Day One Hundred Nineteen - May 4

As you sail into Cartagena you can see a well protected harbour. High rocky cliffs provide protection. I learned that Cartagena has been the capital of the Spanish Navy's Maritime Department of the Mediterranean dating back to the 18th century. Several naval ships were also seen in the harbour.

Our arrival time was 08:00, the rain was expected to continue for most of the morning so we decided to lay low for a while and try for a walkabout in the afternoon.

A little bit of sunshine though was in order as I left the ship for the first time in three days with the exception of a couple of hours in Barcelona the first night in port.

Despite the rain we really enjoyed this beautiful city with its new marble paved tiles throughout the city. Very quaint place with some nice shops and narrow alleyways.

Leaving the ship we were greeted with the Royal Caribbean ship Odyssey of the Seas. She had recently repositioned from the Caribbean and will sail within the Mediterranean water over the summer. The ship has a maximum passenger capacity of 5,498 but talking with passengers from the ship only 2,000 passengers were sailing her at the present time. That is still significantly more than our small ship. Comparing the two ships one behind the other, ours looked like a private yacht.

Leaving the port you will notice marble slate adorning the pavement in the city centre and some of the side streets in the area. It makes the city look very clean.

One of the attractions to see while in town was a visit to the Roman Theatre Museum. Unfortunately with the rain beginning to fall we were unable to find it.

The ship left Cartagena at 17:00 to make its way to Gilbratar 247 natical miles away.