23rd January HUATULCO, MEXICO Just returned back on board after a lovely day at the beach. Enjoyed my snorkelling ( what I done of it which wasn’t much ) but this cold can do one now, I’m fed up with it! Trying to breathe in a snorkel and mask when you can’t breathe through your nose becomes very difficult! If you could have seen me trying to get out of the sea in a bright orange life jacket which was 2 sizes too small so my boobs were flattened and press...

Friday 18th January ARUBA, Watched our sail in to Aruba as the sun rose from behind the hills. We slowly cruised in to our berth and we’re the only ship in today which is good. Aruba is a relatively flat island so from the ship you can see right up round the island to the high rise where Palm and Eagle Beaches are and the holiday hotels. As we’ve been here a few times we decided not to do the beach again but to just walk round Orangstead and head off in t...

Thursday 10th January FUNCHAL, MADEIRA After our two delays totalling about 18 hours on our journey here we ended up just 1 1/2 hours late docking in Madeira after going like the clappers all night! The morning weather was beautiful as we sailed in to join the Fred Olsen ship Balmoral which was already in. With clear blue skies and temperatures about 16 degrees we set off after breakfast for a nice walk right along the front to the old town, then climbed up ...

Today we woke up to the sun streaming through the windows and lovely blue skies. Yesterday was a grey overcast day again but it certainly wasn’t cold. Whilst doing my walking round the prom deck in the morning I had to take my jacket off as it was so warm. I also had my first sighting of dolphins which was beautiful. Went to the first lecture of Mark Labetts ( The Beast off The Chase) but he keeps himself well hidden as no one see him round the ship much. A no...

Slept quite well but as soon as I woke at 7am I could feel a slight moving of the ship. Looked out to see that we were just moving out and had left about 20 minutes earlier at long last! The ship has recently been refurbished and is now a mellow beige, cream and blue decor and looks very nice. Had a Facebook meeting at 11am in the Crows Nest so went to that and met the people I had been conversing with on the run up to the cruise. After, it was Battle of the Sex...