Cruise M1110
on the M.S. Braemar
to Ibiza in the Western Med.

(Please scroll down to see my photographs and report)

Date:	Port:	Flag:	Escort:	Comment:
14/05/2011	Dover UK		-	-
15/05/2011	Ijmuiden Holland		Edam & Windmill Village	Cheese & clogs!
18/05/2011	Vigo Spain		-	First visit!
20/05/2011	Motril Spain		Las Alpujarras Mountain Drive	Quaint villages
21/05/2011	Alicante Spain		Scenic Alicante	Cathedral, museum & castle
22/05/2011	Barcelona Spain		City Tour	Cathedrals & Spanish village
23/05/2011	Ibiza Spain		Southern Ibiza Sightseeing	Cathedral, beach village & resort
25/05/2011	Lisbon Portugal		Highlights & Estoril	City & resort
28/05/2011	Dover England		-	-

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Me, Lyn, Geoff & Colin

Me & Mrs Jones

Here's my report on the cruise:

   Just to let you know that I have just got back from my cruise to Ibiza in the Western Mediterranean on the Braemar.

   The towns of North Holland at the first port of call were enchanting.

   I had no tour in Vigo so I was able to take photographs of all the city's sights for a future port talk on my first visit there.

   The trip up into the Sierra Nevada to see the mountain villages from Motril was exciting, if somewhat misty.

   Alicante positively glistened in the glorious sunshine. I haven't been there since I attended a conference there back in 1995 (see my Travels web page for details.)

   Finally I got to see Gaudi's remarkable Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona.

The labyrinth (maze) in Barcelona, Spain

   The high point of the trip was, literally, the old town of Ibiza on a first visit to the island. However the port lecturer did a moonlight flit and flew home without warning from Ibiza!

   The stop in Estoril was also a first for me.

Bridge over the Tagus, Lisbon, Portugal

Funicular, Lisbon

   It is always a pleasure to work with the lovely Lyn & Geoff Dye, the dance couple on board!

Good points were:

1. Eating in the Thistle & Grampian Restaurants when speciality buffets took place in the Palms Café.
2. Eating in the lovely triple aspect Palms Café for most meals.
3. Lots of dancing ladies.
4. First visits to :
   • Edam, North Holland.
   • Vigo, Spain.
   • Motril, Spain.
   • Ibiza, Spain.
   • Estoril, Portugal.

For the record ...

• Food: Excellent, best in the fleet!
• Tours: Six.
• Weather: Generally very good but misty in the Sierra Nevada and rough coming back across the Bay of Biscay!
• New ports: Six (see above).
• Sailaways: Several.
• Tea dance: One.
• Masonics: Hosted by me.
• Service clubs: Hosted by my cabin mate Colin Scott.
• Armed Services: Hosted by Geoff Dye.
• Dinner host: No.
• Line dancing: Yes, four classes.
• Sequence dancing: Some.
• Ballroom dancing: Lots.
• Western night: Yes, participation line dancing led my me.
• Tropical night: Yes, participation tropical dancing led by me in Jackie Probert's absence. I called the Macarena, Party Samba, Cha Cha Slide and Conga whilst Lyn led off Agadoo!
• British (Red, White & Blue) night: Yes.
• Singles party: Yes.
• Singles lunch: No.
• Formal nights: Three.
• Cocktail parties: Five.

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• Captain: Magnus Rodberg.
• Cruise Director: Anthony Borradaile.
• Assistant Cruise Director: a young Tom Grinstead.
• Hostesses: Ivana Stanic and Imee Tatel.
• Hosts: Hubert Greaves from Barbados and Elliot Taylor from BoMo.
• Cabin mate: Colin Scott from Herts.
• Dance couple: The lovely Lyn & Geoff Dye from Rayne in Essex.
• Other dance hosts: No.
• Lecturer(s): Jerry Pearlman (lawyer), Rosalind Cooper (wine) and Marjan Dehghani (ports).
• Musician(s): Mina Miletic (pianist), Enrique Cabiluna (piano), Rob B (troubador), 4th Dimension (pop) and the Rosario Trio (classical).
• Magician: Brett Kite.
• Comedian(s): Bob Webb.
• Singer(s): Jane Beaumont and Ma. Lou from the Phillipines.
• Cabin: 3002 inside twin.
• Dancing Passengers: Margaret, Jenny, Julie, Betty, Doris, Doreen, Charlotte, Jean, Sidi and Jan.
• Good, free Wi-Fi:
  1. Zaanse Schans Museum, North Holland.
  2. Las Alpujarras hotel, Sierra Nevada.
  3. Tourist Information Office, Alicante.
  4. Sant Josep Library, Ibiza.