Sunday 12 January 2014

The Cruise - Part II

A night's sailing brought us to our next port of call...Toulon, where passengers could take a tender boat to shore and climb onto buses for excursions to Marseille! As this area is within driving distance from home, we decided instead to stay on board to settle in, and visit by car, another time, on another holiday!

Arriving in the harbour at 7 a.m, we found the French navy was already there in force!

An unusual diversion for those staying on the ship was the weekly lifeboat drill later in the morning. Quite rightly, RCL take safety very seriously, and the drill was carried out meticulously and obviously choreographed to a carefully planned routine. The boats are numerous - something like 50 in total - and a lot bigger than they look in the photo!

Looking around the ship on this day was a good idea, as most people had gone ashore!  The gymnasium was quiet, and other than taking a look, we did not get too energetic!

The pool deck - unbelievable!! But the weather was pretty cool, and only a few hardy souls got themselves wet!

and one of several  Jacuzzis - this one hangs off the side of the ship. See the later photo!

Dressed up and ready for our second night on the ship, a very special dinner at the Captain's table!

Note the lovely necklace and earrings I am wearing - a treasured gift from Jean who makes jewellery, and also has a French blog.

Places of honour at dinner on the Captain's table!



The ship moved onwards that night, arriving early the next morning at Villefranche, the port for visits to Monaco and Monte Carlo.

Going down 9 decks in the lift, on the way to take the tender boat to shore.

Arriving at Villefranche. A lovely French port, and we were lucky with the weather!

We took the  train along the coast to Monte Carlo's underground station.

Above ground, the buildings of Monte Carlo!  Bottom right you can see some grandstands being erected, as it was Formula 1 weekend and the whole of the car racing world had moved into town for the Monaco GP!!

A few exotic cars for sale at Monaco Motors! Note the absence of price stickers. As the saying goes,"if you have to ask the price, you probably can't afford it!"

Beautiful stylish buildings!

The harbour, crammed full of millionaires' and billionaires' expensive boats!

The Ferrari F1 pits...


and Williams, whose factory is in our old home town of Wantage, Oxfordshire in the UK!

back at the ship, and looking up at that Jacuzzi  you saw earlier!

A stunning sunset over the Mediterranean!


One of the few pets allowed aboard - a silver bull terrier!! What craftsmanship!

and a towelling rabbit.  The guy who looked after our cabin was a master at making different animals from towels!


Watch this space for Part III, on to Italy and the Leaning Tower of Pisa!



see my daily photo diary  HERE

and also - My Life Before Charente Updated 12/01/2014 
Sorry the latter has taken so long to update!!


49 comments:

  1. what a fun trip this must have been. i love monte carlo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jaz I would like to visit Monte Carlo again when FI had not taken it over for the weekend. It was quite difficult finding your way around as lots of barriers were in place! Have a good week Diane

      Delete
  2. What a lovely trip! I have been on a cruise only once. I had foot surgery and was not allowed to fly so I took a cruise down to Mexico for 8 days. It was nice but I think that I will appreciate it better when I am older.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nadege I think it is probably easier to relax and take it easier on a cruise when you are older, but if you want to stop off and see places you only have day to do it and then you need to be pretty fit! Have a good week Diane

      Delete
  3. What a great post...lots of memories of my own cruising the Med experiences...and my "second home" Villefranche...many thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed this post and it brought back memories, that is what blogging is all about I think. Have a good day Diane

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. Thank you, Hope that all is well with you. Diane

      Delete
  5. Your cruise was certainly a magnificent way to travel. All the places visited were lovely and I especially enjoyed the ones of you and hubby and at the captain's table. Now to visit your other post, part 1.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Denise is was a very grand experience and one we are never likely to repeat. Glad that I can share it with a few others. Take care Diane

      Delete
  6. This ship is absolutely amazing. I think it's bigger than my town.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gaelyn, I am sure it is bigger than your town, ours would just disappear on one floor alone! Have a good day Diane

      Delete
  7. I must say that those beads look the works...or is it the way you carry them off.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fly they are beautifully made and Jean did a good job, but of course the wearer has to carry them off as well :-)))) Have a great week, Diane

      Delete
  8. Hi Diane , How fabulous you and Nigel look , and I love the necklace , it is beautiful. YEAH Villefranche sur mer and Monaco , I was there the week after you and Linda and I sat near to those Yachts, it was amazing. See that you got Williams garage and Ferrari's too .. Sorry I should be focusing on the ship :-) look at you at the Captains table , woohoo, take care xoxo Anne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Success Anne your comment made it this time, not sure where they go to when they go AWOL!! Williams was much more important than we were :-) Pity we were not all there the same day. Take care and keep warm Diane xox

      Delete
    2. Hooray success at last , Absolutely not more important than you :-) I know we missed each other by days . Trying to keep warm , it just feels so damp ! take care xox

      Delete
  9. WOW!
    Your photos are fantastic, that is truly great footage!
    And what amazing luxury!
    I bet you had a ball!
    I had a look at you previous post too but the pics here are even better!
    I love the dog, it would look great on my terrace!
    And you are so chic dressed up for a dinner at the Captain's table!
    Cheers Diane, keep well

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Noushka, I would have liked to have put that dog in my suitcase but it was a bit too big :-) Thanks for all the kind comments. Have a good week Diane

      Delete
  10. Woohoo!! Look at you two living it up. Way to go, Diane. Great ship, great clothes looks like great fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Diane B it was quite amazing to live like this for a whole week. It was an experience finding our how the other half live :-) Take care Diane.

      Delete
  11. Great pics, Diane! You had to have a blast on your trip. And seated beside the Captain, woo hoo! Your outfit looks great with the jewelry and I love the pic of Villefranche, gorgeous I bet!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Pam for the kind comment. It was an amazing trip. Keep well Diane

      Delete
  12. That pool deck does look like fun but I think my favourite would be the jacuzzi hanging over the side of the ship. What a great cruise and trip Diane.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joan the weather was not good while we were on the ship. The jacuzzi would have been great because of the warmth, sadly we never ventured there in the end as you will see in the next posts, I ended up finding out what the medical quarters were like as well!! Have a good day, Diane

      Delete
  13. You’re so cool! I dont suppose Ive learn anything like this before. So good to search out somebody with some authentic ideas on this subject. realy thank you for beginning this up. this web site is one thing thats wanted on the net, somebody with slightly originality. helpful job for bringing something new to the web!
    Top Ten Web Hosting Reviews

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sandy for your visit and kind comment. Sorry the replay has taken so long but I am having a lot of trouble with Google at present and I am struggling to get into my own websites! Hope to see you return. Have a good day EDiane

      Delete
  14. The pool deck sculptures seem to have been made by Niki de Saint Phale. Amazing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure who did those sculptures but you could well be right. Thanks for the comment J.M. Have a good weekend. Diane

      Delete
  15. What a wonderful and memorable trip…the ship is beautiful. I'm sorry to read from your comment that you had to visit the medical quarters…that wasn't good. Karen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karen it could have been much worse just annoying and stopped our trip to Rome. Sorry about the long delay in reply, Google is giving me lots of hassles at present!! Have a good day Diane

      Delete
  16. Hi Diane, wow... lovely cruise. Thanks for the tour and sharing the very well taken pictures. You look gorgeous in that lovely gown. :))

    Have a wonderful week ahead, regards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Amelia, Hope you enjoy the rest of the tour as well. You have a good week as well Diane

      Delete
  17. Με πολύ ενδιαφέρον διάβασα την αφήγηση σου και καμάρωσα τις πανέμορφες φωτογραφίες σου!!
    Τι όμορφα βραδινά ρούχα που φοράτε και είναι μεγάλη τιμή που είστε ένθεν και ένθεν του καπετάνιου!
    Να έχεις ένα όμορφο Σαββατοκύριακο!
    Πολλά φιλιά

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We were very honoured to be at the Captain's table, it was a fabulous evening, Thanks for the comment., Keep well Diane.

      Delete
  18. Happy New Year my friend. Great to be back catching up on your blog and enjoying some armchair travel, amazing what we see and learn from each others blogs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year to you as well and I hope that 2014 is a vast improvement on 2013. Sorry this reply is slow, Google is giving me endless problems at the moment and apart form struggling to get into my own blogs I have not been able to comment either. Keep well, I think of you often, Diane

      Delete
  19. Don't you both look super smart! It looks like a fantastic trip.

    Happy New Year..... better late than never!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for the kind comment Gaynor. A happy New Year to you as well. I hope that 2014 will be a good year for you. Take care Diane

      Delete
  20. I have never been to a cruise yet so thank you for bringing me with your tour. These are beautiful captures Diane.

    PS. So sorry if I haven't visiting lately, been so busy with kids and this past week, we all got the nasty flu.

    Be safe.

    Rose

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope that you are all feeling better Rose. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Take care and get better very soon. Diane

      Delete
  21. Hi Diane .. what an amazing ship ... having never been on one - to think of 15 decks and over 4,000 passengers ... is rather beyond my comprehension .. but seeing jacuzzi suspended just staggers me ... I think you were right to just take time out and look round when everyone else was out and about.

    Love the captain's table .. and our photo - fabulous shot by someone else, I know. Then the Grand Prix weekend - that was good timing ..

    Lovely and now looking forward to part III .. cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hilary thanks for the comment. The size of the ship is hard to believe, even being on it, it is still very hard to take it all in. I think there was many parts of the ship we still did not see!!

      The captain's table was interesting and we met a lovely couple from South Africa there who lived close by where we used to be!

      Will try to get part III on the blog ASAP ;-) Have a great weekend Diane

      Delete
  22. Replies
    1. Feliz Ano Novo para você também. Graças Diane

      Delete
  23. enjoyed your post, enjoyed looking at all of you, and at that unbelievable boat!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The ship was amazing and we did not get to see all of it! Keep well Diane

      Delete
  24. Oh boy, its such an honour joining the captain for dinner. You're such a lucky lady.
    Kristy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kristy it was an honour if fact the whole cruise was an honour :-) Keep well Diane

      Delete

Thanks for taking the time to visit and pass a comment. Every comment is appreciated and I try to reply to each and every one. All comments are verification free but will come to me for approval first :-)) No Anonymous Users!

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.