Cruise Days 7 & 8 - Palma de Mallorca & Barcelona

Day 65 Friday 19 November - “Cruise Day 6 – At Sea - PS”

This Post Script is mainly to record our impressions of tonight's Stardust performance. The stage set-up was way beyond what we've got used to and the show took all the members of the ensemble, the magician and the strong-man. The title was “Elements” and the theme were the traditional elements of earth, air, water and fire. There were mermaids 'swimming' from the ceiling, the strong man and his partner took to the air and the magician performed illusions involving water and fire. As a finale every member of the cast came out decked in white and sprinkled what looked like snow flakes from every possible vantage point. A truly amazing show.

Day 66 Saturday 20 November - “Cruise Day 7 – Palma de Mallorca”

The ship arrived at about the scheduled time and after a relatively early breakfast we went ashore. The shuttle bus took us around the harbour to just below the Le Seu Catedral. All along the road the seaward side is packed with sailing yachts and power cruisers of various sizes.

We found our way to the cathedral but were turned away as there was a service in progress and the signs indicated we should return after 10. We wandered through the many alleys and lanes of the old quarter locating many of the significant buildings marked on our map.

By about 9:45 we'd been walking for the best part of two hours and the inevitable call of nature had to be satisfied. Jenny needed to buy some salve and we asked the lady in the pharmacy where there was a public toilet – her reply “There are none. What you have to do is buy a coffee at a cafe or bar and use their toilet.” There was a bar of sorts just around the corner and that's what we did. You don't pay for the loo as such but you don't get to go unless you buy something. I guess we'll just have to get used to it.

After satisfying nature's call we climbed back up to the cathedral and paid the entry fee. The structure is ancient, massive and impressive. In addition to the main altar there are a number of chapels along both sides of the main church. Each chapel is dedicated to a particular saint or religious event. In addition to this central attraction there are a number of display cases two of which housed a single silver candelabrum that must have been over 150 cm tall and weighed many kilos.

We spent well over an hour in the cathedral and then wandered along the city wall to finally find our way back to the foreshore and a waiting shuttle bus. On return to the ship we had a late lunch and spent what remained of the afternoon in our cabin.

We were most impressed with Palma de Mallorca. It is beautifully located on the Bahia de Palma, it is clean (a feature not shared by many places we've visited) and the traffic – at least on a Saturday morning, appeared to adhere to some set of rules. Looking at the map of the island it would appear to be a place where one could spend a week or two poking around the many small ports and villages.

On the way to diner we met the magician in the corridor. Jenny made some smart remark along the lines of “could he make him disappear?” pointing to me. Quick as a flash he produced an iPod out of Jenny's right ear. Then he muttered some mumbo-jumbo and asked her to blow on it and it turned into a golf-ball sized sphere which he then swallowed. A hearty wave and he continued on his way.

The 'crew' show was along similar lines to that on the Star on the Alaska cruise. Very entertaining and some seriously good talent aboard this ship. The most unlikely act was the executive chef from “the kingdom of Bavaria” who had a remarkable voice and all together enjoyed himself way too much.

Day 67 Sunday 21 November - “Cruise Day 8 – Barcelona”

We wake up along side in Barcelona. An early breakfast and we pack our bags for the transfer to our new cabin. All very simple and painless. We then retired to the Spinnaker Lounge to avoid the activity as over 2,000 people found their way off the ship. It was a bit like ants scurrying out of a net being flooded. Quiet descended and the only activity was the crew preparing for the onslaught of over 2,000 new passengers coming aboard. It was interesting to observe all this activity without being a part of it.

Spent part of the afternoon unpacking our gear in the new cabin and attending the Emergency Evacuation Drill. Then diner again in the Grand Pacific and working out what to have from the same menu we had a week ago. A number of the staff had already apologised for the duplication but we didn't have a problem finding something else to eat.

We decided to give this evening's show a miss and spent the time catching up with this blog. Tomorrow is a 'sea' day and we've already found four or five things we may like to do. One thing is for certain, we won't be bored.