[30th November – 2nd December 2025] Our transfer from the Estancia doesn’t arrive, so we make the trip out of Buenos Aires into the pampas in a taxi, which is classed as “executive”, but appears to have no rear suspension. We pass through some less than salubrious suburbs of BA, Read more
[24th-30th November 2025] It’s time to disembark from the MSC Fantasia for the final time. We both feel that we’ve become almost institutionalised on the cruise. Who’s going to deliver our breakfast in the morning, look after us in the restaurant at lunch and dinner, do our laundry and deliver Read more
[23rd November 2025] Arriving by sea in Montevideo is definitely not quite the same as arriving in Rio. The view of the city from the port is unspectacular, but we know that the Old Town is within walking distance, on our way back to the ship later. We’ve decided unusually Read more
[20th November 2025] Everyone is on deck to view our arrival in Rio, and the scene does not disappoint. We agree that the three most spectacular cities we have visited so far have been New York, Istanbul, and now Rio de Janeiro. We have been lucky enough to arrive in Read more
[18th November 2025] Some weeks before we left Edinburgh, we had to change our plans for the latter half of the trip, swapping Iguazu in Argentina for Mendoza in the wine region. This was because Iguazu is a Yellow Fever risk area and the expert advice to us was not Read more
[12th November 2025] Cruise stop number two gives us the opportunity to visit one of a group of islands we’ve always meant to go to but never got around to it – the Canaries – in particular the capital of Gran Canaria: Las Palmas. We head off the boat and Read more
[10th November 2025] We wake up just before sunrise in Tangier, and watch the new day light up the buildings of the port and the Kasbah, from our cabin balcony. After disembarking from the cruise boat, we make the long trek from the dockside to the terminal, during which I Read more
[28th October-8th November 2025] Each of our five previous post-retirement trips has ended up with a week or two in Menorca, which provides a stepping stone from our home-from-home to our actual home. It feels strange to be starting off on the island this time around, as the first part Read more
[27-28 October 2025] When you step into the First Class Lounge on Platform 5 at Waverley Station, you could be forgiven for thinking you were entering the Etihad Business Class Lounge at Bangkok Airport. Apart from the (miniscule) range of food and drinks, the (lack of) comfort and opulence of Read more
We’d both only previously visited Málaga for a day, off a cruise ship in 2019. Having disembarked, we caught a taxi into a beautiful tree-lined square (Placa de la Constitution), climbed up to the Alcazabar for the wonderful views of the bay, and visited the excellent Carmen Thyssen Museum in Read more