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| Member Cruise Review |
we had a wonderful cruise. We have previously cruised on Celebration (Midnight Sun 2005) which was our favourite cruise, to date. It was however our first cruise from Southampton. Everything went smoothly from being picked up by coach at 08:00 in Wakefield to getting booked in and receiving our luggage on the ship at 15:00. First job was to visit the lido for a snack, big mistake, how do you just have a snack on board ship? We proceeded to give the ship a once over to familiarise ourselves, and to walk off our snack. We were suprised at the number of staff who were still onboard from our previous cruise, loads of them "welcomed us home" which was a nice start to the cruise. We left Southampton for a day at sea and a warning that we would encounter some rough sea's. It turned out to be force 12, we were told by someone who had a bridge tour that winds of, up to 179mph were recorded. The upside was that there were plenty of tables in the Meridian restaurant that evening. We had decided that we wouldn't do any ships tours unless there was something really interesting to us, I believe a lot of tours are overpriced bus rides. The plan was to have a brief look around the ports then relax onboard and catch some sun. The entertainment was good with the usual stage shows and guest artists. Food excellent again. I'm not 100% sure whether I prefer open seating or fixed, with fixed seating you form friendships with your fellow diners throughout the holiday. Yet you have more flexibility with open seating, and meet more people. We arrived in La Coruna as planned on the Friday, we had stopped here earlier in the year so we just had a wander around the town before returning to the ship for a leisurely afternoon. An announcement was made that the ship would stay in La Coruna overnight to repair engine damage caused by the bad weather, we would then miss Bilbao and cruise straight on to La Rochelle. La Rochelle is a beautiful town with a nice big marina and a wooded park area surrounding it. As it was Sunday the shops were shut, he he, they dunt call us Yorkshiremen tight for nowt tha knows. The next port was Brest which was also very pleasant, again we wandered around aimlessly for a few hours before returning to the ship by which time the sun had appeared. Our last stop was Guernsey which we were looking forward to, we were not disappointed, we awoke to blue skies and a flat sea which meant no problems with tendering to port. We then returned for a day in Southampton prior to our second cruise, it was sad to lose friends we had met that week, it could have been worse, we could have been going home too. We set sail for week two with another day at sea, again we were warned of a fair swell across the bay, which was nothing like as rough as the previous week. I would class Vigo as one of the worst ports I have visited. Next stop Lisbon, which was very nice. We did the open top bus tour of the city, this was a hop on hop off bus. The following day was Cadiz which we again did the open top bus tour, another very nice city. Gibraltar was our next port, we were looking forward to Gib where we took a taxi tour around the rock, caves, siege tunnels, e.t.c. This was my favourite port, the booze is incredibly cheap (Yorkshireman bit again). Next up Cartagena, another pleasant stop steeped in history. Our final port was Barcelona which we have visited previously. On to Palma for disembarkation, and our flight home to Manchester which was pretty uneventful. I have tried to keep it fairly short and sweet, if anyone requires further info I will be happy to supply it. I would certainly have no worries about cruising on the Celebration again, it may not be the newest or prettiest ship but it has a very welcoming and warm atmosphere. Happy cruising Phil. |
September 2006 by Yorkshire Phil Atlantic Charms & Iberian Splendours Cruise |
| CRUISE RATED OUT OF 5 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Cruise Line = Thompson Ship Name = Celebration Date of Sailing = Sept 2006 How many cruises have you done = 3 Ship Facilities = 3 Entertainment = 5 Dining Room Service = 5 Spa Facilities = na Food = 5 Sports Facilities = 4 Cabin Layout = 3 Bars & Lounges = 4 Ports of Call = 4 Cabin location = c deck Type of Cabin = Standard inside Overall cruise rating out of 5 = 4.5 |