Our arrival at Civitavecchia was delayed because of the rough seas and even our big ship couldn't get close to the port until the wind calmed down. Almost two hours late we managed to dock and our adventure to Rome could begin. Our guide Santi gave us maps and offered suggestions for our "Rome on your own" trip that we had booked. The coach journey took two hours to Rome from Civitavecchia and we were dropped at St Peters Basilica (Square) just in ti...

On our way to Civitavecchia we passed closely to the coasts of Italy and Sicily. We could see Mount Etna with snow on the top. Around 6 pm we met with the Queen Elizabeth on the way past the volcanic island of Stromboli. The volcano was very impressive and is still active, there are a few villages still perched on its sides and we could see the smoke coming from the top. As we passed by there was a small eruption that produced a cloud of smoke and a tumble of ...

Today Queen Mary 2 travelled through the Suez Canal in Egypt, for our last segment in the Mediterranean Sea onwards to our last ports of call in Rome, Monte Carlo and Barcelona before we reach Southampton, to complete our round the world voyage on 19th April. Our voyage through the Suez Canal started early at 3 am and before we woke up we had already travelled about 50 miles into the canal. The Suez Canal has a north and south transit and the convoy can be up ...

Sharm el Sheikh is a resort town across the red sea in the north east of Egypt. There are two nice bays, one at Sharm and one at Na'ama with low rise hotels from the big chains, complete with a few shopping malls and some local shops but no history or sightseeing today. Queen Mary 2 was greeted by a one man disco who played the Egyptian music so loud it could be heard for miles! We shared a taxi from the port with our friends Sue and Nick to the Marriott Beach...

We had been unsure until recently that we would ever make it to Egypt, the whole country was in turmoil when our world voyage set sail, however, we were assured that they had turned over a new leaf and all was good in the Land of the Pharaohs. Queen Mary 2 was berthed in Safaga the nearest port to Luxor, but still a three hour journey by coach through the sandy desert. Our trip today was to take fourteen hours to Luxor and The Valley of the Kings. Safaga is a...