed. If you decide to “snigger” because you do not like Cunard, please take into acccount, there is no perfect cruise company out there. If you look at all the cruises we have done in the last year, (see the write ups at the right hand side of the home page), I was able to shoot holes in each product and at the same time see things that made me go “WOW” why do other company’s not do this.

Cruising is very personal, and the bottom line for a GOOD cruise company is, did THEY deliver what they promised and did YOU enjoy it.

So we come to our personal verdict about this Cunard Cruise.

Did we enjoy the cruise YES. Would we have enjoyed it less in a lesser cabin: ALSO YES.  We had a Q3 suite, that is two steps down from the top and we expected for that level for everything to be top notch and perfect. You have a butler and a cabin steward and they try to do the best job possible. But those two can only deliver the standards set by the company. And Ludmilla and Mark did a very good job within those parameters.

The Glare: As explained when blogging about every cruise we make, this is a little thing I do during a cruise.  Every crewmemember I meet, officers and crew alike, I look them straight in the eyes and wait if they acknowledge me. The results can be quite striking.

Cunard scored only 75%. (e.g. 1 out of 4 did not make the cut). The crew on average scored 100%, no problems there. Even the sailors on deck. were chirpy and friendly and scored 100%. The challenge lies with the Hotel officers. The majority I met in the corridors, the Lido and the public rooms, looked away or did not acknowledge guests when walking by, or when talking to each other.  3 & 4 stripers in Hotel did not make the cut on average. And there is no excuse for that. If a lowly asst. steward can do it, then  a 3 stripe hotel officer should be  able to do it better. I only met two engineering officers this cruise and they were both polite, smiled and one even waited at the door, and they are normally the least customer focused.

Would I recommend a Cunard Cruise. In general yes.

It is a good product  and the only negative thing I hear from other travellers, Cunard thinks it has the most wonderful product but they are slowly overtaken by a whole slew of other operators in the luxury segment.

The are not helping themselves as they send out their post cruise questionaires “ONLY” to a number of “SELECT” guests. That way you never get the raw deal that you need to improve your product.

Main thing is you have to get used to is the system that the cabin -size is connected to a certain restaurant. That is quite posh but the extra’s given are not that wide apart anymore. There is not so much difference (compared to before Covid) between the menu’s between Queens, Princess, Club and Britannia. You just have a little bit more choice when going up from Britannia to Queens. It would not warrant the extra costs, if the larger cabins were not attached to it.

Compliments:

Beautiful ship (if you like  ships in a classical style) with beautiful lounges.

Beautiful cabins, as least on our level, but they should be better maintained. For this level of pricing, there should be nothing wrong.

Very attentive service, at least in the Queens Grill, with only two mistakes made in the whole of the 12 days and without any rushed service.

Very good and large cast company (12 in total), two orchestras (Stage and Queens Lounge) and entertainment everywhere. It resulted in Great Shows. This is a very hard working cast with a show every other night and a one full lenght musical “Come From Away” of 1h. 45 minutes as well. Great Christmas show. (not every company is doing that anymore)

Very good lectures (apart from one guy who was too sloppy in appearance and slissed when talking)

Formal nights (Although unfortunatelly not enforced in the lounges that are designated as formal)

Soft Ice Cream, self service machine in the Lido with the most consistent quality so far encountered during all our cruises.

Self Services Washing Machines on each Deck..

Challenges:

for Cunard to fix ( at least if it wants to anchor  “floating” customers like us):

The biggest one:

” On request”. Why does the guest have to ask for anything that has been paid for?…………………………… You need to have the Cunard web-site listing for your cabin level with you to ensure you get what you paid for.

“On request” ONLY was the following in a Queens Grill Cabin:

Ice in the cabin, Fresh fruit, Fresh flowers / plant . TV program, Binoculars, Instructions of how to operate the DVD player, Instructions for the coffee machine. Extra side dishes in the Queens Grill. The waiters know it is there but do not suggest anything to make the experience more perfect.

Status of the cabin. A lot of items that I found could have been corrected with better – detailed- inspections by Housekeeping. I paid a lot of money for this cabin so I did not expect that as a  guest I would have to start reporting stuff.  Wrong CD player, Glass curtains loose, Toilet seat loose, Plinths broken. Vanity buttons missing on the desk lights. With the help of the Butler and the Concierge it was all fixed but I was not not expecting to find anything wrong in a cabin of such a high catagory.

You can NOT expect the Butler and the Cabin Steward to look after all of this as they are on a very tight working schedule. This is officer and petty officer level responsibility.

Lots of carpet edges (corners and vertical padding) loose in the corridors. I counted 10 of them on deck 8 only on the first day and they were still the same on the last day. How difficult is it, to send a carpenter/Upholsterer  around with a pot of adhesive  to glue the carpets back ??. The carpet edges comes loose with luggage handling, so it happens all the time, make it a standard job for a Housekeeping supervisor to walk the corridors once a week and make a list.

Lido Restaurant. For a 5 star cruise company the amount and variation of food on offer is quite meager. If you are a cruiser who likes and spends a lot of time in the Lido Restaurant, GO or STAY with Holland America.

Internet: It is very good in general, except when the whole ship goes on line, especially on sea days. For mobile phones it all works but with laptops you loose the signal  on average between 10.00 – 11.30 and 14.30 – 16.30 on sea days, at least on Deck 6, midships staircase area. So only devices who use a small bandwidth can get on line. During those hours I can not reach my website / do my blog, as my website needs a bit more bandwith than checking Facebook.

One word of advise: If you want to sail Cunard, stay away from Queen Anne and choose one of the other 3 Queens.

The Queen Anne is a beautiful ship but Cunard has put the capacity up to 2950 and not increased the number of public rooms to handle these additional 450 guests (compared with the HAL’s Pinnacle class) so the lounges are overflowing during cocktail times.  In an ideal world, the Jewellery shop would be a lot smaller in size and in its place there would be another beautiful Cunard cocktail lounge. Talking to the guests it was mentioned that the cabins are a lot smaller and the storage space varies and is smaller but not in line with the increase in cabin size or cost. We noticed that during our two cruises but it still seems to be the case even after more cabinets were added.

That is all……………………………….  Nuntium ne necaveritis.

ps 1. My Lord and Master has booked another cruise for November 2026, going from Southampton to Zeebrugge, Amsterdam and Cherbourg on the Queen Victoria, as she wants to try the Q2 midships catagory. Q1 is of no interest as those cabins are in the bow and the stern and that is where the  movement is worst during the winter  storms.

ps 2.

It got a request from one faithful reader to explain what “yawning” is or when a ship “yaws”.  So here is a quick summary.

There are 6 ships movements officially recognized:

  • Heaving: vertical movement (the whole ship lifts up)
  • Swaying: transverse movement (lurching from left to right)
  • Surging: longitudinal movement (pushed forward and then settles back)
  • Rolling: longitudinal rotation  (leaning/ listing  from one side to the other)
  • Pitching: transverse rotation ( bow goes up, bow goes down, sometimes slams on the waves)
  • Yawing: vertical rotation (You make a sort of round movement that combines 3 or 4 of the separate movement one)

Some ships are more affected by one or the other movements than others. A ship like the Queen Mary 2, has been designed with a ships length that “rides the average length of the North Atlantic waves” and thus pitches a lot less then a smaller ship. It sort of barges through or over the waves. But without stabelizers in use she would still roll. Also her stern design makes her less prone to surging. But she also “yaws” when she gets the swell 3/4 quarter on the stern.

The  newest cruise ships, that look like a barge with an apartment building on top, “yaw” less because of the “box in the water” design. But in the wrong wave length, they can pitch considerably, so the best thing to do is then either to speed up or slow down so it hits the waves differently. The cruise ships constructed between 2002 and 2014 of which most have similar hulls as the Queen Victoria  tend to be prone to yawning and swaying as the stabelizers have a hard time handling that movement They are gyroscope controlled and that needs a change of horizon (leaning away from the horizontal) and movements other then rolling do not do that.

My personal solution to all these movements is to sit in the bar, recognize the sort of movement that is going on and then insure that my beer glass counteracts that move perfectly and thus does not spill any it’s contents.

 

I pinched this off the internet. A big thank you to FFQQ.com. There is not much difference between a cargo ship and a passengership if both are properly ballasted, so the center of gravity sits in the right place. The only difference is that most cargo ships do not have stabelizers.

 

 

Day 11, 2025 Dec. 27; At Sea, day 3.

December 28, 2025 / / 10 Comments

With the Christmas festivities behind us we are now on the 3rd sea day, on the way home to Southampton. Around lunch time we will pass the most North westerly point of Normany and sail through the Traffic Separation Zone for ships at Ushant. Hence we are seeing more and more ships in the fare distance and sometimes  really nearby. As was expected yesterday the sea is more lively than before.

Weather today around noon time. We are at the edge of the yellow part – waves 3 to 4 meters, but are turning away from it now heading into the English Channel.

A last sea day is always somewhat akward for a lot of cruise passengers. It is the last day and everybody has to pack, or if one is doing a back to back finding the lounges half empty. Thoughts are about going home by half of he ship , while the other half mentally gears up for the next cruise. The Queen Victoria’s next cruise, is a new years cruise 7 days to Zeebrugge, Amsterdam and Cherbourg with docking overnight in Amsterdam for New Year’s Eve so there are quite a few on board who will stay for the next one. Then the next one after that is a 35 day voyage to the Caribbean, a so-called no-flight-cruise as it starts and ends in Southampton. That is twice crossing the North Atlantic but at both times with a route so far to the south that most likely they will be able to avoid most of the bad weather.

We followed the last talk / lecture of the Police Officer talking about Drug enforcement. This is a quite a interesting topic and as he also is a good speaker he can tell interesting anecdotes. It turned out that while defending King & Country in that business, it is not always plain sailing, nor do things always go right, nor is there always a very professionally ending. Hence great anecdotes to tell.

At noon time the Captain made his navigational announcement, ending with a very plastic Cunard Head Office Message, with advising that ONLY a few SELECTED guests would get a post cruise questionaire (I wonder what sort of selection they make ?……………..) and hinting very strongly that if we enjoyed the voyage then that we should give a 10. Normally that sort of thing is left to Cruise Director’s on the stage and thus leave the captain’s dignity in tact.

The shops had another sale going, with extra – extra discount, and either the prices were very good, or there was still a lot of On Board Credit floating around but it was busy with even a tussle between two ladies in the hand bag section.

Quick lunch and then it was time to pack. Luckily we did not buy very much this cruise but why is it always more difficult to get the same quantity as you packed at thome, back in the suitcase when on board?

Then last night we got an invite for another Captain’s party in the Queens Room, but without an explanation about why we were invited; but if there are free drinks and maybe even nibbles, who would say no?  With our invitation card in hand (to be presented at the entrance) we marched towards the Queens Room at 17.15 (start of the party) and found at least a 100 people ahead of us inside (free drinks ??) We bypassed the Captains line and grabbed a drink and watched the proceedings on the dance floor.

Again the officers were lined up around the dancefloor and again they waited for the guests to come over. Some guests did go over but it means  that all those guests who are sitting on the side and in the wings are obviously not entitled to the presence of an officer. One would expect that the officers would be roving the area being the gracious hosts. The party was called the Sr. Officers party, although there were numerous junior officers present, so one would expect that the Officers would make it a point and fan out from the center to chat with all those highrolling guests who have to sit, and who pay their salary. It was never explained to us, why we all were there, but we think that they invited the Queen and Princess Grills and the and Diamond members.

To be honest, this was a bit of a damp squidh affair, although there were canape’s, which were missing from the first party. No speech from the captain but near the end a guy in an off-white suite popped up and made a short speech, which seemed to be the moment that all  the officers were allowed to disappear and they did. He then wished us a good continuation of our party, which had now turned to a Sr. Officer Party, without any officers. The captain was still there, gathering up his wife and 3 children. He saw me and we were thus able to say goodbye and thank him for his hospitality. He said he had been reading my daily blog and agreed with my weather charts. I hope he also agreed with the cabin repairs I enacted.

We decided not to go to the last show as it will be an early morning tomorrow and we had to pack the final items to make sure that all suitcases had the same weight. Weather in Southampton tomorrow calls for partly cloudy skies, with a temperature of 7oC but with a windchill factor that might bring it down to 5 or 4oC. But as long as I do not have to de-ice the car windows, I am already a happy camper.

This is the one but last blog of the cruise. On Monday, my “Final Verdict & Review”, will follow.  However with coming back to Southampton this 12 day cruise will have ended.  Our next cruise will be in February 2026 with Viking Cruises, so I hope that you will be following us again.

In the mean time: A very happy New Year and  Lesley and I wish you all a prosperous, healty and peaceful 2026.

 

 

Day 10, 2025 Dec. 26; At Sea. Day 2.

December 27, 2025 / / 3 Comments

This morning we woke up to a slighty moving ship with a movement that a sailor calls “gentle” but a landlubber calls “annoying”. But the weather chart stays positive and the Bay of Biscay and surroundings remained very gentle, or -blue- on the chart.  So happy campers all around today.

Weather / sea forecast for today.

This is our second day at sea since leaving the Canaries Islands. 2nd Day of Christmas, called Boxing Day, as in England that used to be the official day of opening the “boxes” with the presents. Most of the crew finds this very funny as in their cultures they open their presents during Christmas Eve. So the joke of the day was, “have you been boxing ?”

As a reference to last night for those who do not know what Christmas “crackers” are. These are paper tubes and you pull at each side, with the person opposite to you at the dinner table. They then come apart with a “crack”.. Inside there is a paper crown (referring to the 3 kings of bethlehem) and the idea is to wear them during the christmas dinner. Inside is also a present, the quality depending on how expensive the cracker is. We had a honey stick, a wooden stirrer to get the last honey out of a honey pot & and a small steel cake form to make christmas cookies. Then there is the (rather naff) Christmas joke. “What sort of nut can you use to hang something on the wall ?……………. a wall-nut.

After breakfast we went for a walk-a-bout and ended up with a Q&A interview from the Cruise Director with our Lady Orchestra Conductor. Which was interesting to listen to as not many of us really know what goes on inside an orchestra. Unfortunately, no “juicy” anecdotes to liven it all up, but still very interesting. One could see that she is a real conductor and not an entertainer.

We made it early to lunch to day as we were sort of pressed for time as at 13.30 hrs. we had the 4th. and last recital of Robin Colville the piano player and we did not want to miss that. After that there was a full 1h.45 min. musical show in the Theatre at 16.00 hrs. which Lesley did not want to miss. I never know if my “cultural time span” can last that long, so we investigated first if we could find some places to sit, where she had a good view and I could slip away if to all got too much.

The Maestro explaining his first piece and on the balcony two saiors (the dark shapes in the corner under the saffolding) tying up the steps. Life is never dull on a cruise ship.

The piano recital was very good as usual but as it had been pushed to 13.30 it sort of interfered with the ships routine. While the Maestro was explaining the background of his first piece, above him on the balcony, suddenly “swish-swish’ could be heard caused by two sailors securing a scalfolding with pulling ropes through. Luckily they saw the light and did not start working, while below Griegs Solveits Song burst out of the piano. Then half way through the concert a steward came by with a trolley with rattling crockery. He had to go in the pantry in the back to prepare for English High Tea at 15.00 hrs. After the plates had been transfered to their locker, he switched on the pantry light (luckily there was a pole between the pantry and the stage so the performance was not affected). And then he switched on the heating cabinet (I think for warming up the teapots). Now all of us in the back could listen to Griegs First Piano Concerto accompanied by electric humming from a pantry. This was most likely a worlds first: ” Variations on Grieg’s Piano Concert no.1 by a Heating Cabinet”. ……….. I love to be part of World First premieres…………………………….

After the concert we walked past the shops and suddenly they were busy. This occurence happens near the end of the cruise and is called “The On Board Credit Effect”. If you got spending credit with your cruise and have not spent it, then now is the chance. The shops responded accordingly with 15% extra discount on certain items. We have run out of on board credit already, courtesy of cocktails every evening and the daily internet cost, so my bank account will take another hit when we leave the ship.

For the latter we got the luggage tags today. Cunard has the system that you have to pull off the old tags and then you get new ones and hence new ones were delivered. There are also companies who tell you to leave the tags on, as it incorporates the disembarkation color. Disembarkation time depends on what sort of cabin you have, or if you are independent or have scheduled transport. With our cabin level we can leave at any time, so we will aim for 08.03 off the ship, with the taxi waiting to take us back to the hotel at 09.00 to collect the car. Then I hope to be on the way by 10.am as it is a 5 hr. drive home, plus stopping for petrol and groceries.

The poster being used in the UK for this musical

Today we had a special cast / stage performance of a musical/play called “Come from Away”, telling the story of the little Newfoundland town of Gander that suddenly had to host 7000 air plane passengers when the USA closed its airspace when 9/11 occured. Doubling the size of the town when a large number of planes deviated to their old airport. The whole effort lasted1h.45m, and there was a full house. One at 16.00 hrs. and one at 20.00 hrs. And it was really, really good, with  a well deserved standing ovation at the end.

This picture comes from a website advertising the musical in the UK. There is a scene in there, “Kiss the Fish”, which is a tongue in cheek ceremony to become a “NewFoundlander’.  The town of Gander granted “membership” to all stranded passengers who were there and agreed to “kiss the fish”.

According to those who had seen the performance in London with “real professionals” and paid a high ticket price for the privilige, advised that this one here on board was soo much better. And I am not amazed as with the plethora of (large) cruise ships out there, the stage shows and its actors are getting better every year as the supporting teams behind them are getting more and more professional and better financed. Again no photos from the show itself, as somebody will  get upset when you do so……………..

Then it was cocktail time and we met Pamela Curtis. This was the Lady who was the highest repeater this cruise with 1250+ days. I posted the photo on day 3 when she got the flowers during the Captains Loyalty party. That photo was seen by my blog readers in Los Angeles, who then contacted Mrs. Curtis to let her know that she was now world famous. She then contacted me to meet for a  drink and a chat. Hence tonight. This is for my readers in Los Angeles.

Cocktail Time in the Commodore Club with the highest day repeater on board,

Tomorrow is our 3rd sea day, passing the coast of Normandy and then entering the outer reaches of the English Channel (or La Manche in French, as we are on the French side). Looking at the weather chart and knowing the way a Vista Class ship behaves, I think we will get some more movement. Not really rolling or pitching but more of the yawning movement that we also had south bound. It should not affect anybody very much as we all had enough training southbound.

Day 4, 2025 Dec. 20: At Sea, sailing towards Madeira.

December 21, 2025 / / 1 Comment

We sailed last night at 18.00 hrs. from Lisbon, slowly moving down the river and as it was dry weather everybody could have a good view  of the “singing” bridge, the Vasco Da Gama statue and Belem Tower. The latter is where the pilot disembarks and that gives the option to speed up to stabelizer speed,  10 – 12 knots, and sail comfortably down the river. Halfway down the estuary the ship started to move again and has continued to do so for the night and the remainder of today.  The ships movement did reduce somewhat by evening as the 2nd (interfering) wave field diminished in influence but it remained wobbly. Tomorrow will not be a problem as  Funchal is located at the South side of the island of Madeira and that is in the lee side of most bad weather. Very light winds are so far forecast for our call and the breakwater is very long and large to keep all the swell out.

Today we had a full day at sea, including the World club gathering (repeater or loyalty party) and a formal night. Cunard runs an excellent lecture program with 3 lecturers so far rotating on this cruise.  Two of them were very good, and one (claiming to do something maritime but only one talk and then talked about Madeira wine) not so good as he read his whole lecture and was not dressed respectfully (no jacket, but a sloppy shirt) towards the audience.

Female Conductor, Mrs. Farnham. started out with directing theatre shows in London and from there progressed to choirs and orchestra’s worldwide.

So we went to  the 2nd & 3rd one. Nbr 2 was a Female Orchestra Conductor, who talked about how to become one, and the trials of making it as a female in a male dominated world.  When she started in 1991, 1.4% of the world’s conductors were female. Now it is up to approx. 5% and she was running classes to get more Ladies in front of the orchestra, instead of in the orchestra. A fascinating world that most people do not know anything about. Next one was a gentleman who had spent his life in Drugs Enforcement and, (this being his 2nd lecture) went from the legal business around the work, to the actual catching of drug smugglers accompanied with what went right and what went wrong stories.

The Christmas market in the Queens Lounge from 10..00 to 12.00. Not exactly very busy, but then the prices were not really “market value”.

Then we had to run to the Queens Lounge were our classical pianist was giving his second recital. This time with works of known composers (Lizt, Handel, Sebelius) but also lesser known composers (Nazareth, Bortkiewicz) and that brought a wonderful experience.  I got somewhat irritated at Housekeeping as they reset the lounge 5 minutes before the recital started (the floor had been cleared earlier for the Christmas Market = a sales effort from the shops and beverage) and continued finishing off after the concert had already started. Their supervisor had poked his nose in when they started but did not stay to ensure that the stewards stopped when the concert started.  Leadership takes a lot of training, even with a White Star program.

The Queens Lounge, still with the open dancefloor space recently vacated by the Christmas Market. Pianist Robert Colville is seen here still practising. Housekeeping moved in 10 minutes before the recital started and all guests were moved to the dance floor. Nothing wrong with that, but why start so late and thus not finish on time ?.

Then time for a soft ice in the Lido and back to the cabin as it was time to write yesterday’s blog.

Time to dress came at 18.00 hrs. as we choose to go to the 2nd party at 18.45 hrs. The first formal night was color themed Black & White, this second one does not have a theme and the third one will be Red & Gold.  So big boss decreed that we should have a different formal outfit for each night and hence for tonight it was blue formal for me blue jacket and blue cumberbund, to match her ladiesships blue dress.

In the grey mists of time Cunard held 3 parties, The Welcome on Board / Captains Intro party, then the World Club party  for the various levels of repeat guests (Gold, platinum, Diamond , achieved at by counting the days) and  also a “Senior Officers party”. When we went on the Queen Anne we found out that these 3 parties had been merged into one. Not nice for those who were looking forward to as many free drinks as possible, but understandable as each time they had to clear the Lido deck (section under the Dome) at 3 pm. in the afternoon to set things up for a party, to much annoyance of those on the sun loungers and/or watching the afternoon movie. If you have to do that 3 times in a 10 day cruise, then you get a lot of un-happy campers.

Wold Club party in the Queens Lounge. See above what a beautiful lounge this is for a party as long as not everybody insists on sitting down. The other 3 Ladies are the World Club loyalty team and they also sell cruises from an office on Deck 2.

World Club party in the Queens Lounge. See 2 pictures higher up, what a beautiful lounge this is for a party as long as not everybody insists on sitting down. Thus this evening we had this combined party again in 2 sittings and with literally everybody coming through the line dressed in Formal. What was nice to see is that more and more men are moving away from the standard black “Penguin Suit” and are starting to experiment with different color jackets. I have about 15  of them in various colors to tune in with my wife’s dress color choice and also because I simply refuse to wear an “undertaker suit” if I am going to a festive formal occasion.

So we had the chance to have a little chat with Captain Sharples, who turned out to be a good conversationist (not always the case, even with cruise ships captains) , then grabbed a drink and moved into the crowd. Those who could stand, did stand, leaving the seats graciously to those who could only sit.  It was irritating again to see that the invited officers were hovering around the front of the dance floor and were waiting for the guests to come over to talk to them, instead of being gracious hosts and mingle in the crowd.  Hence armored with a glass of wine Lesley & I marched over to a trio of junior officers who were “hiding” as far from the guests as possible and gave them a bit of training of how to entertain. They sort of freaked out when they found out my background but with a few stories and some Q&A they started to relax and enjoy themselves.

Then it was time to for Captain’s introduction which went in sequence of: first Chief Engineer ( he who controls the throttle, does control the ship), the Chief Human Resources Officer (all cruise ship companys have been upgrading the status of H.R as the well being of the crew is becoming more and more important), The Hotel Director (the only Lady among the staff), the Staff Captain (who was introduced as captain, to confuse things) and then the Guest Ambassador (who administrates the loyalty system) to introduce the guest on board with the most sailing days. This lady had clocked up 1200+ days since 1991. Her most beloved ship was the Queen Elizabeth 2 but she liked the new Queens as well.  It seems that the older ships, built as Ocean Liners, had a form of character that made them favourites what ever challenges they had when sailing. I still come across HAL guests who remember Rotterdam V (now in Rotterdam) as their favourite  while the new ships  have much better facilities. But they lack character and style. On those older ships, the atmosphere on board dictated how you went about your cruise and how everybody interacted. But those days of ” everyday sea day is a formal day except sundays” are long gone.

When coming down from dinner, we bumped into the Captain and his wife who were going to retrieve their 3 children from the Youth Club. They were also having to deal with the magic of a Youth Club on board. Day 1: they want to go home, Day 2: they will go home when asked, Day 3: they refuse to come out as they are “too busy”, Day 4 and onwards is drama and tantrums near closing time.  (I was once called out as Captain on such an occasion, when the mother in question accused the Youth Director about “brainwashing” her children, as they refused to come out, and neither Security nor the Hotel Director knew how to deal with it.  I managed to talk the kids around (not the mother) by promising a bridge tour with ice cream (which we did anyway each cruise in those days. Then the next day the father threw a tantrum as he wanted a bridge tour as well but could get not one as the (free) tours were fully booked.  ———–Working with people is wonderfull————–  So, we as Captain & family had another chat and I was drawn in to volunteer to take photos with the captain by passing guests.

Then a mysterious bottle popped up in the cabin. Sparking Wine, but why ?? No card, no nothing. Turned out that this was a gift on “repeater day” for those with a higher number of sailing days.

Dinner was a busy affair as a larger number of guests had decided that this was THE night to order A-la-Carte (like we did yesterday with Dover sole) so all the head waiters and the Maitre where in full swing to prepare, Dover Sole, Lamb, Beef Wellington and Chateaubriand at the respective tables. But with being on TOP and have the best trained staff in this Queens Grill of all the restaurants, it all went smoothly without hiccups.

Then we went to the show. Tonight the 4 singers of the cast were giving a performance focusing on Songs of the Movies (James Bond, Abba =the movie etc.) This was advertised in the daily program with having a back up of an 18 piece orchestra (so bascially all the musicians on board) but there were only 9 on stage. Still very good, but why mislead the guests in promising more than you can deliver ?.   The show was very good though. All the other Cast,  Entertainers and family had parked themselves in the front of the stage (in the least occupied seats) and they made enough noise to make the theatre feel completely full.

Tomorrow we are  in Funchal, Madeira. We will dock at the breakwater and with us will be the ms Ventura (P&O cruises) which will be with us in all the next ports. Lesley knows the wife of the Chief Engineer on the Ventura as they were at sea together in the grey mists of time, so she is trying to arrange a meet-up.

Weather for tommorrow: Sunny in the morning, rain possible in the afternoon with maximum temperatures  around 18oC / 64oF.

 

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.

 

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