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I've always loved cruises so when an old colleague asked me to take them on a Mediterranean Cruise, I jumped at the chance. She had never cruised before but is now a true convert.

Parking was easy at Southampton and we took the coach to the Ship. Ventura is a monster, she's huge. Once on board we were greeted and shown to our cabin, an outside, forward cabin on the Lido deck, ideal for the restaurants and pools.

I thought we'd never find our way around but with the handy little map kept in the wallet with our key cards and cruise cards, we were soon old hands at it.

We settled on the Lido deck pool area for some lunch, got a couple of drinks and prepared to sail away. We got a great view of the Azura as we left due on her maiden voyage the next day.

April is not the warmest month to cruise and the sea breeze can be chillyl but there are so many things to do on board we hardly noticed. If we wanted the pool, we went to the sky pool with its glass roof and stayed warm.
On the Lido Deck there are a choice of eateries, all included, a Marco Pierre White grill, a pizzeria and another grill as well as the buffet restaurant. My companion was not one for formal dining and we only tried the formal dining room twice but the fare on offer in the self-service was exceptional.

During the evenings we spent time between the Tamarisk Room for cabaret singing, dancing and lectures and the Havanna Room for magicians, comics and nightclub. We also enjoyed the fabulous entertainment in the Theatre.

After my companion went to bed early I sampled the more sophisticated entertainment in the Metropole bar, right up high at the back of deck 18.

Our cruise took us to Lisbon, Barcelona, Majorca, Livorno for Florence, Civitavecchia for Rome, Gibraltar and back to Southampton.

We took several of the excursions by coach from the ship. At Palma there was a specially adapted coach for the wheelchair users and poor walkers which was a bonus, no steep stairs to climb for my companion.

The Florence (non-escorted) tour was great for us slow walkers as there wasn't really enough time to go to the galleries anyway and we just enjoyed the feel of the place and the cafes with great views over the palaces.

We enjoyed a coach tour of Rome, seeing all the archaeological sites and St Peter's from the bus, saying we would like to look closer on another visit.

Having been too late for the tour bus at Barcelona, we found a taxi driver who gave us a taxi tour of Barcelona, to the Gaudi Cathedral of Sagrada Familia, parc Guell for Gaudi architecture and up to the Olympic stadium for fabulous views over the city. My companion did not want to use the cable car but that would have been an option for others. We took a look around the Marina and nearby beaches. where there was a lively cafe culture.

In Gibraltar, we just took a local taxi ride to Cssemates Square. this had changed a lot from when I used to live there 20 years ago. It used to be like a giant roundabout with cars shooting through, now it's pedestrianised along with Main Street and full of shops and eateries. We had a leisurely lunch and admired the Rock from there.
We had an amazing Sail-away party here. Our cruise Director - Leon de Saint Croix (yes, really) - wanted to blow the Disney ship next door out of the water with our sheer volume and partying. I think we nearly did it. They were lined up on their deck as we sang Rule Britannia at them followed by Rockin' all Over The World.

We sailed off and through the Bay of Biscay which stayed fairly calm for us this time.
Disembarking was straightforward, leaving bags outside overnight to be collected and just leaving with overnighters next day. Time for a leisurely breakfast before collecting bags and catching the coach back to our car.

Can't wait for the next one.