Infinity Epiblog

 

We have been on Infinity several times and visited all but one of the ports before, so there was little that was new or unusual to surprise us. However we really did enjoy the longer (13night) cruise and we will certainly be looking for longer cruises or 7 day 'back to backs' in future. It was also great to be out in shorts and tee shirts with some warm and sunny weather while it was cold and wet at home. The captain changed the itinery twice to avoid the Atlantic storms on our sea days so we did not have any really bad weather.

We did 2 shore excursions to Cadiz/Jerez in Andalucia for sherry tasting and Malpalomas beach in Grand Canaria to the dunes nature reserve. Free shuttle buses were provided in all the ports except Gibraltar, so we just wandered around in Malaga, Gibraltar, Arriciffe, Santa Cruz, Tangier and Cassablanca. It was good to go back to El Pimpi tapas bar when we were in Malaga.

The food was very good throughout in MDR and we enjoyed 3 speciality dinners. We took full advantage of the elite cocktail hour (5-7pm) and special events like senior officers party to minimise our drinks bill saving hundreds of pounds. The MDR waiters were very friendly and topping up our glasses by the end of the cruise. We went to most of the theatre shows, there were some good headliners and bar entertainers.  The ABBA sing along and silent discos are always good fun and popular. The port talks were disaapointing the American 'expert' just trotting out a few bits she had Googled with some poor slides she found somewhere.

The stay on board on the final morning worked very well and we would do it again if it was discounted. Gocruise organised the whole package for us and everything worked perfectly.

Extending our stay

We are up at sunrise, disembarking today and flying home, but not until we have enjoyed another few hours of extended stay. We vacated our cabin at 8:30 and checked in at the rendezvous lounge to get lanyards which identified us as staying on board with premium drinks package. We had breakfast in the ocean view cafe then went to the sun deck to whileway a couple of hours with cocktails and light lunch before leaving to get our luggage and transfer to the airport at midday. We were both suffering from colds so it was a welcome relaxing and less stressful way to disembark at the end the cruise. 

Usual cattle herding experience at Ryanair departure gate but the flight actually arrived early to a cold and wet night at  Birmingham airport. Our taxi was late due to an incident in Leicester in the evening so we had a Greggs coffee and steakbake while we waited. Arrived home just after 10:30 pm , its been a long day.

Final Sea day

Last day at sea after leaving Tangier and the straits of Gibraltar, we are heading back to Barcelona.The wind is on our stern and the sun will be on our balcony later maybe. I went to the captains talk on 'navigation and planning' in the morning, then we both went to the Tuscany restaurant for a 4 course sea food lunch. The lobster bisque, cod and chips, seafood platter and ice-cream were all excellent. Packed ready for our 'stay on board' experience tomorrow. This allows us to stay on board with premium WiFi, premium drinks and access to restaurants until 12:30, instead of being thrown off at 9:00am. It costs extra but worth it to avoid 4 hours of hanging around and spending at the airport. We had a final chat with Farhan our waiter in MDR over dinner. We both have colds so an early night after a 15mins at the silent disco.

Tangier

It's Sunday and the last port day, we are in Tangier and are taking the shuttle bus to a park near the Medina for a few hours 'souking' and a few hours chilling around the boat later in the afternoon sun. We were dropped by the the Grande Socco (main square) just outside the Medina (old town) where it was very busy. There were a lot of young football supporters literally hanging out of cars, we counted 8 in one car, going to a football stadium or sports bars. Morocco hosted the Africa cup of Nations a few weeks ago so there is still football buzz in the town.

We wandered around in the medina and souk for a while without buying anything this time. It was interesting to see a union jack flying high above St Andrews church near the square and I had a coffee at a very modern coffee bar. We took the shuttle back to the ship by which time it had clouded over and the promised sun did not materialise on our balcony.

Casablanca

The captain managed to get us safely into Casablanca harbour, its challenging with a big winter swell, so we were able to spend a few hours  there. There was a shuttle bus from the busy largely industrial port to Europa Square. At first glance Morocco is very chaotic, with aggressive taxi drivers literally fighting for business,  but everyone else is friendly and polite. We started with a mint tea for me (which is compulsory) and cappuccino for Rosemary before visiting the old souk. Rosemary spotted a shopping bag she fancied and bargained the price down to €25 so she was happy.

Before we caught the shuttle back we had another mint tea, fresh orange juice and Harash (a polenta pancake) all for €5. It's been a warm and mostly sunny day so time for a cocktail on the sun deck as we set sail for Tangier's.

We dined in the Tuscan restaurant again on lobster rigatoni, sea bass and tuna, a better choice than our last meal but we missed the theatre show in the process.

Third sea day

We are hoping to visit Casablanca on Saturday, if the sea state allows, so today is a sea day. It's overcast with a gentle breeze but not sitting round the pool day. I am doing a cocktail making course later at the Martini bar. 

There were only 3 of us making cocktails. The blue one, a Mediterranean Cobbler with Ouzo, was different but not very nice. I liked La Chica Loca (literaly 'the crazy lady') a long drink with tequila, ginger ale and jalapeno chilli, it is usually the mixologists favourite too!

It was Senior officers party next at 5 o'clock so more cocktails and canapes. (Somebody has got to do it !!!) Followed by a chic night with lobster and beef wellington on the menu.

Tenerife the largest island

Last stop in the Canaries is at Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife. We had nothing planned for this stop so after breakfast we just walked into town to the Placa Espana and took some photos around the touristy square which is dominated by the Cruz. We found an interesting street cafe in the back streets and had a big cappuccino. We walked slowly back and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon on the sun deck. We have been averaging 10,000 paces so it was nice to chill out in the hot sunshine for a few hours today.