This summer I had the luxury of going on a cruise with my lovely family. Here is a round up of the trip:
Palma
We flew into Palma about midday, and were taken directly to the ship. I have cruised before but am still mesmerised at the scale of the operation that makes onboarding easy and exciting. Once we’d ‘checked in’ on the beauty that is Marella Discovery 2 , we of course went straight in for the buffet on top deck, overlooking the city on one side and the open sea on the other. Greeted by the unlimited beer taps and food, ‘holiday mode’ was switched on! We did the standard getting our bearings walk around the ship, committing the location of the coffee port to memory, and finding the secret sunbathing spots across the ship, before taking part in the safety drill. We then had our first dinner in the Italian restaurant and then settled in the show lounge for the performance. Things really kicked off at 10pm when we left Palma in style with a Sailaway Deck Party – nearly everyone was up there dancing and singing!
Day at Sea
You’d think a day of sailing might be a bit boring but ours was anything but. After stuffing ourselves at breakfast we attended the port showcase, the backstage tour of the broadway show lounge, the Virtual Reality experience, and the Ladies’ pamper session. Lunch was followed by salsa and a nap. The evening event was the Captain’s Dinner, where all guests were invited to dress up alongside the senior staff, raising a toast to our ship. The show for the evening was ‘Best of Broadway’ featuring some family favourites such as The Lion King.
Portimao
After 30 hours at sea we arrived at our first stop in Portugal, Portimao. We couldn’t actually dock at the port due to shallow waters but instead tendered to shore. We spent the first part of the day looking around the town, which was a little underwhelming if I’m honest! There were a few cute shops but I think the real attraction to Portimao is Praia de Rocha beach, known for its dramatic limestone formations. Although the weather wasn’t that warm (my definition of warm is at least 25 degrees no breeze) we had an ice cream on the beach and admired our ship from afar. We needed to be back on board by 5pm so took our tender in good time (2pm haha), the only issue was the waves had picked up significantly and made the journey back very rocky!
Lisbon
We split off for our day in Lisbon, our parents went on an organised tour whereas my sister and I did what I coin ‘Lisbon on a shoestring’. Indeed, once leaving the ship we were pretty much straight in the midst of it all, and this is what our day entailed:
- Visiting the Conseveira de Lisboa – tinned fish shop
- Eating Nata de Pastel’s at the Time Out Market (you can try these sweet treats at Nando’s btw!)
- Walking around the Praça do Comércio
- Seeing the City from the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara
- Checking out the Santa Justa lift
- Viewing the Castelo de St. Jorge
- Walking through Alfama and looking down over the City (and the ship) from Miradouro de Santa Luzia whilst listening to street performers
Despite not taking a tour, we managed to immerse ourselves into the wonderfully tiled city and I’d say it was a success!
Back on board we watched a fantastic show ‘Ready Freddie’ that featured a virtual Freddie Mercury!
Cadiz
We booked a tour on this day which gave us a brief taster of the attractive city that is Cadiz. We did a dot to dot through the gold-capped cathedral, La Caleta Beach and Plaza de Espana, before popping over to Jerez to see the historic quarter. Cadiz was probably my favourite port of call and the kind of place I’d love to live in! Amazing local market, shops, culture, and close to the water – lush!
Malaga
Fun Fact: we sailed through the Striat of Gibraltar late evening and you could see Europe on one side of the ship and Africa on the other!
The tour for Malaga first focused on the Gibralfaro Castle high on the hill, which overlooked the city allowing for panoramic photos. We then spent the rest of the tour in the Old Town, where we heard about the life of Pablo Picasso, who although lived in France for most of his life, was actually born here. A bit like Cadiz, Malaga had a lot of character and history to explore!
Alicante
Whilst half the ship raced to Benidorm we decided to stay local. The rest of the family had been to Alicante a few years ago so we didn’t need a tour of this destination, the family guiding me through which street corners they ‘definitely remembered’ from before. Did you know tapas started here?!
Palma
Sadly our sailing adventure came to an end, but thankfully we had a few more days in the sun before flying home. We took a transfer to the East side of the island and stayed in a small resort called Cala Bona. It was a small but lively town, and only a few minutes away from Cala Millor and Sa Coma, a town we holidayed at many years ago.
On our last day, we hired a car and yours truly drove around the island. Stopping at Can Picafort, Alcudia, Port de Pollenca and Es Colomer, we were treated to a variety of landscapes and formations.
The final evening was somewhat spiritual as it coincided with the Fisherman’s festival in Cala Bona and the partial eclipse.
