Roemin Aboat

We sailed into Dubrovnik past numerous offshore islands to moor in Graz Port on the northern outskirts of the town on another cloudless warm day. Arriving late morning we just had the afternoon to fill. So we walked into the port passing the Costa Delizicosa, which was tied up behind us and bought 2 tickets for the afternoon ferry to the nearest of the 3 Elaphiti Islands. Then we walked back to have lunch on board, the fish was called Cobia. The half hour ferry ride dropped us at Kolocep Island where we walked up to see one of the tiny churches and then back to the bay for a paddle, drink and a gelato at a taverna. The islands are much more peaceful than the mainland with little to do except relax. We just stopped for a couple of hours and caught the last but one ferry back to the ship. By the time we arrived back we had put it in another 15000 paces. The nice orange glow as the sun sets behind the headland promises a sunny day tomorrow.

The sun rose into a clear blue sky again. After breakfast we soaked up a few rays on our balcony, 2 sun beds and 4 loungers to choose from, before taking the 30 mins shuttle into town just before noon. We passed this way 10 years ago on our MH travels on our way to Venice. Remember the region for its big sandy beaches and acres of sunbeds. We can see beaches from the ship but the sunbeds appear to be packed away now. Ravenna is famous for the bazantine mosiacs to be found in many basilica around the old town centre and for Dante's tomb. We managed to get to see 3 of the sites which had amazing mosiacs from floor to very high ceilings. We had  time to fit in a short break for cappuccino and panicini before catching the shuttle for 5 pm departure and enjoyed the afternoon. We saw part of the show tonite before eating a nice meal in the Marco Polo restaurant. Dress code was 'smart chic', still a few DJ's but mostly jacket and open neck shirt. It is more  informal than...

Welcome aboard, that's what everybody says, ad nausium, trained to do it! We checked out of the Crowne Plaza and joined the dozens of other guests who were going on the shuttle bus. Checked in quickly at the cruise terminal and downed two glasses of bubbly before noon. No access to cabins until after 1pm so the self service restaurant was crammed. We have a crazy amount of space, it's a family size state room with a huge balcony on the port stern corner. Excellent position for the Croatian scenery and the iconic cruise past St Marks square, the gondola stations and Doges palace at the entrance to the Grande Canal. Lots of photos on a sunny evening as we start a gentle cruise down the coast of Italy to Ravenna. The main dining room was mad tonight with people trying to reserve tables or change reservations. We dined in the top deck self service where the food is just as good and it was deserted. Diet is down the drain already. Three cakes and a caramel machiatta have se...

We took the train into Venice from the station by the hotel and after a wander around caught a Vaporetto (water taxi) to the nearby island of Murano. This is the centre of Venice glass making with wall to wall glass making factories, show rooms and shops lining the canals. Some of the glass art is spectacularly beautiful with prices to match, while other stuff is difficult to distinguish from Chinese copies. The shops claim everything is genuine so I have a genuine Murano glass Shaun the Sheep to add to my collection. Murano is much quieter than Venice but still has some nice churches and restaurants to attract the tourists. We took a break and had a nice long seafood lunch off the main drag to cool down from the sunny warm day. We were waiting for a Vaporetto back to the station when one appeared for St Marks square so we took that instead. It goes all the way round the outside of Venice before entering the Grande Canal so it was a pleasant cruise. Needless to say it was much b...

We have just arrived for the start of our cruise on Thursday. We are staying at Crowne Plaza hotel in a quiet eastern suburb 30mins by train from Venice. Good flight by Easyjet from Luton, after staying with Mark and Cristina and having a nice afternoon tea with the whole family at Luton Hoo. The shuttle bus picked us up at the airport as arranged and we have booked another to take us to the cruise terminal.

Today marks the beginning of the cruise holiday. We are off to Luton to have afternoon tea at Luton Hoo before spending the night at Marks house. Then tomorrow we fly out to Venice by Easyjet.

The hotel is booked in Venice, well just outside, for two nights before we cruise. We decided it was easier to fly back from Barcelona immediately afterwards so an afternoon flight i s booked with Easyjet.

Booked a Celebrity cruise for the end of September sailing from Venice to Barcelona with stops in Dubrovnic, Kotor, Sicily and the Baleriacs. Flying out 2 days early to Venice with Easyjet, hotels and return flights still TBD.

Up before sunrise, 2 hours before in fact, to have breakfast and be thrown of the ship at 7:15. Well compared to the way we have been pampered for the last 11 days it feels like we are being thrown off. Its quite a quick journey to the airport and then the tedious waiting around for the flight home. Everyone seemed to agree that the Reflection is a super ship and we have had a great cruise. It' s a fine sunny day in Rome today, what a difference to Naples yesterday. We have had warm sun on nine out of the eleven days, so for the end of October that's about average. We avoided some very wet and stormy weather in the south of France, north of Italy and Croatia that has caused flash flooding and fatalities. We were queuing to check in for ages as the baggage conveyor broke. We took off at 12:20 local time on a BA 767 and hopefully Mark will be waiting to meet us at Heathrow at about 2:00. No idea why the raspberry jam iced bun from the in-flight snack contained apple, blackbe...

It's raining quite hard and 15deg cooler today in Naples, so a disappointing way to end the cruise. We took the early tour to Pompei and spent a soggy 2 hours walking round the wet ruins with an Italian tour guide who never stopped talking. Back to the ship for lunch and dry off, and if it clears up a bit later will pop back on shore for a pizza.

It has been overcast all day as we make our way back towards Italy. Great pity because it is the only cruise day when our balcony is on the south side of the ship for the whole day. Que sera sera. We saw some more dolphins this morning. It's been mayhem on the shopping mall as Celebrity gets rid of all the Mediterranean tack before its next trip, which is back to the Caribbean for the winter. Rosemary bought another handbag, but it's not a tacky one she says. I bought a watch for our van travels, at $10 it is tack. It's a formal dinner this evening and we are up early tomorrow to go to Pompei. Fortunately the clocks go back an hour tonight. Transiting the narrow, 2 miles, straights of Messina at about 8pm which should be pretty with all the lights on both shores. Its apparently know as the Mediterranean triangle because of the the ferocious currents, unpredictable winds and whirlpools. Its been pretty calm for us both ways. 

The entertainment has been mostly UK speciality artists from magicians to ventriloquist, with an international house ensemble doing just 2 shows during the cruise. We have only seen a few acts but they have been good and the Americans seem to like the English bias. Music has been good too, the house band plays in the atrium a lot which is annoying as it spreads from top to bottom of the ship including supposedly quite areas like the library. Small jazz quartet, Capricorn  and guitar vocalist Rafiti have been good, but no classical music. English cruise director Rich Stacey was entertaining without going over the top.

We took the shuttle bus into Chania to check out the market and the Venetian port. There is a nice old harbour area lined with restaurants and bars where we chose to have a coffe and then a platter of Mezes for two. It would have fed 4 but we managed the fishy bits, which were excellent, helped by a very hungry cat that demolished the sausages.. It's very hot today 28+ but there is a pleasant refreshing breeze. Rosemary bought two angels from an artist in the old mosque, now only used for exhibitions. I bought a belt in the old market and we caught the shuttle back to the boat by 4pm. Chania is actually quite a large town and being away from most of the historical sites is not too touristy. So that's the end of the Greek Island hopping part of the cruise.

We had lunch at the Bistro on Five which specialises in crepes and salads. It is usually very quiet as there is a surcharge but we like the nice friendly staff and relaxed atmosphere and the crepes are delicious.

Another fine sunrise to greet our arrival in Rhodes. The ship moors just outside the old city walks so it's  a short stoll into the medieval town. Stumbled upon a taverna with panoramic views of the town, can't resist those can we! Then we wandered around the maze of quaint streets before coming back on board for a late bistro lunch of crepes. Picked up a g elato from the ice cream bar to take back to the balcony to see the departure at 6pm, then it's time for molecular cocktails and dinner again!

Decided not to bother with the ruins at Ephesus. We have seen plenty of old rocks and crocks in our time and it's too hot today. Just wandered off the ship which is moored right in the middle of town and did the Turkish bazaar. Genuine fake R olex watches and any designer bag you like for 10€. Can you believe Rosemary did not buy anything! We were warned about pickpockets and high pressure sales in the bazaar, but it was all very laid back and friendly. Must be the end of season malaise or something. Nice afternoon sun on the balcony for the sail-away. All the UK teams were knocked out of the Rugby world cup today.

Spent a really nice day in Mykonos wandering the narrow streets and sea front and taking lots of photos. We had a coffee and and a nice fishy lunch on shore and came back onboard for afternoon tea, scones with jam and cream, before our departure at 6pm. Its been sunny and warm all day. We spent more time on shore than expected trying to take photos of the iconic windmills without people. Almost impossible even though we were the only ship in port.  We stumbled upon a christening service in one of the little whitewashed churches. Some of the Americans thought it was put on especially for the tourists ! Mykonos has a pelican that wanders around the streets. We found it just sitting outside a fish restaurant in the middle of town. Trying to avoid the tourists or waiting for lunch - who knows. 

Hopped on, but hopped off again after one stop and walked a little way round Piraeus from the yacht harbour to the fishing harbour. We had a beer and a toasty for lunch in a waterside bar then hopped on the bus to return via the Acropolis again. Departing at 6pm this evening, we are dining in the Tuscan restaurant this evening. It's been overcast today.  The meal in the Tuscan grill was good, although Rosemary's calamari starter was a bit tough the rib eye steak was excellent. There has been an American navy destroyer, the Winston S Churchill along side all day. I guess it may have been on immigrant patrol duty and paying a courtesy call in Athens! There's a lot of security presence and crew have changed into their best uniforms so must be expecting important visitors. A  trumpeter was sounding 'lights out '  as we departed out to sea and a convoy of top brass arrived at the destroyer.

The Reflection was 3 years old yesterday so there was a big party around the pool in the evening with Greek dancing lead by the Captain Apostolos Bouzakis. Cake and champagne were available in abundance. 

Went into Athens on hop on bus from the port of Piraeus. Horrendous traffic getting to the hop off at the Acropolis. Transferred to the sightseeing bus and did most of the circuit. Hopped off at Saint Agnes square by the parliament building. No austerity demos today! Vat is 23% on many goods now. Had a sandwich and glass of wine on the 5 floor of Cafe Club overlooking the square. Watched the ceremonial guards performing their funny march then walked around the pedestrianised Plaka district.  Stopped for coffee before hopping on the return bus at the Acropolis. Supported local artist by buying a small painting for the bathroom back home.